They were on a plateau, the scrubs and hardy grasses living in a rugged, and harsh land. The corpse was wearing a silver mask. In the white uniform of a naval officer, it was covered in plasma burns. The campfire was warm, dispelling the cold of the desert night. It was a vast sand sea, though they could see some signs of vegetation.

The sole tree that populated the landscape was there, above them, and the other figure rested against it, blood, coolant, and oil everywhere. "It... Is good to meet you both at last." His voice was mechanical, and he was holding a severe wound, the sword imbedded in his chest pinning him to the tree. "He's only temporarily overcome... I can not hold him in the endless sleep for long... But I wanted to give you a chance to meet me. Meet us, as we were. We have a few hours, true, but as the Chaos Dragon, and Death Phantom die... He will rise again unless we can change this Utsurowazarumono Tsuki*."

The visor hid his eyes, his bodysuit in red and grey, and the gauntlets he wore being crimson. He was clad in a helm of red. "My name is Blues. And that..." He idly gestured with his other hand. "Is Rau." The Robot Master smiled faintly. "So. Normally, this is when you begin asking questions about his beliefs, and I answer them as best as I can. That way, you can change them."

Sophia and Sugiyima fall unconcious in the real world.

Sophia looks around the landscape, wondering how she found herself in this distant location. She only blinked once, and suddenly she was no longer in Peter’s living room. The arid climate and scrubs were things that she hadn't really encountered since she was very young. A distant memory of easier times.

The tree sticks out as being one of the few plants above knee height. The tree was not an odd sight though, unlike the armored individual leaning against it who appeared to be impaled. She races to his side and looks at the man panicked. This was more than she could undo. How the man was still alive was beyond her, but it might have been related to the fact that he leaked oil as well as blood. “Huh? What? A final chance to meet? It doesn't need to end here…” she says, obviously upset. She knows not to pull the sword out of the man’s chest for risk of worsening the injury, but she doesn't know what to do. The man seems so calm for someone with such a grievous injury.

As he says his name, she looks into his eyes and repeats, “Blues…” What Peter said early suddenly becomes much more coherent. She looks to the other individual that Blues gestures to. Rau.

She takes a step back. “Are you two a part of Peter or completely separate?” she asks. She couldn't quite tell what these men’s origins were.

The sudden change in scenery was jarring, and Itoi looked around himself feeling horribly confused for a few moments. Suddenly they were on a plateau, with a plasma-burned corpse of what looked like a military officer, and.. What on earth.. Protoman? And he identified himself as Blues, no less. Itoi had played his share of Megaman games as a child, and he knew what he was looking at. But... why? He listened to Sophia speak, and he began to think that they had somehow found themselves manifested in Peter's subconscious mind.

"An officer-looking man named Rau... A manifestation of a video game character, Protoman... Are you aspects of Peter's personality? A split personality issue, of sorts..?

That was his best guess. If Peter had been having the severe issues Sophia had described, and he was truly somehow inside the realm of his mind, it made sense that these could represent fractured personality elements. It was his first assumption, at least, based on what he knew of psychology. As the group spoke, Itoi took a few steps closer to Sophia, holding a somewhat protective posture next to the girl.

"I am his youth, his optimism, and everything he loves as a child." Blues leaned his head back best as he can. "You can call me a manifestation of who, and what, he was. Right up and until his parents were killed because an employee chose to act on greed. With that fireball... Peter's family died, and he discarded any belief in wonder or merriment, focusing himself on the world's ugliness." Blues had a pained smile. "And then it only got so much worse as he became a nihilist."

Blues tried to shrug, but groaned. "I am a machine. The blood is because part of Peter still lives in me... If you all had not intervened, I was going to self-destruct, and take it, and Rau, with me." He exhaled slowly, trying to cool his systems. "Right now, this is ancilliary. You both have the power to change who he is, and free him from Chaos. Right gauntlet, back of arm, you will find a data slate. You will have access to the full entirety of his thoughts, beliefs, his soul. You can change him from there. You need to reset his emotional bonds. He will know none of you from strangers, the emotions gone, but it will free him from Beryl, and from his longing for Celeste. It is the only way... I know how..."

Sophia looks at Itoi as he offers an explanation for these two men. She was never a gamer, so she didn’t recognize where Blues was from. “I wouldn’t say split personalities… Peter’s not much like one guy I know that has that issue.” Blues makes the claim of being Peter’s youth. It makes enough sense to her. A video game character from early childhood being a symbol of early childhood. She remembers what Valdis said to her once concerning the death of innocence. The scene strikes her as even more tragic somehow.

Sophia frowns as Blues mentions he was about to self-destruct. “I don’t think destroying more things would really help Peter. His soul is already badly broken…” She looks over to Rau, “And what is he a manifestation of?”

As Blues mentions the location of the data slate, Sophia carefully reaches over and removes it. She examines it. It is a relatively simple thing for something that holds so much of Peter’s personality. “I don’t mind starting over with Peter. But what about his old emotions toward Celeste? That was the closest he ever experienced to actual love. Just removing all memories of that. Of something so special to him. That seems terrible. You said he discarded any belief in wonder and merriment and started to focus on the ugliness of the world. Would it be possible to alter the parts that dwell on the negative? To remove the bits that refuse to see the good in the world? Would that help?” She looks to Itoi, “Do you have any ideas?”

Itoi listened to Blues' speech, and it struck a sad chord in his heart. A tragedy had apparently taken his parents from him, and as a result Peter's heart had grown hardened. His perspective soured, and nihilism creeping into his personality. Blues' proposal to wipe Peter's memory and beliefs, and rewrite them would have been puzzling on its own -- but his brief revelation before presenting the data slate was telling.

"How fitting, that for a man consumed by a bitter, nihilistic worldview, that the solution to all of his problems would be to simply destroy his memories, his emotional bonds... Of course, he would see a return to nothingness as the only way out."

His eyes sharpened a bit, as his mental wheels spun assessing Peter's state.

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept that proposal. Your own suggested solution is precisely a symptom of the very problem afflicting Peter. My faith teaches me to redeem and restore, not reset. Regardless of his affliction, Peter can and will be healed... I have faith in a God who has a much better solution than just pressing the reset button.

"Oh how much like me you are. Believing in something higher." His smile was filled with pain at that. "And how does the world reward your heroism? Do they want a hero, or a martyr, another statue to raise." He gripped the sword, growling as he yanked it out. "Better that he die... Than that he succumb to the world again. This world is filled with fools. Fools that discarded us, when we stood and fought. My father's only weakness was that self-same hope." He shattered the sword, pulling himself off the part still imbedded in the tree.

A long black overcoat formed on his body, and his damaged armour began to heal. "There are no heroes. Mankind is doomed." His buster cannon pulled up, and began to charge. "They will never have another hero. They abandoned me, and they abandoned him. And my brother is not here to save you, nor is any other figment of the light."

His eyes were practically glowing red bright enough to see behind the visor. "They want us to sacrifice for them, again? Want us to give up Beryl? Give up Brittania? No. We are done giving up on what we want." A spray of plasma shots, but moving slow enough to dodge.

The form finally finished changing, as the figment of 'Rau' disappeared, and the Inqusitor stood before them. "It took four of your number to stop me last time." His armoured form was there, and Clarent was in his hand. "Time to die, little Senshi. Better luck next time."

Sophia looks over to Blues as he mocks the two of them. She backs up, gripping the data slate closer tightly and holding it close to her chest. Her eyes widen as he pulls the sword out of his chest. Evidently nothing was quite as it seemed. Blues morphs into something else entirely before her eyes. As the plasma shots fire, they seem to move slowly. She darts to the side, pulling Itoi out of the way with her.

She stares at him, determined, “I promised Peter that I wouldn’t let him to fall into the darkness. I won’t let it take him so easily.” This was a dreamworld. For once, she wasn’t actually a weak child, fighting in a war with no right answer against an opposing force that outmatched her in every way. She could be whatever she wanted to be. Her friend was in trouble, and she had to win this one.

With a deep breath, she begins to radiate bright light as she transforms into her senshi outfit. Instead of a bow, she summons a sword, modelled exactly after the Moon Sword, her predecessor’s legendary blade. She had only seen a replica of it briefly, but the memory of it remained her mind. It feels odd in her hands, but familiar at the same time. “I don’t like to fight. So I will ask you to surrender. Drop your weapons and I’ll do the same. I don’t want to hurt or destroy anything here, and that includes you. We just want to make it so he can move on from his past and finally be happy. We aren't here to take anything way, but to heal him and give him a new opportunity for an actual life. Not this all consuming obsession that he had before. And I will fight for whatever I need to give him that."

Itoi's face remained stern as Blues gave his retort. Clearly he was consumed with bitterness and frustration... Understandable emotions, for certain, but still misguided. There was a brief temptation for Itoi to be judgemental and harsh, but he knew such an attitude would only fuel the wound already consuming Peter from within. He remained calm, moving quickly to avoid the plasma shots, never breaking eye contact with Blues.

I do believe," he continued, "And I understand that sometimes heroism goes unrewarded... Christ Himself was a hero and yet He was put to death by His own people. Should we be surprised if we, trying to do what's right, receive the same treatment?"

He took hold of his henshin rosary, changing quickly from his seminary casock into the garb of the Knight of Neptune, moving closer to Venus in case Blues kept up his attack.

"On some level, you know that bitterness and nihilism are rooted in selfishness and despair.. And I believe, as should you, that Peter is capable of far more than that."

“Maybe, before he had to wrest godhood from the secrets of nature. Before he had to come to terms that the woman he loves will never love him back? That the Zodiac, the faction that is closest to his beliefs, the flames he holds towards Chaos, would as soon kill him? You are too late Catholic. Your predecessors are corrupted and slain by his hand at her command.” The Inquisitor burst to his side, staring at them before there was an explosion of light, a flashbang, before smoke grenades went off.

“How can you stop the Goddess Chaos, little Senshi? It took Sailor Moon herself, in the apex of her powers, and even then, she only halted the battle. Every time you purify chaos energy, you allow it to return to the source, or find it's way in others. This very battle you fight will mean the next will be harder!” He cackled, backpedaling from any possible attacks through the smoke.

“And what's more, you demand that I of all, kneel to one who bears a weapon of the Lunar Tyrants? Do you even know who you address?” The sword Clarent... “I am much more than just that deluded machine, or the deluded Nihilist. But no. You care not for his empire, nor the blood that flows in him, commanding him to follow my path.” He chuckled at that before looking up and over.

“It seems your friends are dueling the Death Phantom.” In the desert, there was a great scorpion like beast, and they could see what looked possibly like two figure fighting it. “And he has Excalibur. The host betrays me even now? I will not allow it. I killed Arthur once, and I can kill him again!”

There was a surge of energy, as the Inquisitor was holding the now struggling form of Blues by the throat. The smoke cleared, the Robot Master snarling. Whatever glow had been there before was gone. Itoi would remember the defining flaw of Proto Man. “We shall go together.”

Sophia could see the arm holding him was covered in metal. And the sword in her hand would never fail. “If the hand offends thee, cut true.” It was Peter's voice in her mind, though softer, sadder even.

Sophia shakes her head, “No, we aren’t too late. One can always turn around on the road that they're headed. It just gets harder to get back home.” The flashbang goes off, but Sophia dims the resulting light. She still remains the brightest thing in this dream. “Stop attempting to hide and distract,” she says, moving through the fog. She attempts to wave the smoke away, listening to Peter speak of endless war. “There will be an end to the fighting. Even if I have to track it down to the source of all corruption. Even if I have to give up everything. I refuse to follow the mistakes of my predecessors or those of the senshi in the distant future. I don’t fight for the Moon Kingdom or a Princess. I fight to save everyone.”

She can almost sense Clarent, but she can’t see where the Inquisitor has gone. “I never asked you to kneel. I’m a servant, not a ruler. I asked you not to fight. And I care for his happiness and mental stability. I think that is more important than anything else. What does blood matter? Are we destined for things or do we have the ability to choose? I don’t think we are so bound by the past. We are who we choose to be. We can do what we choose to do.”

She arrives at a scene of a desert. She can’t make out the figures fighting the scorpion though. “I will not allow you to hurt them. Besides, why do you want Excalibur? Why do you want to kill Arthur? Do you want to repeat the same mistakes again and again? That way only leads to your own misery. You should know that. You’ve already done it before.”

Finally, she finds the Inquisitor. A voice sounds in her head, but she shakes it. “Peter, have you been listening to a thing I said about bloodshed? You always try to find a better way.” A blinding light would go off in front of the inquisitor's eyes, and she would rush forward, delivering a pommel strike to the face. Simultaneously, her elemental control activates. The arm of the metal suit would twist to force the Inquisitor to let go before being pulled behind his back. “Just give up. It’s in your best interest.”

Itoi listened intently through the Inquisitor's speech. Much of the history he spoke of was still very foreign to Itoi, who was still struggling to come to terms with his new powers and his newly inherited identity. Clearly, there was so much at stake that the young seminarian hardly understood. But, if nothing else, he understood the importance of saving an ailing soul, and he wouldn't be deterred by smoke and flashbangs.

Sophia was quick into action to defend Blues, invoking her blade and powers quickly. Itoi, for his part, sprung into action to assist Sophia in subduing the Inquisitor. As she worked to bend his arm back out of use, Itoi would attempt to get in behind him and lock him in a chokehold to try and help bring him to the ground.

"I don't fully understand what it is that you represent within Peter," he said sternly, teeth gritted as he struggled against the Inquisitor's strength, "But I can assure you that there is peace beyond this seething destruction, if only he will hear it and seek it out... That is my prayer.

It was challenging, attempting to quiet Peter's inner chaos when he knew so little. At best, he could speak what truths he could muster and hope that something would strike a chord. He knew, in this instance, that Sophia was they key to victory. He would support her as best he could.

Blues was gasping, freed from the Inquisitor's grasp. “Core... Overheating... Cooling systems disabled...” He was on his hands and knees, panting, trying to get his system into something resembling a stable state. “Run... Nuclear...”

The Inquisitor's mask shattered, and there was a face that certainly resembled Peter's there, but it was colder, more hateful. His eyes were a sickening blue as his helm was knocked free, revealing blonde hair. “I am Mordred. The right to rule, taken by force.” He was straining against the metal, snarling. “And it does not matter. He is going to explode, and knock you all out of the host's conciousness. I might die, but there is more than enough corruption in the Chaos Dragon to finish killing him.” His smirk spoke of boundless confidence.

“The Pluto and Earth Senshi are out matched. Azeria is not smart enough, nor brave enough, to open a gate into the very fires of creation themselves to wash away his entropy. Chaos is the end of time itself. Her corruption is that darkness, the bleakness of a world without heaven.” He laughed at that. “Your victory here is meaningless, Catholic, and Fool both.” He addressed Itoi as the Catholic. “He dies. And so too with Excalibur.”

With Blues released, Sophia rushes to his side after fusing Morderd’s armored arm to the armor over his back. She tries to hide her panic as Blues mentions going nuclear. She grabs his hand. As calm as she can, she says, “Ok. We’re going to try to help you. I’m going to expose your core, and Sugiyima-san can flush the system with cool water. I just need to open a hole.” Squeezing his hand, she adds, “No one here needs to die. But this might hurt.”

“Ready?” she asks Itoi before she moves the metal around in his body. She’s careful not to break anything else, just shift thing around to create a hole to expose the core. “Go!” she yells at Itoi.

The Inquisitor had given him credit for a "victory," fruitless as he claimed it to be. Perhaps he had given up? But Sophia called his attention to Blues, rapidly overheating and on the verge of destruction. This whole scenario was still beyond bizarre and baffling to Itoi, but something told him letting Blues "die" in here wasn't going to be a wise idea.

"Understood," he said simply, hurrying to Blues' side. He began to breathe slowly, calming his mind as he extended his hands out toward Blues. As he did, a gentle, glowing mist formed around him, its cooling and healing effect washing over the mental construct.

When Itoi spoke again, his voice was very calm, still, almost fluid.

"I'm not sure if I can even truly heal you, in a place such as this... But if I can, I beg you to lend us your aid to heal Peter's heart. Surely, you can feel the love and concern welling up inside Sophia, can you not? Take strength from her."