*Concordia, Remnant; June 16, 2021; 5:10 PM*

The Korian Cruisers unleashed a hellish torrent against the Colosseum, innumerable and massive plumes of ash raising from the gargantuan former arena as it slowly fell apart and crashed to the ground in another massive explosion.

"...Wow." Jason just stared on, somewhat unsurprised.

"You ever look at a train wreck..? This is exactly like that, but with more life-threatening radiation and explosions.." Alex nodded.

"Speaking of which, I'll send in Hazmat Crews. I need you all to fall back to one of the underground bunkers until this has been taken care of." Ria notified as drop pods containing Hazmat Drones went in with clean-up materials.

"Regardless of the clean-up. It isn't exactly safe here anymore. The Refugees need to be moved post-haste." Flickering Light concluded.

"Right... There's still ample living grounds on Achilles Ridge. We can head there." Rainbow Dash suggested.

"You heard the pegasus, get everyone out of here." Alex ordered, quickly turning back to his... Former friends..? He himself wasn't sure at this point.

"You're welcome." Alex simply nodded.

"Don't just try to shrug this off!! You brought Osiris here?!" Saisho demanded.

"I'm fully aware of what he's capable of. I've been training him myself, in handling an army as well as how to fight." Alex explained himself.

The whole of Unity fell silent in raw shock.

It seemed everyone knew of this supposed prophesy, then.

"Oh, calm down! You remember Alpha, right? In one timeline, he ended up leading the Inquisition, yes, but in another, he's a capable fighter, an excellent commander, and one of our most valuable team members, right?" Yang elaborated, quickly jumping to Alex's defense.

"Just like old times..." Alex thought bleakly.

"Fair point, Xiao Long." Ultimus explained.

"What's the situation on our inside man?" Weiss asked.

"Seems he left the Colloseum before the assault. He was sent to find some sort of Inquisitor Weapon. We'll have him sabotage the mission, and report back with us whenever possible..." Ultimus explained.

"In the meantime, we should check our losses. Andromeda?" Blast figured.

"Certainly. 130 Causalties, and most of us are dealing with mild radiation exposure, but a variety of magic, Aura, and other related abilities are ensuring that it won't be much of a threat. The assault laid waste to 1600 Imperial Extremis troops, 5 cruisers worth of men, and 175,000 United Remnant soldiers inside the Colosseum." Andromeda explained.

"The Auroran Fleet also gained 3 Cruisers, and dozens of Imperial Adenienite fighter craft, thanks to my land and capture strategies." Ria added.

"Well, that seems to be a fair deal better than usual, If I do say so myself!" Greeted an old, british accented voice from across the battlefield.

Who else but Doctor Monty, the familiar being walking amongst a united force again.

"Dear Lord, this looks like quite a mess you've made..!" Doctor Monty winced.

"Doctor Monty..! What brings you here, my friend?" Richtofen greeted.

"Richtofen, It's been some time, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that fucking monster resurfacing, would you?" Doctor Monty asked coldly.

"I... would rather not discuss that matter," Richtofen grumbled, "But... the important thing is that loose end may be in the process of being tied off.."

"So.. why are you here?" Dempsey demanded.

"Besides that whole mess about FUCKING LILITH, It's a simple matter. Alex didn't follow my advice whatsoever, and now we need to make up for lost time... We're visiting The Oracle."

The Insolents gasped.

"There's a story behind this, isn't there?" Twilight tilted her head.

"Well.. The Oracle essentially used us as her hand to get things properly aligned... but.." Summer explained.

"Alex... I need you to be careful regarding the Oracle... She may know basically everything, but that doesn't mean she's in it for you... Trust us.." Jason explained.

Alex still felt a bit unnerved in this regard.

"Oh, come on. At least she was honest with us!" Chūkan pointed out.

"'Honest' doesn't mean withholding valuable information, Chūkan!" Saisho retorted.

"Now, Now.. Off we go, Alex.." Doctor Monty insisted.

"With all due respect, I have an army to command, A student to teach, and... I need to talk things over... Atone for... well..." Alex uncomfortably shifted.

Yang's expression softened. Despite his harsher and now-embittered exterior, he was still the same old Alex.

"Yes, well, you had better hurry and find someone to stand in for you. Time is of the essence..!" Doctor Monty urged.

"Cade, take my army, would you?" Alex asked quickly.

"Wait, what?!" Cade gasped.

"You heard me. The Fleet's yours now. Bye, son!" Alex joked.

"Very good now. We better be going..!" Doctor Monty insisted again.

"OSIRIS!" Alex shouted as Doctor Monty waved his hand, causing a blue portal to materialize nearby.

"Oh..! C-Coming..!" Osiris nodded, flying in Alex and Doctor Monty's general direction.

Alex, Osiris, and Doctor Monty exited through the portal, leaving the entire group behind, including the Auroran Fleet.

"I feel he will quickly regret that." Saisho concluded.

"Did you just become Captain of a massive fleet?" Chūkan asked.

"I... I think so.." Cade shrugged.

"Confirmed. You are now the Commanding Officer of the Auroran Fleet. Your first order, sir?"

Cade thought for a moment, before turning towards the fleet.

"What are our options?" Cade asked.

"My Drones have placed trackers on all surviving Imperial Adenien Cruisers. We've triangulated their location." Ria explained.

"Recieved. They're accompanying the fleet on Earth. They're currently cruising over the Appalacian Mountains." Andromeda added.

"Any other options?" Auburn asked.

"The remaining Korian Fleet is numbering 18 ships, and with ground troops to back them up. The Inquisition seems to be heavily invested in Earth as well. The Fleet alone is too much for Washington's Defenses." Ria continued.

"We're going to need backup." Cade concluded, reaching for his scroll.

"Who are you calling?" Summer asked.

"Oh, just some old friends.." Cade replied, sending messages out to Natsu, Makarov, and Erza.

*Inquisitor Complex 0004, Orion 0-01; June 16, 2021; 6:00 PM*

"THAT NO-GOOD, DUPLICITOUS, TREASONOUS LITTLE BASTARD!!!!" Alpha roared, absolutely enraged.

"We aid his ascension to Emperor, and this is how he repays us?!" Morning Star angrily demanded.

"What are our losses?" Elder Cinder asked.

"We lost Emerald and Mercury, as well as Scarecrow. Nobody useful or important." Younger Cinder explained.

"Brilliant, what's our plan now?" Gamma scowled.

"We have other connections, do we not? I say we use them. What say you, Alpha?" Beta asked, turning to the larger man.

"You're not seriously considering asking for their help, are you, Beta?" Corvus demanded.

"We'll do it." Alpha insisted.

"WHAT?!" Gamma gasped.

"You're insane if you think they'd help us!" Corvus shouted.

"It is our only option. We had most of our forces transferred to Remnant. They either died in the blast from that blasted Emperor's betrayal, or are preparing for another assault. We've stretched ourselves much too thinly." Beta explained.

"We must wait for the moment to strike... Cinders, contact Lilith. We will be contacting the Illuminati shortly."

*Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, California; July 4th, 1941; 3:00 AM*

The spirits of the Island shrieked an unholy song of joy as a mass of blue souls drifted upwards towards the darkening skies.

"Listen to how the spirits sing... They are free of this realm.." This new Takeo simply stated.

"Ain't that swell. Does that mean we win?" Dempsey asked.

"I would be greatly relieved if that were so... I am in no hurry to ensnare my mortal soul.." Nikolai sighed.

"That will not be necessary, Nikolai.. The future has changed." The newer version of Richtofen, donning a chainmail undersuit underneath a rough, detailed cloth.

This new Richtofen handed Nikolai a worn-out, ancient book. A very familiar one, at that.

"The Kronorium..?"

"Read it. Learn of your true calling. You must keep your soul. It will be needed to defeat Doctor Monty." Richtofen explained.

Nikolai shook his head as he began reading the book, his eyebrows shooting upwards.

"Doctor! You may want to see this!!" Nikolai shouted as he approached another version of Richtofen, Their Richtofen.

This new Richtofen pulled the Summoning Key and his blood vials off before meeting with the rest of the group, leaving the man they had come to respect to die.

"What do you mean..?" the New Richtofen asked as he took the Kronorium from Nikolai's hands.

Richtofen's expression went from confusion, to shock, to eldrich horror, and back again.

"It... seems there is a change of plans, regardless... Well, gentlemen..." Richtofen noted as four portals opened before them.

"Destiny awaits."

The four went through their own individual portals, barely hearing the anguished cries of their original Richtofen as he slumped over in the machine, a single tear falling from his eye as the world around him turned to grey.

Author's Note

Okay, wow. this chapter took a time and a half to finally come out.

Making this wait even longer was the point that I intentionally waited until After BO4 was out and Blood of the Dead was completed to iron out this chapter. That cutscene cut me deep.

As such, here's how BO4 Zombies probably fits in, at least the Aether storyline, anyways.

There's the cycle from BO3 continuing, and there's BO4 where Primis is trying to break the cycle.

The Shadow War Arc resulted in the Cycle being rendered FUBAR, but it hardly matters since Primis was out exploring a greater multiverse, so Dr. Monty didn't really bother with them after the fact. He had his perfect world, and the Shadow Man was dead, so he wasn't really concerned.

So, now that Lilith is rearing it's ugly head again, Doctor Monty's perfect world is at risk again, and he's prepared to deal with the looming threat with any means necessary...

I don't think I'll really include the Chaos Storyline. It's not that I hate the storyline, but I genuinely feel it wouldn't necessarily fit now. The Aether Storyline dealt with Time Travel and Dimensional Travel. While the Chaos Crew sort of did time travel with IX, their storyline is far narrower in terms of scope.

There's also the fact that the Primis and even the Ultimis and Victis Crews would be better equipped against the Shonen-esque power scaling this bullshit fanfic has come to these days.

Though I will say this:

Although the Revelations/Shadow War event resulted in a new timeline split, this leads to a screwy loose end for Post-Revelations Richtofen to sort out...

Even so, it sincerely should not have taken this long on my part.