DISCLAIMER/ I don't own Halo or Naruto.


"Most of us regard good luck as our right, and bad luck as a betrayal of that right."

-William Feather


Chapter 1: An Unconventional demise...


If someone had lost one they truly loved and appreciated more than hours earlier, they would be in tears. Some would choose to live no longer to make the pain go away, while most would be too grieved to complete any normal means of communication. Many beings go through these dark things that corrode our mind. Some of the traits are called sorrow, grief, mental pain, sadness, depression, unhappiness, and so many others they can't all be listed. There was only one conclusion to it all. The pain would never leave. It would never diminish. It was always going to linger in the pit of our hearts for as long as we continued to live and breathe. It would be an irremovable pin to our souls and spirits. It would always be painful.

Always.

No matter how we denied it, buried it, covered it, erased it, it would be a permanent imprint.

Some have ways of mending these pained feelings. Ignoring it by any means necessary, deny it until that person gets a face full of reality, replace that pain with love, or just accept it as it is... The first option proved to be a false statement since there was no definite promise of moving on since the mind could never forget. Denying the pain would constantly make you keep remembering to forget it, to deny the truth. The next option proved to be the most successful, but it's disadvantage though would be futile... For certain people of course, Love only happens when it happens... It was something that couldn't be proved by science, or sought out by the desperate. But if you did have the loyalty of your friends and support, you would manage... Finally, the last solution proved to be the most agonizing solution to ones morale spirit...

However, one man was going through both physical and mental pain... Both pain's equivalent to being ripped apart by thousands of knives... This man had lost his one true hope and life. Lost somethi- no, someone who had given his life meaning and importance. Light actually. This man could be described as a stone cold killer by all of his peers, an aging abomination made in a lab by most, or an overall monster. However, very few individuals cared for the man as the most valued comrade in arms, and some would agree to the fullest extent of this.

But what feelings did this being have toward everyone else? Simple, he wanted the safety of everyone's well being... It was his overall mission from the very beginning. Almost like an off and on switch to a machine, a setting. Defend humanity. That was all this man knew. It was all he truly fought for in everything. The only sensible obligation to uphold in his very existence was to serve the better terms of Humanity... As it's Spartan.

This man was the Master Chief. Petty officer Sierra 117.

A man brought into the UNSC when he was no more than 7 years old at the time from his home world Eridnus II. His entire life had been composed of being broken both physically and mentally, rebuilt, then broken again. This was a ceaseless process in his career and never ended. Life mattered of only 3 things to him. Fight, live, serve. After the insurgents, which was a tally of humans who wanted to begin a civil war with the United Nations Space Command were temporarily dealt with. A mixed alien race known as the covenant made their presence known, and then the appearance of a nightmarish virus called the flood which rocked the galaxy to it's core. It seemed prevalent for the human race to walk in on catastrophic calamities on a yearly basis, but the The Master Chief ensured Humanities safety.

Less than 72 hours earlier, humanity, once again was at high risk of extinction from a once forerunner general named Ur-Didact. He had been accidentally re-awakened by Spartan 117 on a distant planet called Requiem, and made a destination course to earth in order to "Compose" every human being.

Spartan-117 answered the call of duty and stopped him. Fighting through endless armies of both Covenant and Promethean knights, but not without the help of one of his most trusted allies, Cortana. An artificial intelligence who had worked alongside him for eight years... Eight long agonizing years of dedicated service. They were truly the best years in her short yet happy life. In this case John's luck had run it's limit. AI's go through a stage known as rampancy which occurs after seven years of service. It can be described as "short circuit", in which the AI terminates due to a cascade of quantum transfer caused by the sheer density of linkages. Basically, Cortana was going to deactivate. John had never felt such anxiety in his life by the revelation. It had the same impact on him the day he realized he would never be able to live a normal life ever again. Cortana was... Special to him. Someone who could feel what he felt. That special bond they shared. He had braced himself to get home, or better yet earth to get in contact with his last handler, that being Dr. Catherine Halsey. If anyone knew Cortana better, it was the creator itself. Unfortunately, his main priorities had changed drastically due to the Didact attacking UNSC bases for his 'ULTIMATE WEAPON' very rapidly.

Although the Didact's threat had been extinguished it not only costed the lives of hundreds of marines, billions of dollars in damages, an entire city of New Phoenix to be composed. But most of all Spartan 117 had failed to complete his own self mission with Cortana. While earth had been saved once again from destruction, the Didact defeated, Cortana sacrificed herself to save John's life.

Leaving John completely alone.

But as of right now John was fighting for his life against the revived Didact who was striving to use the halo rings against earth.

John viciously struggled to escape the Didact's death grip around his helmet as the alien god continued to squeeze it. His body was hanging up to his neck while his feet were swinging in the air above the ground, and all he could see was Didact's palm on his visor obscuring his vision. His vision began to show a spider like web of cracks around it until he realized it wasn't his vision... He was cracking his visor. All John could do was continue to endeavor the growing pressure around the base of his skull and listen to the growing crack...

"No more...Human." Didact's malice voice struck John's eardrums like a cannon. He kept trying to shake his aggressors hand off and try to break free. But Didact kept his grip solid on his helmet and continued to crack it. John's breath began to grow slightly rapid as his eye's scanned for any possible escapes. His thoughts were so erratic that he came to a conclusion...

Was this it? Was this where it all ended? Is this where he made his final thought and final action? After 30 years of space combat against alien aggression, was this who finally ended John-117's life and all of humanities hope. While John was nearly getting his head bent backwards to the point where he was beginning to think his spine might snap, even though it wouldn't due to his augmentations, he was feeling an agonizing pressure behind his neck. While this seemed unorthodox to John since he had escaped more intense situations, but this time there was no cortana...Memories began to spill into his mind as he awaited the inevitable death, exactly as his life flashed before his eyes. Almost like clouds of remembrance, he began to go over his life...

He couldn't remember his family, he couldn't remember his home, he couldn't even remember his real name. But he remembered the game... The game that made him stick out like a sore thumb on his home due to him never losing. John never thought of himself as unique or special in any case, but different like everyone else. While most kids played with electronics, dolls, or each-other, he would be playing king of the hill. The feeling of victory always lifted his spirits from dusk till dawn on the grassy fields and dense hills. While his recollection was hazy he could feel the warm breeze against his skin, and the smell of grass during his earliest childhood memories. It was truly... Happy.

It was all like a torrent of water being flushed out of his mind as it continued to play. Spots began to appear around his vision and darkness was beginning to follow.

"TAKE HIM DOWN, BLUE TEAM!" Frederick's leading cry burst through the air as he rushed forward wielding a forerunner scatter-shot. He sprinted toward the god creating a dust trail behind him like a speeding dune buggy. He lifted the rifle and pulled back the trigger.

John groggily tried to lift his left arm, attempting to try and force the knife deeper in Didact's eye, to see if he could kill him once and for all, but his arms had become heavy from the lack vision and oxygen. He then felt himself be flung like a rag-doll and onto someone when didact released him and spurred a massive dust cloud into the dirt. John felt the wind leave his lungs as his back hit someone and he sprawled in top. He felt a wave of vertigo take him for only a slight moment, before he attempted to get up by using his left arm...

Nothing..

He tried more forcibly this time but still he couldn't move. It was almost as if an invisible and immovable force was constricting him... This was scary to him. He was in the clutches of his worst foe, the one responsible for nearly all life being composed, responsible for causing another panic AGAIN, and most importantly responsible for Cortana's death.

Remembering her demise brought a burning sensation in the back of John's skull, but he managed to ignore it... For now. John growled in anguish as he tried to get up until he was pushed off of roughly facing down on the light dirt surface that was now obstructing his view. John continued to struggle... Harder and harder he tried to force his muscles to at least respond to could only move his neck but that was only a few inches above to see blue team engage the didact. Kelly-087 looked back at him but she was nearly hit by a golden composing energy blast from the Didacts prometheans. She looked back at John one last time before shouting.

"BLUE TEAM! CHIEF IS DOWN!" Kelly yelled alerting Linda and Frederick as she fired at the didact who let the beam bounce off him and create a small yet noticeable burn mark... But nothing else. Kelly kept firing at the deranged forerunner who raced forward and gripped Kelly's weapon with its mighty grip and crushed it in half like tinfoil.

"You shall be the first to fall..." The didacts claimed as several Promethean knights appeared behind him and behind blue team as well.

They were surrounded...

Blue team never stood a chance...

XXXXXXX

"No... no... NO... NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" John roared in his mind as he could still hear Frederick, Linda, and Kelly's screams course through his mind. John had tried to force himself up by any means necessary but could only move his neck a few degrees, his wrists along with his hands and fingers... But nothing else. It was like being forced to endure the most painful thing... And watch it all. While his team were fighting he inspected his armor and was stunned momentarily to see that it was remotely being set on LOCK DOWN... And the signal was being traced back to the INFINITY in the sub level section... In the exact same room where he got his armor removed for the first time in years.

John silently struggled against the armors phantom binds, or better yet the gears that had kept him locked in place, hoping he could at least reach for his dead comrades weapon. He would never forgive himself for this. Ever.

It had become to much of struggle to have connections now. He tried to shift all his weight to move a few feet toward Frederic's corpse and grab his scatter shot, which was muscle numbing to chief as he exerted all of his strength to just move an inch in the sand.. But didn't care to hear heavy impacts in the rock behind him and cast a massive shoulder over him.

"Why must you continue to prevail when I have crushed your only allies?" Didact questioned while placing his foot on chief's back, stopping him from moving. John didn't really care or listen to him but tried to simulate a plan. And nothing was looking good since his armor was on lockdown and nothing was working right. He had to keep his emotions under control which ranged from an intense rage and sorrow from not being able to aid his brothers and sister who fought to save him. Now gone forever.

The Master Chief hated Didact, which was rare. He absolutely did. If there was any subspecies in the galaxy he hated more than now, it was no where near the hatred level he held for didact. His loathing was something rarely given to anyone or anything... But the Didact had crossed one too many lines to be spared. Once Chief got out he would end him in the most sufferable way possible.

But how? He had used every strategy in the book against the enemy in every way shape or form. He had used guns to blow away the didact to smithereens. That didn't work. He used explosives to the extreme by detonating a nuclear weapon and hoping to try and kill him, and even shoved a grenade in his chest. But still nothing. He impaled Didacts left eye with a knife, gouging out in the process, which should have been a guaranteed fatality to anyone unlucky enough.

Yet again nothing. It was beginning to look grim and rather scary, but John didn't know the word fear. He had experienced it a few times in his career, especially after his first contact with the flood. That was when he felt an unused emotion...

Fear...

"I should rid you from the galaxy... But I will let you perish on you home... With the other lower beings underneath my competence." The Didact finished as he lifted his boot off John's back giving him a chance to move...and reached down around the back of John's neck. The Didact's metallic fingers wrapped around his throat and lifted him slowly off the ground. John finally got a glimpse of blue team... And he wished he hadn't as he felt his heart spike, and the feeling of ripping Didact a new one.

Linda was missing her lower torso and was up against a stone. Blood pooled around like a river letting it spill onto the dirt and had begun to dry up. Her intestines rolled out and were clumped around her lower region and had begun to slosh into the dirt. Her armor was scratched and slightly dented in many places from being smashed into the boulders by the Didact's zero gravity telekinesis.

Next was Kelly who was in one piece, and was sprawled over the ground, but her helmet was not there... Not even a head. Her head had apparently been torn off by the Didact iron grip and thrown somewhere...

Lastly was Frederick, whose death seemed the least gory. Didact had used the knife John had stabbed him with and stabbed Frederick right through the visor and into his skull, killing him almost instantly. He was 40 feet away on the ground covered in dirt. He was on his back with his arms spread in both directions. Almost like an angel. But recently John had noticed his own visor had been broken.

Directly over his left eye letting him smell the blood outside and feel the warm air his his eyelid. He didn't know it himself. But his eye was twitching from the intense rage he was experiencing. His fingers were clenched to the point he thought he might break them and his teeth were shut tight like an iron bar. His brow furrowed and he said lowly. "You... Killed them..."

The Didact ignored this accusation however.

"And as for you..." The Didact growled as he grabbed 859 static-Carillion with his other free hand. The forerunner tool had tried to sneak up on Didact more than once in the fight, but Didact had sensed him and waited to strike like a viper in the grass.. "You turn against your own master... How insufferable indeed."

"You can't control the composers. Or erase humanity. It doesn't belong to you." 859 static carillion stated. "The backlash from an unknown energy will wipe everything within back into 25 light year-"

"Now you shall join the spartan in death." The Didact said before John heard metal being crunched and smelled an odd substance rolling through the air. Next it was followed by the sight of a crushed carillon flying on the rocky ground with a few loud "CLANKS" and finally stopped at Fred's feet and created a small dust cloud. Carillon crackled with electricity before causing a massive explosion and blowing Fred several feet away and rolling onto his stomach. John growled and continued to struggle only to notice an orange light was enveloping him. It became too bright and John's heart was racing...

Knowing the Didact had won.

And he had failed... for the very last time.

XXXXXXX

"Whats the status of blue team commander Palmer? Captain Thomas Lasky questioned to the female Spartan IV.

Thomas Lasky was a decorated middle aged man of about 40 with brown hair and brown tired eyes. He had served in the UNSC since his family had history in the wars, and was just recently promoted to Captain of one of the largest warships in the UNSC. When he was 18 in the prime of his early training, he met The Master Chief for the very first time. This was due to the fact the academy he was stationed at, Corbulo Academy of Military Science was targeted by the covenant in 2526. The Covenant were attempting to wipe them out. This resulted in all of the students besides him and two of his freinds to be killed. Circinius IV was then promplty glassed on April 26...

His first love, Cadet Chyler Silva had also been one of the victims that day. Caught by a stray needler in the side by a jackal. Her death put him in absolute despair, which eventually pushed him forward bringing out the marine inside of him.

Sarah looked at the readings before her eyes widened at the red implications on the screen. "Blue team... Has been eliminated captain." She stated with a serious tone. Lasky turned to her before speaking in an authoritative tone. "There's no signs of them." He asked very seriously.

"No sir, Spartan-087 is deceased. Spartan-104 is deceased. Spartan-058 is also deceased... But Spartan-117's life scan isn't there." Sara finished with a questioned tone. Lasky's eyes widened as he stepped back. His hand went up to is collar as he loosened it a bit.

He looked over at the rest of the stations in the room and saw all of peoples faces. Some held shock while others grew increasingly worried. Sara coughed lightly as she pressed the com link on the side of her helmet. "I need a search team to engage the perimeter and recover the bodies of Spartans 087, 104 and 58 immediately."

Meanwhile, Lasky was having a serious panic attack and was beginning to have sweaty palms. He felt a large sense of guilt whenever anyone under his comman died or never made it out. The master chief though, that might not ever leave though. But he didn't have time to mourn.

Before a question entered his mind. He turned over to Palmer who was about to leave and asked. "And Spartan-117s location?" He questioned again, trying to deny The Master Chief's death. Palmer turned to him and answered stoicly through her helmets side speaker. "He wasn't there."

Lasky blinked before clearing his throat with a relieved sigh. Maybe the master chief had survived and made it out. " Then there's a slim chance. But that's unimportant right now. Do what you need to do-

FFFFFWWWWWAAAAOOOOOWWWMMMMMM!

A bright orange cylinder appeared in the middle of the control center alerting all of the occupants. The brightness became so intense that anyone without info-red reinforced goggles had to cover up their faces. A smell took over the control room and the bright light grew to an unimaginable proportion and a low thumm sounded throughout the metal halls of the control deck.

A loud "THUMP" sounded and the light disappeared making all of the occupants blink to regain their perception of sight. They opened their eyes to see a 7 foot tall armored Spartan fall to the floor and his back against the pedestal of the control deck. Lasky lowered his arm and paid closer attention to see Spartan-117 incapacitated and looking worse for wear.

Lasky hastily raced forward and gripped the aging Spartan's shoulder and shook him lightly. "Master chief, you alright?" Lasky questioned worriedly. The Master chief looked up at him showing his one blue eye behind the cracked orange visor. "I failed sir... I've failed." Master chief claimed with a new emotion lacing his voice. Lasky blinked, before Sarah Palmer came forward and looked into his eye as she knelt down. "Can you move?"

"No."

"Are you injured?" She asked while trying to scan his armor's readings.

"No." John said not even looking up.

He had failed so many in so little time...

"Is there any damages to your armor?"

"Its on lock-down." John muttered.

"Why's that?" Palmer asked with a calm tone.

"It doesn't matter... The Didact activated the-

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

"ROLAND, SCAN THE READINGS OF THAT FLUCTUATION!" Lasky ordered the A.I at the top of his lungs. In the room as they noticed several of the machines in the room had began to malfunction. Computers lit up before shutting off and lights blew. Sparks rained from the ceiling and disappeared toward the floor. Sarah Palmer was looking towards the outside vast space and noticed an orange glow that was growing...

"WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" She yelled as the orange tidal wave of molten energy got closer and closer to the ships deck.

Then all hell broke loose.

There was an ominous boom in the station followed by a bright glow within the room. Lasky was beside Palmer and begun screaming and shaking. Lasky's skin began to recede by an orange glow as it slowly peeled back, next came his muscles underneath that gave him an appearance of something seen in movies, then came his skeleton... Everything else turned to dust almost instantly. Orange particles faded from the air then into nothingness. Palmer shared the same fate in the exact same order and turned to dust, save for a few pieces of armor that hit the floor and her rifle with a loud clank.

Everyone in the room began screaming...

And screaming...

And screaming...

It was truly horrifying sight to John, like everyone he had served, everyone he had dedicated time and sweat to, had failed. Their scream would constantly ring through his ears, reminding him of how much of a disappointment he was.

He would never forget it for as long as he lived for..

"..."

"..."

Then nothing. But as he hoped for solace the ship grew to an even louder proportion of screams as they rolled through the deck from the rest of the massive cruiser.

Screaming..

Screaming..

Screaming..

John began to shake. He wanted it to end. He couldn't take it anymore.

Screaming..

Screaming..

Then silence...

The Master chief could only watch as he felt the same effect of the composers before. A mind numbing feeling through every fiber in his body. His entire body was shaking and sweating...

And then blackness took over him one last time as he entered the most peaceful sleep he had ever experienced.

XXXXXXX

The light yellow/blue sky filled the upper layer of an ever growing green vegetation filled the jungle far bellow. There was an excessive amount of trees and plants that ranged for millions of miles in all directions. Many plants sported different colors, ranged in different sizes near enormous waterfalls that poured down the colossal leave shaped tubes. The Mountains were nearly touching the sky and were green as the forest that stretched forever.

The land was by far the hardest to locate, almost invisible to pinpoint. It was dated that no one, absolutely no one could find this place without the help of its inhabitants without the risk of becoming lost. It was so tricky to follow, a secret path was developed for those who gained the trust of its rulers to frequently visit.

The rulers, inhabitants, or overall beings who lived in this mystical land of the mysterious mountains and trees were mythical summons... Specifically toads.

But not ordinary toads who give you warts after you try to grasp them with your hands. But very intelligent beings who lived through the ways of chakra, and the ancient art of senjutsu that gathered all of the natural energy around them. They are greatly famed for using their sacred oil fountain in the midst of battles and teachings. It was so rare that the minute it left its graceful land, it would immideatly evaporate.

But something terribly wrong. Like the balance of nature was being put off of balance.

...

The great Toad sage, being known for being the wisest and could foretell the future was having a massive headache. But not just an ordinary headache... An immense one that made him groan as his webbed hand rubbed the top of his warty scalp. After nearly hundreds of years of life, the ancient toad was in pain due to an unbalancing matter. While not rare since the fate of time changed almost every second with every action...

Someone, or something was unbalancing everything supremely...

Like the calm pond had a small ripple... But the ripple that continued calmly became more unstable as the balanced nature... Fell but rebutted almost to quickly.

The information pouring into Gamamaru's thoughts were simply too much to comprehend. Almost like an overload of constant foreshadowing of future events, riddles, and everything else had become null... Until now.

Gamamaru took his simple hat off and looked down upon it. He touched the top brim of his hat before looking back into the distance of Mount Myoboku. He licked the bottom of his before trying to fall asleep to wear off the migraine. His last thought echoed in his mind as he closed his pale eyes.

"May the pillar of prophecy... Not destroy the balance for the child of prophecy..."

XXXXXXX

John felt like something was forcing him to wake up. He suddenly did not feel tired anymore but had the warmest sensation around his face and eyes. His lips felt crusty and the sides of his mouth felt increasingly dry.

He opened his eyes slowly and was only met with one color.

White... Pure bright vivid white. Nothing more. No details were surrounding him.

He felt weightless. As if he wasn't truly there. He felt as if he had been asleep for a millennium. His eyes felt very heavy. The inside of his stomach hurt like hell though. Almost like someone had plunged a knife and left it. He was very parched and desperately needed something to drink. He felt very sore, kind of like he hadn't moved in ages.

"Life between death is peaceful isn't it?" A old voice echoed throughout the endless void alarming him.

John became startled and tried to move but was met with a very painful surge to his insides. He tried moving again but couldn't budge. Not even turn his head. This was becoming infuriating at the fact he couldn't move to save his team his captain, or Cortana...

He HATED being constricted.

"Do not worry, your quest has only started." The voice emitted.

John tried to look again but felt something holding his face directly forward, any attempts to shake himself were met with more pains to his muscles.

"Who are you?" John groggily muttered as he tried to fiddle with moving but to no avail.

"I go by many titles and names throughout time itself..." The voice said. "But my real name, or what was given to me by my mother is Hagoromo." The voice now identified as Hagoromo said. It was as an odd sound that seemed to loom over the white cloudy area.

John thought for a second, or tried to ignore the agonizing ache until he asked a question that sounded insane to him.

"Are you forerunner?" John knew the galaxy and physics had no limits from what they held, but this seemed out of everything he had yet to understand. But what he did understand is that all the forruners had either been assimilated, or wiped out by the flood... He was not sure where he was or who he was talking to.

"No... I'm not..." Hagotomo's voice boomed. "I'm am not physical, nor godlike... Just me... But something has altered that."

"What happened?" John asked in a blank tone, hiding the pained one. He was at a loss of words as of right now. He had lost his team, his mission, the INFINITY, and he couldn't even process what was going on right now other than death. John had heard marines talk about heaven before. It was something a few of them discussed prior to battle

Was this heaven? Not that John believed in anything religious. Since he spent his time evolved toward different customs and nothing like that was ever forced into the marines or Navy. He had witnessed many men hold onto belongings of some religious meaning before battle, but never divulged into that. He would also hear men "Pray" before battle.

These were meaningless to him.

"You didn't die if that is what you are thinking. You simply are in submission without thought." Hagorormo said as the colors in the void shifted to blue from white.

"What?" John asked not really understanding the basis of the explanation.

"It means you are in a deep slumber that has your soul dreaming... Now you are destined to appear in a time where-

"What are you talking about?" John cut off, getting sick of the playing. He needed to finish off the Didact. The crimes he had committed had risen to... to...

This was beyond a new level of destruction.

"Your quest spartan... To undo what will happen." Hagoromo said.

"I'm a solider. My duty isn't done..." John said while groaning. "Whats wrong with me?" He asked in an authoritave tone.

" The pain is temporary, but now you have to listen. There is no other choice." Hagoromo rebutted while ignoring the first claim.

"We make our own choices in anything." Chief said in a strained rasp, remembering Cortana's sacrifice to save him. That was her choice but it had left him broken.

"That is true in some degree, but in this case no... You do not have a choice. There is a prophecy that foretells of a child who would bring the world to peace by gaining power through love. But his teachers actions would determine of what use he would use his power for." Hagoromo continued. "It was prophesied through all the loss and death there would be a great battle and it would determine whether he would save the world. Or destroy it." Hagoromo finished.

"Then you caught my attention. Before I passed away into death, I was told of the prophecy by a great being, he told me... But then something happened." Hagoromo paused for a few seconds to continue the story. "My memory became distorted and I thought I had heard every detail but shocked to remember that I had forgotten essential being who told me was a legendary toad known as Gamamaru."

John was listening but not actually believing it, but he decided to listen since he had no mean to leave.

"He foretold me of a mischievous blue eyed boy who would save the world by combining the Bijuu... But the only way he would succeed... Is with the help of his pillar to the prophecy." He finished momentarily for the sound of whispering winds to roll through the air. John was not understanding how a reptile was legendary, and no idea what Bijuu was. He didn't understand what this thing was telling him, or what it had to do with him in the first place.

"What does any of this have to do with me? This doesn't have any concern with me, or my duty." Chief said as he brushed off the story and was waiting to see what would happen next, but he wished he hadn't.

The blue sky turned ebony black and a thick killer internet struck John like a banshee blast. He tried to escape but found himself staring at two massive purple eyes that stared into him. They appeared with rings in them. "THE PROPHECY IS AS REAL AS YOU AND ME... I WOULD ALSO SPEAK MY WORDS VERY CAREFULLY." The once calm voice now sounded darker and more grim than ever before. Was this heaven or the other darker place. Was this all just a dream that he was gifted? Or a nightmare that was bestowed?

"And your duty is to become a pillar to the child of prophecy." The sky then became increasingly gray after that statement.

It seemed the areas were affected by the tone of Hagoromo's emotions.

"Pillar?" John asked aloud with a bit of curiosity. Now he was supposed to be a decorative accessory to a kid.

"There is no indefinite way of knowing if he will truly rise and be the world's savior. Since you have done it on many occasions.. Along with your universe." Hagoromo stated making John wonder how he knew that. "Now are you ready? Ready to become the Pillar to the prophecy?" Hagoromo questioned one final time expecting an answer.

John was at a loss here. Hewas very indifferent of the choice. His overall mission had failed, and everyone was dead. This was about to become a war against time and reality to him... Once he entered a game of lets play hero, he would win. But when someones life was on the line... That would be a questionable debate.

The last few hours John had been questioning his luck since everyone he had cared for died... Was his luck turning salty? Or was fate a cruel being? He really couldn't decide what was going to happen...No, he can't abandon earth like this, not now.

He didn't spend his entire life training, and fighting to give up everything for some hallucination.

This was probably all a dream after all.

"Your time is up... Goodbye...And do not fail the child... Or it will be the last thing you hold precious for." Hagoromo finished as the purple eyes turned pure white...

And sleep took John as every fiber in his body split...

IT HURT. Like all of his limbs were being torn from their muscles along with his head being ripped off. The pain inside him only escalated to an unimaginable point. He felt like he was about to vomit but the only thing that came out of his mouth was an unbearable scream. Everything around him burst into a glowing glare stronger than a super nova.

XXXXXXX

Darkness surrounded him, he couldn't feel his fingers or toes. Everything around his face felt numb and everything about him felt heavy. Almost like he had been asleep. John began to wake up. A sense of alarm took him, almost like light appearing at the end of a tunnel. He then calmed himself and began to run mental diagnostics. He felt his back in his armors surface. Check.

He began to move his fingers very slowly, making sure they were attached. Check

He then heard something crashing... Not metal, glass, or vehicles...

But water. The sound of waves...

'The ocean...' Was John's first thought when his ears caught the captivating vibrations of water crashing along the beach. When he opened his eyes not only was he seeing that his helmet was still destroyed but saw the metallic ceiling of the INFINITY. Sniffing once through his crusty nostrils, he took note that all he could smell was salt from the sea water and hear the sounds of distant ocean. A low groan escaped his lips as he tried to concentrate his actions and gain a sense of what was going on around him.

Everything around him had sped through so quickly that he was trying to catch his breath and collect his thoughts. Or what was left of them at the moment. He suddenly felt a pull in the back of his throat when he remembered what had happened and nearly felt his lip clench. He felt as if he had woken up from a nightmare into a whole new meaning of terror.

The Didact had won, humanity was going to face his genocide on their own without any defense, and all of his comrades were killed because of his mistake.

John was adapt to making mistakes. Nearly a lifetime ago that is when he was in the prime of his youth and more inexperienced days. The days when missions that were run over in a brief conversation only became something more horrible. They became real. However, mistakes costed him greatly in lives... It would constantly ache in the back of his heart forever and always no matter how much he would try to shut it out.

Over the years it ached less and less since he had more important things to pay mind to, like stopping the covenant...

But it was still there. No matter how small, or large, the weight would never diminish...

In the end. Everything was getting worse by the second.

After an unknown amount of time of not stuttering a thought or moving in inch, John had enough with collecting all of the accidents and decided to get up. He spread his hands across from him and pushed himself off the ground slowly. e didn't look forward but down at his stomach and noticed that there were some deep gashes in his armor. He tried to activate his HUD, but came with no results. After rising into a sitting position, he began to slide forward. Clenching his fingers into the floor to stop him he looked up and saw something both breathtaking and scary.

Wait... What?

It was a calm and sunny day with a cool breeze... and half of the INFINITY had been torn in half. Right down the very center.

John looked down in front of him and saw an endless ocean with giant chunks of metal sticking out. His armored boot was hanging over the edge of a couple hundred foot drop. Considering the metal surrounding the outline of the INFINITY looked like it had been forced apart and quite sharp. This had resulted in hundreds of metal debris to float in the salty waters hundreds of feet below him like scattered puzzle pieces.

Taking a breath he also noticed something was very off about everything around him...

It all looked fake. As if this was a simulation of some sorts and it had been set to a lower hue. The shadowing seemed off along with an assortment of lines in the water that didn't appear 100% natural. When he was younger there would be animated television shows in shopping districts that would draw crowds of curious children... Everything looked as if it were animated. He lifted his right hand and examined it.

The same example was his hand. The detail was too obstruct, as if someone had actually illustrated him and animated him. The colors were... not right to say in the least. It didn't look or seem real. He moved his fingers around to see if he was in control. And sadly was. It didn't look like he was alive. It wasn't adding up.

Almost like a machine starting, John was piecing together theories. Maybe it what was in the air, some form of gas that was affecting his thinking. Possibly. This was all he could come up with.

If he had Cortana with him, she would have told him 37,000 different reasons why that was wrong or given him a week's worth of theories. Now that he was alone, his eyes and ears were going to have to be manually operated from now on. Ever so slowly, he scooted away from the edge and stood up. He observed his surroundings again to see it was still real. It just didn't sit well with him in any way. Even when he stopped staring at some it occurred to him that maybe it wasn't real. In a way at least.

Thinking back to that being, Hagoromo, John suspected he was the cause of this. If he could find him maybe he could explain why everything around him looked fake. The area's detail looked unquestioningly fake. None of it seemed physically possible.

John looked behind him and on the floor to see the MA5D assault rifle Sarah was holding when she died next to a pile of dust. Sarah palmer's dust that is.

The dust pile whipped slowly around when a soft breeze caused it to pick up a little. It began float up off the deck like a mini swirl, its soft motion continued as the breeze from the opening in the massive hole in the deck mad it disperse and spread into millions of nearly invisible particles. Sarah's armor white SCOUT-class MJOLONIR power assault armor was then stained by a small patch of dust over her tilted helmet that layed on the floor, the suns rays gleaming light over her blue visor.

John craned his neck back and slowly looked behind him through the front glass to see the choppy green waters. He continued to stare at it for as long as he could with one question clouding his mind.

Where in the galaxy was he in and how would he escape?