Fallen Crusade

Fallen Crusade is a very short fiction taking place after Summer Dayz that follows the killing of the Pope by Liameno, with the fallout occurring immediately afterwards. The story was written by to possibly flesh out Liameno's character more.
==Story==
The Pope rises from his bed, pulling away the white sheets as he sits in his fullbody underwear. There is a terrible, awful noise that has woken him up.
:The Pope: Hmm... what's going on?
The Pope puts on a white bathrobe with a golden cross on the chest.
:The Pope: For heaven's sake, what is going on out there?
The Pope opens up the door of his bed chambers, glancing down the hallways. He sees nothing. The racket has stopped. The pope shakes his head.
:The Pope: Guess it was nothing...
The Pope nearly goes back in, but a flake of black dust swirls in front of his eyes. He begins to see the hallway is actually filled with it.
:The Pope: Is there... a fire?
The Pope hears scuttling from above before suddenly a large figure drops down, with blue hair and black pupils with intense yellow eyes.
:The Pope: What in the-
The figure giggles as he puts his black clawed finger to The Pope's lips.
:???: Be still... this won't hurt. 
The figure uncloaks a pistol of some kind, slowly drawing it to The Pope's right hip.
:???: This will just take a second.
:The Pope: Are you Satan?
:???: Worse.
:The Pope: Worse? I don't...
The pistol goes off and suddenly The Pope falls over to the floor, clenching his stomach.
:The Pope: I don't feel so good...
:???: My name is Liameno. You are heresy. 
Liameno cackles as he watches The Pope disintegrate into black dust, vaporized to his very atoms.
:Liameno: Sayonara, old man in a funny hat.
----
Vicky Victorious is behind a news desk, holding a bunch of papers together as she straightens them. She glances over the report, her eyebrow raised.
:Vicky Victorious: (whispering, somewhat shocked) The Pope is dead?
:Camera Man: Hey, we're about to roll in five.
:Vicky: Well... alright. 
Vicky straightens out her posture as the lights turn on in the news studio. The camera begins to roll.
:Vicky: Early this morning we received reports that the Apostolic Palace was ransacked and attacked by aliens. While reports are still unclear as to who exactly was with these aliens, or if they have a possible connection to Unten, one thing is for sure: The Pope is dead. 
Gasps can be heard through some of the crew on set, although not loud enough to appear on the broadcast as Vicky pauses for a moment.
:Vicky: Yes, you heard that right, The Pope is dead. As if we needed more proof that gods do not exist.
:Cameraman (off camera): Hey, we said to stop that kind of thing.
:Vicky: I mean to be frank, can you blame me? The Fan and The Enemy are both depowered as well as that Threat chick, and now we can't even turn to the old ones because believe you me, God would never kill the Pope.
Vicky leans forward.
:Vicky: Maybe we are all part of some cosmic mistake and time's ticking, ticking, ticking all the way down until the very last tock where none of us are left, our history erased much like The Pope's corpse was, apparently. There are no gods to take stock into anymore, our decisions and rational thoughts are nothing but distractions to whileaway until we cease into a empty black void. What am I doing with my life? What are you doing with your life? What is the purpose of any of this?
Vicky leans back.
:Vicky: We'll be back after the break. 
----
Unten has his hands around Quartz's head, the two passionately making out. A knock is heard at the door as Quartz looks back and lifts herself off Unten, who blinks quietly, trying to look a bit more like he usually does. Quartz opens the door to see Sakeena Kamel.
:Quartz: Heyo, Sakeena.
:Sakeena: Hey! 
:Unten: Oh hey, Sakeena!
Unten sits up in the chair as Sakeena walks in.
:Sakeena: So... uh, we might have Liameno back on our hands. Considering you knew him... uh... I don't know, I thought I would go talk to you about it, but I dunno, maybe you're too busy for this kind of thing or...
Sakeena throws out her hands.
:Sakeena: I dunno what I'm doing with my mouth anymore...
:Quartz: (passively annoyed) Nah, it's cool. We weren't doing anything.
:Unten: Liameno?
:Sakeena: Yeah, something about killing The Pope?
:Unten: Huh...
Unten gets up, grabbing Imperium and the Hyper Mode orb.
:Sakeena: He's... not actually on Earth as of present. Seems like he just waltzed into the Vatican and then waltzed right out, returning back to one of his conquered planets...
:Unten: Well, we need to find him then.
:Sakeena: ...you sure this is a good idea? Liameno literally owns a entire empire... I dunno. If he's just coming in and doing that...
:Unten: I mean, we took on The Threat, right?
:Sakeena: Yeah, and we lost someone, didn't we?
:Unten: Leah's not actually dead, you know.
:Sakeena: She might as well be. I don't really think...
Sakeena sighs, thumbing the ridge of her forehead.
:Sakeena: I don't really think now is the time to throw hands with a literal galactic emperor again.
:Unten: I just want to talk to him.
:Quartz: I'll come with him. He'll be fine. 
:Sakeena: If it even looks remotely bad, you come straight back. You come straight back.
Quartz nods.
:Unten: Alright.
----
Liameno strips all of his armor off, silver-colored water streaming down his hair and shoulders.
:Liameno: Heresy, all of it.
Liameno glances at the Fan and the Enemy symbols on the wall, crafted out of gold.
:Liameno: There is only two true gods, don't they know? Don't they understand?
Liameno throws his hair back.
:Liameno: Talking to myself like a crazy person... pah. 
A blue haired woman with a yellow streak in her hair nervously comes into the room.
:Blue Hair Woman: Liameno, sir, there's three guests in the lobby?
Her eyes dart away from him.
:Liameno: Interesting. I don't remember inviting guests.
:Blue Hair Woman: Well, they're here.
Liameno puts on a towel.
:Liameno: Francheza, tell them I will be right there...
The blue haired woman, Francheza, nods her head as she departs from the room.
:Liameno: Guests...
Liameno spits as he puts back on his armor.
----
Unten and Quartz wait in the lobby, which is a pristine white color, even whiter than Quartz's skin. Unten looks anxious. NULL, who apparently was brought along, plays on her Nintendo Switch on the couch.
:Unten: Yeah, so we go right away if something bad happens.
:NULL: Ayup. We just... teleport back to Earth, because that's totally not a stressful thing to do for me. 
:Quartz: One of these days you gotta quit the attitude.
:NULL: Yeah, when I'm dead. Which will be long after the two of you croak, by the way.
NULL shakes her head.
:Quartz: Mhmm... okay. 
Elevator doors open to reveal Liameno, who clanks towards them with mechanized armor.
:Liameno: Hello, who do we have here?
:Unten: Just me and Quartz. NULL too, I guess.
:Liameno: Interesting. Interesting.
Liameno glances at Unten.
:Liameno: You really decided to show up even despite what you've done, huh? Can't tell if it's bravery or stupidity. Maybe it's latter, that's what I'm leaning towards.
:Unten: What the hell are you- ohhh, right. 
:Liameno: Man, bold of me to assume you'd ever forget that, huh?
Liameno laughs.
:Liameno: Let's take this outside. Just you and me. 
Quartz glances at Unten.
:Quartz: I think now is the time go.
:Unten: Mm... 
Unten takes a moment to think.
:Unten: As long as you promise not to hurt me.
:Liameno: Oh, why, I would never!
Unten cautiously departs with Liameno as Quartz folds her arms, before sighing in a panicked, anxious way.
:Quartz: I hope you know what you're doing...
----
Liameno and Unten go outside, where they walk on a marble sidewalk surrounded by red grass.
:Unten: Why did you kill the Pope?
:Liameno: It was after a long period of reflection, I assure you. I think it had originally begun as an act of revenge on you, this planet you loved so much. I'd take away whatever gods you have left for punishment for descending mine.
:Unten: That seems... a bit extreme.
:Liameno: I'd cut them all up, vaporize them into nothingness. Cull every religion. What have they done for your planet? Create wars and general misery for millennia? Under my envisioning, everyone would be under the same roof, the one of mine. As I've done in the past.
Unten nearly stops.
:Liameno: Mormon apostles, catholic priests, Islamic Allamahs, could just squish them like that, you know?
Liameno stretches out his hands.
:Liameno: Unification under two gods. Chaos and Order. As it should be. 
Unten scratches his head.
:Unten: Not to say anything too outlandish, but an eye for an eye isn't the way to go about these things. Besides, they'd replace whoever you kill...
:Liameno: I suppose that is true. I guess we'd have to make it annual until the numbers dwindled into absolutely nothing.
:Unten: That won't work though. This culling crusade is nothing but endless bloodshed. As long as people exist and try to make sense out of their world, there will always be some kind of religion, good or bad, and it probably won't be just yours forever. Faith goes somewhere to what seems the most plausible, not the most factual.
:Liameno: Mine will be the only to ever exist. Nothing can threaten that.
:Unten: You really sure about that?
Liameno takes a moment to think.
:Liameno: I mean, I know so, at least for my own empire.
:Unten: You really might want to look again.
Liameno scrunches his face.
:Liameno: What are you trying to tell me?
:Unten: There are thousands of hidden religions in your empire. I might not go to space that often but you don't even need to go to space for that; it's out there in relative secret. They do what they can to find loopholes and openings to practice their version of faith because what you present to them isn't plausible to them. They seek the truth you can't provide.
Liameno slowly stops.
:Unten: I'm not here to fight. I'm just telling you that this insane goal of yours, this endless crusade, just can't and won't end. 
Liameno puts his hand on his shoulder.
:Liameno: I suppose you're right... I suppose you're right.
Liameno laughs.
:Liameno: Clearly, I should have been culling out my own empire, which apparently is nothing but soul for other heresy to grow out if.
:Unten: Didn't say that...
:Liameno: And instead of punishing your planet, I should have punished you.
Unten slowly begins to back away but Liameno jams his claws into him, piercing his shoulder.
:Unten: Ackk...
Liameno pulls out the vaporizing pistol slowly, pressing it against Unten as he puts a claw to his mouth.
:Liameno: Like I said, I don't plan to hurt you. This won't even hurt, I promise.
Liameno sheepishly grins as he slowly puts his claw onto the trigger, not pushing or pulling it, merely just touching it.
:Liameno: Some girl tried to escape from me, as they tend to... carried this little doozy with her. She nearly used it against me, but well, I wouldn't be here if she actually did, now would I?
Liameno scowls as Unten tries to shake away before finally just standing still and closing his eyes, apparently having accepted his fate. Liameno tries to push some pressure onto the gun, but his fingers freeze up entirely.
:Liameno: Ah, what the hell, I can't do it.
Liameno puts the pistol away.
:Liameno: I like you too much to do that, despite what you've done to me. 
Unten's eyes jut open glances at Liameno with a feverish glance.
:Liameno: We're already looking for the Artifacts of Ascendancy, it might take months, might take years, but the Fan and the Enemy will be restored to their former glory whenever I manage it. I guess that's the other thing about religions... truly great ones will never die, much like you said. They'll replace, we'll ascend. 
Unten stays silent as he glances at Liameno leaving him to head back into the building.
----
Vicky lays on a bed in her apartment, silent as she crosses her arms. She glances at the woman in her bed, a one night stand, barely even remembering her name. 
:Vicky: God, where did I go wrong?
Vicky chokes up.
:Vicky: God damn it.
Vicky gets up out of bed, touching her throat as she can feel it sort of dry, or inflamed, she can't really tell.
:Vicky: Ugh.
Vicky grabs a empty water bottle, filling it up in the sink and chugging it down, still not really feeling it go away. She hears someone shuffling around in the dark, dropping the water bottle.''
:Vicky: GAH!
The woman stares at Vicky.
:Woman: You alright?
Vicky takes a moment to catch her breath, really thankful that it's too dark to see her tears.
:Vicky: I-I'm just getting some water.
:Woman: Alright... sorry, I just heard noise, I'm a light sleeper.
Vicky nods.
:Vicky: Sorry.
:Woman: It's fine, really. I just have work in the morning and I'm in kind of a unfamiliar neighborhood.
:Vicky: Right, and the phone alarm is going to go off. Yeah, I get it.
:Woman: I don't usually do this... hah. Kind of just work behind the counter, making the food at the taco restaurant that really is having a hard time pulling in customers these days...
:Vicky: Dorado Taco?
:Woman: Oh wow, you know, huh?
:Vicky: Yeah... I think about going there sometimes but...
Vicky walks back into the bedroom.
:Vicky: Eh, whatever, I'm going back to bed... 
:Woman: Alright, I'll be there too. 
The two women get back into bed. Vicky is still wide awake, trying to wipe away her tears.
----
Unten and Quartz arrive at Rachel's apartment very late at night, with NULL instantly walking off to go back into her bedroom. Unten hears very loud yelling.
:Rachel: (in another room, yelling) RIGHT, BECAUSE IT'S MY FAULT THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYONE, EVEN YOURSELF!
:Bang: (in the same room, yelling) YEAH, SENDING NULL OUT ALONE TO GO TO GODDAMN LIAMENO IS RESPONSIBLE PARENTING, HUH?
:Rachel: (lowering her voice very slightly) If you had SUCH a issue, why didn't you discuss it with ME?
:Bang: (really frustrated) BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO DEAL WITH THIS TO BEGIN WITH!
Unten creaks the door open a bit. Rachel and Bang look over.
:Rachel: Oh thank godddd.
Rachel runs over to hug him.
:Rachel: Is NULL okay?
:Unten: Yeah, yeah, she's in her room right now.
Rachel takes a big sigh of relief. Bang rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. Unten thinks about mentioning what was obviously an argument earlier, but decides against it.
:Unten: Everyone's fine. We're all in one piece, I don't think Liameno is coming back.
:Rachel: Well, that's good news for everyone, then.
:Unten: More or less, I guess.
:Rachel: I really don't understand that kind of weird kinship you two have.
:Unten: Me neither... I guess it's because he saw as harbingers of the same gods. I rejected his god, evidently, but he still sees that same boy scout that would follow the orders without question and... 
Unten sighs and looks to Quartz.
:Unten: It's late. I'm gonna go home.
:Rachel: That's fair.
Unten nods as he takes Quartz's hand, who blushes, and walks out of the apartment. Rachel sighs as she lays on the bed, relieved but still uncontent.
:Bang: I'm sorry for yelling at you.
:Rachel: I'm sorry too. It's... ugh, nevermind. Let's... just get some sleep, okay? It's so late...
Bang nods.
----
Liameno glances at the horizon of his planet, arms folded behind his back as Kimbra Blowfish joins his side.
:Liameno: The sun was a gift from the Fan. 
Liameno watches as it sets, with the moon slowly rising.
:Liameno: The moon was a gift from the Enemy.
:Kimbra: Waxing philosophical again? Come on, do you got anyone I can horribly maim?
:Liameno: Afraid not.
:Kimbra: Eh shame, I sharpened my knives for nothing.
:Liameno: What do you suppose The Fan and The Enemy would want from me now? I've had time to ponder Unten's words... I wonder if any kind of culling is truly necessary if the faith we have now is already so strong.
:Kimbra: Eh, come on, you know I ain't into that junk.
:Liameno: Maybe we need to spread the word in a more peaceful way... 
Liameno cackles, hearing himself speak.
:Liameno: Actually, who am I kidding? Let's go raze a planet or something. I'm in the mood for that.
:Kimbra: There's the Liameno I love.
:Liameno: The only one...
Liameno walks back into the building with Kimbra as the camera pans to the night sky.
The End
==Cast==
LiamenoVictory.png|Liameno
VickyVictoriousExo.png|Vicky Victorious
UntenZenithAlt.png|Unten Bluzen
QuartzVictory.png|Quartz
Sakeena2018.png|Sakeena Kamel
NULLNew2018.png|NULL
BiancaPL.png|Bianca (listed as Woman in script)
RachelPostVictory.png|Rachel Harel
Bang_CrimsonVictory.png|Bang Crimson
KimbraBlowfishPainted.png|Kimbra Blowfish
==Trivia==
*This story was spawned from a single idea of Liameno killing the pope and was written in four to five hours.
*In addition to fleshing out Liameno, Helena wanted to add some additional depth to Vicky Victorious, giving her a crisis of faith that she didn't even know she had.
**The idea spawned from just how negative the news always seems to be at times and how that can totally warp how you see the world.
*Additionally, this story was created to create seeds that would further complicate the relationships of the characters, such as Rachel and Bang's fight at the end of the story and Unten nearly dying because he didn't take Quartz's advice to just leave.
*The vaporizing pistol's effects are a nod to the end of Avengers: Infinity War, where Thanos snaps his fingers and characters turn into dust, seemingly disappearing into nothing.
**The Pope's line about not feeling good is a nod to a certain death in the film.
*While never outright said, the cast list confirms that Vicky's one-night stand was with Bianca from the Pink Lemonade series. There are several hints to nod to this, such as her occupation of working on the food in Dorado Taco.
Category:Fan Fiction
Category:Original Fan Fiction
Category:What is the New Fantendoverse?