Mnemonocyst Bearers

Mnemonocyst Bearers is the fifth round of Epic Clash.

Description
The round is composed of two gigantic spherical psychic monsters growing around continuously-erupting balls of nuclear reactions, each about a mile in diameter. They are covered in cysts which will grow entities from the minds of the contestants battling on their surface, either people or settings. The creatures are floating in space and set to collide with each other after a while.

Events
Before the round starts, the contestants are introduced to two characters who they will be sharing the final round with. They are from an unofficial, unsanctioned battle whose final round Bryce has hijacked. They are Teival, a tall gray humanoid being with a cybernetic implant that consumes souls and uses them to make weapons, and Keegan, a short childlike black horned creature with magical abilities and a skeletal horse. They are split up, Thomas and Teival on one sphere, Glere and Keegan on the other.

Thomas meets with Linda Stacey; a television reporter reproduced by the cysts. He talks to her about being in a battle. Teival battles one of his brothers, and explores and destroys his old home. Thomas encounters a spacecraft, which he plans to use to escape. He and Linda are attacked by Teival, who they subdue and load aboard the spacecraft. Glere meets Keegan and they discover a massive portal structure called a propylaeum. Powered by fire this structure would allow Keegan to escape if fully powered up. They spend time hunting down former contestants reproduced by the cysts, until the spheres collide.

Thomas lands on the wreckage near the propylaeum, Glere convinces him to use the spacecraft to power up the portal. Teival awakens and tries to kill Keegan to prevent him from escaping, but he is accidentally pulled through the propylaeum himself and burned to a crisp. Keegan is moved on as their battle is now complete. The Controller makes an appearance to destroy a cyst created copy of himself that has been following Thomas. His interference causes Bryce to lose control of the battle and exposes his location to Thomas and Glere.

On the way there Thomas subdued Glere, removing the cape from it's artifical body and giving him to a cyst-created Spender to keep under control. When they arrived there was a confrontation between Bryce and Thomas, Thomas shoving Bryce into Glere's hammerspace and setting it on fire. With Bryce supposedly killed Thomas is declared the winner and is sent back to his world for a year before All Stars. The Chronicler quits leaving Thomas needing a representative for All-Stars. The Director offers the position to The Stranger; the Grandmaster of The Exalted Exchange (the battle Bryce hijacked). He proves to be surprisingly reminiscent of Bryce...

Thomas sends out a Network style message informing anyone who recieves it of the existence of All-Stars, and warning them not to listen to Vandrel Reinhardt.