---CONTINUING TRANSMISSION---

---BLACK PLAGUE, PT III---

C.N.S. OBLIVION
COLOSSEUM SYSTEM
0852 HOURS, MAY 7, 3961 A.D.

Mike strode down the halls in human form to the Oblivion's hangar, to greet the combined crews of the Great Death and Levaetain to brief them on the mission. No longer the emotional wreck he was earlier, he now fought not only for the Empire, but in remembrance of his mother, as well.

And he was not about to disappoint her.

He entered to find Commander, Captain Maylithiar, and Admiral Shlimazel discussing something – probably the Black Artifact that was located in the Ubercept's Universe.

“Have I missed anything?” Mike asked.
“Not really,” Commander answered. “I'm just reviewing with the Admiral and Captain what our mission is, and what we're up against.”
“This Nar Akasi sounds like a most reviled fellow, from what your Commander has told us,” Maylithiar replied.
“Trust me – what Commander's likely told you is only just the start of the kinds of barbarism he's done,” Mike replied.
“Commander,” Bowser radioed, “we're ready to begin the journey to Ubercept Space. Shall we activate the Time Gate Generator?”
“Proceed, Bowser – we can't spare a single moment with Akasi after Satan's keys.”

The Oblivion fired its sapphire-blue beam, and entered the Nexus.

“Welcome to The Nexus, Gentlemen,” Commander said, noticing the awed expressions of both Maylithiar's troopers and the Ubercept. “This region of Null-Space is what connects all universes and time periods together, and how we get to hot spots in our universe. Considering that time does not advance as long as we are in The Nexus, it takes only a matter of minutes to reach our destinations.”
“Fascinating. Simply fascinating,” Shlimazel stated.
“Meanwhile,” Kurana said, “we'd better get ready for combat. Knowing Akasi, he's likely already reached the planet.”
“You're right,” Mike said. “Alright, boys and girls, suit up!” he shouted.

UNKNOWN PLANET
UNKNOWN SYSTEM, UBERCEPT UNIVERSE
1011 HOURS, APRIL 7, 3038 A.D., IMPERIAL TIME

A frozen snowball. Just as the Admiral had said. This planet's star was classified as an M-Class Red Dwarf, among the coldest stars in the universe – only Brown Dwarfs were colder still, but had little or no luminosity.

Jammed into a drop ship, the forces of Imperial Arbiters, wearing Centurion Battle Suits, Ubercept Deathstriker Elites, and Maylithiar's best troops, called “Crusaders” by the other men under the Captain's command, prepared for the trip down to the icy wasteland that awaited them.

“Troopers, prepare to launch in 5...4...3...2...1...”

The drop ship's engines roared to life with a shudder, lurching forward before speeding out of the massive hangar slung underneath the Oblivion.

Once down at the surface, the respective parties wasted no time in exiting the craft. The new Centurion Battle Suits worked remarkably well at shielding their users from the harsh elements.

“I can't wait to go out and kill me somethin',” one of the Imperials said.
“At ease, Corbin,” Mike replied, harshly. “We're not here to fight unless it's necessary,” he emphasized. “Am I clear?”
“...Sir,” Corbin responded, begrudgingly.

They continued on their way, trudging across the frozen wasteland. It wasn't long, however, before trouble reared its ugly head.

You should not have come here, fools – turn back now, if you wish to live, a voice communicated psychically.

“Who dares speak to me in such a manner?!” Shlimazel demanded.
Mike suddenly had a look of horror on his face. “Commander...is it-”
“It is,” his superior commented.

A massive cloud of darkness exploded before the 15-strong group, revealing a humanoid figure with black battle fatigues, reddened lenses, and a black, silken cloth covering his nose and mouth.

“I suggest you heed my warning, if you value your lives,” he stated.
Bowser made a hard look. “It's him,” he growled.
“Just who are you?” Maylithiar asked, dumbfounded.
The figure scoffed. “Introductions? Fine.”

He took out one of the knives strapped to his belt, and began balancing it, spinning it – in general, just showing off.

“I am The Harvester,” he began, in a deep, breathy voice, as he continued to display his finesse with the drawn knife. “I am the great Lord Akasi's personal assassin and saboteur – only his Ensign is superior to me in terms of combat. But beyond him, my Lord, or our Dark Master whom we serve, I have no equal.”
“You don't seem that threatening to me,” one of the Deathstrikers noted.
“Ah. A skeptic, I see,” he said, sheathing the knife. “Allow me to dissolve that skepticism.”

In the blink of an eye, The Harvester suddenly vanished from the group's sight, only to reappear behind the Ubercept who spoke earlier.

THE HARVESTER: “Boo.”

A sudden flurry of uppercuts, hooks, and jabs began pummeling the unfortunate victim, finished with a upwards reverse kick. Within instants, The Harvester was back in front of the group once again.

“How did he...DO that?!” one of the Crusaders said, in complete disbelief of what just happened.
“It's just who he is,” Kurana said. “The Harvester is essentially the Empire's Boogeyman – a character whispered to kids in ghost stories just to scare them.”
“But, as you can see, he is far from fiction,” Isaac remarked. “Almost every attempt to kill The Harvester has ended with the loss of those sent on the assignment. The few who have managed to survive his ruthlessness have come back to us horribly mangled or bloodied beyond recognition.”
“There are those in high command,” Bowser added, grimly, “who even say...he isn't even human.”
“Hm. It seems my reputation precedes me,” The Harvester commented. “But, since I've delivered my message, I'll leave you to your fates.”

The Harvester suddenly let out a shrill whistle, causing Renegade forces to suddenly appear from nowhere. A few of the Renegades soon began summoning demons, as well.

“Have fun, Imperials – don't disappoint me.”

With the same black explosion, The Harvester exited as he entered, vanishing from sight.

“Well, looks like I'll get to fight something, after all,” Corbin said, grasping his spear. “Let's kill these guys.”
“I second the opinion,” Maylithiar noted. “ATTACK!”

The group immediately split apart to take on their own targets. The Imperials focused on the demons and undead that were summoned, while the Ubercept went after the Summoners and other Renegade troopers. Maylithiar and his men attacked whatever was left. Interestingly, Mike noted that some kind of divine energy that the Crusaders were using was proving to be rather potent against the undead and demons they fought – but what this meant, he would have to ask the Captain at a later time.

While he mulled over these details – fighting off enemies, all the while – Mike suddenly realized he had unintentionally shifted into his Wolf Form; a fact that was not lost on Maylithiar or Shlimazel.

MAYLITHIAR: “Michael?! What-”
MIKE: “Talk later! Keep fighting!”

On a far-off hillside, an intrigued Nar Akasi witnessed Michael's new form. At his side, The Harvester also observed the spectacle as the Imperials and their allies fought Akasi's men.

“Well...it seems our friend Michael has learned a few new tricks,” The Harvester commented.
“Indeed,” Akasi agreed, “so it does. However, unfortunately for the Imperials...”

Akasi held out his right hand in front of him, palm facing skyward. Suddenly, an unholy mixture of ebony and crimson flames engulfed the outstretched arm, as the hand transformed from human to something almost...draconic. Dull-gray scales appeared where there was once skin, and the fingers soon became claws that Akasi twitched, one by one, as he turned the scaly hand over to reveal “666” still scarred on the back of the right “hand.”

AKASI: “...So have I.”

Back at the fight scene, the Imperials, Deathstrikers, and Crusaders now stood victorious, standing in snow now tarnished with blood.

“I believe now would be a good time to explain yourself, Michael,” Admiral Shlimazel stated, his eyes narrowing.
Mike sighed, taking off his helmet. His ears had folded flat against his head, ashamed of his predicament.
“Captain, Admiral – I'm sorry I had to reveal myself like this. But now, as you can see, I'm a werewolf. I had not wanted to use this form as long as I was in your presence, because I didn't want to give either of you the wrong idea about either myself, our men, or especially the Empire as a whole.”
“In the future,” Maylithiar said, sternly, “it would be in your best interest to make these things clear when you meet others.”
“Understood, Captain,” Mike replied.
“Yeah, great, whatever,” Corbin interjected, rudely, “now are we gonna stand around, or-”
Mike shot Corbin a glare that made him shut up pretty quick. It was clear that bringing this upstart along was a bad idea, but the person he was replacing was still in sick bay for treatment.

“Let's keep moving,” Commander stated. “We're almost there.”

They continued on, trudging through the wastes. Mike had since switched back to human form – his wolf form wasn't necessary, considering the Centurion kept him comfortably warm. However, it still didn't change one fact...

MIKE: (sniff) “Any of you smell that?”
SHLIMAZEL: “What? Out here?”
BOWSER: “...None of you passed gas, did you?”
MIKE: “No.” (sniff) “Trouble.”

No sooner had Mike spoken those words before the world seemed to be plunged into darkness – a darkness that sent waves of terror down the spines of Imperial, Ubercept, and Crusader alike. “What is this madness?!” Admiral Shlimazel exclaimed. “How can I be so paralyzed with fear?!”

Suddenly, a bolt of red lightning split the heavens, crashing down in front of the group. The smoke cleared to show Nar Akasi standing before them, with an insidious grin on his face.

“Took you long enough, Imperials,” he mocked. “Don't you ever get tired of losing?”
Corbin suddenly raced towards Akasi with a drawn pistol. “Corbin, STAND DOWN!” Bowser ordered, angrily – but it was to no avail.

CORBIN: “I've had just about enough of your BULLSH!T!”

The shot echoed throughout the icy wastelands. Corbin's pistol, planted firmly against Akasi's head, had driven home a .45 caliber round just above the Dark Lord's eyes. The expression Akasi had on his face before the shot still remained.

Akasi blinked.

The Dark Lord looked up at the wound, as if annoyed by what had just transpired, and simply rubbed the bloodied spot with his hand. All the others could do was look on in stunned silence.

BOWSER: “Uh...okay, shouldn't he be...I don't know, dead, or something?”
AKASI: “Dead? Hah! Hardly.”

Akasi then made a fierce backhand swing of his right hand, knocking Corbin down on his back.

“I no longer am the Akasi you once knew, gentlemen,” Akasi said, revealing the number “666” scarred on his right hand.
“It...can't be...” Mike said, fearfully. The other Imperials had varying degrees of shock, as well.
“And yet, alas, it is,” Akasi replied, smugly. “And now, mortals...WITNESS MY TRUE FORM!”

A bolt of black lightning pierced the heavens, striking Akasi where he stood. The group drew their weapons, readying themselves for whatever it was that the Dark Lord had in store for them.

Suddenly, the Dark Lord's body began convulsing horribly – what was happening soon became clear as he suddenly seemed to grow another pair of legs behind the ones he already had. A pair of black, leathery wings soon sprouted from his back and soon masked his face, all while his body seemed to be growing in size. Soon, his clothes gave way to a body covered in red-grayish scales, almost...leopard-like in shape.

His transformation continued, sprouting a long tail from the new quadrupedal hindquarters Akasi possessed. The wings, which had previously obstructed his face, now moved away to reveal seven dragon-like heads – each head bore a name so appalling that the Imperials could not bear to repeat them, horns, and crown-like spines on the horns. Each of the four outermost heads had only one of these “crown”-bearing horns in the center of their heads, but the inner three had two crowned horns on the sides of their heads, for 10 “crowns” and 10 horns in all. By the time Akasi's transformation was complete, he stood well in excess of 30 feet tall – likely closer to 40 or 50 feet, actually.

BOWSER: “'Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea...'”
KURANA : “'...having seven heads and ten horns, and ten crowns on its horns.'”
COMMANDER: “'Now the beast I saw was like a leopard...'”
MIKE: “...and one of the heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but the wound had healed.' ~Revelation 13:1-4”

Akasi let out a deep, sinister laugh. “You've done your homework, I see,” he responded, in a deep voice. “I AM ABADDON! BEAST OF THE ABYSS!”

One of the Imperial Arbiters focused some light into their hand and cast it upon Akasi, now Abaddon, only to find that the monstrous beast was unaffected by God's Light.

“HA! You think that Light can save you?” he mocked. “I am the Avatar of Satan himself, born from the blackest recesses of evil known to man!”

Shortly thereafter, a Deathstriker Elite opened fire on Abaddon's left-most head, but not even a scratch was seen in the demon's chitinous plating.

Abaddon let out a disgusted sigh. “Silly Ubercept – if the Light of the One True God cannot defeat me, whatever possesses you to believe that any mortal weapon stands a chance against me?” Abaddon swung his tail, some 10 or 20 feet in length, at the hapless Ubercept. It struck with such force that the spines that ran along the tail impaled the armor of the insectoid warrior, flinging him off to the side like tissue paper.

“We're in way over our heads!” Mike shouted. “We need to get the Boots of Plague before Abaddon does!”
“Oh...you mean these?” Abaddon mused, holding a pair of sickly-green boots, studded in black, twisted spikes.
“NO!” Admiral Shlimazel shouted. “But that means...”
“Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm...” Abaddon chuckled evilly. “Don't you worry, Admiral – the Star Gods are the least of your problems. In fact, they won't be an issue at all.”
“...What do you mean, you abomination?” Maylithiar inquired, face hard-set.
“Isn't it obvious?” the head immediately right of the center spoke in a raspy voice. “They've already sworn allegiance to me. In exchange for their freedom, of course.”
“But it is not my intention to end this farce so quickly,” the head left of center continued. “What would the fun of that be? Instead, I've told them to spare you and your Universe, Admiral...for the moment. But believe me...they will be waiting for my command to lay waste to you and your kind.”

Abaddon's central head leaned in a bit closer to the group. “And by the way, wolf,” he sneered, looking at Michael. “Don't think I don't know about your little secret, either.”
Mike growled, frustrated, and shifted into his Wolf Form. “There. Happy?” he asked with his arms folded, irritated.
“Satisfactory,” Abaddon replied, snidely.

Abaddon then loomed over Corbin's stunned body.

“Well, now...Corbin. Since you were the one to give me my fatal head wound, I think I ought reward you for your foolishness.”
“I'll never serve you, demon. NEVER!”
“Not an option,” Abbadon stated, waving a clawed finger.

The Boots of Plague suddenly flew from Abaddon's left hand and affixed themselves to Corbin's feet.
“What the...why are you-ACK!”
“Enjoy, Corbin – you've made yourself the one who bears the Boots of Plague, and thus its champion,” Abaddon replied as Corbin writhed on the ground in agony. “But...hmm...that Imperial look you have just won't do. Have fun being the host of a demon.”

Abaddon then looked to the rest of the group. “You have been warned, Imperials. The might of the JR/VA and Hell itself will not be denied any longer! Mark my words, for we will be the ones who rule all creation!”

The demon then flexed his great wings slightly. “Until we meet again – and believe me, we will.”

Abaddon suddenly vanished in a great blaze of ebon flames, scarring the very ground where the demon once stood while Corbin still struggled on the ground as a demon took hold of him.

Corbin got on all fours, breathing heavily as he tried to contain the evil that had been summoned within him, but he knew it was futile – he could already feel the demonic changes claiming his body, as small, knobby growths began appearing on his skin.

“Co...Commander!” he shouted. “Y-you've go...got to destroy me! NOW! Before it's...too...LATE!”
“Corbin, you can't be serious! FIGHT IT!” Mike shouted.
“It's...no good,” he replied, weakly, as his face became more disfigured. “Th...this is...your...on..ly...chance...”

Corbin managed to get up on both feet, fighting from the inside even while his transformation was nearing completion.

“Don't...worry about me,” he gasped. “I would rather die...than be a servant...of the Dark Prince!”

Commander gave a somber look at Mike, and nodded. “Your sacrifice will not be forgotten, Corbin,” the supreme leader stated.
“Hurry...” Corbin pleaded, shutting his eyes. “Don't waste...another second.”

Corbin made a weak smile. “I know...my fate rests with...Him...”

Mike wasted no time in tracing out the image of a cross in front of his face.

“DARKNESS, BE PURGED!”

A beam of pure light shot from Mike's palm, cleansing Corbin's body from within.
“Mike...Thank you,” he murmured, weakly, arms stretched out.
“May God have mercy upon thee, Corbin,” Mike said, as he continued to channel God's Light.
Corbin nodded. “I will not be a puppet for you, Satan,” he cried to the heavens. “Do you hear me?!”

“I WILL NOT!”

Corbin's body suddenly began to glow with such intensity that all present had to shield their eyes, save Mike – he still had to maintain his focus. You've been a good soldier, Corbin, Mike thought.

(BA-KROOOOOM!)

When the smoke had cleared, all that remained was the Boots of plague, and the Imperial Crest that Corbin carried with him in a pile of ash. All present saluted, knowing the determination the warrior had to muster to fight off a demon for that long.

“Now what?” Shlimazel asked. “With the boots not in their node, the prison network is offline!”
“I don't think that'll be an issue, like Akasi-no, Abaddon, said,” Bowser commented. “If what he says is true, the Star Gods are essentially his lap dogs, now, and can't do ANYTHING unless he lets them off their leashes.”
“How is that possible?” one of the Ubercept stated.
“It's just what he is,” Mike replied. “For it is said, 'Millions worshiped the beast because of his wound – who could make war with him?'”
“Fortunately,” Commander interjected, “we're well-versed enough in the Good Book to not buy into that trickster's lies. We've got a long, bloody road ahead of us, gentlemen – and this is only the first piece of seven.”

Mike walked over, and picked the evil boots up. “We'll have to keep these locked up somewhere secure, obviously. Let's head back to the Oblivion and inform the crew of what's transpired, and what we're up against.”
“Very well,” Captain Maylithiar agreed. “Let's be off, then.”

Once aboard the Oblivion, great care was taken with the Boots – they still weren't sure as to what all they were capable of.

They soon arrived back in the Nova-Verse, where they began plotting their next move.

“Where are we gonna get the rest of the pieces?” Bowser wondered. “Didn't Augustine say one piece would lead to another?”
“Ahem, gentlemen...” Maylithiar began.

The Imperials turned to the Levaetain's Captain.

“Something you want to tell us, Captain?” Kurana asked.
“Yes. Something very important.”

Meanwhile...

A cold wind whipped across the frozen plains where there once was battle. Suddenly, a black cloud exploded in the middle of the air, amongst the corpses of the fallen.

The Harvester surveyed his surroundings. It was an amazing day, today – his master's true form, revealed at last, new souls to harvest; it was exciting enough to simply stand and listen to the whispers of the dead ring in his ears.

He took out a small, glass vial, walking over to the impaled Ubercept soldier, drawing some of his blood and depositing it in the vial.

“This is The Harvester,” he said into his communicator. “I've got the first Vial.”
“Excellent work, Harvester,” Akasi said on the other end. “Do hurry back to the Nova-verse, would you?”
“As you command, my Lord. Still other Universes have yet to know of your power...”

The Harvester vanished in another black explosion. All that could be heard now was the howling wind as snow began to cover the blood-soaked landscape.

---END TRANSMISSION---

---

NOTES 'N STUFF:

And so Akasi's true form is revealed at last: Abaddon, Beast of the Abyss, as foretold in the Book of Revelation.

The Beast from the Sea has a few more details than what is outlined, but from what I've envisioned, it's come off as some sort of dragonish thing (as an aside, another dragon is mentioned in Revelation, but has no relation to the Beast from the Sea).

As a reminder, I'm still looking for 2 more holders of the Black Artifacts - the Spaulders of Jealousy and the Rings of Vanity remain yet unclaimed.

Bowser is © Nintendo
Admiral Shlimazel and the Ubercept are © their creator
Captain Maylithiar and his men are © their creator
The Empire, JR/VA, and all charcters w/in are © me