All throughout the weekend, a livestream was set up in Luna's mind designed to spy on the embiggening crowd at the Solar Eclipse festival. As the music played, more and more people joined the fray all dancing nearly simultaneously as if they couldn't stop. Rebecca, piloting a drone, was able to get some idea of who was behind it all, but a cloaked being in a green hood was the only one they could not identify, with the other two being Chandra and Elara. With this band, The Rhythm of the Bells were included in many of the songs, which Luna had to struggle to not listen to. As some points, cultists from FMS, labcoats from Solaire, and people from all districts could be seen in the crowd, all dancing to various dances like a gang of rats controlled by the Pied Piper of Hamlet. Thankfully, volume controls existed for Luna and Hinata and they couldn't be affected. This continues all weekend long until midday Monday afternoon.
At 4pm, the sky begins to darken and become rather hazy. The sky becomes even darker as the moon begins to overtake the sun. The dancing and the music has all stopped. They all watch the partial eclipse happen in total silence with NOVA themed glasses on, green cardboard, super black film over the eyes, with red hearts.
Krystal - Right. Is the drone set Rebecca?
Rebecca - Affirmative. Tsukuyomi and I are at Solaire. We are waiting for Luna and Hinata to join us.
Luna - We're coming. Everything's set on our ends.
Hinata - Yup yup.
Rebecca - Adding drone focus to Solaire main lobby. Set!
Luna and Hinata appear in Solaire's main lobby near an angry looking Tsukuyomi and focused Sienna. They are both quiet.
Luna walks up to Rebecca and gives her a hug, which Rebecca reciprocates. Hinata waves to Tsukuyomi but they don't respond any further than looking up in acknowledgment. Hinata shakes her head, "whatever." Rebecca claps her hands and speaks, "alright y'all, let's move on out. We need to drive to Central District and fight our way to the front. I'm taking some back roads, so it may take a bit longer to arrive. Does anyone have any questions? This goes to all of the people watching elsewhere. We can all hear your questions and comments as well." No one asks any questions as the group crowds into Rebecca’s old modified convertible. They drive towards Central District and the final battle of The End will begin shortly.
Near 5pm, the group arrives at the scene. In front of them is hundreds of people dead silent and their heads look up into the sky. Luna and Hinata tilt their head to the side in confusion while Rebecca flies her drone above to make sure it's completely dead. Tsukuyomi hops out of the car with her longsword out. They all have glasses on to protect their eyes from the eclipse.
"So. Shall we break through?" Tsukuyomi grins.
"Rebecca?" Luna asks waiting for her signal.
As soon as 5pm hits, the sky gradually turns dusky, and the moon completely covers the sun. The crowd in front of the four are dead silent as they continue to stare. They do not react, though it is unclear if they even can. They don't even seem to be breathing, much less able to move.
Rebecca nods, "Be careful you three. Don't fight unless provoked."
Luna and Hinata nods and begins to snake their way through the frozen crowd. Tsukuyomi grumbles and follows.
From the stage, someone tilts his head and cackles. He's a rather tall and muscular man with glowing pink eyes, blond hair, and a bit of scruff on his chin. He looks to be around 50 years old. On his lapel, the symbol for NOVA INDUSTRIES is there clear as day. He grabs the microphone from the stand and speaks. "HAH, IT'S THE REJECTED SUN AND MOON! Oh where are my manners! We need some music. ARISE MY ARMY, TAKE THEM DOWN!!!”
The band resumes playing while under the darkened sky. As the music plays, anyone close to Luna, Hinata, Sienna, and Tsukuyomi gets attacked. Punching and kicking, slashing away at the group.
"Fuck! They're getting on my fucking nerves!" Luna growls sinking into the throng. As was previously discovered, causing a sharp zing of pain causes people possessed to be knocked out of it. Hinata rushes towards to Luna clocking the mob in the head and punching them in the stomach to release them from Spark's chaos. Tsukuyomi, on the other hand, chooses to slash her longsword at the enemies, not only causing them immense pain but also killing quite a few of them. Anyone who gets too close to her is at threat to die right here and now. But it's not like they can help it.
Sienna steers the drone above the crowd, as Bunnykins rides atop it. It releases strings from its stubby paws which stick to many of the crowd members, stopping them directly in their tracks. Many of them scream in pain, as a side effect of being frozen in place like this is a burning sensation, much akin to being set on fire. This pain causes many to snap out of their trance states.
The group continues to fight forward through the crowd. Hinata dances to the beat, which increases Luna, Bunnykins, and Tsukuyomi's stamina and attack power. Rhythm Rampage is finally getting some use, and this was the original intention for the two of them to participate in this battle. "Keep it up y'all, we're almost there!!" Hinata yells out to her companions.
They are currently about 3/4 of the way to the stage.
Spark notices the group getting closer and adds extra bell sounds to the song, ringing it at a specific rhythm, and hoping to deny Luna and Hinata's advances. Thankfully it doesn't work due to their audio muffle being empowered enough plus Alais and Krystal fighting off any demons attempting to take over.
Fifteen minutes later, the group continues to fight forward, almost to the stage. Rebecca now starts to make her way through the crowd while piloting, using the path they carved out to her advantage. "Gods what a mess? Wait I thought Totality was only for four minutes??? What the fuck?" Luna and Hinata disregard the eclipsal contradiction despite it being in the forefronts of their minds. They see Chandra raising his hands in the sky for some yet unknown reason.
Tsukuyomi continues to slay the crowd, even killing some of her own cultists. It appears honor does not exist in her vocabulary. Upon getting further, she notices something off about a few of the people. People that shouldn't exist. "What in the everloving FUCK do you mean Spark? Why is SHE here?" But she disregards it as the four eventually climb atop the stage.
When they arrive on the stage, Spark halts the music and simply claps for the four. "Bravo, bra~vo! Congratulations! You've made it! And now you get to be the first to experience what Nova Incorporated is ALLLLLLLLLLL ABOUT! A war between the sun and the moon? Fuck no. It was all leading up to this. Where the moon and sun are joined, so shall we. And this time, we are never splitting. Ever. Again!" Spark cackles, as if this was the funniest thing he's ever said. His eyes are wide open while cackling, his insanity showing fully. While he laughs, the crowd, or rather what's left of it, laughs as well, overwhelming the group.
Luna gulps, "Wh-what do you mean? Spark?"
Spark chuckles, "Spark Estelle, the commander of Nova Incorporated! That's my name. And oh yes, enjoy, enjoy the suffering I have planned for you!"
MENTAL LOCK - THE COMMANDER OF NOVA AND PERSON X - SOLVED! ..wait, shit! You FUCKER!!
Luna screams in pain as a lock to her memories is PAINFULLY removed. She collapses to her knees and gasps for air. Seeing her own Mental Locks being used against her own projects like that causes Tsukuyomi to stand in front of Luna. "Spark, how dare you use my creations against me?"
Spark shakes his head, "Oh what, you're telling me the person who believed the Many Gods Above were real is allowed to preach to me? Get a fucking life Phoebe. You're finished. Solaire is finished too!"
Tsukuyomi points her longsword at Spark as Elara steps in front of it. "If you wish to get through dad, you will have to go through me first Suck." Elara speaks blankly. Tsukuyomi glares at Elara while her blade shakes from nervousness. She then sheathes it. "Fine. You're a real sicko Spark! You would even use your own daughter as a meat shield! How dare you call yourself a father!"
"Better a crappy father than an absolute scumbag who gaslights her thinking she killed me!" Spark growls.
Hinata doesn't know what to do, so she looks around the area for a weakpoint, but there isn't any. In fact, while searching, she sees most of the mob is back up and eyes glowing red. "What the fuck? We defeated them!"
Spark shakes his head, "Are you kidding me? I put a spell on them! And now... THEY'RE MINE. ALL MINE. HIT IT!" The band plays another song while Spark sings.
"He's insane. I thought you and Sol were bad Tsuk, but I didn't know how good we had it." Luna sighs, her heartrate skyrocketing from stress and headaches, "I don't know what to do. Any ideas?"
"We fight." As the song continues, Hinata slashes her sword at Chandra, but no damage is done to him. He is not turning to ash at all. And above all else, he continues to hold the moon hostage, Totality continuing well after its planned exit. Hinata continues to try and break through, but Chandra catches the blade. He does not bleed. Chandra breaks Hinata's katana in his hand. Phoebe attempts to kick at Spark, but Elara takes every hit for him. "Fucking! GET OUT OF THE WAY DEAR!" No matter what, however, Elara does not leave. Phoebe quits trying, realizing this was his plan all along.
As the song comes to its conclusion, Spark turns to the group, "well it was nice having you four, but I believe this is where we must part ways." He holds his palm up to the four as a blue ball of energy forms. It gets bigger and bigger, larger and larger, until it reaches its zenith. "Goodbye Solaire. Goodbye FMS. And goodbye LUNA Project." He launches the energy blast at the party, but the moment it lands, EVERYTHING STOPS.
Luna looks down and blinks.. “What the fuck just happened? Did I just stop time?” Everything is frozen. Parts of the sky seem off, seeming purple and black for some unknown reason. She feels oddly empowered in this moment, some parts of her glowing scarlet. She then snaps her fingers as the group disappears.
When time resumes, the group is no longer on stage. Spark blinks in confusion. "What. WHERE DID THEY GO???"
The party reappears in Solar District and Luna doesn’t speak of what happened prior. "Wait, who teleported us?" Luna asks, "that wasn't me."
"Wasn't me," replies Hinata.
"Or me. A good leader goes down with its ship and projects." Tsukuyomi groans.
"Nope, I can't teleport." Rebecca responds.
Above Luna and unknowingly to her, an odd red text appears. Patrice may recognize this from a recent excursion. "Hello. That was me. Would you like to be teleported back Phoebe?" The red text seems to ask. Everyone except Luna can see this.
Tsukuyomi blushes, "ah-- n-no, I'm okay. Thank you... whoever you are?"
Luna blinks, "is it happening again? Why can't I see it?"
Hinata shakes her head in confusion, "I have no idea, but it seems to be helping us?”
The red text changes once more to:
"Correct Hinata. I was tasked with helping you all with The End, but it seems my power was blocked out until just now. My name is Error, CoL - 00. It is nice to meet you all."
Tsukuyomi - “erm. Likewise."
Rebecca is stunned by the revelation, "Wait, as in The World Glitches? That Error?"
"Correct. Flora was rather kind to me, and she gave me that name. Look, we don't have much time remaining. Eclipse Cannon will be firing soon, and with that I will be leaving for a little while, but I promise I will return."
Hinata nods, still not understanding, but trying to be pleasant, "So is this the end then?"
"Unfortunately. But as was stated before, many times, The End is just The Beginning. Nova City began with Nova, Ended with Nova, and now will be reborn into Nova. And hopefully, we can all work together to defeat Nova. And this goes to everyone reading this too."
"I am confused. And where shall I stay? I know Eclipse Cannon will hit the church." Just as Tsukuyomi says that, a brilliant beam of white light overtakes everyone's visions. Both Solaire and the Church of the Full Moon become ruined nearly instantly. Eclipse Cannon has been fired. When the lights dim, they will find both Solaire and FMS gone. As if it never existed in the first place. Memories of both do persist, however. The Moon no longer covers the Sun.
"Huh. Well uh. I guess I must find a place to rebuild." Tsukuyomi’s tone, for the first time all night, has calmed down. She seems almost friendlier now, though perhaps that’s due to disbelief and thoughts of failure. “Though. I guess.. hm.”
"Yeah same." Rebecca sighs.
Hinata then speaks up, "Come to Fairview? Just don't start a cult okay?"
Luna is still dead silent.
"Okay, for now, consider FMS and my debt to the Many Gods Above paused. We will be back."
The four disappear from Capital City. When they reappear in downtown Fairview, Rebecca, January, and Phoebe explore the city; and Luna and Hinata return home to even try and understand what happened.