[i]He threw off his helmet, continuing his walk.[/i] "I know it was a mistake using that ability... Accidentally causing you pain by showing you him... But I can help you." [i]He got ready to fire the next time he appeared.[/i]

And then the world around him fractured into a thousand pieces. The fog suddenly stopped moving and became fully opaque before spiderwebs of energy similar to Xavier's break out all along the area around him. These fractures soon turn into cracks until the entire scene around Xavier breaks apart into a thousand intangible pieces. In front of Xavier was the same prototype machine that broke his reality all that time ago. Pieces of his University were scattered all around him - with all of his friends impaled on shards of different dimensions, infinite possibilities made viewable. Every one of Xavier's friends that helped work on the machine were splayed out gorily on massive fragments of dimensions, like a shattered mirror each reflecting a different possibility. All of the corpses shared the same violet eyes. No whites or pupils. Just Violet. [b]YOU DID THIS TO US.[/b] They all speak in unison, their voices resounding across a multitude of realities.

"Ah... Ah crap..." [i]He looked around, presumably were his subconsciousness is. This is fake, this is fake... He needed to hold his will...[/i] "Vinnie did this to all of us. This is not my fault, but his. He shouldn't have touched that machine, and neither of us should have." [i]He fired at seemingly nothing.[/i] "If you want to inflict Trauma on me, go ahead. I've lost it a long damn time ago."

[b][i]"YOU WANTED TO PLAY GOD. SO HERE IT IS: THE FATE OF FOOLS WHO BELIEVE THEY CAN BECOME THE VERY FANTASIES MEN WORSHIP."[/i][/b] The voice that speaks is sinister and metallic, almost as if speaking behind that gas mask of his, but multiple mouths and voices are also speaking at the same time. From one of the shattered mirror dimensions arises one of Lucien's colossal extra arms, claws grabbing hungrily at the void around it. The massive hand pulls the corpse of Vinnie from a dimension shard, ripping through his shoulder. His rotting flesh begins to knit itself together as he stares and points at Xavier. "Don't... you dare... BLAME ME!" The dimension machine breaks apart and melds itself to Vinnie, likewise with all the other bodies of Xavier's friends. They all began whispering the same thing: [i]"It could've been us who lived. It could've been us who became the hero - but no. Xavier had to take our lives. Xavier had to erase us from every dimension.[/i] And with that, the flesh colossus of Xavier's dead friends begin to sob, screeching so loud that they shatter other shards of dimension.

"Heh. Heheheheh. Heheheheheheheheheh..." [i]He began waking up to the machine, the fact that he was slowly going crazy making him say weird shît.[/i] "Trust me. I am not trying to play 'God'. We are all human, from each background. And the ones that tried to call themselves 'Gods' are just ignorant fools. I carried on for you guys, fixing that godforsaken place of a dimension. And your other dimensional selves were there for me, to... Replace you." [i]He then was standing a few centimetres away from the machine, after walking and saying whatever gibberish he was saying.[/i] "?enoyrevE ,thgir taht t'nsI" [i]He then put his hand up to the machine, Transparent energy making his hand looking like it was seen from a broken mirror, and small, polygonal shapes extruding from his hand. He was trying to do something with the machine.[/i]

All the voices merged into a chorus of accusations, still enumerating Xavier's sins even if he cared not for it. They screamed at him as he began to interact with the machine before advancing upon him. The flesh colossus swings its claws made out of Xavier's friends's corpses towards the man tinkering with the machine. They sobbed and screeched, all attempting to grab Xavier and name his past wrongs. Strangely enough there was no sign of Lucien. Only the corpse monster attacking him and the stinging scent of burning flesh and sulphur surrounded by fragments of broken dimensions.

"Trust me, I already have a few things wanting to kill me for causing this..." [i]Suddenly, the flesh golem found that there was large, polygonal shells growing out of it. It seemed to be getting infected from the glitches he made from the machine, and was rapidly hindering it.[/i] "...is this too much to ask for you to bloody stop?" [i]A strange ghost warped on top of the flesh golem. It had red, glowing lens flares for eyes, and it's fabric was made out of something outside of a realm. It seemed to 'glitch' as it was blown by the wind. 'Anomalies', Xavier called them. The Anomaly let out a distorted shriek before going inside the golem, trying to hijack it's body, so that it could take it for itself and kill Xavier.[/i]

The golem screamed and submitted to the ghost, becoming fully under its control as it writhed around in its living agony. Lucien appeared in front of Xavier, firing three shots of .45 colt. What was noteworthy was the fact that it seemed that the fog had mysteriously disappeared as fast as it was summoned. No traces of the miasma were there - only the broken, mirror-like surroundings of Xavier.

[i]He rolled away from the bullets, pulling out his Mag rifle and suppressing Lucien's Fire. Meanwhile, the flesh golem, now a Anomaly golem with polygonal armour around it's whole body, lashed out at both Lucien and Xavier. He sidestepped the golem's arm and began to sprint.[/i]

[spoiler]Bruh this sounds like SIVA lmao[/spoiler] Lucien performed a masterful backflip and took a calculated potshot at the Anomaly golem's eye before rushing at the beast with his sword, also firing .410 shotgun shells in Xavier's direction to space the two apart. He then began whirling in and around the golem's legs in a flurry of slashes, severing rotting tendons and burning polygonal growths on the beast.

[i]The golem managed to get it's arm out, which it then used to slide across the floor, attempting to sweep Lucien away. Xavier obligingly ripped out the sword, and started climbing up to it's face. The golem was unfazed by the bullets, perhaps something a bit more powerful could do the trick.[/i]

Lucien twisted a black ring on his finger which ejected three razor spikes facing towards his palm. He ran the spiked ring over the flesh of his left forearm, producing a flash of viscera, ash and blue flame. When his hand came off of his forearm it was holding a rather cruel-looking spear made of ash, the entire weapon being some kind of polearm comprised of cinder, flame and bone with the tip being jagged and somehow... Hungry. He hurled the spear towards the giant's face - he didn't need for it to be a dead-on headshot. He just needed for it to impact the beast.

[i]And of course, it did hit. It slightly reeled back, wondering what's going to happen next. Slightly aggravated, it slammed it's foot down, generating a shockwave. Meanwhile, Xavier finally managed to get to the shoulders off the golem. He brung out Lucien's weapon and started slashing wildly at it's shoulder.[/i]

The flaming sword's heated edge sliced into the flesh golem's rotting skin, the fire running along the metal setting each wound alight with blue fire. Meanwhile, the barbed spearhead impales itself in the beast and sends out multiple lashes of thorny roots inside its body. These spiked roots sprout more thorny tendrils inside of the golem, shredding organs and parts of outer flesh alike. If it was pulled out, it would likely rip apart the insides of the monster. If it was not, it would most likely continue to spread within it. The air still stung, smelling of brimstone and burnt flesh.

[i]Xavier stopped slashing at the golem, looking up at the spear thing. He jumped, stabbing the sword into the golem's face to anchor himself. He then started to climb up, putting his feet on the sword anchor and pulling the spear out.[/i]

Xavier could most likely hang on the spear if he so desired. The spear's branching head was stabbing into everything in there - he would either need something stronger to pull it out or something heavier to attach to the handle and let gravity do the disembowelling.

[i]He stood on the spear, pulling it out with all his might, but it didn't pull out. Then he had an idea. He went to the back of the golem's head, then charged up a powerful shot of [u]Soul fire[/u]. He released, it, the impact most likely knocking out the spear.[/i] [i]Then the golem's insides became a million pieces as the spear was pulled out. It let out a distorted scream before proceeding to fall over, onto Lucien and Xavier. Xavier jumped out of the way of the Golem's fall, but it would most likely break a few bones of his.[/i]

Strangely enough as Xavier hit the ground, no bones of his were shattered. It was as if the momentum was somehow cushioned by an invisible force of some kind... The air continued to sting of ash and brimstone. As the flesh colossus falls, the same miasma from before begins to surround its torn apart corpse, fog stretching and consuming the beast with gaseous appetite. A silhouette flickers in the fog for a moment - a shadow of a demented angel of sorts, with wings made of abominations. It appeared for only a moment before disappearing. Lucien falls to one knee as he stabs his sword in the ground, panting heavily. This was not seen at any time during the battle, and his panting seemed to almost sound like his breaths were emanating from decayed lungs.

"Well, I admit that you are strong and smart." [i]Xavier walked up to Lucien, holding out his hand.[/i] "You're qualified enough. You're in."

The kneeling Lucien did not get up. Instead, his mask fell off, revealing burnt and rotted flesh beneath his gas mask - something definitely not there before. His eyes were as black as night akin to the rotted eyes of a corpse. Could this really be Lucien? The answer came in a different form. Fog swallowed up the golem and all of its rotted skin and affixed polygons. When the miasma whirled once more, there was no trace of it or any kind of markings on the ground from e conflict. Hell, not even a trace of viscera from its ripped out innards remained on the floor. It was as if the beast was never living at all. Lucien - or whatever corpse knelt in front of Xavier - gave a rattling death screech as all of Lucien's equipment disappeared off of its body, leaving only a humanoid cadaver, decayed yet somehow living. In its hand was a sword - but the blade was a mockery of Lucien's katana. It was fashioned from bone, and the fuel upon it seemed more akin to blood than actual napalm. And so the body then laid still, devoid of further motion. [i][b]"Did you know? The greatest trick the Devil played on Mankind...[/b][/i] A voice calls out from the fog, reaching Xavier's ears. The faint silhouette of Lucien in his demented angel form appears, the wings and the two extra arms seemingly burning away as he walked towards Xavier. By the time he emerged from the fog and reached him, the wings and arms were gone, the only hint of their existence being the wicked stench and trail of ash behind Lucien - the [i]real[/i] Lucien. "...was tricking them into thinking he never existed." he finishes, sheathing his flame-devoid katana with finality as it all hits Xavier. The fog. The attack on his helmet. The beast appearing only when his helmet came off. The lack of damage during the battle with the beast. The constant smell of burning flesh and brimstone. It wasn't just fog. It never was. It was a hallucinogen as well. "And so the miasma truly reveals who you are, Xavier. A monster like I am." Lucien states with the faintest of grim smiles. "We have no further need for bloodshed then. After all, monsters cannot kill other monsters. They may only devour one another and satiate themselves by eating the others' sins." Lucien takes the empty hand meant for his supposed body double and shakes it as the fog begins to clear. The corpse in front of them begins to burn away in blue flames, bringing about the last scent of brimstone before the miasma disperses.

[i]After shaking Lucien's hand, he looked around and took deep breaths. Well, that was... Interesting. He then looked at The Dojo's gates, still open.[/i] "Well? Would you like me to show you around?"

[i]The Anomaly turned it's head just in time to avoid it's eye being shot, but it still hit it's head. Meanwhile, the golem slammed it's fist down again, this time it accidentally blocked the bullets that Lucien fired at Xavier. He started climbing the golem's arm as it tried to get it unstuck. And soon after, when Lucien slashed at the golem's legs, it didn't seem affected by them.[/i]

RealIzing that the golem was the greater threat at the moment, Lucien dashed away from the beast and called out to Xavier. "Xavier! Catch!" Lucien spun and somehow threw his sword to a position near Xavier on the golem's body, sticking it in the rotten flesh as it began to burn due to the katana's napalm edge. "It's superheated, rip it apart while I take it from down here!" He was no stranger to battles with larger Infected alongside allies. Lucien fanned the rest of his bullets at the beast's face before quickly reloading and dodging, taking potshots at the golem to distract him while Xavier was on top.