FGO Babylonia Ep 19

https://animeheaven.ru/watch/fate-grand-order-zettai-majuu-sensen-babylonia-sub.44280?ep=161437

Gorgon and Tiamat stood against each other, the two equally large goddesses staring at each other as Gorgon's snakes restrained Tiamat.

"Gorgon!" Fujimaru said in shock at the reappearance of a defeated enemy.

"Yeah, this day just keeps getting better and better," Jaune said.

"Not every day you see two giants stand off against each other," Blake said.

"Oh, I'm sure if Salem was willing to send a giant Grimm towards Argus, you could get some prime footage of two behemoths slugging it out," Zack said. "Of course, the tiny woman in the big ol' mecha suit doesn't actually give the best in battle commentary."

"Please don't encourage her to attack my home with a giant Grimm," Saphron said.

"But think of the footage!" Sun said. "The views on Dusttube as we recreate an actual kaiju fight!"

"No, she's right," Jaune said. "That's where my nephew lives."

"Aren't you a little young to be an uncle?" Robyn asked.

"Not when I have seven sisters," Jaune answered. "Of which, all are older than me."

"Let. Go! Let. Go! Let. Go! Let. Go!" the Lahmu screamed as they flew towards Gorgon. "You. Dirty. Fakes!"

"Enough squabbling," Gorgon said as her snakes snatched the incoming Lahmu in mid-air. "You're mindless hunks of mud." The snakes snapped their jaws, crushing the caught Lahmu.

"That's one way to shut them up," Emerald said.

"You mean the only way," Ruby said. "Now, just do that a few million more times and we can finally have peace."

"Or burn them," Yang said. "I do love me the smell of charred Lahmu in the morning."

"I say blasting them is the most efficient way of shutting them up!" Weiss said.

"Can't we just kill them like normal people?" Blake asked.

They looked at Blake. "Shut it, joke character!"

Blake felt as if her heart was pierced. Such cruelty!

"There, there dear," Kali said, consoling her. "I'm sure Zack will show a version of you that's cooler soon."

Ghira gave Zack the Dad Look™.

"I'll see what I can do," Zack said with a shrug.

"Why?" Mash asked.

"Are you going to help us?" Fujimaru asked.

"Help you, was it?" Gorgon said.

"Yeah!" Fujimaru said. "This is where Tiamat..."

"More like, you all are in the way!" Gorgon cut him off.

"In the way?" Mash said.

"You can't even lift your shield," Gorgon said. "As for the Master, look at his fingertips. They're on the verge of necrosis from the drain of Magical Energy. I will smash Tiamat's wings. I shall teach her that it is she who slithers across the ground."

"They do look to be in bad condition," Ironwood said.

"They've been fighting non-stop against a natural disaster that makes everyone there look like ants," Summer said. "And that was after a goddess drop kicked her from orbit."

"You think she can turn her to stone?" Raven asked. "It doesn't seem likely to me."

"At least further damage her horns," Qrow said. "Down her to the ground. That'll slow her down. Maybe..."

"Sigh, if only Gilgamesh had the first mecha in the world," Amber said.

"I know," Zack groaned. Now that would be a sight!

"Fou!" (Wrong genre!)

"Tell that to Odysseus," Zack said. "I'm pretty sure the Trojan Horse was made of wood, let alone a Transformer. Though with Hector's rocket arm and their machine bodies... never mind."

"I understand!" Fujimaru said, realizing that they could not help. "I will trust you with everything here!"

"I told you, I'm not here for you," Gorgon said more softly, making Fujimaru realize who she actually was. "Now leave. Immediately!"

"Yeah," Fujimaru said. "Thank you. Farewell."

"Wait, that's..." Tai said.

"Oh... Ruby..." Yang said.

"So, that's some growth sprout, crater face," Jaune tried to joke.

"Yeah..." Ruby said, her face pale at the thought of becoming Gorgon.

"You are not her," Weiss said forcefully, shaking Ruby. "You are Ruby Rose, huntress in training, leader of team RWBY and my partner. You are not, and never will be Gorgon. You got that!?"

Ruby took a deep breath. "Yeah. Thanks Weiss."

"What are partners for?" Weiss said.

"Beacon has been good for her," Willow said.

"I agree," Winter said.

Fujimaru and Mash's Quetzalcoatlus turned away from the two goddesses.

"Senpai!" Mash said. "Hold on a second, Senpai! That Gorgon is A..."

"Mash!" Fujimaru said. "I know that."

Mash started crying, wondering how many more would they lose before Tiamat was defeated.

"Save your tears kid," Raven said. "You'll lose much more before this is done and over with."

"Gee, you're all heart," Cinder said.

"She'll run out of tears long before her journey ends," Zack said.

"Damn, what else could compare to that?" Junior asked.

"Not much in scale of sheer power," Zack admitted. "But lost? Well... let's just say that what your Brother Gods did to your planet isn't far off."

Salem and Ozpin grimaced. What the Brother Gods did was basically wipe out all civilization on the planet, resetting the clock back to the stone age and taking away the gift of magic. Not far off? Just how bad could it be?

Ana in Gorgon's body spread her wings. "I didn't say a proper goodbye, but this is enough for me. I'm sorry. I just didn't want you two to see me in this form. I'm sure that would just hurt you more than you deserve."

Tiamat shrieked as she started straining against her restraints.

"But, Tiamat..." Ana said. "I will show you true pain!"

Her eyes glowed and a glyph appeared in front of them.

"I will be the Great Snake..." Ana said, hair flying in the air, "... and bring the Earth Dragon down!" Her hair wrapped sround herself, leaving just her face exposed. "Melt everything! Pandemonium Cetus!"

Ana put everything she had into one attack, successfully exploiting the crack Quetzalcoatl made in Tiamat's horn, breaking it.

Ana started to fade, no longer having the energy to remain. "Thank you very much for the flowers."

Tiamat was temporarily stopped, flight no longer possible for her.

"Not a bad ending," Nicolas said. "She even managed to widen the crack the sun goddess made earlier, breaking one of the wings."

"That's all they managed," Adam said. "What are they going to do against the rest of her?"

"Oh, I'm sure there's something over there that can put her down for good," Watts said. "Is there?"

"Maybe," Zack said.

"Fou, fou, fou!" (You mean no.)

"They don't need to know that," Zack whispered to Fou.

"No good!" Ozpin said. "We sealed off flight from her, but as long as she keeps creating black mud, we can't stop her advance to Uruk!"

"Those two goddesses..." Gilgamesh said as he stood on the balcony of his ziggurat. "Their performance was the best we could ever think of. I suppose there are some good goddesses out there after all." Gilgamesh looked at Fujimaru and Mash who were returning. "And now..."

"Well, what can you do now, hero king?" Tyrian mockingly asked.

"That's a loaded question," Jaune said. "Whatever he's going to do, he'll look badass while doing it."

"A valiant last stand, huh?" Pyrrha said.

"Yeah!" Nora exclaimed. "Show that goddess who's king!"

"I wonder where Kingu is in all this?" Ren wondered.

"I'm sure he's lurking about somewhere," Sienna said. "Watching the end of the world. You only get to see this once, after all."

"Because the end of the world needs an encore," Ozpin said sarcastically.

Tiamat's Chaos Tide, the black mud, crashed against the walls of Uruk as Fujimaru and Mash reached the ziggurat.

"Are you all right?" Mash asked.

"King Gilgamesh!" Fujimaru said as they landed.

"You're back," Gilgamesh greeted. "Take a look. This is Uruk in its entirety. One more step, and it will be wiped off the land. The end of the world."

Uruk was overrun with Lahmu and flooded with the black mud. What few soldiers that were left all dead as they held a last stand.

Fujimaru and Mash were looking at the devastation, when the sound of something crashing through the walls attracted their attention.

"Here she comes," Gilgamesh said. "Our Mother appears."

Tiamat had finally arrived in Uruk.

"What will you do now?" Jaune mumbled. His city was destroyed, his people, what few there were left, dead and he stood alone against a goddess that two others just failed to stop.

"Time to see what he has up that sleeve of his," Coco said.

"You do remember that he's not wearing a shirt right?" Velvet asked.

"It's a figure of speech," Coco said. "Besides, it's not like you aren't thankful for it."

Several of the girls there coughed in embarrassment. Yes, Gilgamesh did have an impressive physique.

"Well, I'm sure if he knew this would happen, he has a surprise prepared for Tiamat," Glynda said.

"This will be Uruk's last stand against Tiamat!" Gilgamesh declared as he summoned his tablets. "You sit there and see this through to the very end!"

Gilgamesh had a ring of runes orbiting around him. On the walls of Uruk, the Dingir came to life.

"You don't have lapis lazuli or any soldiers, yet the Dingir are operating?" Ozpin said as the Dingir took aim.

"Who do you think I am?" Gilgamesh said. "All 360 Dingirs mounted here in Uruk were made by my hand," the Dingirs fired, "infused with my Magical Energy and controlled by me!" The weapons fired by the Dingir landed on Tiamat. "If I work this body to death, I can control them all like this! I'll show you what I can do to stop Tiamat!"

Tiamat shrieked as the Dingirs kept on firing, though doing no appreciable damage, were at least slowing her down somewhat, though by no appreciable amount.

"So, he's basically controlling several hundred artillery pieces at once," Clover said. "That's a lot of firepower."

"It's not enough, though," Hazel said. "Look, none of them are even scratching Tiamat."

"To be fair, the Dingirs aren't a very efficient way to use them," Zack said. "He built them for the sake of his soldiers so that they had a chance against the Demonic Beasts. Compared to him at his prime, this is weak."

"Now I want to see how tough he was back in his hay day," Cardin said.

"You watch your tone with me, whippersnapper," Jaune said, acting like an old man.

"Jeez, quiet down old timer," Oscar said.

"Now there's a thought," Zack said. "What would happen if someone called Gilgamesh old to his face?"

"Fou!" (Well, Earth could always use new landmarks.)

"A second Grand Canyon would do wonders for tourism," Zack agreed.

"Amazing!" Fujimaru said, before feeling the earth move. "Ereshkigal! How are preparations in the underworld?"

"Just a little more!" Ereshkigal told him. "Hold on for just a little more!"

Fujimaru felt danger as he realized Tiamat was looking directly at him! Gilgamesh's clairvoyance kicked in, alerting him to what Tiamat was about to do! Right before Tiamat fired an eye beam at Fujimaru, Gilgamesh pushed him out of the way.

Fujimmaru was on the ground, stunned as blood was on his face. He and Mash looked at Gilgamesh, stunned as blood continued to flow out of a fist sized hole in his chest.

"Jaune!" Saphron yelled.

"Great, now I'm getting blood all over my nice ziggurat," Jaune said, unconcerned.

"You're bleeding man!" Sun yelled.

"How are you still standing with a fist sized hole in your chest?" Neptune asked.

"Humans from those times were tough," Zack said. "They treat fatal injuries as mere annoyances all the time."

"He has a hole through where his heart is!" Mercury yelled. "I can fit a bottle through it!"

"A convenient storage space," Jaune said.

"You're crazy kid," Roman said, shaking his head.

"King Gilgamesh?" Fujimaru said.

"How dare you try to snipe him?" Gilgamesh said, looking at the blood in his hand. "You have good aim, too. Impressive, you damn Tiamat!"

Gilgamesh walked off the fist-sized hole in his chest, as if it was just a minor annoyance.

"K-King Gilgamesh!" Mash yelled. "I..."

"Worry not!" Gilgamesh said. "It's only a mortal wound! If you lot are still fine, then all is well!" He re-summoned his control tablet. "Dingirs, work for me!" The Dingirs resumed operation, firing weapon after weapon at Tiamat.

"See," Jaune said. "He walked it off just fine."

"Don't people need hearts to function?" Penny asked.

"Not over there you don't," Zack said. "There, you can have a spear through your heart and still be perfectly capable of killing muscle priests and setting churches on fire."

"That's a very specific example," Robyn said. "Don't tell me that actually happened?"

"Let's just say having blue hair either makes you an asshole or a cockroach over there," Zack said.

"Why do I feel like the second one is relevant to me?" Neptune said.

"Don't worry, you get used to it after the first few deaths," Zack said.

"That's not reassuring at all!" Neptune said.

"Please stop!" Mash pleaded. "You're clearly in no condition to!"

"Are you saying it's impossible?" Gilgamesh demanded, snapping Fujimaru out of his shock. "That I am at my limit? That Uruk cannot fight anymore? Do you also claim so, Ritsuka Fujimaru?"

Fujimaru thought about Uruk, battered and damaged, but defiant to the end. He stood up.

"No!" Fujimaru said. "No! Uruk is far from finished!"

Mash stood up as well.

"Well said!" Gilgamesh said. "Then, it's time for me to finally get serious! I mean, I was going all out from the start, but I do have a king's vanity!"

"Him? Vain?" Yatsuhashi asked, pointing at Jaune. "Now that's unlikely."

"You did use to have confidence issues," Pyrrha said.

"I got better," Jaune said.

"Why, young man, if you need confidence, I have plenty of advice on how you can be confident just like me!" Port said.

"He needs confidence, not an overinflated opinion of himself," Glynda said.

"Why, I'm perfectly confident!" Port said.

"This is why you aren't allowed near underaged children," Oobleck mumbled.

"We've confirmed a huge discharge of Lahmu!" Ozpin warned. "A horde is coming ahead of Tiamat!"

Ishtar was busy shooting down as many Lahmu as she could.

"It's no good!" Ishtar said. "There are too many! This is..."

Ishtar saw the Lahmu smashing the walls, doing their best to clear a path for Tiamat to speed things up.

"Hold on!" Ishtar exclaimed. "That's looking more like an anti-castle weapon!" She looked up at the Lahmu swarm. "Are they still up for another? That means I have to unleash the Magical Energy I saved up..."

Ishtar summoned her Boat of Heaven in preparation to fire stronger magical blasts. However, behind her, many familiar looking golden portals opened up.

"So, he's chosen his side," Salem said.

"My lady, I shall exterminate the traitor!" Tyrian said, looking at Ren menacingly.

"Try it, insect!" Nora yelled, brandishing a... spoon and bowl over her head as a helmet.

Tyrian prepped his tail, his stinger dripping with... a sweet-smelling liquid?

"Say, what gives!" Tyrian said. "Where's the poison?"

"Oh, I had it swapped out with maple syrup," Zack said. "No violence around here unless for comedic purposes."

Nora grinned. "For the syrup!"

"Gah! Get away from my tail woman!" Tyrian yelled.

"Should we help him?" Watts asked.

"Nah," Hazel said. "He's fine."

"She..." Cinder said. "Oh... Does that seem rather... R-rated to you?"

"Just ignore it," Adam sighed. He was a shame to all faunus throughout the world.

Ishtar noticed the portals and ducked away as chains shot out from the portals. However, the chains weren't aimed for her, but for the Lahmu! Hundreds of chains speared through the Lahmu, as with a clenched fist, the chains tightened, killing all the Lahmu around the chains.

"No way!" Ishtar said. "Those chains... Kingu?"

Kingu flew into the Lahmu swarm, electricity sparking as he decimated the Lahmu by the thousands with contemptuous ease. Several more Lahmu were on his tail, hoping to take him down.

Kingu merely turned around, opening a portal in his hand as chains shot out and impaled all the pursuing Lahmu.

"You really are mass-produced trash after all," Kingu said. "A pittance."

"How. You. Alive? Kingu!" A Lahmu yelled as it flew towards Kingu.

Kingu merely created more portals on the ground, impaling all the Lahmu that tried to sneak up on him.

"Well, I know who I'm calling if I ever have a bug infestation," Ghira said.

"I'm pretty sure he'll destroy the house in the process, dear," Kali said.

"At least we won't have to deal with the bugs anymore," Ghira said.

"Must be some bugs then," Oscar said.

"Can't compare to those space bugs," Summer said.

"Honestly, I'll take those over the Lahmu any day," Sienna said. "At least we can kill them, unlike the Lahmu."

"True," Amber agreed.

"To be having trouble against this mass-produced trash shows how useless those obsolete humans truly are," Kingu said. "And yet, they had the gall to talk back to me. Both that Master of Chaldea and him."

Kingu looked as on the ziggurat, Mash and Fujimaru were dealing with any Lahmu that got close, while Gilgamesh continued operating the Dingirs.

"For all their show of confidence, they couldn't do anything alone," Kingu said to himself. "But they survived to the end." He chuckled. "I can do anything alone, huh? I guess I already was imperfect at that point."

"Why... You. Ally? With. The. Humans?" a surviving Lahmu asked angrily.

"I haven't sided with humans," Kingu said, pulling the chain and shutting the Lahmu up. "I'm a new type of human entirely. I am Kingu, the one and only member of the new humanity! However..."

"That's one way of looking at it," Ren said.

"Who cares!" Cardin said. "He's killing Lahmu. That's all I need to know. Now, if only he can do something about Tiamama."

"Tiamama, really?" Ilia said.

"What?" Cardin said. "Her names Tiamat and she's the mother of life. Seemed obvious to me."

"Yeah, no," Coco said. "Stick to her normal name. Sounds less weird."

"I wonder how many Lahmu he killed in just what? Three attacks?" Raven said.

"All of them in the area," Zack said.

"Great!" Jaune said. "Thanks Ren."

"Well, someone had to clean up when you guys obviously couldn't handle it," Ren said.

Kingu thought back to the words Gilgamesh said to him on the ziggurat.

"No matter who your mother is or how you were born," Gilgamesh said, "simply do the things you really want to do. Like you and I once did."

"Forget about Mother or my origins..." Kingu said. "Do something I truly want to do, huh? I didn't have such a thing. Nothing at all. I didn't have anything, Gil!"

Kingu looked at his hands. "But... when I think about it, there was one thing." Enkidu's memories started to surface in Kingu's mind. "I wanted to see you! I wanted to talk to you! All the memories left in this heart... and my impressions of them... I wanted to share them with you... as your friend."

Kingu cried. "But that can't happen! That wish wasn't mine! It belonged to the machine called Enkidu! And my wish, Kingu's wish is the same as it's always been!"

"It's no good!" Fujimaru said as Tiamat kept getting closer and closer. "She's heading into the city!"

"Hurry up with the monologue kid and do something!" Roman yelled.

"Hey! You never interrupt a good monologue, especially when it involves character development!" Nora said.

"It's true!" Sun agreed.

"A monologue is essential to the character development of all the best villains," Neptune said wisely.

"That's just asking for someone to sneak an attack in while he's talking," Qrow said. He would know, he did that often enough.

"True," Raven agreed. Never stop your enemy while he's in the midst of making a mistake.

"Why, now that's just rude!" Port said, affronted. Why, if anyone dared interrupt him, he'd show them just why he survived to old age!

"I'm sure that he just talked his opponents to sleep," Velvet mumbled.

"It's surprisingly effective as a distraction," Oobleck said.

"I was born into this world in order to preserve it," Kingu said as electricity sparked around him as he prepared. "Farewell, Mother. You chose the wrong child."

Tiamat's legs moved through buildings as if they were made of papier-mâché.

"At this rate..." Mash said as they looked on in worry.

Fujimaru noticed something headed for Tiamat. "Is that..."

Kingu was flying towards Tiamat, Gilgamesh watching on with narrowed eyes.

"This body remembers what it's supposed to do," Kingu said as he looked Tiamat in the eyes as he flew. "Kingu, son of Tiamat, will show you the power of the Chain of the Heavens!"

Kingu turned the ground around Tiamat into one giant portal as chains flew out of it.

"Mother's fury is a thing of the past!" Kingu proclaimed. "Now, I will awaken the breath of stars!" Kingu combined with the flying chains, turning into one giant spear tip connected to many chains.

"Enuma Elish!" The giant chain tip smashed into Tiamat, followed by many more as they slammed to the ground.

"Now that's my best friend!" Jaune said.

"I thought I was your best friend," Ruby said, heartbroken.

"Nah, you hold the prestigious position of first friend!" Jaune said. "But Ren as a fellow male and teammate takes precedence in consideration of the invaluable position of best friend!"

"Thanks, I think?" Ren said.

"Is there a mental pollution effect going on here?" Glynda asked Zack.

"Now, why would you ask that?" Zack replied.

"Mr. Arc is acting more and more like Gilgamesh as we watch this," Ozpin said.

"Hmm," Zack said. "If he starts claiming all women as his and wears gold, then you should be concerned."

"Fou, fou, fou!" (I'm afraid that it is irreversible if it gets to that point.)

"Well, maybe he'll take after the older version more?" Zack said, unsure about it. Gilgamesh in his prime's personality could be summarized as being difficult. And that was putting it nicely.

Ruby pouted. Fine! If Jaune was demoting her to first friend, Weiss could be her bestie for life!

Weiss shuddered, as if she was just stuck in a position that there was no escape from!

"That just now..." Mash said.

"See for yourself," Gilgamesh said.

Tiamat had been restrained by Kingu's chains, the chains binding every single part of her, keeping her from moving.

"Just a few more steps over here, and this ziggurat will be reduced to ashes," Gilgamesh said. "Hah! But it's frustrating her. With those chains, even a single step is so difficult! It was only a momentary restraint, but for her, a mind-numbing eternity."

"Kingu..." Fujimaru said.

"The Chain of the Heavens even held back the physical strength of a god of creation!" Gilgamesh said. "I sent my friend off twice. The first time I was mourning, but this time is different! His proud, valiant figure... is burned away into my memory for eternity!" Gilgamesh put away his tablet, no longer needing it.

"In ours too!" Pyrrha said.

"Such power!" Watts said. "To hold her back... Those chains must be monstrously strong."

"Their called the Chains of the Heavens for a reason," Zack said. "The higher the Divinity, the stronger the chains become."

"I am very glad he didn't use that against me," Yang said.

"You would've dodged," Ren said. "It's pretty hard to miss the giant chain headed for you."

"It's pretty hard to dodge as well," Weiss mumbled.

"I'm pretty sure I only ever let Ozma tie me up," Salem mused.

"We did not need to know that!" Cinder yelled.

Ozpin coughed. Yeah, no need to air millennia old information, especially those concerning their nocturnal activities.

Gilgamesh turned towards Fujimaru. "I thank you, Fujimaru! Even if everything in this era had been called into service, I have a feeling it would've ended here. You are a foreigner. A foreign element in this period and a surplus. However, that very surplus was the thing that helped us face destruction we alone could not have overcome and helped us make our final move!"

The Chain of the Heavens started turning to stone, Tiamat starting to break it.

"The time has come," Gilgamesh said. "I'm leaving everything in your hands now."

"Okay!" Fujimaru and Mash said.

Gilgamesh smiled at their determination.

"Fujimaru!" Ereshkigal yelled as she panted from exertion. "The phase transition between underground Uruk and the underworld is done! We just need to dig a hole!"

"Finally!" Fox said. "After Oum knows how long, it's finally time to drop her into hell!"

"This is the worst visiting gift ever!" Weiss exclaimed. "Think about the clean up afterwards!"

"Hey, my entire city's been trashed!" Jaune said. "Time for a change in venue. Besides, who's going to complain about the underworld housing a giant goddess?"

"This goddess, that's who..." Weiss grumbled.

"Don't worry, you won't have to host her for long," Zack said. Left unsaid was because the underworld was going to get wrecked.

"That doesn't sound as relieving as it should," Winter said.

"It shouldn't," Zack said.

"Master!" Mash said.

"Yeah!" Fujimaru said. "Ishtar! We're going to drop Tiamat into the underworld!"

"I've been waiting for this!" Ishtar said. "Okay, Fujimaru! As requested," Ishtar summoned her sword, "I'm going to punch through the ground beneath your feet with no mercy! Gate open!"

Ishtar opened a portal to Venus as Tiamat started coming loose.

"From the heavens, towards the great earth!" Ishtar said as Venus started coming through the portal. "The future will take care of itself!" Ishtar threw her sword into Venus.

"Fujimaru! Mash!" Ozpin said. "Both of you, prepare for impact!"

Venus turned into a ball of energy, entering Maana and turning into an arrow. Ishtar took aim. "Angalta Kigalse!"

Ishtar's shot hit Tiamat dead on, enveloping her in a giant explosion as the power of the attack drilled a hole into the underworld.

"Mash!" Fujimaru yelled, holding out his hand.

"Yes, Master!" Mash said, accepting his hand while holding Fou close.

The two braced as the ground beneath them started to collapse.

Fujimaru looked at Gilgamesh, who just smiled back as his time was up.

"He's not joining them, is he?" Oscar asked.

"It's a miracle he was still fighting after having a hole blown threw him!" Saphron said.

"Well, can't leave a job half done now, could I?" Jaune said.

"Usually, having a hole blown threw you is a sure-fire way to get retired," Clover said.

"I wish..." Ozpin mumbled. Over a thousand years and still working! When would retirement be within sight!?

"You don't see me stopping despite losing an arm and a leg," Ironwood said.

"Most people would take the chance to retire after losing half their limbs," Robyn said. "Atlas has a very good retirement fund for veterans."

"I'll go stir crazy within a month," Ironwood admitted. "Besides, I'm mostly confined to a desk these days. Atlas Academy won't run itself after all."

"Give it a few years," Sienna mumbled. Atlas and their machines. Now, if only they would put that habit towards making mining conditions safer.

Fujimaru, Mash and Fou were once again falling into the underworld.

"Master!" Mash said. "I can't see what's below us!"

Fou barked in fright as they were falling.

Ereshkigal slammed her spear into the ground, making a golden ring pass through the three of them, causing them to glow.

"Is this..." Fujimaru said as they slowed down.

"Ereshkigal!" Fujimaru and Mash greeted.

"Welcome to the underworld," Ereshkigal greeted. "I made an exception and authorized permission for you to exist and to float within the underworld. For now, within the underworld, you do not count as living creatures. Gather Magical Energy in your feet and imagine the ground. That way, you should be able to hover."

Fujimaru and Mash landed in front of her.

"It takes a bit of getting used to..." Mash said.

"... but it's fine once we get used to it," Fujimaru finished.

"Right!" Mash said.

"This really, really is an exception, okay?" Ereshkigal said.

"Yep!" Fujimaru said. "Thank you for saving us, Ereshkigal!"

"Thank you very much!" Mash said.

"O-Okay," Ereshkigal said somewhat bashfully. "Then, we're fine."

"So bashful, that one," Kali said.

"That's not really a good thing," Ghira said. "What young man would be careful in life if he knew that she was waiting for them in death?"

"Speaking from experience?" Sienna asked.

Kali looked very interested in his answer.

"I'm just saying that a young man wouldn't be dissuaded from kicking the bucket early if they knew what awaited them was a beautiful goddess!" Ghira answered quickly.

"Fou, fou, fou!" (Like the Norse!)

"Those Valkyries are quite the lookers," Zack mused. "No wonder the Vikings preferred dying in battle. Who wouldn't if they were the ones escorting you to the afterlife?"

"Yes?" Nora asked, hearing her name get mentioned.

"Not you," Zack said. "You just happen to share a name. They're winged, all female guides to the afterlife who guide those who died in battle to Valhalla, where the fallen warriors drink and party until Ragnorak, the end of the world, comes where they will do battle one last time."

There was silence for a while.

"Is there a way to convert to this religion?" Cardin asked seriously.

"Not in Remnant, I'm afraid," Zack said in amusement.

"Shame," Mercury said.

"Sounds like heaven to me!" Yang said. Partying and fighting, two of her favourite things rolled into one!

The underworld shook.

"This quaking..." Fujimaru said.

"Now, Fujimaru, Mash, behold!" Ereshkigal said, pointing her spear at Tiamat who was caged between arcs of blue light.

Tiamat screamed as the light burned her.

"Tiamat..." Mash said. "Then, we were successful in leading her to the underworld!"

"But what in the world is that light?" Fujimaru asked.

"Amazing!" Ozpin said. "Enough heat comparable to Ishtar's Noble Phantasm set Tiamat ablaze, and it doesn't seem to be going out!"

"That's one of the underworld's security features," Ereshkigal explained. "This happens to the living who come without my permission. This was laid down by the world known as 'Uruk'. Not even Tiamat is an exception to that rule."

"Not so tough now, are you?" Weiss said.

"Oh, just you wait little girl," Salem said. "I'll show you why it took the gods to put me down."

"Says the girl who was locked in a tower," Ozpin mumbled.

"Enough heat to compare to Ishtar's Noble Phantasm?" Penny said. "That's a lot of heat."

"Considering that she burned a hole through several kilometres of earth, yes that's a lot of heat," Emerald said.

"So, it's an Authority only you have, Ereshkigal!" Fujimaru summarized.

Ereshkigal smiled at the praise then pointed her spear at Tiamat. "I feel bad for King Gilgamesh, but I'm going to finish her off as the master of the underworld!"

Her spear glowed red as Ereshkigal exerted her power.

"Hear me, gallu spirits, the spears of rotting flesh and death!" Ereshkigal said. Several spears made of red energy appeared and orbited around Tiamat, poised to attack. "Make her feel the wrath of the iron hammer of Kur!"

The spears struck Tiamat, making her scream with pain.

"Here in Kur, even Tiamat is just another god!" Ereshkigal proclaimed. An all-out attack from me and the gallu spirits was enough to dispatch... To dispa..."

Ereshkigal realized something was wrong as Tiamat's Chaos Tide came out from her and started filling the underworld.

"Monty Oum!" Oobleck exclaimed.

"What other tricks does she have!?" Port yelled. "This is the third time she's transformed!"

"Whatever it'll be, it can't be prettier than the last one," Summer said.

"Think she'll turn up the dragon features?" Amber asked.

"No bet," Tai said. "So, how much trouble are they in?"

"A lot," Zack said. "But don't worry. Surprise guests shall soon turn up to even the odds."

"Fou, fou, fou!" (We barely survived that shit! Even with the dick wizard and the bone head!)

"True," Zack agreed.

"Times like these I wish I spoke animal," Ren said, seeing Zack and Fou have a conversation.

"Enkidu does, actually," Zack said.

"Neat," Nora said. Finally, she shall fine out what those pesky squirrels were plotting! They thought they could hide it from her, but Nora was on the case to uncover the dastardly conspiracy revolving around them!

"Is Tiamat..." Fujimaru said, "covering herself in mud?"

Tiamat was covered in her own black mud as she started changing.

"Chaos Tide corruption!" Ozpin said. "This is bad! It'll take over the whole underworld if it keeps spreading!"

Ereshkigal retreated back in fright. "Wh-Wh-What... What's happening?"

"She can even corrupt the underworld?" Da Vinci said.

"That's not all!" Ozpin said. "Tiamat's Spirit Origin is reverting to the Age of Gods! It has reached the Jurassic Age!"

"Spirit Origin inflation has halted, and the Magical Ractor Core is rebooting, as well!" Da Vinci said.

Tiamat's new form started to emerge from the mud.

"The wounds she sustained in the fall to the underworld are healing, too!" Ozpin said as the numbers on screen kept going up with no stop. "Transformation into dragon form complete! The creature before you is undoubtedly a god in itself!"

Tiamat in her complete dragon form roared. Where before she at least resembled a human, now, she looked more like a dragon with some human features attached.

Fujimaru and Mash looked on in horror as a creature more monstrous than any they had encountered before roared in front of them.

Several of them paled as they saw the draconic Tiamat.

"Someone should've worn their brown pants," Zack commented, vanishing and changing the unfortunate persons pants. Who? We shall leave up to your imagination.

"Did you put on weight?" Jacques asked in a momentously stupid move.

Salem didn't even look before she sent the billionaire flying away through a conveniently open portal. Destination, a world where he shall suffer untold horrors as his profit focused mind tried and failed to comprehend it. We are of course, talking about any cartoon world created by Cartoon Network in the last decade or so.

"Should we be worried?" Whitley asked.

"Oh, I'm sure he's fine," Willow said serenely.

*Elsewhere*

"What sort of place is this!!!" Jacques screamed.

*Back to the audience*

"Yes, I'm sure he's perfectly fine wherever he is," Willow said.

Weiss and Winter wondered how they should take this new side of their mother. Deciding that this was better than letting her get drunk, they ignored it and focused on the positives.

"Right... Let's get back to being terrified of the newly transformed Tiamat," Sienna said.

"Oh, yeah. Sure," Adam said, hoping that Jacques was having a terrible time.

"It's all over if a wave of Chaos Tide lands!" Ozpin said. "Isn't there some way to hold it back?"

Ereshkigal held her spear vertically, visible nervous. "I'll try it out. I'll try it out, but... the corruption is too overwhelming!"

Tiamat's Chaos Tide was spreading around her, beginning to turn the underworld away from Ereshkigal's control.

"Ereshkigal!" Fujimaru said. "You stay focused on Tiamat!" He infused Mash with some of his recovered Magical Energy.

"Right!" Mash said. "We'll take care of things here!"

"I'm thankful that you're counting in me for this, but Kur's output is dropping as a whole!" Ereshkigal said as she started panicking.

"But if we don't defeat her here, we have nowhere to fall-back upon!" Ozpin said. "This is just speculation, but Tiamat is likely at her weakest right now!"

"We must defeat her before she escapes from the underworld!" Da Vinci said.

"Brace yourself, Ereshkigal!" Ereshkigal said as she tried to steel hereself.

A wave of Chaos Tide appeared before them, about to splash into them as they had no time to run.

The Chaos Tide suddenly turned into flowers.

"Huh? What is this?" Ereshkigal asked.

"Is this..." Ozpin said as the Chaos Tide was being turned into flowers. "Chaos Tide detoxification is accelerating! Lahmu emittance is ZERO? Then, what you see there is just a..."

Fujimaru and Mash looked at the flower in his hand and realized who did this. "No way!"

"Fou..." (Oh great, him...)

"Oh great, him again..." Salem sighed.

"He sure knows how to make an entrance," Glynda said.

"I thought he died!" Melanie said. "What is it with this place and people coming back from the dead!"

"Yeah!" Miltia agreed. "First Goldie casually treats getting revived as just another Tuesday! Then, the little red kid turns up as a big ass snake goddess! Then this dick wizard just waltz back in as if he never died!"

"I'm not convinced the blond king is dead either," Junior said.

"I didn't revive myself," Pyrrha said. "Just enjoy the fact that they're being rescued."

"Still got it," Ozpin said.

"Did you ever lose it?" Summer asked.

"Oh, a few lifetimes here and there," Ozpin said.

"I reckoned that he lost it a few reincarnations ago," Amber said.

"All right!" Merlin said as he appeared, much to Fou's annoyance. "I made it in time!"

"Operation 'If the mud births life, all you have to do is change that life into something harmless'... is a great success!" Merlin proclaimed.

"Merlin!" Fujimaru and Mash yelled in joy.

"Merlin?" Ozpin yelled in irritation. "How can you be there? Don't tell me you were re-summoned! No, no, no! That can't be!"

"I've heard of self-hatred, but never as amusing as this," Hazel said. "What's up with that anyway?"

"Oh, nothing much..." Zack said. Except that one of them is secretly King Solomon and they both share the rights to the same title. Nothing big.

'I wonder what Ozma would think of me now?' Ozpin wondered. The sands of time had changed him greatly, not necessarily for the better.

"How did he come back here, anyway?" Watts asked.

"Yes!" Tyrian demanded. "Our goddess killed him! He should have the good grace to stay dead!"

"How's the tail?" Cinder asked.

"Leave it out of this!" Tyrian yelled, hugging his tail.

"Oh, I'm used to it," Salem said. Ozpin had the unfortunate habit of not staying dead, just like her. It did make the times she captured him interesting though, especially since he came back with a new body every time, not necessarily male. It kept things interesting.

Ereshkigal was enraptured by the flowers flying about her underworld, captivated by them.

"Rest assured, I am the real deal, the genuine Merlin," Merlin said. "I just popped over from Avalon!"

"You ran over?" Fujimaru and Mash asked.

"That's right!" Merlin said. "I do hate sad partings. Letting death be what separates us would've been too depressing! So, I came to the conclusion that this was the time for me to bend the rules a bit."

"Merlin!" Fujimaru said.

"After all, I enjoy bolstering my reputation as the Mage of Flowers!" Merlin said, making a flower appear in his hand. "You can praise me all you want."

"Yes, Merlin!" Mash said. "We're thrilled to see you again!"

"I really am grateful that you came all the way here, Merlin!" Fujimaru said.

"Fou, fou!" Fou added his own two cents.

"Fou, fou!" (Piss off wanker!)

"Now Fou, we do not use that kind of language around children," Zack admonished. "Why, what if Mash heard you?"

"Fou!" (She's eighteen not eight.)

"Shush, the eggplant must remain innocent," Zack said.

"My humble isn't he?" Saphron said.

"He did just save them from a fate worse than death," Ilia said. "A little gratitude isn't out of hand."

"Who outright asks for it though?" Kali asked.

"Lots of people do, unfortunately," Ghira said.

Merlin coughed at the unexpected praise.

"The decrease in Kur's output has stopped!" Ereshkigal said. "That means I can..."

The earth shook, reminding all present that the threat was not over.

"Looks like this is no time to be indulging in the joys of reunion," Merlin said.

"Tiamat has deployed horned wings!" Ozpin warned as Tiamat grew a pair of wings on her back.

"She's planning on flying again?" Fujimaru said.

"After all this? I can't believe it!" Ereshkigal said.

"Well, this sure seems horrible," Ruby said.

"Could be worse," Jaune shrugged. "At least she has to actually get out first."

"Right, like killing her in the underworld will be any easier than on the surface," Coco said.

"At least the collateral will be contained," Velvet said.

"The plan was a long shot anyway and they all knew it," Clover said.

"Oh, it'll work," Zack said. "Someone's going to make sure of it."

"Repainting all the hatred and sadness abandoned as unnecessary for human history," Merlin said, "and all ecosystems on Earth that resulted from such an act... The joy of returning once again to being the mother of all... With that true nature, her Class has been determined."

Tiamat roared.

"The Goddess of Creation is a fictional title," Merlin said.

Ishtar flew down the hole to the underworld.

"Please, let me make it there in time!" Ishtar said as she flew down at top speed.

"This, in fact, is the greatest catastrophe most denied by human history, left behind by humans," Merlin said. "One of the Seven Evils of Humanity... The beast embracing the natural law of regression... Beast II!"

Tiamat slammed her feet to the ground and roared.

"No way!" Ereshkigal said.

"What is that thing?" Ishtar asked as she saw it, finally reaching the underworld.

"Yes, we've established that she's monstrously dangerous," Roman said. "Get to the point, magic man!"

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there," Ozpin grumbled. Youngsters these days, so impatient.

"I understand perfectly," Nicolas nodded sympathetically. "Young people these days just don't appreciate it when we learned elders lecture them on things that they need to know."

"Why, you're just not being entertaining enough!" Port said. "To keep the youngsters interested, first you must blah blah blah... *Silence*"

"Can we please have one for when we get back?" Blake asked, getting pleading nods from her fellow Beacon students. No longer will they have to suffer through Prof. Ports lectures/ stories about fights that may or may not have happened!

"No," Zack said, putting away his Field of Silence Device™. "I'm afraid Ms. Goodwitch might object to that."

"Indeed," Glynda said, sending her students a frown that honestly frightened them more than any Grimm.

"If we could weaponize that frown, we'd never lose a war," Ironwood mumbled as he looked away from Glynda. That frown was lethal!

"She's going to start her flight!" Ozpin warned. "If she returns the Uruk, the defensive mechanism of the underworld will be nullified, too! Moreover, she'll regain invincibility, once again becoming unable to die!"

"Fujimaru, Mash..." Merlin said. "Your journey in this Singularity must have been wilder than anywhere else, and that beast stronger than anything else. Two goddesses trying to ground her, a pitfall into the underworld with Uruk as bait, the Chain of the Heavens binding her, the punishment of the underworld... and... my flowers, beautiful if nothing else."

Ishtar and Ereshkigal joined the group in staring at Tiamat, waiting for Merlin to tell them what they could do to stop Tiamat.

"Everyone has tried everything under the sun to get even this far," Merlin said. "But it's still not enough. She still does not know fear. She had no natural enemy. She is unfamiliar with He whom I dub 'Death'."

The black cloak of someone who had just arrived fluttered.

"Let me guess," Mercury said. "Death?"

"Yup," Zack said.

"I wonder who it is," Miltia said.

"It's kind of obvious once you think about it," Emerald sighed.

"Oh no," Raven groaned.

"Oh yes!" Qrow grinned. It was his time to shine now!

"Why are you always associated with incredibly effective assassins?" Winter asked.

"I'm just that good!" Qrow replied.

"Sure you are," Summer snorted. She beat his ass seven times out of ten back in their school days.

"It wasn't King Gilgamesh," Merlin continued. "Nor the Mage King's Holy Grail. The one who called him forth was none other than you, Ritsuka Fujimaru."

Fujimaru was surprised, wondering when he called someone forth.

"The enemy is the Evil of Humanity, a Beast," Merlin said. "The conditions were right for him to appear in this land. The weapons that stand against the Beasts of the Counter Force... in other words, a Grand-class Servant!"

Ozpin was surprised by that.

"So, there was meaning to all of your battles," Merlin said.

A sword slammed into the ground.

"Now, look up at the sky, Primordial Sea!" Merlin proclaimed. Tiamat did just that, realizing that there was someone else here. "Look up, Goddess of Life, and know Death!"

Ziusudra stood with his sword in the ground.

"All that begins must end," Ziusudra said. "So, too all that lives, dies, and in dying, value finds."

"Since when did you talk like someone out of a play?" Tai asked.

"Maybe it's just his thing?" Qrow suggested.

"It is," Zack confirmed. "Listening to him talk is like being taken back a few centuries."

"Are you going into battle in that?" Coco asked disgusted.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Qrow asked.

"It's an old cloak and rags!" Coco said. "At least look the part if you're Death!"

"He's still in the midst of changing," Zack said.

"Oh, okay then," Coco said.

Fujimaru gasped at the appearance of the old man, starting to realize just who this was and where they had met before.

"Thy vaunted eternity is but hollow slumber," Ziusidra said. "Beast of Disaster, evil born of mankind's folly, thy benevolence which desired regression shews thy regression's root."

Ziusudra shed his human disguise, revealing a large man in a skeleton motif armour glowing in blue flames.

"Thou fallen god, to beasthood turned, if Primordial Mother be thy title, attend, and hear my name." Blue flames in the eyes of the skull stared at Tiamat on his horn-helmeted head. "From the mountain abyss, I come, and only death do I bring." The blue eyes narrowed. "I am the Old Man of the Mountain, the First Hassan-i-Sabbah!"

"How is that guy an assassin?" Robyn asked. "He doesn't look like he'll blend in with anything, let alone get close enough to kill anyone silently. Unless he's one of those assassins who stay hidden by killing all witnesses."

"You'll be surprised," Zack said. "His Presence Concealment is A-ranked. You'll never see him coming until he's right in front of you, sword ready to take your head."

"Who cares!" Ruby exclaimed. "I know what Uncle Qrow is dressing up as for Halloween!"

"He's going to have the coolest costume in town!" Yang agreed.

"Hassan-i-Sabbah, now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time," Ozpin said.

"You mean they aren't a myth?" Sun asked.

"Oh, they existed," Salem said. "Group of assassins that operated out of what is now Vacuo. They've disbanded some centuries ago though."

"Or have they?" Zack said mysteriously.

"Yes," Ozpin said bluntly. "I was there, and very, very thorough."

"So many questions," Oobleck said.

"I wonder what'll he'll do to make killing Tiamat actually possible," Clover said. "He sure looks capable of it."

"You'll see," Zack said. "Onwards, to the last battle!"