The Prideful Overlord Who Stood Alone

"And one... And two... And... NOW!" Rat yelled to Zamtika and Nvr who charged at the chained dome surrounding Panila's office on the ruined wreckage that used to be Detainment. The two women used Tika's lance to try and make a dent, only to be knocked back by the chains, that almost seemed to pulsate at the attack.

"Damn.... Uh. Okay, new plan." Rat said with a laugh as she pulled out a snow globe from her pocket, the same one she resided in at Diminutive. Ven helped the two up and glanced over with a curious stare. "And what can a snow globe do?"

"It's not what the snow globe is, but all the years worth of random crap I have inside that will help!" She grinned, reaching her hand inside of it, shifting her hand about as she searched for something. He rolled his eyes and looked over to Biz, who was still mourning the loss of Cerberus.

"Don't you think it's sad?" Iyu smiled as she stood next to him, looking over at Biz as well. He gave a cold sigh to the zipped up receptionist as he walked over to Rat. "Said the hollow woman with no soul."

"I have a soul. I just refuse to listen to it." Iyu smiled, opening the large zipper down her chest as Rat pulled out what looked like an old, rustic chain. She shoved it inside Iyu before pulling it out. The chain looked refurnished, both glowing a radiant light yet dripped with an inky, glitchy substance as Rat put it to the dome.

"Shining cells!" She yelled, the chains bursting open in an instant. Ven and Tika looked mystified at the sight of the chains disappearing, it was a bizarrely beautiful sight as they twisted into a tree like shape. 

The menacing black doors that led to Panila's office slowly creaked open in the dead silence that followed. Rat motioned for everyone to follow with a smirk. "Let's get our ending!" Rat yelled as she took secretly took something from Iyu, still clutching the chain as she went inside.

Everyone entered the crimson red and jet black office, with all the decorations and chains that usually filled the room now missing. Everyone slowly made his way to the turned away chair, knowing Panila would be waiting for them here. A cup of warm coffee was still on the desk as Ven turned the chair around in a sharp, quick motion, only for the chair to be empty.

"What?" He mumbled before chains shot out of the floor knocking him to the ceiling. Everyone backed off slightly, only to be pulled back by chains as Panila appeared in her seat, calmly sipping her coffee. "Were we meant to make an appointment?" Rat laughed as Ven hit the floor, slowly getting up.

"Silence." She mumbled, summoning a chain around Rat's mouth. Ven raised his blade and got ready to fight, but Panila motioned for him to take a seat. "Come. Sit."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't, I'll crush these cells with one, little step." She sighed, raising up a key ring with multiple small cells on them. Tid-Bit appeared, looking over the cells before turning back with a nervous look. "She's got Avis, Vinea Senshi, Uma, Vex and Grey... I say we sit." She said as she appeared sitting on a chair.

"Listen to the construct, Rabbit." Panila motioned again to the empty seat in front of her, which he begrudgingly took. "What do you want?" He asked with a cold glare as she calmly took another sip.

"Everyday. Everyday I strived to protect the people of the city. So, I want to know something. Why? Why go out of your way to ruin this city? I... We did nothing to you, yet you rampaged about and ruined everything. So, tell me why?"

Ven looked a bit stunned, his ears twitching slightly as he began to think. Tid-Bit also didn't really have an answer. "We... Uh, we wanted to get the sub-minds back. Plus Eido attacked first, so free game." 

"You are an undead. The first response to unattended undead is to kill on sight. You could have tried to state your situation, yet you chose to run and kill." Panila motioned to the window behind her before looking out at it. "I admit. The second I saw your heart, I shouldn't have sentenced you to be executed, but... You have no idea what you have brought with you."

Rat seemed to be trying to yell something, but Ven and Tid-Bit continued listening. "And what have I brought?" He said with a raised eye brow. 

"You brought the Rat with you." She sighed, motioning her hand down. Chains quickly enveloped everyone already chained up, as they too, were caught in cells. Ven jumped back and readied himself to fight as Panila was surrounded by chains. 

"Come. Let us end this, Ven. I am Panila Vincula, Warden and Ruler of Pandora's Tears."

Ven jumped towards her, but opened up a portal to redirect himself back as Panila launched chains towards were he was. He used the opening to fire a shot at her, which lightly grazed her suit. "You insignificant pest." She took another sip of her coffee as colossal chains emerged from her back. They smashed her desk to pieces as they swung around the room like whips.

Ven didn't even think as he bolted towards her, with Tid-Bit pointing out the angle they were heading for him as he slid under one before jumping over them and slicing Panila, though only managing to to cut a few strands of hair off before being rocketed back with a kick.

"Did you think this would be easy?" She sighed, stomping her foot down as chains appeared on the walls and shot out towards him. Ven decided to make a risky play and began stamping his foot rapidly while trying his best to dodge, getting a few hits though. He loaded in an explosive round into his gun-blade and waited for Panila's chains to stop.

Once he had a moment to metaphorically breathe, he kicked himself into overdrive and opened up hundreds of differing sized portals trained towards her before putting the barrel of his gun-blade into the entrance portal.

"Portal Tech: Deus Ex Machina!" 

In the spilt second Panila had to react, she surrounded herself in a dome of chains as hundreds of exploding bullets rained down at her. She couldn't hold them off for long as her strength began to wane. 

Ven used the opportunity to back step into another portal as Panila dropped her shield. "Where... WHERE DID YOU GO!?" She yelled out in anger, failing to notice that Ven was weaving through Portals to build up momentum. And as she turned around, Ven burst through the window and plunged his Blade through her heart.

Panila let out a piercing screech has the chains quickly faded. She fell to the ground, her mug smashing against the wall as Ven landed on his feet. He quickly snagged the keyring containing his friends and let out a celebratory cheer.

"I did it! Ha! I won!" 

Tid-Bit clapped her holographic hands together as Ven held the keyring he snagged off of Panila. He heard Tid-Bit let out a gasp as he began searching for the last sub-mind. "Ven, do you remember back when Panila locked up some information I got on her?"

"Kinda. We do share a mind." He snickered, motioning for Tid-Bit to continue. "Well that information was that Panila had multiple hearts. But that she also had the last sub-mind actually inside her chest. Funny, huh?"

"Wait... Multiple Hearts? Does that mean... OH FU-" He tried to finish his sentence, but was grabbed by Panila, her bangs parting slightly to reveal one crimson red eye as her anger had peaked to an all time high. "Did you really think it would be that easy? I REFUSE TO DIE TO A PEST!" Her voice went demonic as a vortex of swirling chains enveloped the two. 

Ven was knocked to the ground as he found himself in a hell-scape, with a blood red sky and balls of molten chains swirling in the background. He wearily stood up, noticing that the ground itself was a cold cobblestone. The realm he found himself in felt forged in malice, but every thought he had was silenced by Panila, who began approaching him.

Tid-Bit appeared before Ven, though looking significantly more demonic herself, as she explained; "I know what this is, It is Panila's personal realm. She used it against Avis when she rescued you. But... We can't escape. You'll have to fight your way out, Ven." 

He begrudgingly clutched his blade as Panila readied her next attack, but he remembered one thing he hadn't done in this fight so far. He gave a mischievous smirk while yelling out;

"Pandæmonium! I challenge you in your true form!" 

Tid-Bit glitched out and disappeared as Panila stopped in her tracks, seeming genuinely confused. "How do you know that name?"

"Learned it from Rat's mind." 

"OF COURSE IT WAS THAT RODENT! I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL HER, I WILL TEAR EVERYONE YOU EVER EVEN GLANCED AT APART!" She yelled and stomped her foot, the ground beneath them splitting open into nothing. Ven held his ground as the hell-scape began to shift. A large hole appeared in the centre of what was surely going to be their arena,, but he let out a confused grunt as Panila jumped into the empty void of the pit. "Wait!"

He didn't know what to do, but that thought was soon interrupted by the ground beginning to shake, the sounds of chains rattling in his ears as he felt a presence that felt more overwhelming then when Parfait was chasing them. It felt stronger then that thought, it sent the same chill he felt when he faced Eden, even in undeath, he could still feel it.

He Felt Fear.

Thousands of chains suddenly began pouring out of the pit as two gigantic pale white hands with patches of red scales emerged. Pulling herself up, she emerged. But this wasn't Panila. Ven could feel it. This was someone else. 

The Warden's usual tied up blonde hair had been let down into a long mess of hair that resembled a lion's overflowing mane. The small slits she had in her mouth had fully opened, creating an unhinged jaw with rows and rows of razor sharp teeth and a tongue that looked longer then Ven's entire body. A pair of long, ever twisting ram horns had emerged from her hair.

Her body was covered in large patches red scales as her body was wrapped in chains to resemble a dress, though it was still rather revealing. She raised her hand to finally part her bangs as she leaned down to him with a cruel expression. 7 different coloured eyes all looked directly at Ven as she loomed over him. 

"I suppose you won't HAVE to fight me as Panila anymore... I am PANDÆMONIUM, Warden Of The Damned... And The Last of The Divine."

Ven prepared himself, pointing his gun-blade at Pandæmonium with a cocky look. Even though he felt fear, even though he knew he was fighting something stronger then him, even though he was alone, he wasn't going to give up so easily.

"I guess if we're doing this then... I'm Artemis, the Rabbit Eared Hunter of Hearts!" He put his improved gun-blade over his shoulder as his ears twitched. "And this weapon is the new and improved weapon of the Misa family, The Chainbreaker! I'LL FIGHT TILL THE DAY I DIE AGAIN!" 

Pandæmonium let out a roaring laughter as she pulled her fist into the air, molten chains bursting fourth like magma. Ven opened up a portal beneath his feet and began weaving through the air while dodging swarms of chains. 

"Eido always knew how to be the biggest in the room... And yet she gave her love to that Centipede." She smirked as one of her eyes, a bright pink one, began to glow. She focused her hands together and began creating thin metallic string that she duplicated across the realm, trying to slice Ven to pieces. 

But he saw through the attack as a circle of thread began closing in on him. He let himself fall before opening two sets of portals and cutting himself in half, letting his upper and lower half fall through and hit the ground. 

Pandæmonium tried to crush both halves, but Ven gave a smirk as he redirected the strikes while putting himself back together. He soon weaved his way up to her glowing eye and stabbed it with Chainbreaker, making her stagger slightly despite her immense size. 

"Tophi and Wendy had always taught me that anything could taste good." She said before dropping into the pit. Ven jumped down after her, activating his night vision. As he fell, it felt as though Pandæmonium was circling him like a shark after a wounded fish. 

His night vision was blinded by a glowing orange colour. Despite being blinded, he knew it was his best chance at hitting Pandæmonium in the pit. He fired off a few shots at the rapidly approaching orange light, and, luckily, he saw it retreat back into the darkness. 

The light began glowing again, this time above him. He quickly began diving downwards, trying to contact Tid-Bit, but she wasn't responding. She he turned back and fired a few more shots, and again, seeing the light retreat. 

He let out an electronic sigh of relief as he used a portal to redirect his momentum upwards. Though he looked down to be blinded again, now struggling to find his sense of direction, he turned off his night vision to see that he was still falling upwards. 

But before he fly out of the pit, Ven realised that he couldn't see the red sky of the hell-scape or even see Pandæmonium's orange eye. He began diving towards a wall, only to feel something squishy. "Oh... Oh, she ate me." He thought as he activated his night vision. 

It seemed Pandæmonium had so much control over her body that she could simulate falling inside it. Ven began firing shots at her teeth, only to be knocked back by her tongue. "Hope you like spice." He smirked, loading up another explosive round he kept in his hood and fired it at her tongue, blowing a chunk out of it. 

Pandæmonium spat him out as the two emerged from the pit and, as he fell down from the sky, he loaded another shot into the chamber and fired an explosive shot at her glowing eye, damaging it enough for her to stagger again. He quickly redirected himself to the ground as Pandæmonium was clutching their newly injured eye.

"Ami was so sweet... Yet she was greedy in her thinking." Pandæmonium said with a grin, a bit of blood leaking from her mouth. A golden yellow eye began to glow as she raised her hand to the sky and plucked the black sun of her realm from the sky, transforming it into a gigantic claymore that she wielded in one hand. 

She raised it over her head and brought it straight down towards Ven, who in a moment of quick thinking, opened a size portal and stuck both his hands inside with his gun-blade, barely able to parry the strike. 

The two of their blades clashed together, with both using every ounce of strength to make the other one lose balance. But Ven knew he could win this one. He pulled the blade back, making Pandæmonium fall forward slightly. 

With the opportunity now presenting itself, he managed to get a shallow stab into her golden eye, making her stagger over slightly again. 

"Cheshire always made me smile... He was like a cat, always lazy, yet cuddly." She growled as a light blue eye began to glow. Crushing the claymore in her hands, Pandæmonium grabbed a ball of molten chains and put them together with the black sun and spitting blood into it, creating a scythe made of everything she had. 

"I taught him how to use a scythe... I wasn't a good enough teacher." She began slicing towards Ven, who began running around the pit as Pandæmonium was trying to cut to pieces once more. He began thinking over a strategy, but was more focused on dodging her attacks. 

He snapped his fingers and when Pandæmonium swung down at him again, he opened a portal above himself, putting the exit right at her eye. Before she could stop herself, she let out a roar of pain as she stabbed herself in the eye. Staggering forward and throwing her scythe away, Pandæmonium looked at Ven with a cold look with her remaining eyes. 

"Bark, Chew and Bite... My protectors. Their wrath was almost as strong as mine." She grumbled as a violet eye began to glow. She snapped her fingers, creating a hoard of melted metal Decaynines. 

Ven quickly prepared himself and began fighting his way through, slicing towards Pandæmonium, but was knocked back by a three headed Decaynine that soon began to charge for him. He moved as fast as he could, dodging the claws of the metallic beast while Pandæmonium slammed her hands down at the same time, trying to crush him. 

Ven didn't even hesitate while jumping over another slice by the three headed beast, and as it tried to slice at him again, he sliced forward, using a portal to cut the Decaynines' head. But Pandæmonium was readying to crush him where he stood, so instead of running, he waited for her to try.

As her hand came crashing down, Ven jumped up, using a portal to redirect himself through her fingers and running up her arm. She began trying to swat him off but he continued to dodge, though getting lightly nicked in the arm. 

Once he reached her shoulder, he crawled up her hair and leapt for her eye, barely able to dig Chainbreaker in, causing her to scream in pain once more.

As Ven landed to the floor with a thud, it was clear Pandæmonium was heavily weakened with only two eyes left. A green one began to glow as she summoned chains around her arms, preparing to finish the fight once and for all. "I WON'T LOSE! I'VE LOST TO MUCH ALREADY TO LOSE TO YOU! I. AM. PANDÆMONIUM!" Her voice sounded weary as she looked like she could barely keep up anymore. 

Pandæmonium's realm was beginning to fade away as she summoned every chain she could to defeat Ven. She created a gigantic ball of chains that was fuelled by spite and hatred, every negative feeling she could feel in her hearts was coming to life in that moment as the ball grew larger and larger.

It soon dwarfed her own gigantic form in comparison as Ven watched with wide eyes, not having a clue on what to do at this point. But a small crack of piercing light broke through and the same chain Rat had used earlier, fell from the sky and right into his hands. 

"Heh. Did ya really think I'd let ya die that easy?"

A familiar smug British voice said from above. Ven looked up to see Rat wave down with a smirk. "Wrap the chain around Tid-Bit and ask her family." She called out, though confusing both Ven and Pandæmonium.

He gave a nod though and ripped Tid-Bit out of his chest before wrapping the chain around the heart while Pandæmonium continued charging her attack.

A red and black lightning began circling around the heart before a laughter began to ring out from the heart. Ven shoved his heart back in as Tid-Bit emerged, though having a pair of familiar ram horns now adorned on her head.

"Ven... Why are we still here?" The now reddish hologram asked in a more cold, uncaring tone. Ven didn't have time to wonder about Bit's personality shift as he asked the question;

"Who is your family?"

Tid-Bit gave a dismissive wave of her hand, seeming bored of the question. "I suppose Parfait and Penumbra. I do wonder how they are... Oh, and my ever insufferable daughter, Lucy."

Panila's chains broke when she heard the name, looking down at the construct with a look of confusion and genuine fear. "W... What did you just say, robot?"

Tid-Bit turned to look at Pandæmonium, but seemed annoyed at the sight. "Lucifer? Is that you? And here I thought you would have grown out of using that form." She laughed, her form glitching into a more devilish look as Ven seemed confused. "Hey... What's your name?"

"Pandæmonium? Come now, are your memories failing you, Ven." Bit said like it wasn't new information, despite both Pandæmonium and Ven's confusion. 

"But uh... Then who's that?" Ven pointed to Pandæmonium with a confused look, as she looked more nervous, like she was standing in front of someone she feared. "It... It can't be..."

"That is my ever ungrateful daughter, and inheritor of all my chains... Lucifer Vincula. Who has been imitating my name this entire time since I have been dead! Can you believe that? My own daughter, using my name. And I thought I raised her better... Well, I thought Parfait raised her better." Tid-Bit laughed.

Pandæmonium quickly tried to end this with a quick claw slash, but Tid-Bit took control of Ven and activated her own heart ability. "Chains of Fate." She snapped her fingers and, in an instant, shattered the realm.

Pandæmonium, now less gigantic and more human sized, was lying on the office floor as Tid-Bit, still in control of Ven, stood before her. "Now. Why don't you be a good daughter and fix your mother some coffee?" She smirked.

Pandæmonium tried to speak, but was silenced at every word. it was like any and all intimidation she had built up over the years had faded in that moment. "Oh. And free Ven's friends. I want to go back to sleep." She said as she raised the key ring, Rat standing smugly in the background.

Pandæmonium nervously undid her bindings freeing everyone inside the cells, with them all falling to the floor, except Senshi, who, now back in her smaller state, stood on top of the pile that was everyone else.

"Good. Now then, give me the heart." She asked flatly, but Pandæmonium refused. "You're not my mother... Y-You're just a copy of her!"

"A copy? No dear... I am still your mother, no matter the body or form." Tid-Bit smirked, leaning forwards. It seemed to still intimidate her, despite it coming from Ven's mouth. She let out a quiet sigh and pulled the last sub-mind from her body, handing it over with a quiet sigh.

"Now then... Let this be our goodbye. It has been a plea-"

Tid-Bit was cut off by a sword of light flying through their chest and yanking out their sub-mind. 

"Finally. I finally got all seven." Rat said as she casually grabbed the last sub-mind from Ven's limp body. Everyone raised their weapons at her, except for Iyu, who calmly stood next to her. 

"The story can finally end."