The eyes of the beast narrowed as Fear spread out its influence within the mindscape. It roared in jubilation: Fear had made a fatal mistake.

He was no longer in R.D.'s mind.

The beast roared again, stepping out of the darkness slightly, revealing a tough, dark blue hide. Golden eyes glinted and it unleashed another deafening psionic roar.

GET OUT!

And with that, Fear was ripped from the dreamscape, expelled back into the physical plane.

===In Japan===

R.D. grabbed his head the moment Fear assaulted it, as did Alasea with her own. However, within moments, they stopped, the feeling disappearing suddenly. A draconic growl echoed in R.D.'s mind, and he looked up just in time to see Fear begin to manifest.

"I'm ready, let's just begin!" Meta snapped at Xoquoxitill. For a moment, she was silent then, her breath heaving. "Sorry, I should not have snapped now. I am just impatient. Let's continue on already."

Meta nodded at Xoquoxitill. She thought herself ready enough to do the thing that was expected of her. She walked into the church and kept walking, ignoring the people that sat in the benches. She walked all the way up to the front, and then she turned aroud, took one last deep breath, and then it started.

"You people, all who are gathered here," She spoke loudly and clearly, "shall be released from their sentence here."

She waited several moments, not only for dramatic effect, but also for the thought to sink in, and should any cheering or applauding in joy arise, it would be granted enough time to die down.

"Now, please come forward one by one. And I mean one by one. Those who will try to get their turn too early will be punished."

After this, she would wait until one of them would come forward, and then she would do so as Xoquoxitill had explained, place a hand on their shoulder, close her eyes, and form a image within her head of a locked door she would open. After having released the soul, she would wait for the next one and do the same thing again, and that over and over again until the church would be empty save for herself.

The Pillar of Dawn shone brightly, staying the darkness and warming those around it. Alasea glared angrily at the being, clenching her fist. "It's not here anymore," she shouted, "I got rid of it from Lee's system. Its no longer here, and you've no reason to remain here. Leave before I am forced to destroy you."

"Gawth... that was so incredibly boring." Meta uttered as she fell back and landed rather ungracefully on the floor with her behind. She let the rest of her body to the ground too, her knees in the air, her heels close to the rest of her body, her arms spread outwards to the sides, as if she was trying to make a legless snow angel in the rock floor. After several long moments of lying there on the cold church floor to rest her mind and body after that excercise, Meta straightened herself up into a sitting position. "Nothing is as tiresome as boring things." She concluded, and then proceeded to stand up. She dusted herself off a little, some sand had stuck to her when she had laid down on the floor, and then she walked out of the church to meet with Xoquoxitill again. "What's next?" She would ask, trying to act casually, still a little bit agitated, but also tired thanks to her standing in the same spot for three hours.

Meta thought about that for a while. There certainly would have to be at least one or two questions she really would like to ask of this Nightmare God right here.

"Okay, I have a few questions," She came to say, and tried to look at Xoquoxitill with a firm gaze. "First off, does this new position of mine provide me with any additional minions of any kind, besides the nice fleshy temple and the powers?" She asked him. "And second..." She considered not asking the second question for a moment, but then decided to ask it anyway. "...could you tell me more about those Obsidian Weapons?"

"Aha." Meta said in response, understanding this all. A glint of glee appeared in her eyes as she tasted the mental deliciousness of an idea. "Say, you don't suppose..." She started off innocently, as she walked closer to Xoquoxitill, holding her hands on her back, "that I could run for tribe leader?"

Meta's lips pressed together to form a line, making a face that held somewhere in-between disappointment and a well-faked smile. "Of course." She said, and took a step backwards. "I suppose I'll take that up with the Tzhaar then." She said. She had half a mind of stealing the weapons for a moment, but disregarded the idea immediately. She certainly could not use any new enemies now, and Xoquoxitill had done nothing bad to her, at least not yet. Meta looked around, the semi-disappointed expression still on her face, her back turned towards Xoquoxitill. She looked for a way out, to get to the Tzhaar. She wasn't all too familiar with teleporting of any kind, she had only done it twice before, and one time she had help from a god. "I don't suppose you could help me get to those Tzhaar?" She then asked Xoquoxitill, turning around, her semi-disappointed expression gone even before she turned, her hair whirling around her head as she turned.

This came as a surprise to Meta, and an unwanted, ugly surprise at that. "I would have to watch over them for as far as I am alive?" She said, quite repeating Xoquoxitill's words in that matter for emphasis. It seemed to be disappointing and dissatisfying to her, but then another thought came to her mind. "I don't suppose it would be possible for me to keep the tribes close to me so I can watch over them, rather than me keeping close to the tribes?" She asked Xoquoxitill, basically implying that there might be the possibility of her taking the tribes with her to Earth and watch over them there as she combated the Seven.

"I'll think of something." Meta replied thoughtfully as she stared off into the distance. "I surely will." She wasn't sure on exactly how she would do it, however, and that was a thing that bothered her for the moment. She didn't know how many Tzhaars there were, but she thought she could perhaps create a portal to Earth through which she could transport her Tzhaars. But what would happen after that? The entire Earth was occupied by her father's forces, and the only allies she knew herself to have were Malvettix, the army of Reaverbots, the inhabitants of Tartarus, and -- if Malvettix had done what he had told her -- one named Ziatoch. She did not think she could rely on the latter or the good guys on this one, however, and Malvettix was only one person. However, Tartarus was also a long deal away from Earth, so that would pose a problem. She would need a movable base.

The Queen flared up into purple energy, briefly taking a vaguely insectoid shape. Her power spiked and lightning struck all around.

X, however, was not fazed. It was like he had become a different person in a sense. With sheer force of will, wind began to blow at the Queen. Bit by bit he forced her down, compressing her into a tiny ball of violet radiance.

"With this, I reinforce the seal of my soul. Where once an accident, now intentional. As long as you exist in my body and in my soul, you shall pay me rent, in the form of your power; but it will be on my terms, with my mind directing it. You are not in a position to negotiate. If you do not agree to my terms, you will still be compelled to abide by them." X turned to regard the man who had arrived, "I appreciate what you have done here, but your presence is no longer required. He snapped his fingers.

----

Outside, in the real world, X fell forward. His mutated armor shattered and dissolved into energy, leaving only the original blue armor he had worn before. He fell facedown onto the roof of the building, unconscious.

"Aw hell," R.D. muttered, drawing one Phase Blade from his left hip and slamming its pommel into the second. He pulled out the Phase Lance and activating it, causing both blades to extend from either end. Channeling water energy into the blades, he leaped upwards and spun the double-sided sword around in a crafty circle, spraying the energized water out at the Fury Fire and Blood. "Bryant, Brandon, now!" he shouted over his shoulder, signaling his new companions to attack the immobilized Fear Elemental.

Alasea drew the Megami Tsurugi and began to pray, channeling her holy powers into her weapon. I might not be able to permanently destroy an Elemental of a dark nature, she thought, But I can try to destroy the physical form and prevent it from manifesting again!

She swung the sword around, its white blade shining with morning light. Bringing the sacred sword around and up to her side, she swung hard, releasing a blade wave of pure light energy at the two new Elementals, the energy causing severe pain and paralysis to the two should they connect with it.

===In England===

Once more the warrior found himself staring upwards at the gray skies above England. Grunting, the man shifted and sat up, his armor preventing him from moving into any position that wasn't awkward for sitting. Looking around, he saw X, now in blue armor, lying unconscious on the rooftop. He quickly pulled off his helmet and stood up, striding over to the fallen man. Kneeling down, he turned X over, and said, "Are you there, X?"

X was clearly exhausted. Only the faintest traces of energy could be felt emanating from him. Whether from the energy the Queen had spent in addition to her own, or from sealing her, he had fallen into a long nap.

Even so, he still held a deathgrip on the hilt of a broken sword.

"I'm going to the Tzhaars." Meta declared, breaking the silence after it had lasted several long moments, during which, coinciding with the silence, no words had been spoken by neither Xoquoxitill nor herself. She turned and walked past Xoquoxitill. After walking several yards, she remembered that she could insta-port over to the place now anyway, considering she had been given that ability recently by the very god who she had just walked past. She did so, and vanished from the vast area surrounding the Nightmare Colosseum and the Temple of Flesh, only to reappear again in the city of the Tzhaars, were she would look out for the first Tzhaar she had met. She couldn't recall his name very well, and perhaps it was likely that she wouldn't be able to instantly recognise him due to the race being vastly different from humans or near-humans, and it is commonly known that all stones look the same to a human, but all humans also look the same to a stone.

(OOC: Juno, can we not play War of Escalation here?)

The armored warrior frowned at X, having gained no response. He did, however, take note that the man was breathing, and still kept a tight hold on the shattered sword he held. The man looked about; realizing that with the danger passed, people should be returning. It would probably be best to get X out of sight to prevent ill will being done against the blue-armored man.

Carefully, the warrior hoisted X up over his shoulder, grunting at the heavy weight, and walked over to what appeared to him to be a doorway. Kicking the door open, he ventured inside to a stairwell and set X down, propping his still form up against a wall. With this accomplished, he himself stood by the doorway, looking for possible threats. The Queen had mentioned some sort of Templar during their exchange; if this Templar had been watching the fight, then most assuredly he or she would be coming for X. It would be prudent to be ready for battle, should trouble arise.

In a chamber far away, in a dimension parallel, Tracer walked down the hallway.

"Hail to the badass. All praise the returning conquerer!" He cried to everyone he passed. He walked down the ornate hallway, darkly decorated and arrived at the end, where lay an obsidian throne. The throne at first seemed unoccupied, but upon further glance, was in fact, occupied by a man dressed in black armor. He wore a hood and a mask, and he spoke quietly, yet with an authority that stopped the whole room.

"You return... without him?" he asked.

Tracer gave an involuntary shudder. "W-well, come on, my lord, it ain't like I just dropped him. Misaki and two field agents were there t-"

"I hope you don't mean Misaki the shameless flirt who would drop a mission in the blink of an eye were he to catch sight of a young lady?"

"Er... well..."

"And by 'two field agents', do you by any chance mean two rookies who were there to gain some rudimentary experience?"

"...Technically."

"Technically? Tracer, you had better have a good excuse or I swear I--"

"It's not like he was a threat! I'd beaten him to within an inch of his life, he was subdued!"

"Really? Because it seems as though you were the merciful one. You may have beaten him to an inch of his life, but he took all three of theirs."

"..."

"Indeed." He snapped his fingers, and a gate opened behind them. "Solitary. Three months. Now."

"But lord Remnant!"

Remnant grabbed his sword and suddenly Tracer's arm fell off. "You'll have plenty of time to use your viral energy to grow a new one."

Tracer gripped his socket and dashed into the gate, which slid back into place with a smooth hiss and melted into the wall.

Remnant turned to address the crowd. "There was an energy disturbance in England. That's where her signal peaked ever since her emergence... and where it grew faint. Investigate!"