Clockblocker

"Can you feel it? The seconds ticking down? Ya know, everyday has only so many seconds before it goes to the next. So... Uh... Why the hell did you just ever so unwhimsically tell me I had a kid?" Verum complained as she sat next to the sunbathing Belz. 

He had wanted a quick rest before he would be stuck with another tedious task at the hands of his ex. "Hey, you were the one who had her. I don't get how you wouldn't even know if you had our kid?" He asked with a light grin, staring up at the passing clouds. 

Verum shrugged, though getting a somewhat faded memory of her many pasts. "Look, what's her face looped time four thousand eight hundred and ninety nine times and died in each of em. 'Cept the last one. She was... Uh... Began with an R. And come on, she was pretty much mad already. So insane plus insane equals?"

"An annoying rat who killed me." He laughed, setting her ablaze with a snap of his fingers. Once she rewound back from being burnt to a crisp, Verum nudged at him with her tail. "I'm serious. For once, I wanna know... Is she anywhere close to as great as me?"

"Really? Not her name, age, what she's doing? Just... Is she better then you?" 

Before Verum could get her answer, the ship had begun to travel through Iyu's void like body and out into a green meadow of open space. "Attention c-c-crewmembers, we have arrived at... Oh for- Iyu, you over shot us!" Senshi yelled from the ship's intercom.

The centipede had taken over as captain while Lucy was away and Kiola still unconscious. As it turns out, Iyu seemed to have missed the mark for Siren's tears and had instead shot them an entire mountain range away. 

"My, my, my, isn't this a view?" Techtronic mused as she looked out at the open range, rather enjoying the sights as she began recording with a tap of her temple. Just next to her, Arlo and Min were discussing where exactly they could be.

"You reckon we're at Fondunt?" The dog asked with a playful smile, pointing to the strange coloured blue trees. "Nope. I'd say we're at Drillson. Look at the mountains. Clearly dwarven." Min said in matter of fact tone, though Ro pointed to the meadow below.

"We're at V'atruth you dim wits." She grumbled, wiping the railing with a cloth before leaning against it. Tech was rather fed up by the threes constant arguing, but her attention was soon taken up by what looked to be a large ball of whirling chains flying straight towards them. 

Yet Tech recorded just a frame of the ball and... Hit pause. 

It remained frozen in the air, crackling slightly like static was holding it in place. The host could feel the familiar power behind the chains and knew almost immediately what it was. "Good news, my dear associates. We are nearing Mother's heart!"

Her smirk soon faded as a second ball of chains suddenly struck the ship, causing it to shake and sway in the sky.

Meanwhile, below in the brig....

"Interdimensional assassins? That's a pretty crazy story." Pit remarked with a sarcastic tone as he continued chatting to Shaki. The two had been chatting for awhile since they were captured, and with little else to do, talking was a good way to pass the time.

"Shut it, FOX!" Grimm yelled from her cell just across from the two, gnawing and biting at the bars like a beast. Despite the great power she already possessed, Grimm struggled to keep the rage of The Apex in line. The sight of Pit only fuelled her hate and spite, despite never actually meeting him.

"That thing really hates foxes..." The Hunter awkwardly laughed as he tapped against his lantern, hoping it would light up once more. As his finger trailed across the gold decorations he put on it, the ship suddenly rocked to the side. 

"Are you just gonna sit and mope all day?" A ghostly voice called out from behind. He shot back to see the pale hood of his best friend and partner, Whip, playfully floating between the the hall. She let out another giggle as she phased into Pit's cell and circled around the lantern.

"I knew you'd come back!" He leaned forward a bit with a smirk, pulling on his chains. The spectre ran an icy finger across his bindings, causing them to shatter as he slammed against them. Pit quickly shot up and began trying to free Shaki, but the bounty hunter just shoved him off.

"Relax, kid. You go on ahead. Can't leave chew toy alone now, can I?" He laughed. 

Whip broke the lock to the cell and handed him a strange pocket watch that looked out of place before both were on their way to escape.

The two were rather agile, staying out of sight of the panicked and fleeing crew. As they snuck about the ship, Pit just had to know why whip had came for him now. But the ghost simply answered; "The High Priestess has figured out how to defeat the queen!"

The words shocked him a bit. The queen of V'atruth had gone mad a small time ago, and had been executing anyone who dared to try and stand in her way. But the high priestess was sure it was a demon in her place. Pit could save a kingdom from the fate of something so wicked. 

As the duo reached the main deck, watching as everyone was squabbling and defending against the balls of chains that were being launched by something on the ground, Whip said in a hushed whisper; "Use the watch." 

Without any other option, Pit clicked the pin of the watch. The gears suddenly stopped turning and everything began to slow down before finally halting in place. Time had stopped.

Perfectly still.

"Woah..." He muttered, turning over to Whip, who gave a small smile. "The High Priestess said that with this, we can stop The Demon without it even knowing!" The ghost explained as the slowly drifted through the frozen ship.

"I'm sorry... But time control was the paladin's thing. Mind explain' what the hell you're doing?" Verum questioned as she stepped out of the frozen crowd defending the ship. The two were put on guard, not expecting anyone to be able to move.

"Huh, you really think you're that clever, Rat tat tat?" Belz mused from behind, scaring her slightly. "You dick! How can you move?" She yelled, throwing a can at him that froze before it could touch him. 

"I guess divinity gets a free pass?" He shrugged before getting blinded by a sudden spotlight. "What my brother means is, we are too pure to be hindered by something so stupid as being paused. You've got to let the show play out before yo-"

Before Techtronic could take her stage Verum pushed her index finger down, watching with glee as Whip suddenly exploded into pure light, exorcising the spirit without much effort. All that remained was her white hood, that laid limp against the ground.

"Verum! I wanted a show, not... THAT!" Tech yelled, ignoring the distraught exorcist. He was in a state of shock. To him, Whip was a high level spirit that would have taken multiple rituals to banish... But Verum did it in what was pretty much a petty act of spite.

The fox leapt for the the three, summoning seals to stop them. But Tech tapped her temple and fired a beam of static energy that vaporised the hero like nothing. The pocket watch he was carrying suddenly fell to the ground as the three sighed in relief.

"I'll fix this then-" Belz watched as the watch still moved as if it were in normal time, instantly shattering against the ship.

The three watched as time began to resume. Then slowly, it crept backwards. Like a tape being rewound. Before they could do anything to stop it, a blinding flash covered their sight and when they awoke, Verum found herself in an empty field just outside a rather grand looking fantasy city.

"Well... This ain't good." She thought before getting shoved to the ground and kicked repeatedly by two people. "You Rodent! You can't erase us from your mind!" A feral, rat eared version of herself shouted as she stomped on what was once herself. 

"You didn't even bother to ask yourself if you needed us?" A more heroic version of herself scoffed before stomping on what was once herself as well. 

"Chill, Chill, Chill!" Verum yelled, trying to block the attacks from herselves. She slowly got up, looking around with a confused look. "Where the hell are we... Me..s?"

"Do you remember us?" They asked in unison. "Nope." She answered, making the two sigh. "Fine... Guess she'll have to learn it the old fashioned way." The heroic Verum said with a sigh.

"Learn what?"

"How to survive a loop." The two answered.