Elbrus Range, the Northern Peaks.

[Longinus]

Longinus tilted his head slightly, before looking down at his right arm. He lifted it up slightly, the electricity bouncing from his palm, up the barrel, and through the cooling fins on his back. He looked back at Resonance. He gave a tiny chuckle, as if realizing some sick irony. "You see, I can't put it away." He brought his right side closer into the light, revealing how the weapon was built into himself, always active.

He then leaned down at looked Resonance in the face. "You can delete me right now, couldn't you? Even if you're weakened state, either of you could smite me down as just an annoyance." His voice was... vindictive. "But that won't stop this violence. It won't save anyone." He said, his voice rising as he reached out and grabbed Resonance by the forehead. "SO GO ON, ATTACK ME. MAKE ME RUN AWAY, JUST LIKE THE OTHER TWO TRIED TO DO." The memories of both Phoenix and Xeel trying to delete him, the sheer strength he saw, and the excruciating pain before the attacks (as well as afterwards, with his operator) were like spikes inside his mind. "BECAUSE WHY BOTHER LISTENING TO ME WHEN YOU CAN JUST KILL, KILL, KILL, TO PROTECT YOUR LITTLE PEACE AND STATUS QUO?!"

Silence.

Longinus eyes were burning as he pressed his palm forward into Resonance to look the navi in the face. "Every time you make a threat, you waste time. We're all dead if we don't cooperate anyway, so what the **** do you gain from threatening me?!"

He was quiet, before slowly drawing his arm back and moving away from Resonance. "...You're lucky enough that if I fail you can still hide in an off-network area. Me?" His voice became almost a whisper. "If I stop trying to fix this ****ed up situation, then I'm going to cease to exist. I have a lot more at stake than you do." The image of his operator, erasing his consciousness out of pure annoyance, boiled in Longinus's chest.

His eyes narrowed. "So once more, tell me what you know."

[Genesis]

*So Resonance was one of those guys who wanted to save everyone regardless of circumstances. Just like those Knights of old that vanished into the bygone days of the net once everything truly hit the fan. So before he actually got to answer, he heard a navi speak. A familiar one as it happens. And that thing where Resonance was thinking that Xion wasn't aggressive?*

*That went straight out the window. Because Xion turned and swung in an instant, tearing through the massive weapon and Longinus both with his bare hands before he swung again, darkness and purple flames engulfing what remained of the navi until nothing remained. And the age old sign was said immediately after.*

<Longinus.exe DELETED>

"I know that I told you to leave, not leave and come back. What an insulting guy."

*All the while he missed Resonance too despite their close proximity. Besides, the guy had even told him to. Just unlike the two mentioned before, Xion didn't mess around very much and afforded very little chances. Especially when you spoke like that one had.*

"And some just aren't worth saving, Resonance. Like for example, you wouldn't bother trying to save me, right? Or would you? And like the one that I just destroyed for assuming I was totally docile now."

[Raven8]

Resonance just shakes his head... the only one who had made a threat was Longinus, and the only reason that Resonance made his comment was disbelief. the weapon Navi had made the threat through his actions, Resonance had issued a warning. Without farther aggression, Resonance wouldn't have done anything to Longinus.

And then, like a cobra that had been teased a bit too much, Xion lashes out with his killing blow. Still tired from the events of the day, Resonance finds himself too slow to react. And even if he had been, what would it accomplish? In spite of being higher versioned than Xion, the master Darkloid's raw, unrelenting power is more than a match for Resonance short of....

No, suicide wasn't something that Resonance planned on when he woke up, and he had no intent on changing his plans.

Resonance: Funny thing is, I probably would try to save you if you were the one in that much danger.

Pausing for a moment, Resonance reaches down and grabs his helmet. He doesn't give much thought to Longinus' words, as they were nothing that he hadn't heard before. Just as those seeking destruction constantly re-assemble into new forms with the insistence that this will be the end of the world, groups trying to stop the carnage take on different personas and insist that they have the key. the Liberty Army, the Knights of Radiance, even the WWW at different points in history; he'd seen them all do their best, yet Navis like Juno and groups like the Chaotic still exist...

Resonance: ...I suppose that this kind of thing is inevitable. There's always going to be some madman who makes some avatar of power in hopes of reaching his goals, there's always going to be those who have their own goals in mind above all else, and there's always going to be a bunch of idiots like me who just want to have things go back to the way that they were.

Resonance then smiles to himself as he holds onto his helmet, remembering a certain little boy Navi who once hung onto him like glue...

Resonance: ....but I suppose it's that conflict that makes the world what it is today; an unholy mess.

[Genesis]

*Resonance was a total nice guy. Nicer than he thought, even. He figured that no one would want to save absolutely everyone, even people they thought beyond saving. That just seemed like some ideal that was foolish in more ways than one. But here was one of those guys in all their splendid glory. A denizen of purest light indeed. Just like he was one who would always walk in the dark. But there were times where he agreed with AirMan's logic, and those times were the times when Xion didn't lash out at absolutely everything. That was what Ruin was for.*

"You're a pretty nice guy, Resonance. And I don't say that very often. But my goal is often times killing boredom. Pretty self-serving, but better than saying that I fight for a better tomorrow or some such nonsense. But isn't this how things should be? Because if everyone had the same goal but differing views, it would lead to the same conflict as always."

*They were always plotting against each other. Even the clown was fine with just killing anything that moved. It was hard to find anyone that served their own goals that weren't trying to screw over someone else for that. He wasn't an exception. Just that he might be a little more reasonable than some in that regard. Minus the whole blowing up Creamland by accident thing, he often found that he didn't intentionally try to blow up everything. Probably to spite his creators. But he only found fun often times in the suffering of others. Amusing how he was having a chat with pretty much his polar opposite then.*

"You people can gather because of what you want, because you all aren't selfish about it. Because of chaos, unity and peace can be found in some places. But nothing is perfect, so there's no such thing as total unity or absolute peace. That's just the way things are. No one person can really be held at fault for that. Just one of those things that everyone chips in on."

[Deleted]

<INCOMING MESSAGE>

Sender: Ruin.EXE
Recipient: Xion.EXE
Subject: News
Body:

Couldn't find Toxin... I think he's gone for good this time or something, We should regroup back at your "throne", I have news you might like to know about. Might even be something that would curb that eternal boredom of yours.

<END MESSAGE>

[Torchman]

As Xion finished up, bits and bytes of data swirled in a mini cyclone before Xion and Resonance, before beginning to form a navi. Resonance would recognize it as the golden pants and sleeves of the navi formed, continuing inward to form the torso, before finishing at the navis head.

Quo had returned, and in better condition than before. However, his left arm still hung limp at his side, a permanent effect of abusing time without proper control of it.

With a mighty gasp and heavy breathing, he came back to life, taking in his surrondings. 'I'm... back here? How?!' Perhaps it was cruel fate, reminding him of why he shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place. Or perhaps it was the teleportation unit he still possessed, bringing him right back to the man who gave it to him.

"Well thanks... I guess." He said between gasps as he noticed Resonance was there, seeming very shaken by what he had gone through. "She came after me first it seemed. How long have you been stuck here, because that's how long I've been deleted." He tossed the teleportation unit to Resonance, returning what he didn't need back.

"I..." He began, fighting with himself inside. He hated being dependent on others, afterall look where it had got him a moment ago, but he couldn't keep going like this. "... I need you help with something urgent. After you're done your talk there."

[Genesis]

*Xion has sort of forgotten about Ruin for a bit there. After all, the guy had jumped into the lake and Xion was amused at the thought. Odds were Ruin completely forgot their own rules and did his own thing, which others abused. But then the message had several things he didn't like. One being that information that could entice him. Another being that Toxin could be gone. Once again the calm demeanor changed, the only sign of this being his eyes flickering briefly as he reached out as Quo spoke, his hand gripping his face. And then he clenched his hand with his claws. But it didn't crush Quo's head, more like he had five large claw marks through his face rather painfully and probably would be in quite a bit of pain and disfigured for a while there.*

"Looks like something's come up and I might have to start venting my frustrations out on others again. So I'll see you both again some time."

*His tone carried a particularly murderous intent this time. For whatever reason was unknown, but the darkness that once covered the cavern finally returned to him from its deeper reaches, flowing into him and becoming an orb that fell into the ground. This then became a puddle of black that slowly dissolved, the darkloid heading to his designated location.*

{Xion Location Change: Dark Colony}

[Raven8]

Resonance drops his helmet to the side and leans back, actually surprised at Xion's willingness to talk at such depths. He'd never met a darkloid able to look past "I wanna kill this now".

Resonance: All I fight for is to keep as many safe as I can. I know what it's like to be oppressed, and want to try to keep those that I can safe. But what about if everything fell to chaos? Don't you think that would get boring after awhile?

...and then Quo re-appears, and Xion disappears before Resonance could finish that thought. His head almost spins from how quickly it happens, but he recovers quickly.

Resonance: ....o....kay? What exactly do you need?

[Torchman]

Quo stood in shock as the claws went through his head. 'Not again! Not twice in a single day!' However, the claws stopped relatively shallow before retracting, leaving him with some painful, ugly wounds. 'It seems like today is everyone pick on Quo day... fantastic.' He waited until Xion was gone before letting out a sigh of relief, knowing it was just him and Resonance.

And with that he turned to Resonance, gesturing with his good arm at his bad arm, holding it up before letting it drop. "This wasn't caused by her, and it wasn't caused by the clown. This was caused by the use of my own temporal powers, with each use slowly causing more pain and more limp parts. I can't feel this arm up to my shoulder and part of my chest because of it."

"You can do it though." He said, pointing at Resonance. "You're able to stop time on a much more precise level than I can, able to choose what stops and what continues to flow. And yet, your body is clearly fine. It clearly isn't failing after each use of it."

"I can't keep going like this. I need to know how you do it, before another person like that girl comes along again, no matter what it takes to do so." It was one of the most low moments of his life, in essence, begging another navi to save his life. But he couldn't keep going like this, and this was the only lead he had. "You are literally my only hope right now."

[Raven8]

Resonance looks over Quo for a moment, listening to what he has to say as he does so. Thinking for a moment, he tries to remember what he'd learned from Triad in the years before about his Tempral element, but only so much comes to mind.

Resonance: I'm going to be honest with you: my temporal powers aren't exactly "mine"; I was retrofitted with them after I was created.

Resonance motions to his right shoulder, where the Crest of the Generational rests.

Resonance: Beyond that, I don't have much control over them for the most part. In fact, using them too often can have some very... undesirable... results for me as well.

[Torchman]

"Oh great... So both of us are in the same boat then... Well kind of, since mine have been apart since creation." An audible sigh managed to escape from his lips, a slight hint of defeat in it. Well this was great, he was now at another dead end... Until he noticed the crest that Resonance was motioning to.

"What is that crest? Is it what grants you your temporal abilities?" That had to be the reason he was motioning towards it. But it wasn't like anything he'd seen before. "Where did you get this?"

He'd gone through so much already today, he couldn't let it all be for nothing! Any lead was a good lead at this point.

[mirror]

A spinning feeling, seeming to go on forever. Round and round and round and then suddenly, everything stops. Mirror appears on his hands and knees, recovering from the meeting with Juno.

His head still spinning, he struggles to get to his feet. Looking around he sees some other navis. He couldn't quite tell what was going on... maybe some resolution to a prior conflict? This was the place where that Nidhiki had been, right? He tried to remember the images from that strange Doctor before everything hit the fan...

Getting up and beginning to walk, he heads towards the small group, raising a hand in a signal of hello and good will as he approaches. More fighting was the last thing on Mirror's mind today.

[Raven8]

As Quo motions to the mark, Resonance instinctively raises his hand to it for a moment... there was such a tale there, a story of one of the greatest battles that this world had ever known. However, this tale is not something that Resonance wants to re-live right now, due to his part in it.

Resonance: It was attached to me by my creators. It's of a design that taps into a vast power source of both temporal and spacial energy.

And then Mirror appears. Resonance glances over and quickly recognizes the reflective Navi, shooting him a puzzled look.

Resonance: .....Mirror? What are you doing here?

[Torchman]

"And your creators... would they be able to tell me more about what's happening to me and undo what has happened?" Quo believed there was more to it than what Resonance was leading him to believe, especially considering how abrupt and short his responses were.

He turned to face the newcomer, who looked as rattled as he felt when he revived after Xeel happened. "Welcome to our own slice of hell." He opened up with, gesturing at the destroyed mountain around them with his good hand. "You get deleted in this dumb game too? Was it a female assassin that did you in too?"

[Raven8]

Resonance's face becomes more worried as he rocks to the side slightly, not obviously more nervous.

Resonance: ....you don't want to go that route.