Who shot Seer?

[Orga777]

"****! I KNEW it... I told you all this would happen. I hate being right...." Kinsley said slamming his left fist into his right palm in anger.

"What do we do now?" Godzy asked.

"The best bet? Rendezvous with Burkion as soon as possible and confront Crucifer once and for all. He may THINK that being acting President of Chat Fighter gives him power, but, he should know how well Chat Fighters react to being told what to do. It doesn't work." Kinsley replied.

"Breaking Cruc's face? Sound like fun..." Orc said with a smirk. The Chat Fighters were resolved. Some massive BEATDOWN was about to hit this place!

[godzy]

"Huh."

So this was it. The final stretch. How long had Godzy BEEN on this case? Seemed like years...3 years? Naw...

Godzy looked around. The carnage that remained after the fight with Ghidorah was breathtaking in its scope. He knew, though, that this was nothing compared to what was to come if they were to tackle Cruc. The blood shed, the violence, the destruction....

hell yes.


"Lets go!" Godzy yelled. "Wait, actually, gimme a sec..."

Godzy pushed Orc, knocking him off balance and causing him to fall into his own vomit.

Godzy smiled. "Now I'm ready."

[Seer235]

Neurotic was somewhat surprised by how easily the Chat Fighters accepted Neo-Crucifer as their new enemy. He knew that all the Chat Fighters had tenuous relationships with each other and Crucifer had a…notorious past, but from what Neurotic knew, Crucifer had begun to reform recently. Perhaps it was just a mask—the Chat Fighters did know Crucifer even better than the council did.

The Chat Fighters and metathran soldiers exited the underground Smeg lair, where they were greeted by GodofPH. He had passed out in one of the ships and had been left behind by the CFers. Neurotic wasn’t sure whether their flagrant disregard for each other’s whereabouts was an indicator of mutual faith in the CFers’ battle prowess or, well, a flagrant disregard for each other. Probably the latter.

When informed of the situation by the other Chat Fighters, PH’s response was of a rather different nature. He seemed to simply refuse to believe that Crucifer could have done such a thing, especially after what PH had witnessed of him during the Time War. PH swore up and down that Crucifer had turned a new leaf. But, of course, PH was Crucifer’s son and his objects fell on deaf ears. He begrudgingly agreed to go with the other CFers to confront Crucifer.

Back at that place where Anthrax is

Three holographic screens, all indicating a waiting sign, appeared above Anthrax’s outstretched communicator. The commander of the KP Guard had called up the three most relevant members of the council to give an update on the current events.

The first to appear on one of the screens was a woman, looking wise far beyond her years. Her motherly face was one known by all citizens of KP City, universally treated with great respect. Raptor, the grand justice of Kaijuphile.

The next was a rather gruff looking man with a large cigar clenched between his teeth. Despite his appearances, and the fact that the new KP Guard had been usurping many of his previous roles, the man had always been kind and relaxed around Anthrax. Goji Son, Chief of Kaijuphile Defense.

Nothing changed on the third screen. Goji Son chuckled at Anthrax’s perplexed face. “Don’t bother, Sauron isn’t gonna show. He’s busy at the Fan Nest. That place seems to be getting all his attention lately.” Anthrax couldn’t help but note how Goji Son was a master at talking and chewing on a cigar at the same time.

With a press of a button, the third screen disappeared and Anthrax began. “You have already been informed of the actions of the Chat Fighters and the KP Guard in Smeg City. We have also defeated an agent of Smeg working within our own borders. However—I’ll spare you the details at the moment—it seems that our main suspect has shifted to a fellow council member: Neo-Crucifer.”

Raptor’s brow furrowed at the mention, and Goji Son let out a loud laugh. “Always knew that guy was trouble. You got him with you though, right?”

“I’m afraid we don’t. That’s why he’s a suspect. We found a number of dead metathran guards at his location, and he was no where to be found.”

Goji Son prepared to speak again, but was cut off by Raptor. “If your suspicions are correct, this is indeed a grave situation. You said Neo-Crucifer was no where to be found when you arrived. How sure are you of his guilt?”

“In his office I found plans for the psionic manipulator. I think you both know what that means.”

This time there was a pause before either of the council members spoke. It was obvious they understood the gravity of the situation. “Last time that device was employed, it almost spelled the end for our city. The Fan Nest is still recovering from the damages it took. It is hard to believe Neo-Crucifer would attempt to use such a device, but if he does, we must do everything we can to prevent any more harm from coming to the citizens. I will inform the rest of the council.” With that, Raptor’s face disappeared from the screen.

Goji Son took his cigar out of his mouth and pointed it at Anthrax. “You make sure you catch this guy. I’m sure you’ve heard about what happened last time we had to get rid of a council member. We don’t need another Saruman on our hands.” Anthrax gave a salute to the council member (one of the few people who could claim to have any full authority over the guard) and ended the communication.

Anthrax stopped a moment to ponder. Truth be told, he could have easily sent the information to the council another way, but he wanted to see the faces of those council members. Burkion and the other Chat Fighters would be on the move by now. He wondered if he could trust them and the lower-ranking guard members to apprehend Neo-Crucifer. He still had that rogue order to figure out, anyways.

[Neo-Crucifer]

Neurotic marched along with the rest of the metathran-Chat Fighter force as they headed towards the American Kaiju segment of KP City. Since Neo-Crucifer had last been seen in this district, it was likely that he hadn't gotten far. Hopefully they would be able to intercept Crucifer before he slipped away into the city's underbelly. He had to be kept away from the Psionic Manipulator at all costs; having directly fought EM, Crucifer would not be likely to make his predecessor's mistakes. The potential for utter catastrophe was limitless. They had to stop him.

Without warning, the ground under their feet begin to tremble as a cold voice rang out from atop a nearby building. "Now, now. Right on schedule. No need for you to go any further without incident." A familiar black-cloaked figure stepped into view, moonlight glinting off its crowned helm. Dr. Strangelove looked over- or seemed to be looking over, it was difficult to tell due to his lacking a face- the CFers and metathran below. In his right hand, the mysterious figure held aloft the Necronomicon. "Did you think that Crucifer would let you creatures come to his door without a fight? To save the world is not so simple."

With a gibbering cry, a shifting mass of eyes, mouths and expanding tentacles exploded free of the pavement. To some of the CFers, its nightmarish form was familiar- another Shoggoth. "Not again," Orc sighed. Suddenly, more Shoggoths burst to the surface around them. There were six of the monstrosities this time! But they were not alone, as the air before the Chat Fighters and metathran began to twist. It was as if the very reality before them had begun to contract and give way. Something else was coming. Something worse.

"I have seen worlds give birth to life, and that life expand and develop into entire civilizations. But they all crumble in the end. This is the terminus of your world. This is your endpoint. We will suffer your interference no more. Now you will kneel before a true master of this world..." Strangelove's voice bit into the night air even over the inane screaming of the Shoggoths, but the CFers paid little attention. Their eyes were focused not just on the Shoggoths, but on the horror that was materializing before them. It was as if they were paralyzed by a terror that crept into every corner of their body. What formed before them was sublime. It was a terror informing the mere mortals of the world just how tiny and insignificant they were in the grand schemata of the cosmos.

The forming shape was already 20 meters in height, but at every second it seemed to be growing even bigger. Titanic wings unfurled, sweeping through buildings as if they were made out of sand. Its general body seemed vaguely humanoid, but it seemed to be composed of a different sort of matter than anything known to exist. Its head was octopoid and its eyes glowed with an unearthly green light. There was no logic or consistency in the exact properties of its body; this was a being that had no place in the natural world. It had no right to exist. Yet still it stood, bellowing out a wailing cry to the world it once owned.

It was a star-spawn of Cthulhu.

"Prepare for the fight of your life," said Strangelove, moments before the incorporeal warlock disappeared into the darkness.

[Godzilla]

Orc immediately began to utter the words of his the spell he had used previously against the Shoggoths. He was quick to get get them out and complete this spell before they could attack him.

Unfortunately the spell did nothing but sputter, as if mocking the green skinned warrior. He was no mage and the previous fights had exhausted his energy stores. There was no easy way of dealing with the Shoggoths and he had no idea what the hell to do about the bigger thing....it was frightening just to imagine.

But no time to-Pow! The Massive star-spawn knocked Orc away like a gnat, sending him smashing into a group of methathran who had engaged the huge.....creature.

Not wanting to make the mistake, Orc quickly recovered and dodged another attack from star-spawn. He did what he could to channel energy into his warhammer and then into himself. "Anybody got a plan!?" he yelled out across the battlefield.

[godzy]

"I think not getting killed is a pretty good plan." Godzy huffed as jumped into the air to avoid a charging Shoggoth. The red echidna was feeling the rush of battle again....his senses were heightend and he felt a surge of adreneline. He may have been fighting for his job, his life, the world as he knew it, but damn, he felt good.

Landing a few meters away from the group of Shoggoths, Godzy quickly assumed his fighting stance and rocked back in forth, even tossing in an Ali shuffle for good measure. A pointless action, but it made him feel cool.

The Shoggoth that had charged him orginally seemed to grow infurated with this puny creature's arrogance and charged him again. Closer and closer he...she....IT came, yet Godzy remained in his flashy stance. Godzy looked back at Orc and smiled.

"Hey Orc, I've always wanted to know....are you really that ugly, or did your neck just throw up?"

Orc clenched his fist around his warhammer, channeling even more power into it. "What," Orc screamed, "the hell is your problem, you-!"

"Oop. Game time!" Godzy yelled as he backflipped in the air towards Orc, barely avoiding the charging Shoggoth again. Sailing through the air, he quickly rolled into a ball, taking the "spin dash" motion. As he spun faster and faster, his body began to glow with energy.

Orc, still reeling from that uncalled for insult, had a few moments left to react. A spinning ball of energy comming toward him. A charged warhammer in his hand. A hellish beast dashing after the ball.

Batter up.

[Godzilla]

Orc, clearly agitated by the little pest, decided he could no longer take the rat's crap. He gripped his hammer, took aim, and WHAMMO! He slammed the little bugger with tramendous power sending him rocketing through the shoggoth chasing him. Goopy chunks of matter exploded from the shoggoth and left a large hole from Godzy ripping through it. It didn't take Orc long before he cracked a smile at Godzy's cleverness. I guess underestimated the little annoyance, he thought.

The little ball of energy and cleverness stopped in mid air, charged its energy and raced toward Orc again. Another slam out of the park and large hole ripped through the shaggoth. If the thing wasn't dead already, rinsing and repeating the trick would surely fix that problem.

[Orga777]

Zetsu's vines smashed through the ground and tore through one of the Shoggoth's. The gelatinous abomination let out its cry of Tekeli-li. Using its monstrous strength, the creature easily tore through the vines and begane charging Zetsu once again. "This isn't working..." Zetsu said. "Time for something new!"

Zetsu's flytrap-esque body opened wide and spores started to flow out of his body. The spores floated towards the rushing Shoggoth, and wer enveloped by the jelly-like body. "hehe... Got you." Suddenly, the Shoggoth exploded, raining down around the area where it once stood. Standing in its place was a Zetsu clone! "Time to take these- Ugh!" With that Zetsu was smashed by the Star Spawn, hitting off the ground about several feet away from where he was last standing. "I was asking for that one..." Zetsu lamented.

[SpaceHunterM]

Buddha sighed heavily, in all honestly he didn't give two shits about whatever crucifer was up to and didn't really have the energy to fool around with pointless battles. Truthfully he could probably end their troubles by going back in time and murdering a few much overrated writers or simply saving Seer, but that would spoil the fun of the more easily entertained chat fighters. As the other CFers raged around him tearing apart the smaller monsters he took ahold of his pen and doodled a small device which he subsequently hurled at the back of Zetsu's head...the original one. Satisfied that he had fulfilled his 'duty' to the Chat Fighters the artist shrunk to the size of a bat and drew a cocoon around himself that would protect him from the outside world until he was ready to emerge and fulfill his purpose.

[godzy]

At which point Godzy picked up Buddha's cocoon and tossed it into a dumpster conveniently located a few yards away. After slamming the lid on Buddha's new resting place, Godzy took said dumpster and hurled it as hard as he could at the Star spawn. A direct hit to where Godzy was pretty sure its nose would be. The juggernaut swayed ever so slightly, but remained upsright. After a few moments, Godzy noticed something....the dumpster seemed to be sinking into the swarm of flailing tentacles that made up the beast's face! Was that hell beast SWALLOWING it? Hmph. Poor, poor Buddha.

[Seer235]

The Council of Thirteen: The body that rules Kaijuphile City. The council or the members are not known to the public, though most of the individual members have high-ranking positions within the city government.

Sauron, the leader of Kaijuphile City and head of the council itself.

Gorgozilla, Sauron’s right-hand man. He has no official position, but if something big is happening within the government or in the city at large, you can bet he has his fingers in it. Even other council members are wary of him.

SandwormPhish, head of the KaijuPhile City science division.

Raptor, the grand justice of Kaijuphile.

Goji Son, the chief of Kaijuphile defense.

Jet Jaguar, resident superhero and crime fighter extraordinaire.

Angilas, the man in charge of Kaijuphile News and Kaijuphile ambassador to the kaiju realm. He assures that it goes according to the council’s wishes. A kaijin.

Enshohma, Kaijuphile ambassador to the vast realm of kaiju. Also a kaijin.

Tomzilla, leader of the Church of Space Godzilla.

Seer235 (deceased), previous Dean of Kaijuphile university and President of Chat Fighter. The space in the council left by his death has not yet been filled.

Neo-Crucifer, a rather wealthy philanthropist and now Vice President of Chat Fighter, who has funded many secret council actions. He and Seer were forgiven for their actions against the city when they aided in the defeat of Eternal Mothra.

Gorjirus, a more recent addition, supported by both Seer and Crucifer.

PyrasTerran, the most recent council member, only added after Eternal Mothra’s attack on the city. He is the head of the Cult of Irys, the second largest religious group in the city.

Previous members:

Demon Eyes Parker (deceased): Killed by the Pink Horror (also presumed deceased) during Eternal Mothra’s attack on Kaijuphile. His seat was filled by PyrasTerran

Saruman: The nature of his dismissal from the council remains under the utmost classification (known only to a member of the council) and he remains at large to this day.


As the head of the KP Guard, Anthrax was privy to much more information on the council than just about any non-member. In fact, it was a distinct possibility that he would be chosen to take the seat left open by Seer’s death. The council ruled KP city from behind the shadows (or openly, in the case of some members), and exerted strong influence on the world outside of the city’s normal sphere of influence. In fact, it seemed the only group around that was mostly free of the council’s influence was Chat Fighter, ironically headed by two members of the council.

These thirteen (twelve now) were the only ones who would have had access to Anthrax’s command codes, making them the most likely suspects for giving an order posing as Anthrax. Raptor and Goji Son were the most likely members to have regular access, but Anthrax didn’t detect anything strange about them during the conversation, so he doubted either of them had anything to do with it.

It was possible that any member of the council could have obtained the command codes, including Neo-Crucifer. But with Neo-Crucifer under protection (essentially constant surveillance), it would have been difficult. Anthrax knew there was a strong possibility that another member of the council was involved in this, perhaps aiding Neo-Crucifer. He would have to tread lightly—suspecting the council of anything usually did not end well, and was full of possibilities that Anthrax did not want to have to consider.

He activated his comm. device again, this time only dialing Raptor. If Sauron could not be reached, she was the most trusted member of the council he could contact.

Back at the Shoggoth Fight

While the CFers were hurling themselves at the shoggoths, Neurotic was hanging back, trying to come up with a plan of action. The shoggoths were tough, but he had no doubt that the Chat Fighters would eventually be able to topple them. The star spawn, however, was quite a different story. Neurotic couldn’t even bare to look at it, let alone fight it.

He still had plenty of left-over absorbed energy from their fight with Thousand-Year Ghidorah, but he would need something big if they were going to take that thing out…

While Neurotic was thinking, and the fight continued, the star spawn swung one of its claws down again. However, instead of striking at one of the CFers, the star spawn’s hand instead struck the wounded shoggoth. Upon impact, the shoggoth was hurtled forward, taking an orbular shape, directed at Orc and godzy. It seemed almost as if the star spawn was imitating the technique those two had been using.

[Godzilla]

Orc quickly caught notice of the orbular Shoggoth. "Watch out Godzy!", he shouted while charging his warhammer with energy. He quickly threw the war hammer at the Shoggoth, causing it to lodge itself inside of the tar-like body, and jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, Godzy hadn't been paying attention and got caught up in the Shoggoth's body as it slammed against the ground where they were at and bounced into the air again.

"Dammit", cursed Orc. He knew Godzy wasn't going to like what was about to happen. The Shoggoth's body began to glow energy just like that which emanated from Orc's hammer. The Shoggoth hit the ground again, taking its original shape, and then jumped back into the air in its orbular form again, heading straight for Orc. It was taking way too long his hammer to take effect on the Shoggoth.

Orc just stood there watching as the Shoggoth approached. He didn't know what it was, but something had gone wrong... and now both him and Godzy would pay for it. BOOM! The Shoggoth exploded just a few feet away from Orc. Chunks of it went flew out from the explosion, along with Orc, Godzy, and the war hammer. Orc landed hard on the ground, conveniently with his hammer landing in his hand. He opened his eyes to take a look around, and saw a human standing over him. "Ugh........Kinsley.......any ideas on how to take out that star spawn?"

[Orga777]

Kinsley was firing as quickly as he could into the Shoggoth's that kept approaching him, trying to not even look at the Star Spawn. "Well, Orc, can't say I have any ideas... where is Burk when you need him... did we get in over our heads this time?" Kinsley lamented, turning just in time to fire an Ice Shot at an on-coming Shoggoth, freezing it solid.

[Neo-Crucifer]

Dr. Strangelove disappeared into the darkness...and quickly abandoned the premises, heading for his next objective. As the Chat Fighters did battle with his summoned monsters, Strangelove flew across the City in a tangle of helm, cloak and gauntlet. He had a much more pressing and devious objective in mind- hopefully a fun one, although his previous theatrics had been extremely entertaining. In an instant- a few minutes for all non-Strangeloves present- he had found his target and descended to the streets.

Strangelove landed right in front of Ultimate Burkion, his shattered form pulling itself back together into its semblance of a humanoid shape. UltiBurk's eye simply narrowed to a slit. "I don't have time for you. Move or be moved." But Strangelove didn't budge. "Crucifer does not want to meet with you just yet."

"Does it really look like I give two flying Tim Currys what Crucifer wants?" snapped UltiBurk.

"You weren't with the other creatures. You weren't part of my...show. Do you know what I've done?" Strangelove's words seemed gloating, yet there was no variation in tone. To call his affect unnatural would be an understatement.

"I can't say I care. Move or be moved. Last warning."

"You fail to understand, mortal. You have abandoned your...friends and they are being killed as we speak. The star-spawn will knaw upon their souls for eons beyond eons...or something like that. I've been working on my dramatic delivery."

"You really don't get who they are, do you?" UltiBurk laxed his grip on his sword. "They're the Chat Fighters. Star-spawns and tadpoles alike are no more likely to kill them than you or I. Between us two, they're too stupid to die. Most of them. Me, I've got a different problem...I don't have the- TIME TO DIE!!" UltiBurk surged forward only to be hit by a bolt of (what else) dark energy from Strangelove's gauntlet, halting his advance. UltiBurk jumped back, throwing a lightning bolt from his sword into Strangelove as he ran up the wall. But the dark entity wasn't finished.

"What are you doing," asked Strangelove, his form drifting backwards as if carried by a breeze. "Wondering how you deal with gravity. GRAVITY CONTROL!!" A ball of compressed gravity flew into Strangelove, only to simply hum through the warlock's form. "You're...not very perceptive." UltiBurk jumped, leaping onto Strangelove's gauntlet. Though he hardly noticed it, Burk could hear a low roar- as if air were being sucked past his ears.

Strangelove looked up to UltiBurk, showing prominently his utter lack of a body. Then he struck, metal gauntlet ringing out as it impacted with Burkion's face, knocking him backwards. "Such little lives. Short, pointless, and futile. Everything you make falls to dust in the end- don't you see?" Blocking it out, Burk yelled "Oh shut up and try living a day in our place!" He hit back, knocking Strangelove's helm off his body with a holy-infused punch. Then another bolt knocked him back as Strangelove kept talking, the helm returning to him. "Surely you know it, in your heart of hearts. It is all for nothing. Your life has been a waste. The life of an...ant is without purpose, and this continues up to the higher species."

"Maybe so. But the world isn't ending, nor will it. Not in my lifetime, no matter how short or long it might be. You, however, are an annoying pest who reads to the end of the book. Who really likes *******s like you?"

(A random dude on the street raised his hand. A freak lightning strike fried him.)

"The world will end," said Dr. Strangelove. "I am older than you and everything else existing. I am older than this universe; I have watched its birth and I will watch its death. The trick is just to have some fun- otherwise this worthless existence becomes terribly boring, wouldn't you think?"

"...you honestly think I'd agree with you? Why? What, in any reality, in any telling of this story, in any VERSION of this, would give you the idea that I would agree with you?

(A lightly crisped random dude on the street raised his hand again. They say that lightning never strikes the same spot twice. They're wrong)

"I am ancient beyond description...don't you want to know the secrets of the universe? Aside from the fact that it's all quite pointless, really?" Strangelove seemed to be running out of things to say. Or patience. UltiBurk shared his sentiment; he knew that he was wasting his time with this pointless debate. "I don't really care right now...just GET OUT OF MY WAY!" He charged, firing holy energy into Strangelove's center and then bringing his sword down into the helm. At this point, he simply didn't care what Strangelove had to say.

Dr. Strangelove caught the blade and smote UltiBurk away. "This isn't working. You won't argue. Boring." At that moment, a sudden crack rose through the road. Strangelove's form- to that point incorporeal to an extent- appeared to be gaining cohesion. "You thought I was a pest? Quite mistaken."

("No," muttered UltiBurk, "I thought you were an ***.")

Then the low howl UltiBurk had heard, and had been hearing, grew louder and louder, deafening the conversation. Suddenly, the entire road began to rip itself apart, its pieces racing to Strangelove's form- literally vanishing into it! UltiBurk began to skid forward as well, drawn towards the howling emptiness underneath Strangelove's cloak and helm. "This form is merely a projection, little insect. I assume it to interact with such tiny species as your own. But you've proven quite the annoyance. Now you can learn the secret.

"I am the avatar of a conscious, infinite void...or, in other words more suitable to your species...a sentient, living black hole. And now you will join with me...forever."

[Burkion]

UltiBurk jumped backwards, gritting his teeth, as he lashed out his sword-a black and silver whip of energy and magic rushing from it and striking a building next to him, sending it hurtling into Strangelove, stopping the suction for a moments time.

"I'm getting really tired of you jackasses making me break gravity..." he muttered as he brought his impromptu gravity whip up and crashed it down on another building, leaping backwards, timing it to get out of range.

[Neo-Crucifer]

A very cross (pardon the pun)-looking GodofPH clenched his fists as spheres of golden energy materialized around them. Truth be told, he was getting really tired of seeing these Shoggoths; their bubbling, amorphous masses had been vaguely shocking the first time around, but now they were just annoying. "Or just generic monsters to occupy filler posting before something big actually happens," PH said to himself. But hey, he was the Holy Sentry. These things wouldn't be much trouble. With the slightest motion of his wristblade, the crackling spheres tore through the air and into the nearest Shoggoth, vaporizing bits of the creature wherever they stuck. PH followed up on that attack with a volley of FIRE AND BRIMSTONE, and the protoplasmic Shoggoth smoked and burnt.

And then Shin Goji slammed into GodofPH, knocking him out of the way of the star-spawn's descending claw. Both Chat Fighters tried not to look at it- after all, its angles were all wrong- which proved easier done than said as a cloud of dust burst from where its enormous talon had hit the pavement. PH, instead, chose to stare quizzically at the newcomer. "Uh, thanks, I guess," he stammered, "you're the guy who makes portals, right?"

"Yes," Shin admitted, "but I mostly just use them for surprise. I'm not used to fighting these...these." He looked down at his collection of masks, not exactly sure how to utilize what he had. Using Evil GMK Goji's was probably not a good idea around the other CFers, although the holy sword Miracle could possibly prove useful against the monsters. They didn't really seem demonic, though, just...old.

"Wait," said a third voice behind the pair, "did you say you can create portals?" PH and Shin, a bit startled, turned around to see the crouching form of Neurotic. And was that a smile on his face?

-------

The building shattered against Strangelove's 'body' and simply added to the growing hurricane of rubble. If the dark entity had even registered the attack, he- it gave no sign. As Burkion leapt away, though, his senses began to register the approach of a new presence. It didn't really matter, though, as the black hole that had been Strangelove seemed only to be growing bigger.



And a ways away from these two fights, a form in rags persued its target.

[Seer235]

Where Anthrax is

Raptor's face appeared again over Anthrax's comm. device. "General Anthrax, we just finished speeking did we not? Was there something you forgot?"

Anthrax took a deep breath before speeking. He knew he was about to enter a very precarious area. "There was one thing. An order was given the guard forces--an order using my command code. The Guard forces were told to refrain from aiding Neurotic and the CFers during their fight with Ghidorah. This was not an order I gave."

"So you believe this order was given without your permission or knowledge. Why didn't you mention it earlier? Perhaps Goji Son thought that the battle was too dangerous for the Guardsmen."

The metathran general shook his head. "Even if it was incredibly dangerous, it was important enough to send in at least the elite forces, who could survive almost any situation the CFers could survive in. Plus, Goji Son could have used his own command codes for the order. This must have been someone who did not want to be connected to this order."

"Are you asserting what I believe you are?" Raptor was quickly realizing what this would indicate.

She tried to continue, but Anthrax cut her off. "I assure you, I am not making any claims at the moment. I am well aware that doing so would be far exceeding my position. However, you do know the only people who could have access to this command code--"

"Include Neo-Crucifer, the man who we are already in pursuit of--"

"Who would have had no opportunity to give the order without being seen." Anthrax knew how this conversation would go. Raptor especially would be unwilling to believe that her fellow councilmembers could perform heinous acts. He wasn't sure she even fully believed that Neo-Crucifer was guilty. "Furthermore, now that he is the de facto President of Chat Fighter, he would have--" Anthrax stopped mid-sentence. he would have no reason to kill of the Chat Fighters.

"...Yes, General Anthrax?" Raptor gently reminded the metathran that he was still in a conversation.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. Something has come up on the scene. I will report soon." Anthrax quickly cut off the communication and rubbed his forehead. Neo-Crucifer would not have wanted to kill the Chat Fighters. That means that some other group inside the council must have made the order. But keeping all Guardsmen back would not have significantly increased casualties. It would have simply have given the Chat Fighters much needed aid in their battle. Could it be...? Ideas swirled through Anthrax's head.

That's it. That must be it. Anthrax leapt out of the office, the same as Burkion had not long before. However, Anthrax was not chasing after Neo-Crucifer. He had a very different destination in mind.

Back at the Shoggoth Fight

Three of the Shoggoths had been taken down--one by Orc and godzy, one turned into a Zetsu clone, and one burnt into nothing by PH. A fourth was slowly thawing from Kinsley's ice shot.

Orc, Kinsley, Zetsu, the Zetsu clone and godzy lined up to take on the last two mobile Shoggoths. Normally, a beast would show fear in this situation, but the two Shoggoths did not have the mental capacity for that emotion. Or perhaps they simply existed beyond such a feeling? Regardless, the CFers were sure they would soon fall alongside their deceased kin.

The certainty quickly disappeared, as tendrils wrapped around the four CFers. "Hey, Zetsu, what the hell?" Orc yelled at the plantman.

"It's not me, idiot. It's..." Zetsu turned to look at the Zetsu clone. Or, more accurately, the Zetsu-Shoggoth. Mouths and eyes began appearing around the body of the Zetsu clone, his skin began to run with an otherworldly acidic slime, and tentacles burst from its back. This would make things somewhat more problematic. Acid began running from the tendrils, burning at the CFers.

And if things weren't alread fun enough, the frozen Shoggoth finally burst free of the ice, and began to advance on the CFers along with the other two.


Meanwhile, PH, Shin, and Neurotic did their best to simulatenously avoid being destroyed by the Star Spawn, communicate a plan, and not go totally insane. It wasn't going very well--a building had just collapsed onto Shin.

"I need Shin for this plan. Can you buy us a minute?" Neurotic yelled the request to PH. The holy sentry didn't give a verbal acknowledgement, but raised a wall of fire and brimstone, hopefully blocking off the Starspawn for a few seconds. Neurotic dove away, grabbing Shin (who had helpfully appeared next to Neurotic out of a portal) and ran out of the Starspawn's sight.

The Starspawn emerged from the flames and, seeing only PH, focused on him. "Oh snit." PH began running.

"Ok, so what's the plan?" Shin knew they had to be quick, or they would soon find a mangled PH and a bored Starspawn.

"We need something big to destroy this thing. Something that will rip at space and time itself, right?" Neurotic hurriedly explained. "If we can drop one of your portals into another, we can cause an infinitely recursing portal spiral--something that, by all rights, should not exist. In short--it's going to explode. Explode big and explode in a bad way. If we get that to go off next to the Starspawn, it'll get completely destroyed as the space around it rips and reconstructs."

Shin gave Neurotic a blank stare. "Uh....sure, why not? But we can't do that. I can't spawn the portals inside each other, and once I make the portals, I can't move them."

Neurotic grinned. "You just leave that to me."

[Burkion]

UltiBurk, noticing the storm of debries, chucked one last building at Strangelove-with himself attached.

As it began to break apart, he leaped from the crumbling structure, jumping from piece to piece to get across from the vortex.

[Godzilla]

Orc struggled against the Zetsu-Shoggoth's tendril that continued to wrap itself around him even tighter. The burning acid oozing from it began to even overpower Orc's enhanced regenerative abilities causing his muscle tissue to begin showing through his wounds. Despite all of this, Orc gathered enough strength to rip through the tendril and was able to fend of the others approaching him with his hammer. But before releasing his fellow CFers, he paused for a second, "Alright, which one of you deserves to be released first?"

[Shin lvl2 Goji]

Kinsley was the first to respond.
Orc didn't have time to second guess him because another tendril that was dripping acid was heading towards him. He brought the hammer down, freeing Kinsley and ducked to avoid the acidic appendage. Kinsley locked and loaded his gun.

*camera zooms in*

"Dinner's served." Kinsley said with a grin, directly facing the viewers (readers?).

Pelting the incoming tentacles with ice shots, he froze them into place before switching to the element of fire. The Shoggoth he previously froze snuck up behind him, but Kinsley wasn't taken by surprise. He could practically smell him.

BLAM!

He fired a shot of fire that lit up the gelatonous creature in a small tower of flames. He then shot fire at the frozen tendrils, shattering them and freeing the others.






Back with Shin and Neurotic, the plan was set. Shin opened a portal on a building near the starspawn.

"I hope this works. This could be a big mistake if something goes wrong." said Shin in a slightly worried tone.

Neurotic searched for the ideal place for the other portal to make the plan work.

"There!" he directed Shin, pointing to a boulder that was near a crushed car.

Shin opened the second portal on the surface of the boulder and Neurotic ran up to it, grabbing it and struggling to lift it. The oversized shadow of the Starspawn's giant claw blanketed PH before it stopped midway. The creature released its refuse, leaving a very dizzy MDABuddha to emerge from the dumpster he was housed in. How he survived, he had no idea. He was asleep the whole time. Have you ever smelled Starspawn poop? Not the most pleasant of scents. PH used the momentary distraction to get clear and then continued running.

"Here comes PH!" Shin alerted Neurotic.

"Just a few more seconds..." Neurotic murmured as the Starspawn drew closer to passing the building with the portal.

Shin watched as the Starspawn's thundering advances shook the very ground they stood on, threatening to collapse the building at any second. PH turned around just in time to see the monstrous behemoth give an glass-shattering roar as Neurotic tossed the boulder into the portal. Everyone who was present could feel an intense pressure change in the air as the portals collided with one another, tearing matter to nothingness before their eyes. The Starspawn was sucked in and obliterated upon contact. Wreckage from the surrounding area was forced up from the ground and disintegrated. Even though it felt like a matter of minutes, mere seconds had passed before there was an earth-rocking explosion that blew everyone backwards. The Shoggoths were blown to pieces from the force of the blast. Buildings were leveled. The sky trembled and Justin Bieber cut his hair. The chaos was finally over.

Breaking the space-time continuum? All in a day's work for the Chat Fighters.

"When I get my hands on Strangelove..." Zetsu muttered.

"I wonder what his angle in this is in the first place." said Godzy. "He definitely wanted to slow us down, which means we're getting closer to solving this mystery."

After catching his breath, Neurotic stood up. "Let's hurry and get some answers. I hope Crucifer's trail hasn't gotten too cold while we were fighting."

They went on, passing the American Kaiju Store. Betty White was signing autographs inside.