Through the Crystal Expanse [Chapter I]

[Solomon]

If there was any other way to reach their destination than the harsh winter conditions of the Crystal Expanse Solomon would gladly lead them through it. Unfortunately the quickest way to reach Hallowton was through the Crystal Expanse and so Solomon led the surviving soldiers and refugees, making sure to push them enough to where they can make quick tracks but not hard enough to tire them down. Rations would only hold out for so long. "Sire," began one of the soldiers, "may we please rest now? This journey has been long and tasking on us all."

Solomon only shook his head. "I am afraid we cannot. Fall asleep here and the cold will freeze over your body and trap you forever in a prison of ice. We must press forward or else we'll be easy prey for the ice monsters." It wasn't his intention to scare them but that what happened soon after he spoke. They were close to a city where they would be able to rest, he could feel it. Solomon also had faith that Miracle and the others will force that dark creature back so they would not have to worry about it again. He drew his sword and then pointed it forward to the horizon, "Forward march!"

[Rin Kagamine]

Rin danced and leaped through the hard snow like it was pure heaven. She loved the crunches of each step, but the people who were caught frozen in the ice were what made her realistic hair stand. Their eyes followed her with hate and envy as the cyborg stared back with playful eyes. "Don't worry!" Rin yelled out. "I'm not human!" The little cyborg brought a fist to her head and gently knocked on her blond hair. An echo replied as more did suit, proving she was made of pure metal but had the looks and feel of a human. Besides that, Rin wasn't wearing a thick jacket in this climate, so she thought it was enough proof.

Slowly, the girl walked towards the direction where she heard the voices of a crowd and pounding footsteps, in hopes that she could find a few people to accompany them to the city. Rin had enough energy since she just switched her batteries not too long ago and it wasn't going to run low anytime soon, so it was pretty easy walking from there to here. The travel was lonely though and painfully silent, but it wasn't going to be for long. As she turned a corner, the little cyborg noticed a rather tall and intimidating man guiding a huge crowd behind him. A small shock was sent down her body as a smile ran across her face. "Hey!"

[Solomon]

All stop and the guards raised their polearms at the presence of the new girl but Solomon held up his arm to signal them to lower their weapons. They did so without protest as their captain took a couple of steps forward. He did not reach for his sword but his stance and expression showed that he was ready to defend himself should the need arise. But only if the need arise. Solomon's eyes scanned the female and notice how the cold held no command over her. That could mean any number of things as many could ignore the cold, and none of them were human. "I am Solomon. Captain of Aircano. Who is it that stands before me?"

[Rin Kagamine]

As some of the men in group raised their weapons for defense, Rin opened her mouth half way, ready to use her sonic waves if they tried to attack. The leading man had then ordered their weapons, for he probably found no intimidation in the little cyborg probably. She smile toothily and skipped innocently towards the tall, leading man. Rin's blue eyes was trained on his face taking note of his still and serious expression along with his stance. Do I really look like a threat? He was probably wondering how Rin is unaffected by the snow though her joints were stiffening a bit. "Hello," her synchronized voice becoming more noticeable. "I am Rin Kagamine, a vocaloid or a cyborg that specializes in vocal music. It's nice to meet you." The little cyborg shoved her hand towards him, a smile still plastered on her face.

[Aper]

A blinding flash of light erupted deep in the horizon. All heads turned to look at it – shining like a blue-white star in the distance. A dread-filled silence took over the mass of people who had been on the run for hours as slowly, one by one, they each realized where the flare was coming from; the Kingdom of Heaven, the Citadel of Light, the Holy City, their home…

Aircano.

A faint tremor began to rumble the earth beneath their feet until the full force of the conflagration struck them like a brick wall; throwing them off their feet and pinning them down. The wind howled like a hurricane, lifting snow and dirt from the ground. Boulders shifted. Ancient trees were uprooted. The heat instantly rose to near intolerable levels. All around them the snow began to melt – even the glaciers broke apart to unleash avalanches which quickly turned to floods. The soil became hot, the winter tree’s leaves caught fire, and the sky became illuminated by the birth of a second sun, basking the entire region under a harsh white glow. And the inferno expanded, making its approach like a great wall of light.

The earth shook. Burned. And it didn’t stop. It wouldn’t stop.

[Silver Eyes]

Around those present, images of light phased into view. They were oval in shape and quivered along the edges as if though something inside it was trying to break out. They quickly gained form and faded away--it was those who had taken a stand against the Arashi at Aircano. Amoura had safely teleported everyone --well, not all but most--away from what could have killed them within seconds.

The last to arrive were Amoura and Miracle, who she had held onto the entire time until this point. The exhausted female landed in the snow, released Miracle, closed her eyes and fell forward. The light she had been radiating from her angelic form dimmed, her wings disintegrated and she laid there, unconscious. Teleporting them out had taxed the last of her energy and she'll be out for quite some time.

What's worse is off in the distance, the Arashi's power had not stopped expanding. It was a bright wall and it was destroying everything in its path.

They had no other option than to outrun it.

[I'll edit this post later after lunch with family. Figured I'd start it up so people can start posting. Also.

FLEEEEEEEEEEEE! ]

[Miracle]

"MARICUL!"

Miracle screamed at the top of her lungs as she and Amoura descended from the sky. The High Priestess felt Amoura's hold over her weaken before finally releasing her altogether, violet colored eyes watched with great concern as the hybrid fell to the ground and lose consciousness. Hell was literally behind them in the form of the strongest supernova ever seen by man and the hybrid couldn't go on anymore. Miracle didn't even have any time to explain things to Solomon. Only one word came out of her mouth as she looked over to the others.

"Run!"

Miracle didn't have to say that twice. The refugees that has already been through so much began to run away, giving into panic as they screamed. The High Priestess tried lifting the hybrid to her feet but she wasn't strong enough to carry her. The will was strong but the body was weak. Using all her strength to keep from panicking Miracle looked to one of the stronger people nearby who could carry the hybrid while they fled.

"Help me!"

[Solomon]

A vocaloid? Definitely not from around here unless General Vulture has been creating them to appease his perverted mind. Solomon shook her hand as a sign of respect but the pleasantries would have to be made short. "I'm afraid we must make haste. We're on our way to Hallowton-" Then the blinding flash of light came. The ground shook. Years of frozen ruins began to melt as he fell to the ground and felt his body being bounded to it. As he heard the screams of Miracle Solomon powered himself up to his feet and turned to see the others. They had managed to transport here by the power of the Night Angel.

It did not take long for the people to make it back up to their feet and run for their lives. The ice monsters in the surrounding area was beginning to feel the effect of the heat as they slowly melted away. Sweat poured down Solomon's face as he forced his way through the running refugees and over to where Miracle and Amoura were. He put away his sword and hunched down to get Amoura on his back and carry through the Crystal Expanse while the flood came. "There isn't any time!" he shouted to the others. "Run as fast as you can!"

[Clash]

They stared at each other, eyes alight with indignity. In perfect harmony they yelled at each other.

IM A SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!!

They quickly circled each other, not even caring that they were suddenly in a new area, one not caring that Maricul, that babe he planned to hump talk megalomaniac schemes with was gone, the other not caring that he had just found a bunch of his old friend. DUDE THERE WERE TWO OF THEM! That's damn trippy!

"I AM!"
"I AM!"
"YOU SUCK!"
"YOU SUCK!"

The two sharks circled each other more, staring angrily. "Where did you come from!?" "I'm a hero in my world! You got nothing on me, sardine tin!" "You've got some nerve, looking like me and being a cheap knockoff!" "I was getting high scores and tearing up dance floors long before you decided to slap a ripoff of my bodacious blue body onto your greasy hide!" "SUCK MY DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!" "YOU STOLE MY LINE!"

The two of them suddenly loomed towards each other, teeth revving loudly as they sought to come to terms the way only a pair of mechanized sharks could. Then the two of them noticed different things. One Clash noticed the refugees fleeing from an expanding super nova, what kind of dumbass creates a new star IN A SOLAR SYSTEM!? The other Clash, the one to appear first in this world, noticed Amoura. Hot damn! She was a looker! She was no Maricul but he'd give her a 9/10. The two Clashes looked to each other. "Truce?" "Truce." For now.

"LETS MOVE! MOVE MOVE MOVE!" Clash quickly bound through the ice, shouting and urging the admittedly very shocked refugees on, using his remoraz's laz0rs to remove slick patches of ice and create a stable path for the fleeing refugees. "Hey there, I just came through a dimentional vortex from another world, wanna make out?" Clash moved next to Amoura, his flashlight eyes gazing up at her as he matched the pace of Solomon. He seemed completely oblivious to Amoura's current condition.

[Rin Kagamine]

As everyone started screaming and running, Rin waited until the violent waters had reached within ten feet of her to run. Silently, her electronic brain finally responded and off she ran, passing some slow refugees. The little cyborg didn't have muscles or bones but only pure electricity and power, so running at full speed wasn't so difficult to maintain. Rin's shoes screeched to a stop as she had offered a hand towards Maricul, who seemed to be a bit frighten at what was happening. "Come one," Rin wrapped her thin arms around the human's waist and started to run at full speed again, reaching Solomon's side. "Hey, get out of the way, bastard!" The vocaloid raised a fist, ready to smash the guy and turn him into roadkill.

[Sparda]

Amidst the panic and desperation unfolding around him as he rematerialised after Amoura's teleportation spell, Sparda seemed to remain utterly calm for a moment. While everyone else picked themselves up in spite of their exhaustion and ran for their lives from the singularly gargantuan explosion raging into life behind them, erasing the very landscape as it expanded from the Ground Zero that was once Aircano, he stood in place for a few very long seconds, merely scowling darkly at the Arashi's unrestrained power.

"Damned monster... I hate backing out."

Looking only mildly concerned, the demon turned around and broke into an almost casual run, Revelation disintegrating from his grasp in a shroud of black smoke; assimilated as part of his own demonic power, it could now be summoned and banished at his will. He kept pace with the refugees at the back of the crowd, doing his best to speed them up and keep them moving.

[Shiro Kasumi]

Cold. That is all that the boy could feel right now. Was he dead? Was he finally killed off by the demons he hated? All these thoughts ran through his mind as the chilling feeling covered his body. However, this wouldn't last long. The ground around him began to shake a bit. His eyes slowly opened. At first his vision was blurry, blotchy figures would quickly moving. What in the hell? As he slowly sat up and brushed the snow off of his clothes. The boy was laying on a cliff as he saw a massive group of people running as fast as they could below him.

What was going on? His head turned as he saw a massive light getting closer by the second. It looks like an explosion or made a supernova but that would be impossible. A supernova can't happen here. So he went with his first option, an explosion. The group passed him by as tried to stand up. his body was a little weak but he could stand. The icy air filled his lungs. God how he loved the cold. But, he would have to enjoy this feeling later.

He quickly jumped and began to slide down on the ice covered cliff. Whatever caused that explosion must have been powerful and he didn't want to get caught in it. Once at the bottom, he cracked his neck and stretched a bit. He felt as if he was sleeping for months. With his normal smirk, he took off. Ice spikes, rocks, and snowy hills zipped passed him as if he was a car on a racetrack. Speed was his main physical trait and boy, did he love it.

however, his eyes caught a glimpse of someone he knew. His white hair, that old outfit, and that demonic aura; could it be? His eyes widened as he realized who it was. Sparda, his old master. After so many months being away, he was so happy to see him. With a smile, he quickly ran faster. In seconds, he caught up next to his old master. "Miss me?" He said with a smile that was almost causing him to cry. God, how he missed him and the others from DMC.

[Miracle]

((Rin Kagamine: just so you know dear it's "Miracle" not "Maricul" I understand the confusion though.))

Solomon. Miracle knew she could count on him. He came and lifted the exhausted Amoura onto his back before returning to lead the other refugees to safety. More people joined in as Miracle saw the twin sharks arguing with one another before deciding to help. Miracle was in the process of standing up to assist the others until the cyborg came to her side and held onto her. The High Priestess couldn't bring herself to complain as the woman's speed was more handy in this situation than her own until it appeared she was going to run down her friends.

"No don't hurt him!" Miracle cried out. "Please don't hurt him!"

Miracle closed her eyes unable to bring herself to look. They may very well survive the supernova only to watch someone die at the hands of those that were trying to help them.

[Solomon]

Good help was so hard to come across these days. Using the bits of ice that remained underneath his feet Solomons slid to the side avoiding the cyborg's rush as he continued in the midst of his run ignoring one shark and going to the other that was actually proving himself useful to the front of the line. "Keep moving!" shouted Solomon to the refugees. "Falling behind means death!"

Up ahead to make matters worse were the ice creatures looking to claim the lives of the people heading to their position. With Amoura on his back he was unable to reach for his sword, Sparda was at the rear of the people so instead he looked over to Clash. "Keep those monsters away from the refugees!" Solomon had a prediction that the cyborg would run down some of the approaching ice monsters, the rest would be left to Clash. Any that come from behind would either be taken by the supernova or by Sparda himself.

[Clash]

"Roger, Dodger, I'll make 'em lick my todger!" And with that crass statement and Sparda at the van Clash's headlight eyes flashed. The six Remoraz jetted off behind the refugees. "Sure hope this works!" The symbiotic fish-weapons drove into the icy ground and exploded in brilliant violet flashes, fiery indigo smoke rising into the air as the frozen ground, solid ice all the way to the long forgotten soil, suddenly jutted up. The fiery blast of the expanding nova would be diverted, at least temporarily, giving the refugees precious time and a respite from the rolling winds and unyielding heat.

Now about those cold shouldered snowjobs up ahead.

Clash hurled his body into the air, completely removing himself from the ground. "sexy time... LETS GET DANGEROUS!" With as much bluster and gusto as a robotic shark can muster, Clash's metal body opened and whirred, his metal lined organs, wires winding round blood vessels, and innermost parts and workings were revealed. With a sound akin to an origami crane being folded out of sheet metal, the form of the robot shark turned into a human male wearing black pants and a loud Hawaiian shirt. A basket-hilt broadsword in his hand and a clear understanding in his mind. "I'mma heat things up around here, if you catch my drift!" Snow puns aside. Clash's human form bolted ahead of the refugees, sprinting towards a pack of ice creatures.

They resembled great boars or wolves, four legs and shaggy fur with thick snow and ice coatings, their movements sounded like ice cracking and long jagged tusks and teeth ended in cruel points for shattering through the frozen terrain. The first Creature met a rather unfortunate end, the airborn man-shark shark-man's broadsword ripped through its back, shoulder to shoulder. A blast of steam preceded a spray of blood that froze instantly, the creature locking up like ice and its corpse falling like a macabre sculpture. Clash landed and turned, spinning 360 degrees as his bare feet crunched through the snow. Shark and Awe flashed and licked across the face of another ice beast, splitting a tusk and ending the creature in a flash-frozen gout of blood and eye-juice. Another quick motion and his blade bit through the side of one beast, Clash pulled back, feeling the freezing blood almost stealing his weapon from him, the rapid increase in friction as the ice claimed another beast.

"Oh, that taint-waffle!" Clash seethed as his doppelganger changed into a person and started showing off his little pig sticker on the ice creatures. Two can play that game. One of the beasts ran past Clash, only to encounter a sense of Deja Vu. Clash opened, a blast of steam escaping his body as his hot innards were exposed to the frozen air. He rose out of the ground in a leap, two spears emerging from within him as he folded in on himself, revealing a youthful blond main in a red coat, he looked barely 19 as his twin spears impaled the beast, holding it in the air and preventing it from attacking Solomon and Amoura. "I'M THE SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!" Clash pulled both the spears to the side, watching the creatures body explode into gruesome frozen coral of vitae as its body hit the ground and lodge in place. Clash ran and caught up with Clash. "Anything you can do I can do better!" Clash threw a spear, watching the blade rip through one beast's throat and stick into the ground, he held the other one in both hands, going back to back with his other self. "too bad I can do anyONE better than you." Clash did in another beast with Shark and awe, the two Sharks holding the attention of this pack of ice beasts while the refugees moved away from the wall of fire.