Awesome Land VI: Dawn of a New Era

[Myrdraxxis]

"Hah!" The sudden barrage of energy bolts that came sailing down the corridor didn't seem to deter the large reptilian mercenary. If anything Rax looked excited. "Finally, something's fighting back!" He charged onward, even as one energy bolt struck him in the shoulder. Rax didn't seem to notice as he cosed the distance between him and Betelgeuse, shotgun roaring in unison with its wielder.

"I swear god, every single time." Gree muttered as he and the rest of the team raced to keep up with Rax. Gree skidded to a halt and threw himself to the side as they came into contact with Betelgeuse's attacks. "Contact! Darrus, Jaiden, light 'em up!" Both soldiers, carrying long-range rifles barked quick affirmatives and began firing down the hallway at the sudden foe, careful to fire around Rax.

"Vin, try and flank this guy." Gree ordered. Vin nodded and disappeared in a brief puff of smoke.

"I remember when I was in charge of this squad." Talor muttered. Gree shrugged.

"My crew, my orders. We can take it up with Captain Neero later."

"Like he'd actually care." Talor pointed out. Gree just smirked.

-------------------


Leske looked on as the newcomer (seriously though, where the hell were these guys coming from?) fought with the odd samurai invader. He aimed his rifle at both of them hesitantly.

"THey're both technically intruders." He mused. "Should I shoot both of them?"

[Mizagium]

Knox watched Artemis dab at her eyes for a moment before turning away – respectfully? No, he wasn’t sure Artemis cared anymore about how she appeared to him. Gone – long gone – was the calm and collected strategist he’d come to know. He’d hoped that there was more to her than that, that she wasn’t all logic down to her core, but he hadn’t realized how much she kept buried. But of course, how could he? Artemis hadn’t wanted anyone, even herself, to really know what lay beneath the more-fragile-than-he-suspected surface.

He wasn’t sure how to responds to all that, but that wasn’t good enough. He’d asked for this, pushed Artemis to baring her soul to him, and he wouldn’t – couldn’t – walk away from it. Nor could he, as was his first instinct, offer a joke. Not only was this not the time, Artemis was not the person. Truthfully, Knox wanted to say “We don’t have to keep going; we can stop training.” But, again, that wouldn’t work either. Artemis had known what she would dredge up when he asked her how she was feeling. She could have refused and walked away, so to offer her a way out like that, after she’d fulfilled his request, was not acceptable.

So, he started talking.

“You know, when I was a child, I was taken from my home. At the time, I didn’t realize this – and I wouldn’t discover the entire story until years later. With no memory of my family, my home, or myself, really, I was brought to Fun Land – to Sunnatt Ara’s Orphanage. You might later know us as Organization XXI, but we weren’t always. I was brought there because of my abilities, because I naturally learned to Focus without really understanding what I was doing. Ara took me in and did his best to replace the father I had lost, the father I didn’t remember.”

He looked back at Artemis to see – what? He wasn’t sure. “It was nice for a while. He’d taken in a bunch of us with similar abilities and we were close, almost like a family. But, for reasons I’m still not clear on, charity was not the only thing on his mind. He trained us not only in the Focus, abilities he had as well, but in sleight of hand, of stealth. Brawling. How to take a punch. How to jump across buildings. How to knife fight. How to steal. How to be criminals.

“We used all of these skills as children, we assumed control of Fun Land’s criminal underworld – slowly at first. Local gangs, alleyway blackjack. Then casinos. National gangs. Government officials. I’d like to say we didn’t know any better, but we did. We all knew this wasn’t right. But Ara was our father, and we were family. And family stuck together.” He shrugged.

“We were assigned teams based on skill and temperament, and there was some inter-squad rivalry of course, and eventually your squad became more family than another. But before that,
I got close with a girl name Jiir-Row, and she was the first girl I ever loved.

“Jiir-Row was everything I wasn’t – everything I’m still not. She knew who she was almost from the day I met her. She practically swelled with confidence. She was certainly better at most of the training that I was. I think I had more natural talent wot Focus than she, but she worked harder than me. She pushed me to be better. We were rivals, famous ones, but I loved her – as much as a teenager can love, anyway.”

He had started pacing the length of the bathroom at some point, and shoved his hands into his pockets. “She left one day. No warning. Wasn’t surprisingly, really, she’d been talking about leaving for a long time, but I didn’t think she’d actually go. Didn’t think she’d leave me behind. Took her squad with her. Not sure if you remember, but this was around the time after the
War of Four Kings. My squad and I encountered Leon and Johnny’s people and got dragged around for a while.

“But Jiir-Row was still out there. Someone had possessed her – I’m still not sure what – but she went around, trying to tear open dimensions, to let...monsters pour into this world. I don’t know. She never fully explained herself. Once I found out what she was doing, I confronted her.”

Knox’s words came choked out. “She wasn’t herself at the end. She told me she couldn’t control herself. Jiir-Row knew she had lost control of her body and she asked me to – I killed her. I killed her with my blade and held her as she died.

I left after that. Ended up in Random World…somehow. That’s when the Time Keeper took me in. Said he saw something familiar in me. We had similar abilities, you know, and I thought that’s what he meant. It wasn’t what he meant; he saw a lot of his personality reflected in me, which sounded great at the time.

“And then Valsair, a warrior from another dimension, killed him with the help of Karzem, Immortal of Chaos.” He said the last with no small amount of bitterness.

“So I ran, again. We had built something of a small team there, almost a makeshift family, but as soon as he was dead it all fell apart. I tried to carry on what he was doing, but it just…” Knox sighed and shook his head. “Useless. So I came back, tried to pretend like nothing had happened. Only, everything had happened. Aurora had returned from exile and so that was happening, but more relevant to me at the time – Sunnatt Ara was also dead, and the Organization scattered. Jace, Sherri, and Crass – my team, found me, but it really wasn’t enough. In a very short time, I had killed the girl I loved, had seen the man I admired be slain, and heard that the man who raised me, even if for nefarious purposes, was dead, and my family scattered. Luckily, I found Sarah at the time, or…or…I don’t know what.”

He sat now, on the end of the bathtub and stared at Artemis, past Artemis. At nothing and everything. “It wasn’t fair, you know? Of course you know; you just told me an ever worse story. I couldn’t go on, go into how I actually met my dead parents, after nearly having a breakdown – time traveled…well, technically a little forward in time to see them. Met the End between worlds. Learned that I, specifically, was brought in because the Time Keeper knew that I would one day become his successor. That I feel like my whole life is predetermined to go a certain way, no matter how hard I struggle.”

He laughed without warmth. “I don’t think I actually love Sarah. I just haven’t had the guts to tell her. And then we…we had children – in the future. I’ve met them. They’re wonderful. But what am I supposed to do now? Here’s living proof of how we end up but I still think it’s wrong.”

He paused for a for minutes to gather himself. “What I’m trying to say, Artemis, is that I-I feel all this every day. I tried to hide from it, to bury it and lock it away, but I couldn’t. I can’t, actually. Time flows in all directions for me, so I still…still see Jiir-Row dead in my arms, still see the Time Keeper fading away before me. But I can’t shut any of that out because it’s made me who I am.”

Knox rose, acting more confident than he felt, and crossed the room to Artemis. “I don’t know exactly what you’re going through – no one can know exactly what someone else is going through, but I hope my story has convinced you that I can at least guess at the pain you carry around. I’m not trying to one-up your life, nor really compare tragedies, but I do know what it feels like to be so completely powerless to help the ones you love.

“Artemis, I don’t have any right to tell you this, but you can’t keep everything buried down like that. You can’t – we can’t hate ourselves for what has happened. It’s easier said than done, and I feel like a hypocrite saying that because I feel that, too. It’s a terrible weight to bear, but – “ he bit his lip, realizing he was going further than he’d intended, “but you don’t have to bear it alone. I consider myself your friend; I want to be your friend, and I want to help you carry the weight.

“I think you’re a much better person than I am, Artemis. I wish I could be as confident and as intelligent as you. I wish I really, truly cared as much as you do. I want that, I need that. I’ve never admired someone as much as I admire you, so I say this from the bottom of my heart and the deepest recesses of my soul: you cannot continue to bury everything down like that, because it will destroy you from the inside out.”

He looked her dead in the eyes now. “I sometimes get impressions, get visions of people I come into contact with, about the different paths their lives can go. I don’t need that to know that if you keep bottling everything up, you’ll eventually fall down the wrong path. It may not seem like it, but we’re not called Immortals for nothing – forever is a long time. Forever means eventually, and eventually repressing that kind of pain will tear. You. Apart. And I refuse to watch that happen to you, Artemis, not when you want so desperately to make the world a better place.”

Knox blinked and broke the eye contact, tense from the gravity of everything he’d said. He glanced at the grandfather clock, felt time had indeed slowed, but wasn’t sure if he or she had done it, Maybe both. If Artemis had been the one to affect local time, that was great, but not why he’d said what he’d said. Knox stepped back.

“I’ve paid a lot of lip service to being a better Immortal than my predecessor, but I’ve never meant it as much as I did until I met you. We don’t have to keep going with this training. You can scream at me, hate me, for making you relive everything like that. I’m sorry, I really am, for everything that’s happened to you. But Focus requires emotion, feeling. If you don’t think you can handle letting these feelings bubble to the surface, I completely understand. But, please, believe me when I say that I really care for you. I want to help you make this Council – this world, into something truly great."

Knox wasn't sure what else to say. He's gotten off track somewhere and said far more than he'd intended, but he meant every word. He did care for Artemis. He did admire her and want to help her fix the world. And he did feel time ripples of Artemis from a future where she continued to bottle up her pain and fear, and those ripples chilled him to the bone.

[Monika]

"Knox..."

For a long while, Artemis just stood there staring at Knox. Normally a quick thinker, she found herself at a loss for words. She was used to having admirers - well, not used to it, but she was aware that it happened fairly often. What she wasn't used to was having someone care about her. Not the kind of perverse infatuation held by certain ex-C.O.M.A.S. members or passersby, but genuine care. Here she stood across from the Immortal of Time, who had just opened up his heart in the same way she had. Someone with a similar background. Someone with comparable pain. Someone who shared her vision and her goal. She hadn't felt a person connect with her this way since William, and she simply didn't know how to react.

"Friend..." Artemis let the word linger on her tongue for a bit. Friend. Someone whose concern is the well-being of the other.

She didn't say it out loud, but the dark vibes that Knox sensed when he looked at her future - she felt them too. She felt as if she were perched atop a fragile, crumbling cliff, and a single false step would bring the mountain to a violent collapse, sending her spiraling into the abyss. If Knox was willing to help keep that mountain together, Artemis was more than happy to let him.

"Knox," she said, "if you ever feel like I'm falling down the wrong path. I want you to stop me." Looking up into his eyes with deadly seriousness, she added, "By any means necessary." Knox hadn't been the most reliable person she'd ever met - not by a long shot - but at this moment she knew that she could count on him to be there for her.

"Of course, I'll do everything in my power to keep that from happening. This burden shall be both of ours to bear." She absently stared at the clock in front of them, thinking only of what the Immortal of Time was getting himself into. "It's going to be a lot of trouble, Knox, shaping this world the way we see fit. But we have to work toward it every hour. Every minute. Every second, without fail. I eagerly await the day when we've brought peace to this world and can finally take a break...That day honestly cannot come soon enough."

And then...

Tick. Tock. Tick...Tock.....Tick.........

The second hand on the grandfather clock slowed down considerably, before coming to a complete stop.

"Oh? The clock has stopped moving," Artemis noted, initially uncertain of what had happened. When the realization finally came to her, she laughed. "You're a better teacher than I'd expected." She turned to him and gave a slight bow. "Thank you, sincerely."

She released her Focus from the grandfather clock and, sure enough, it started ticking again. "I suppose that means our lesson is over." She said it with just a hint of sadness, a feeling she fully acknowledged. Pleased as she was to have learned the art, Artemis was the consummate student. She'd learned a lot - far more than she bargained for, certainly - but always felt a bit empty after the learning process was complete.

"In that case, I have just one more request for you, Knox. You've done more for me today than a lot of people in recent memory have, so it may be selfish of me to ask for another favor, but..." Artemis outstretched her palm, which shone with a dim purple light. In a flash, the legendary sword of mathemagic, the Mathamune, was in her hand. "I want to fight you," she said with her usual directness. "The journey on which we're embarking is a dangerous one. I need to know that I can take on enemies of equal power. And I need to know that you have a reasonable chance of stopping me if I veer too close to the wrong path."

A harsh wind circulated through the bathroom as Artemis released some of her excess Space energy, scattering towels and toiletries every which way. "I wasn't of much help in the battle against Zais. Not even my Dimensional Seal was able to keep him in check," she explained, more than a touch miffed about that fact. "And I don't need to read your mind to know that you didn't do much in the battle, either. We should both be well-rested. This will be a much deserved opportunity for each of us to face another Immortal, one on one, at full power."

She casually flourished the Mathamune, still coated in the blood of a certain owl waitress she had tortured. "You've unearthed a lot of pent up anger. The responsible thing for you to do is to help relieve it." The word was emphasized, as if it were a test to see just how prepared the Immortal of Time was for what he'd signed up for. "And besides," she said, her eyes narrowing. "You've seen me cry today, Knox. For this equation to be balanced, it's only fair that I return the favor."

Artemis pointed the sword at Knox's chest. Was she happy to have a new friend in her quest? Satisfied to have learned Focus? Angry at Knox for uncovering her painful memories? She was back to her typical, unreadable self, and asked simply, "Shall we begin?"

She smiled, her lips saying only one thing:

No was not a valid answer.

[Mizagium]

Ollie felt good. Ever since she’d ditched the Immortal Council with Woody in tow, she’d thrown herself entirely into the never-ending rave with the reckless abandon of a, well, young woman at a never-ending rave. Time ceased to have meaning, and there was only lights and sound and the crush of sweaty, pulsing bodies around her. It was raw and primal and she had never felt so good.

Eventually she had to rest, so she threaded her way towards a bar oasis, panting and damp with sweat. It wasn’t the one she’d left Roewk at, and in fact she wasn’t sure exactly what part of the rave she’d danced into, but that was one of the hazards, like drifting too close to the edge, where the boy bands lurked. She ordered something from the bartender – her ears still throbbed from the bass, and her vision swam just enough to keep her from standing again.

When her drink came, she greedily knocked it back and ordered another, reflecting that, because of her newfound status as Immortal, she could literally stay here forever. Decades would come and go and eventually people would forget she hadn’t always been here – or they would if anyone cared to begin with. No one talked out there, or really even here. This dimension was only good for one thing: partying.

She sipped at her second drink and found herself grinning. In stories with a moral, this was usually the part where the selfish character, who’d gotten everything they ever wanted, realized that it wasn’t what they really wanted, and decided to change. Ollie hated those stories. This endless rave was everything she ever wanted, and she had no regrets. Not even little nagging doubts. Olivia Lux was really, truly happy.

“Enjoying ourselves, are we?” The voice cut through the heavy, deafening music like a glowing thousand-degree knife through, well, anything.

“Sure as fizz am,” Ollie retorted, deciding to keep her eyes on the drink.

“You would.” Distain colored the familiar speaker’s voice, a sense of impossible superiority. “What is this horrible place, anyway?”

“One Thousand and One A-Rave-ian Nights,” Ollie declared proudly.

“How awful.” The barstool beside her creaked as if the occupant turned around to view the mob behind them. “Base animals, the lot of them.”

“Is that so.”

“No responsibilities. No worries or concerns. Nothing but entertainment. No, not animals. Animals, at least, have to struggle, to expend effort to survive. Animals forage, hunt, procreate – these…these…people do nothing but indulge in this pointless waste of energy.”

“That’s not fair,” Ollie retorted, already smiling at her joke. “There’s plenty of procreation going on out there.” She tilted her head just enough to see the armored figure stand abruptly, peering out over the top of the crowd, as if trying to view the acts.

“I’ll take your word for it, although I’m not sure if you’re joking or not. I’d believe it, given the state of this place.” She seated herself again, but remained looking out at the rave. She leaned her elbows on the bar, nice polished steel on stained, knobby wood. She must have looked a sight, but no one paid her any mind. That wasn’t what you did in the rave. Everyone had their reasons for coming here. Some were born into it, but many found their way into it in order to escape some aspect of their lives.

Work. Friends. Society. Rules. Family.

Family was a common one, and not just teenagers running away from home. Fathers came here to escape the burdens of their children; mothers, too. Many a spouse had walked out, ended up here, and never returned. Elderly came to feel alive before the inevitable. And there were the ones who simply wandered without purpose, who joined the rave not to escape, but to belong. Nonconformity sounded nice and dandy, but when it really came down to it, everyone just wanted to feel like they belonged. And everyone belonged here.

“What are you doing here, Clara?”

Clara Lux took her time in answering. “I came to find you, Olivia.”

“Clearly, but why did you come to find me?”

“I…wanted to see how you were.”

“No. No, you can’t ignore me for years and then walk back in and pretend that you care.”

Clara Lux spun her barstool around and leaned against the bar. “What if I don’t want to pretend?”

“What, you actually care now? Fizz off.”

“I know we’ve had our differences, but – “

“But nothing! We haven’t had differences, Clara! We’ve had bitter, unresolvable issues that, quite frankly, I’ve come to terms with. Mom and Dad liked you better – fine! They were so proud when you joined that cult – great. They called me a disappointment and threw me out of the hosue – whatever. I’m over it – and I’m over you. Now please leave me alone forever.”

“Forever.” Clara’s voice changed somehow. “That’s pretty literal coming from you, now, isn’t it.”

“What do you know about that?” Ollie had turned her back on her estranged sister, intent on rejoining the rave, but now paused just on the edge of her seat.

“I know you’ve assumed the role of Immortal – the Immortal of Light, wasn’t it?” Clara sounded…amused? No, but something was definitely off.

“What do you know about that?” Ollie repeated.

“I know that the Goddess isn’t pleased with you, Olivia. I know that She isn’t pleased with any of your kind. What you are is an affront to Her sovereignty.”

“Is that right?”

“You’re walking around with a stolen piece of the Goddess’ power and wielding it so casually – it’s disgraceful and I’m surprised she didn’t strike each and every one of you down centuries ago.”

“Goddess works in mysterious ways,” Ollie shrugged.

“She certainly does.”

“So why are you really here?” Ollie stood now, but turned to meet the eyes of Clara Lux, or the thing that wore her skin. “And what have you done with Clara?”

‘Clara’ completely changed, then. She sat more rigidly, eyes lost focus, any extraneous movement ceased, and she might have been a statue. “I wasn’t sure if you would discover the ruse.” Her tone was flat now.

“Clara wouldn’t have tried to make small talk. She would have just said her piece and left. Nice try though. So who the fizz are you?”

“I don’t have a name, not a proper one. I’ve been using Clara’s for convenience and I think I might keep it.”

“The hell you will!” Ollie hurled her drink at the imposter. Just as the glass appeared to touch her face, Clara blinked – her form disappeared and reappeared in the same spot – while the glass continued on to crash against the floor.

She spoke again as if nothing had happened. “I do have a title, however. Would you like to hear it? The Angel of Light.” Clara was on her feet now, and starting to glow. It had actually begun some time ago, when Ollie had discovered the deception, but with the flashing neon lights, it had been hard to discern, but now it intensified to such that it over powered the rave lights around them. “You are carrying a stolen piece of my Mother’s Soul, Olivia Lux – and I am going to reclaim it!”

Ollie struck first, decking her not-sister across the face. She wasn’t a hand-to-hand fighter, and she knew it, but she did know how to throw a good punch. Backed by Immortal strength, that blow should have at least staggered her sister. But, of course, this was not her sister. This was an Angel. And Angels can take a punch.

Clara returned the blow. Backed by something more powerful than Immortal strength, Ollie was laid out. The fall made her see spots and pain bloomed from her cheek, although it was quickly smothered by whatever healing factor the Immortals had.

“She’d wanted to do that for a long time,” said the Angel wearing Clara’s face.

“And I’ve always wanted to do this,” Ollie said and lashed out with her foot, catching the other in the gut. Angel or no, this time she staggered, and Ollie too the opportunity to get to her feet. She wanted to run, to flee into the rave, or another dimension. Some primal knowledge buried deep within understood that this being – and Angel! – was far, far stronger than her, but that was the thing about humans. We often repress our primal instincts in favor of more complex, yet less savory emotions. Exacting revenge for decades of animosity was one such emotion that often clouded judgement. So, instead of running and surviving, instead of returning to the Council and asking for help, Olivia Luc decided to fight the Angel.

She aimed another punch at Clara’s face as the other recovered. This time, she packed a Light bomb into it and when skin connected with skin, power exploded outward. Clara was thrown back, but so were several barstools and a large chunk of the bar itself. Ollie didn’t wait; she summoned the Light and advanced, shadowboxing with the specter of her sister. Blast after blast of light erupted from her fists, most of them landing true on Clara, although some sailed over the rave, or burst on the ground. No one seemed to notice or care. The rave was not the place for real concerns.

Ollie kept up the volley until the dust was so thick she couldn’t aim reliably anymore. She brought up her hands in a boxer’s ready stance, dropped her knees slightly, and waited for the dust to clear. Rather dramatically, Clara actually waited for it to clear before revealing herself. Golden wings spilled out from her back and draped around her like the most elegant shields. Her golden glow was now brought enough that, had Ollie not been the Immortal of Light, she might have been unable to look upon her. She caught the faintest hint of a halo above Clara’s head.

“How disrespectful,” the Angel of Light observed. Ollie wheeled back for another round, but Clara simply directed an open palm in her direction and unleashed a blinding white beam of light. It was probably fortunate that the rave dimension didn’t have much in the way of wildlife or foliage, because anything wandering by would have been instantly immolated. Ollie caught it awkwardly on her shoulder, skidding several feet back before properly brace herself. “Curious.” Almost lazily, the Angel raised her other hand and released a second beam of light at Ollie.

That was too much, and the Immortal lost her footing. The twin beams of white hot light carried her several hundred feet back. The Angel of Light did not relinquish the assault even as Ollie fell into the rave and those unlucky enough to be in the general vicinity burst into flame. Even the air seemed to dry, as the impossible heat caused all the moisture in the air to flash boil.

A wide vesicle formed around them pretty quickly, just on the edge of safety, as those participating in the rave continued to deliberately turn their eyes away from the horrible death happening literally right next to them.

And then they weren’t advancing. Ollie finally managed to gather herself and construct a large shield out of Light. Being of the same energy, the beams didn’t refract and scatter, but rather were drawn in and harassed by Ollie to perpetuate the barrier.

“You killed them!” Ollie shouted, unbelieving.

“They were in the way,” Clara replied dispassionately.

“Aren’t you an Angel?”

“My orders are to bring you to judgement, Olivia Lux. Anyone and anything that gets in my way is impure and not worth consideration.”

“They weren’t in your way! They were just innocent bysatanders.”

“No one in the this cell of sin is innocent, Olivia. Look at them. Look at how they turn away from us, from the death. Look at how desperately they cling to their false reality of pleasure and hedonism, unwilling to face the world.”

“Not everyone is that strong.”

“Rules of nature. Only the strong are worth saving. When my mission with you is complete, I will ask the Goddess for permission to erase this entire, disgusting stain off the face of her world.”

Ollie shouted in rage and threw her barrier at Clara. The Angel ceased its light beams and shattered the makeshift Light projectile with the casual flick of a wrist. Ollie was behind it, charging into another right hook – would she ever learn? With the same hand, the Angel summoned a shotgun-burst of Light projectiles. A number of ravers collapsed from stray shots, but Ollie simply disappeared.

A more complex projection, a ruse.

The Angel wheeled, only the find another Ollie Light projection coming at her. Another and another. Dozens of them surrounded her. Irritated, the Angel of Light swept her arm in a wide arc, cutting through the projections – and anything and anyone in the way – with a long blade of Light.

“Have you finally you finally decided to run, Olivia? To run away, back to your new friends? Bring them. Bring your heathen Immortals to me and I shall cut them down one by one. Anitheon and the Goddess will be so pleased with me. How does that feel? How does it feel to be considered an outcast, an abomination by the Goddess herself? The very Mother of Creation has decided you aren’t worth keeping alive.” Taunting like that wasn’t in her directives, and indeed, wasn’t a trait instilled in the Angel of Light at its creation, but that was the tricky part about hollowing out an existing personality and filling it with a new one. Little pieces would inevitably remain. Perhaps she would tell Antitheon after this so he can cleanse the last bits of Clara Lux out of her. But for now the Angel latched on to the distain in which Clara had held her sister, and turned it into another weapon.

“I ain’t never cared what nobody thought of me!” Ollie appeared above the Angel, blinking into existence surrounded by her own aura of Light. “The Goddess can go suck an egg! Heretical Illuminate Barrage!” Thousands of points of light manifested in the sky above the rave, swelling to great bolts of power, and rained down upon the Angel. Ollie poured all of her rage, her sorrow, and her insecurities into each and every bolt. She wanted to pound the Angel – Clara – into the fizzing core of the planet with her power.

The barrage continued with several minutes until Ollie was hoarse from shouting and her eyes stung with tears. She drifted back down to the ground, exhausted. She’d never used that much power before, had never conceived of it before becoming an Immortal. And now that she had that power, she was unpracticed, unfamiliar with her limits. But…surely that had been enough, right? That kind of assault should have destroyed Hendrix City, the capital of Groovy Land.

But it was not nearly enough to defeat an Angel. Once again, Clara Lux, the Angel of Light, waited for the dust to clear before declaring, “Seal Release: Yesod.” There wasn’t really a need to declare the release, since now they could be reached and opened with a thought, but Clara would have wanted to show off, so the Angel indulged just a little. She would tell Antitheon later.

Clara’s golden aura erupted upward like a geyser had spring forth then and there. Now even Ollie had to shield her eyes as the Holy Light increased in intensity to a level that should blind any mortals who chanced to look upon the Mother’s Agent while she was transforming. Unlike the Malkuth release, which created a monster, the Yesod release created something more delicate.

Clara’s clothes and armor seemed to disappear in the transformation and her skin became the color of gleaming gold. Otherwise completely nude, light concentrated over her groin and breasts, obstructing them just enough so that she was decent in the eyes of Seraphina. A symbol like a six-pointed star shown just below her navel. Her equally golden hair splayed out from her head, waving gently as if passing through water.

“Behold,” she declared in a voice that sounded like a marine animals call filtered through the ocean, beautiful and haunting. She echoed slightly, as if a chorus of similarly-sounding women spoke just after her from all directions. “Yesod, the form that brings the judgement of the Heavens down upon the world.”

Ollie had been forced to her knees by the pressure of power she was confronted with, but now struggled to her feet again. She unleashed another volley of Light bursts at the Angel, but they simply dissipated in the air. The Angel wearing Clara’s skin seemed disappointed.

“You should feel honored,” she said in that otherworldly underwater echo. “Yesod is a form that communicated directly with the Heavens. Very few mortals are so lucky as to commune with the Divine.”

“How many are so lucky as to be killed by the Divine?”

“Even fewer,” the Angel replied either not recognizing the irony or simply not caring. She lifted off the ground slightly, just enough so that she hovered without her toes touching the earth, but not enough that she could be said to fly. Malkuth required connection to the earth, but Yesod did not. Very calmly, as if moving through water, Clara put a hand to her chest – exactly where Antitheon had run her through – and drew forth Seraphina’s All-Revealing Light in the form of a great spear.

“Compensating for something?” Ollie quipped. She didn’t mean it, but she had to say something or that primal fear would absolutely cripple her.

The Angel of Light regarded her without remorse. “Won’t you submit to the Goddess?”

“Olivia Lux doesn’t kneel.”

“You do now.” With her other hand, the Angel of Light summoned great chains of light that fastened themselves around Ollie’s arms, legs, and throat, dragging her down. She collapsed to her knees and was jerked back so her chest – her heart – was presented to the sky. Now with all the grace of a Divine messenger, Clara Lux slowly, but deliberately, drifted forward for the execution.

“In the sight of the Goddess Seraphina, Mother of Creation, Light of the World, I judge you guilty of absolute heresy and theft from the Divine. Olivia Lux, you have impersonated a Holy messenger and blasphemed against Heaven. On Her Authority will I now carry out Her Will. Have you any last words before the end?”

Ollie had a lot of things she could say now, but she was so stunned, so utterly defeated and rapidly trying to come to terms with everything that all she could say was, “I wish you’d come to me sooner, Clara. Maybe we could have worked things out.” Tears streamed down her face. “I never hated you, not really, not deep down.”

The Angel of Light hesitated.

“Did…did she feel the same?” Ollie looked to the Angel desperately.

The Angel of Light smiled. “Olivia Lux, your sister willingly became this.” She gestured at herself. “She was presented with oblivion or becoming me to kill you. Anitheon presented her with the mission before the Transfiguration and do you know what she said? She said ‘I will kill Olivia Lux.’ It is not in my nature to lie, so I will tell you this truth before I execute you: Clara Lux always considered you a disappointment. You brought such shame to her that she prayed for forgiveness for having such a weak sister. Clara Lux hated you, Olivia, right until the end.”

The searing tip of the All-Revealing Light pierced Olivia Lux through her chest, and true to its name, revealed this final truth to her. The Angel of Light had not lied. Holy fire filled Olivia, spreading outward from the wound until she burned from within. She screamed and the fire spilled from her mouth and nose and ears. For one instant, Ollie shone brighter than anything else in the world – and then she was no more.

In her place lingered a single sphere about the size of a grapefruit. Before it could zip away to find a new host, the Angel of Light, still in Yesod form, seized the Immortal shard and bound it to her with more holy chains.

Great Antitheon, she prayed, reaching out to her terrestrial master. Lord Antitheon I have completed my task. Olivia Lux is dead. I have taken the power of the Immortal of Light. What are your orders?

[Monika]

"One...Two...Three..."

A vast ocean of marble. A ceiling that stretched for ages, decorated with all kinds of splendid fixtures that shone with a light more brilliant than any in the world. Walls lined with stained glass windows, depicting all manner of ornate imagery. A single golden chair with a blood red cushion seated firmly in its center. It was the kind of room that was fit for a king...no. Not a king. Not yet. Dolls were strewn about the floor, interspersed with playing cards and puzzle pieces, offsetting the grandeur. There was something unsettlingly childlike about this room. If it didn't belong to a king, then perhaps a prince instead.

It was in this room that Antitheon sat before a chessboard, counting each piece in play. The board had been magically created from the wood of a tree that didn't exist, and its craftsmanship was matched only by its uniqueness. Unlike the typical board, this one was made up of seven rows and seven columns, for a total of forty-nine squares. On either side of the board, in the first two rows, stood fourteen distinct pieces, each of a different color.

"This is utterly unfair," he growled. "There are fourteen of them, but I only have Clara and Clyde!" A dozen pieces vanished from his side of the board, leaving two in the back row. "And I'm to find twelve more? Absurd! Why can't Mother just let me fight them myself? I could kill them in a heartbeat!" He snatched a doll from the ground - this one bearing an eerie resemblance to Knox - and squeezed it as tightly as he could.

"You know the rules. Divine intervention is to be used only as a last resort."

A brown haired girl, clad in a rather simple silver dress, strolled through the archway that led into Antitheon's room. Of average height and altogether unassuming, her appearance belied the incredible power beneath.

"Of course I know the rules!" Antitheon snapped. "And who said you could come into my room, Messenger?"

The girl - Messenger, as she was called - brushed the question aside. "You told the story to Clara yourself, didn't you? Divine intervention is not a sustainable practice." She sat on the side of the board across from Antitheon. Regarding the pieces curiously for a few moments, she eventually picked one up and moved it a few spaces ahead. "Seraphina tried to solve every problem in the world and couldn't keep up with its demands. She created the Orbs of Nature to handle them and calamity struck soon thereafter."

Antitheon winced. "Must you say Her name so casually?" He moved one of his own pieces forward. "And don't lecture me on the scriptures! I know what happened. That doesn't mean I have to like the rules. A little divine intervention couldn't nearly be as bad as Mother makes it out to be."

Messenger chuckled as she moved another piece. "You're doubting the word of Seraphina?"

"STOP SAYING HER NAME!" Antitheon flexed his right hand, locking the girl in his psychokinetic grip and lifting her into the air.

"Your deference to Her is almost as impressive as your anger." Messenger gently pried the invisible psychic hands away from her and floated to the ground, responding only with, "It's your turn."

Fuming, Antitheon picked up a piece - he didn't pay attention to which - and slid it across the board.

"Mortal problems must be solved by other mortals. That's simply the way it is." Messenger stared at the board for a moment before making her move. "You said it was unfair before. Why is that?"

"Is it not obvious?" Antitheon motioned to the very board that sat between them. "There are fourteen Immortals, and I'm expected to get rid of all of them without so much as a single direct confrontation. I can act only through proxies, and it's infuriating!" After a while, he took his turn and continued. "Finding Angel candidates is difficult, Messenger. Mother's Swords were created through much trial and error. It took many sacrifices before She learned that this kind of power could not just be given to anyone. Heaven forbid I choose the wrong person!" He sighed. "Even with my gift of Knowledge, the answers are reluctant to reveal themselves to me. I wouldn't doubt that the Universe is conspiring against me, just like it did against Mother."

"And if you don't find the right people?" Messenger asked. "Is it the end of the world?"

Antitheon glared at the girl but waited for her to elaborate.

"For all intents and purposes, the Immortals are still, well, mortals," she explained. "Each one has a target on their back. Others who covet their power will surely be after them. And you saw their first council meeting, yes?" She moved one of her pieces into a spot another of her pieces was occupying and, unexpectedly, removed it from the board. "The tension was palpable. It wouldn't take long before they're ready to kill each other."

Antitheon advanced another piece but said nothing.

"And if another doesn't kill them, and they don't kill each other, then surely some might kill themselves?" She pointed at an indigo piece in front of her. "This one is close to breaking already. And this one-" Messenger motioned toward a deep red colored piece. "-isn't too far behind. The slightest push could send them over the edge. Once they're destroyed, you can swoop in and seal their powers yourself. You were told that you couldn't fight, but that wouldn't be fighting."

"So you're saying...what, exactly? That it's okay to fail in my mission?" The angel scoffed. "You're suggesting that I let the issue resolve itself?"

"I'm saying that you should be a little more creative. Mortal problems must be solved by other mortals." she repeated, smiling again. "Sorry, Antitheon. I'll have to cut this game short. Let's play again sometime, okay?" With a quick nod, she rose from the floor and disappeared through the same archway from which she had entered.

No sooner had she left than Antitheon received a prayer - a side effect of being an angel.

Lord Antitheon, I have completed my task. Olivia Lux is dead. I have taken the power of the Immortal of Light. What are your orders?

After some consideration, he finally answered the prayer. 'We'll rendezvous in Super Land,' he replied. 'Meet me in the Royal Library.'

A wicked smile spread across the angel's face. He moved one of his pieces - the one that represented Clara - and captured one of Messenger's. "Thirteen more," he said to himself, the two words drenched in venom. "Thirteen that might not be so hard to take care of after all..."

Pleased with these recent developments, Antitheon surrounded himself with a sphere of Angelic energy and, in an explosion of light, he was gone...

[Calefrun]

When the air between Al and Vega exploded, the former was launched forcibly into a section of the Underboob's wreckage. Al had never been physically strong, and if not for Awesome Land's antiphysics the impact probably would have killed him. When the dust cleared, he found himself lying atop a pile of metal and other debris.

He wiped blood away from his eyes and tried to stand, only to find that his right arm seemed to be stuck. Glancing at the limb, he found that it had somehow managed to get tangled up in a section of the ship's hull which had collapsed in on itself. An intense pain suddenly shot up the trapped arm, and he realized that his attempt to move had caused a jagged section of metal to cut a deep gash just above his elbow.

Before he could think of a way to free himself, Vega's voice reached his ears. "Where are you? Come back here so I can kill you!"

Al grunted and leaned to the side, attempting to glance out through some cracks in the wall he had crashed through. He spotted his enemy standing a fair distance away, having been thrown in the exact opposite direction from him after the blast. For a brief moment he considered keeping quiet while attempting to free himself while he escaped, but the path he had left crashing through the ship wasn't exactly inconspicuous. It would only be a matter of time before she found him again.

Instead, he focused on the ground beneath Vega's feet. He had never tried using magic from this distance before, but he didn't have many other options. The injured mage concentrated on his enemy's location, and a faint glow coming from the ground confirmed that his spell was working. Only a few seconds later, the street Vega stood upon began to rapidly melt. Rock turned to lava and began flowing into the crater that the Star Samurai had just climbed out of.

Hoping that the echo caused by the ship's wreckage and the distraction of his attack would prevent her from discovering his location, Al called out to his enemy, "Who are you? And what do you want from me? What did I do to make you want to kill me?"

---

Kayla considered Leske's question, though she reasoned that he had probably been talking to himself. She watched the pair of intruders fight for a few more seconds, then said, "It's... probably nothing to worry about. They're causing some damage, but this ship is huge; I'm sure it can withstand..." She trailed off as her mind filled with images of the Underboob, which had gone up in flames mere minutes after her party had boarded. One by one, she began visualizing each of the six... no, seven other spaceship crashes she had been in during her adventures.

"On second thought, I'll be right back." She started following the trail of destruction that Leporis and the new guy had left behind, stepping over destroyed walls and the occasional crew member that had been unfortunate enough to e standing in the wrong place when the pair tore through.

She initially walked right past Rick Thunder, then stopped, backtracked, and glared at his discarded cigarette. "Were you raised in a fizing barn? Pick that up!"

Finally, she reached the spot where the newcomer had just been suplexed and Leporis stood looking a little too satisfied with himself. Before either of the combatants could respond, Kayla grabbed the Star Samurai by the ear, jerked his head back, and started pulling him away from the fight.

"Un. Be. Lieveable" she growled. "Would you look at this mess? I'm taking you straight to Captain Neero to apologize, then we're going back to your ship so that your captain and I can have a chat about proper diplomatic procedure." Looking back over her shoulder, she added, "You'd better come too. I have no idea who you are, but you're just as responsible for all this as he is."

---

Cozal turned around, and to his dismay he spotted Draconis rapidly approaching. Realizing that he didn't have anything on him that he could use to paddle, he did the first thing he could think of.

He fired a round at the rear-facing side of his tube and, as one might expect, the flotation device immediately began to deflate. As it did so, the escaping air propelled both the tube and its rider forward far faster than their opponent could paddle.

As soon as his rubbery platform began to sink, Cozal jumped to another tube and did the same thing. He repeated this process, increasing the distance between himself and Draconis while occasionally taking shots at his would-be assassin.

Mysterious Hooded Mariachi Guy, who had transformed one of his hands into a telescope to watch, yelled excitedly, "OOOH, NICE TECHNIQUE! OH, BUT WATCH OUT- YOU'RE COMING UP ON THE FIRST LOOP!"

"What?" Cozal stopped shooting for a moment, and turned to see what the hell the strange man was talking about. Sure enough, they were closing in on a point where, in defiance of any known laws of the natural world, the river began to slope upwards. Not the land around the river or anything. Just the river. Looking up to follow its path, Cozal found that, indeed, the flow of water continued increasing in altitude then curved around in a large circle as it came back down.

His jaw dropped. "WHAT?"

[Mizagium]

After an indeterminate amount of time had passed, Hrathen Thundercougerfalconbird returned and knocked perfunctorily at Emily’s door. A moment later, he knocked again. “Miss Emily Robertson, I have come to collect you for the King and Queen.” Then he stepped back and waited patiently for the royal guest to dress.

-

Vega felt the heat an instant before she saw the street liquefy beneath her, and jumped. In that moment of panic, she didn’t think to lower her weight before the jump, but did so mid-arc, so that she hovered there.

She perked up and whirled at the sound of Al’s voice. “What did you do? Nothing – not to me. This isn’t personal, kid, but you were at Cloud Land. You saw something the Shogun didn’t want you to.”

She let her echoing voice die out and started towards where she thought the source of his voice might be. With the air, she pulled towards the largest piece of hull wreckage, hugging it and edging around.

“Government secrets. Besides, if I complete this mission, I get Altair back.”

-

Draconis was not so intimidated by the Lazy River Loop. Gravity-defying water was not enough to befuddle an experienced Star Samurai, especially not one like him. But at the same time, he wasn’t going to play this game for much longer.

He sheathed Ootenkiryuuga (much to the Dragon’s displeasure) and stretched out both hands, one before, and one behind, incidentally causing his tube to start rotation around the axis that was his rear end.

“I have sailed the rapids of the Amanogawa,” he declared. “I will not be defeated by your nonsense. Tendou: Kawa o Kiru!” Draconis’ hands started to shimmer, and then a ribbon of starlight spilled out of them. The one behind just continued onward to nowhere, but the one in front rushed past Cozaltene and cut straight through the river’s loop. Water flowed along the starlight, through a gap in the loop, and rejoined with the regularly-flowing river on the other side.

Now Cozaltene had a choice: brave the loop and come out behind, or follow the starlight and risk fighting Draconis again.

-

Leporis found himself unable to escape Kayla’s mighty ear-grab. “Ow, now wait just a – ow, hey, you’re real strong for a – ow!”

Rick Thunder, also compelled by Kayla’s mom tactics, had picked up his cigarette and thrown it away. Now, he was sheepishly following after her, like a child beckoned. He didn’t think he was in trouble – buuut it never hurt to be sure.

-

Clara Lux, still in Yesod form, prepared to warp out of the Rave, when something familiar touched her senses. Olivia was dead, but a familiar feeling tickled her mind. An Immortal.

At the risk of antagonizing Antitheon, she reached out telepathically again. My Lord, I believe there is another Immortal here. I have not been able to identify which one, but…would you like me to investigate? Or simply return to the Library?

-

Knox couldn’t help but grin. Artemis wanted a fight. He did make her cry today, accidentally, of course, but still. He didn’t have to fight much anymore, as Immortal of Time, but he thought it might be could to get some practice again. He glanced down at himself. He was still wearing the nice green suit he’d put on after resolving to do better.

That wouldn’t do.

Knox snapped his fingers. Through some time hax fizz, his suit was replaced by his classic Ace of Hearts robes. Organization XXI hadn’t been about fair fights, or even one-on-one fights, so his arsenal included razor-edged projectiles shaped like playing cards, throwing daggers, trip wire, caltrops, and smoke bombs. Weapons that could be utilized and exploited by messing with time.

He noted that the Mathamune had some bloodstains on it, and tried to remember to ask Artemis about that later. Now, though, he dropped into a position from which he could jump in almost any direction and pulled his hands into his sleeves.

“I’m a little rusty,” he offered, “so go easy on me, ok?” But he didn’t wait for a response; he sped up time around himself and seemed to disappear before Artemis’ eyes, appearing to her right, knives flashing.

-

Ophiuchus and Rax closed the distance between each other, firing and taking shot after shot. Then the two others were shooting, too, and that was just enough that he wasn’t going to keep walking down the corridor all cool. Instead, he stopped, gathered the crimson energy up, and unleashed it as a wave, intending to sweep Rax, Derris, and Jaiden aside.

[Monika]

"Where on Earth is he?"

"Doesn't he know we have a meeting today?"

"He's practically already an hour late!"

These were the collective grumblings of the people who sat around the table in an immaculate, sparkling room. It was a long table - really long - and had rounded edges at each end, with plush chairs spaced evenly around it. It was the kind of table one might expect a shadowy council to sit around, convening about their latest plan for world domination.

And that was pretty close to the truth.

This was a conference table in a gilded room on the top floor of the Omnistar^TM Corporate Headquarters. It was the table at which the Board of Directors, representatives of Omnistar shareholders, sat to meet with their illustrious chairman. And it was the table at which these directors complained, bemoaning the fact that this chairman had yet to arrive.

"If he doesn't show up soon," one director, an old and balding man, began, "then I'll-"

He was interrupted by a loud rumbling that shook the entire building. Everyone at the table glanced to the far end of the room; it was long and rectangular, just like the table, and had only one method of egress: an elevator shaft that ran from the ground floor to the topmost floor with no stops in between. After what felt like several more minutes of rumbling, the noise suddenly stopped and the elevator doors slid open with an uncannily futuristic whooshing sound. From this elevator emerged none other than Leon Veralice.

"Hey guys!" Leon called out, waving to each member of the board, a characteristic grin on his face. "How's it going?"

"Mr. Veralice, please take your seat," said one of the directors. This one was a woman, dressed in a suit jacket and skirt, her voice thick with impatience.

"And here I was, hoping to stand for the entire meeting," Leon retorted, taking his seat at the head of the table.

"Is it too much to ask that you show up on time?" asked a third director, this one more neutral than the first two.

"Don't be so passive, Xander!" the bald one yelled. "He needs to show up on time. We aren't asking him! We're telling-"

Leon snapped his fingers, the sound loud enough to break the man's train of thought. "What's my job, people?" he asked.

The board of directors all glanced at him, and then to each other, but said nothing.

"I'll ask again. What. Is. My. Job?"

There was some uncomfortable shifting among the board members, but the silence persisted.

"Really?" Leon raised an eyebrow. "Nobody? No one wants to answer?" Shaking his head in overly dramatic fashion, he steepled his fingers and let out a sigh. "My job is to increase shareholder value." He said the phrase slowly, as if speaking to schoolchildren. "My first and only priority is to ensure that our shareholders - yourselves included - see a return on their investment. My job isn't to attend meetings and belabor trivial corporate and legal issues. My job is to make. The business. Better." He punctuated each word with a clap of his hands.

"And is that what you were doing?" Another female director, this one hunched over a thick notebook, asked.

Leon nodded. "Of course! It's what I'm always doing! I just got back from establishing our new security division-"

"Security division?"

"Mmhmm. Really Cool Land is our first customer!" He pulled a scroll from his suit pocket and smiled, proudly holding it up for the board to see. "I figure if we can get contracts like these for all the world's governments, we'll be in pretty good shape."

"Mr. Veralice!" the older man shouted. "You can't just run off and establish entirely new divisions on your own!"

"And why not, Mr. Lawson?" Leon asked, almost a little too innocently

"What? I - that's - you - because!" Red-faced, Lawson struggled to choke out the proper explanation. "You're supposed to consult us! The board! That's the entire reason you even have a board of directors! To deliberate about these very issues!"

"Oh, is that right?" Leon shrugged. "I was under the impression that, as CEO, it was my job to set the strategy of the company."

"We're in the restaurant business! Our strategy is to sell food!"

The sharply dressed woman nodded. "He is right, Mr. Veralice. These types of dramatic departures from our core business will be frowned upon by shareholders. Diverting resources to these random whims of yours is not good for the long-term health of the corporation."

"Well I'm sorry, Roxanna, but I thought a little diversification of our portfolio might help offset some of our declining revenues," Leon responded, exhaling a sharp breath.

"And have you figured out why revenue is declining?" asked the notebook girl. "For example, why are we losing so much money in our Fun Land location?"

"Great question, Ms. Miyagi. I suspect that the industrial strength hand sanitizer we use to clean the ball pit may have, ah, poisoned the children, so their parents stopped bringing them." Leon laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Kids these days, drinking the hand sanitizer. I mean, I know I bribed the IRAFD to say it was food-grade stuff, but still. They start so young, am I right?"

"Drugs are bad, m'kay!" interjected one director with a noticeably large head.

"Yeah, I got it. Thanks, Mickey." Leon rolled his eyes.

"And what about our plans for expansion in Splendid Land?" asked the neutral-toned director, his gray eyes peering up at the chairman in disinterest.

"Have you even been to Splendid Land, Xander? It's nothing but farmers and country folk out there! And besides, no one wants to be a franchisee with those biker gangs running around like they own the place!" Leon exclaimed.

"And have you managed to get insurance for any of our locations yet, Mr. Veralice?" Roxanna asked.

"You know that's impossible!" Leon let out another sigh. "Insurance companies take one look at my record, see all the property damages over the years that were 'my fault'-" he made air quotes with his fingers here, "-and say 'There's no way we can insure that guy! He'll run us out of business!' But that's why we're registered here in Incrediland! President Libertine, the saint that she is, has given us a super low tax rate, so all the money we're saving here can be spent on repairs if something happens to one of our other locations!"

Lawson slammed his hands down on the table. "Do you see, Mr Veralice? You have not accomplished a single one of the tasks we have given you, yet you were off gallivanting about in Really Cool Land-"

"I was NOT gallivanting!" Leon snapped. "I mean, the king and queen did throw a little party and I did chat with the princess and flirt with a few girls and play some beach volleyball, but I was mostly there on business! I got the security contract, and I even thought of a new plan!" With a snap of his fingers, a few pitch black cameras appeared around him, floating above the table. "I've got these cool new Shadow Camera Drones - a joint project between me and Macrosoft - and I figure we can have them follow me 24/7 and make a reality show of it! We can call it 'Leon's World'!" He spread his hands out in front of him for dramatic effect.

The entire board just stared at him in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know. It's a working title," he offered.

"Again, Mr. Veralice," Roxanna said, "you cannot just start these extraneous side projects on your each and every whim."

"Man, what is with you guys today? I'm doing what I feel is best for Omnistar! Why is everyone here giving me the third degree?"

"We need a cohesive business model that doesn't stray from our core source of revenue," Roxanna replied.

"We need you to be responsible," Xander added.

"What we need is a new CEO!" Lawson yelled.

The entire room went silent.

After what seemed like an eternity of tension, Leon finally spoke up. Steepling his fingers again, he shot a stern look at the insubordinate director and said, "Oh. Is that right? You want to vote on it? You think that you could do a better job of running this corporation?"

"I know that I could do a better job!"

"Oh. Well, it's a shame that you'll never get the chance." Leon pressed a finger and thumb together and then-

SNAP!

A woman who looked suspiciously ninja-like, dressed in an all-black Omnistar uniform, appeared in the room at Leon's side.

"Yes, Lord Veralice?" the woman asked.

"Suzanne, would you please escort Mr. Lawson to the Verascout Education Center? This will be a good opportunity for the girls to earn their Dealing with Dissenters badge."

"Yes, Lord Veralice." The woman nodded.

"What? No!" Lawson shouted, this time not out of anger. "No no no no! Please, not the Verascouts! Anything but them, please! I didn't mean to - I just wanted - company - Omnistar - shareholder - please n-"

Suzanne vanished and reappeared instantly behind Mr. Lawson, firmly placing a hand over his mouth. "Please do not protest. Helping the Verascouts is an opportunity for which you should feel honored." And, with a final nod to Leon, the woman disappeared, the old, balding director in tow.

"Now," Leon said, smiling once more, "does anyone else have something that they would like to say?"

...

The room went silent again.

[Monika]

"Hmm...wha?" Amelia yawned loudly as she heard a knock on the door.

"Miss Emily Robertson, I have come to collect you for the King and Queen."

"King and Queen...Oh...Oh!" The ninja princess hopped out of the guest bed and shook her head vigorously, clearing out the last remnants of sleep. "Uh, yeah, just a second!" she called out. Withdrawing her handy communications badge from her nightgown pocket, she clicked it twice, pressed it to her lips, and whispered, "Emperor Awesome. Emperor Awesome, are you there?"

A few seconds later, the emperor's voice came from the other end.

"Yes, Emily, I'm here. Why are you whispering?" he asked, keeping his own voice down.

"I'm at the Really Cool Land palace, and there's a ninja right outside the door. It sounds like he's ready to escort me to the King and Queen so we can make our way to Awesome Land for your dinner party. Is everything ready over there?"

There was a painfully long pause.

---

Back in Awesome Land, Emperor Awesome had been completing the paperwork for the group that Asher had approached him about creating. In exchange for expediting the various documents, he had given the young mage the task of cleaning up around the Imperial Tower (and the rest of the empire) within three hours. Of course, being the Emperor, he hadn't actually made time to check on their progress.

"There's no way it can be time for them to come already, can it?" he thought aloud, looking around his office. There wasn't a single clock to be seen; the closest thing was the shadowy outline of a clock on the far wall with a note that read:

To be replaced with an actual clock once someone actually figures out how time works.
-Aurora V. (Empress)

"I've got to put 'creating a standardized time system' on my list of things to do as Emperor," he mumbled. Emperor Awesome walked over to the window behind his desk, peering outside into the city beyond. "Dynasty City looks...decent, if you ignore some of the property damage and the...utter lack of people..."

That's right, he thought. Artemis evacuated everyone while Zais was attacking. But if they're still evacuated, does that mean Zais hasn't been dealt with yet? Where is she, anyway? I haven't heard a word forom her since she left.

"If that's the way the city looks, I don't even want to know how my own tower looks. Did they ever even get it cleaned up after that mess with Giggles and that...balloon dragon?" Emperor Awesome shook his head, put the badge close to his mouth, and said only one word.

---

"Stall."

That was the command Amelia received from the emperor, and the moment she heard the word, she was ready. Hastily shoving the badge back into her nightgown, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let her ninja mental agility take over.

Think, Amelia, think! The emperor needs me to stall because he probably hasn't gotten the empire in order yet so I can't let his royal guests arrive until he does but there's a ninja right outside my bedroom door and he's probably waiting for me to put on my clothes so he can take me to see the King and Queen as soon as I get dressed so-

She smiled.

What if I can't get dressed?

Amelia looked over to the spot on the floor where she'd thrown her business clothes. A suit jacket, skirt, and shirt. Even negligently tossed on the ground like that, the three together looked impressively professional.

For now.

"I'm going to miss you guys," she muttered, holding the suit jacket up to the light. Regarding it carefully for a few moments, she nodded and said, "This will do nicely." And then she began folding.

It had never been a proper ninja art, folding, and her father hadn't seen value in it, especially when compared to the eighteen disciplines aspiring ninja masters were already required to learn. But for all his strictness, Santiago had never discouraged his daughter from pursuing it and, consequently, she had developed the skill to an almost absurd level of mastery.

By the time she had finished folding, she stood before three perfectly folded fabric origami animals: a crane, an owl, and a robin. Then, she took off her nightgown and ripped it into three pieces, giving each bird a fragment to hold. Finally, she opened the bedroom window and, with a final salute to her old clothes, sent them outside. As might be expected from such expert craftsmanship, the origami birds actually started flying, each one going off in a different direction with Amelia's nightgown, never to be seen again.

After performing a thorough look around the room to make sure there wasn't a single article of clothing left, the now-naked Amelia did the most sensible thing she could.

She screamed. Loudly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

---

"Done!"

Back in Awesome Land - the Second Imperial Tower, specifically - Cydney, one of Asher's teammates, had finally finished decorating the place. The main floor of the tower had neither the drab, dungeon-like decor of Leon's tower, nor the excessively pink and girly look that Aurora preferred when she stayed here. No, now the main floor positively reeked of exquisiteness. Being from Awesome Land, it wasn't likely that Cydney had ever seen the Taj Mahal, but the first floor seemed like a perfect recreation. There was no way it couldn't impress the emperor's guests.

"Wooow!" Leslie, one of the palace attendants, could only clap her hands in awe. "That's amazing! I've never seen this place look so good, and I've worked here since the thing was built! How'd ya manage something like this?"

Cydney beamed. "Oh, just a little paint and a few flowers here and there. It's nothing really!"

"Nothing really?" Leslie scoffed. "This place is fit for royalty now!" After a thought, she looked up and quickly added, "Not that it wasn't before!"

"You're too kind," Cydney replied.

"Ah, ain't no such thing as 'too kind', Miss. I mean it! Now, if there was just a way you could work some of that magic of yours outside!"

"Outside?" Cydney asked.

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!"

As if on cue, there was a loud, feral screech from outside the tower, and Cydney rushed outside to see...

"A pterodactyl?" Cydney raised an eyebrow in disbelief as she tried to fully comprehend the sight before her. Sure enough, there was a massive dinosaur circling the skies around the Second Imperial Tower, roaring in rage.

"Who the hell leaves their pterodactyl lying around like that?" She already had a good guess of who it might be; not a lot of people controlled real, living pterodactyls, of course. "Hey! Hey you up there! Stop screaming! You're going to ruin the mood for Queen Francine!" she called out.

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!" Responding to the call, the beast swooped down and landed in front of the girl with a loud thud, rearing back its beak to let loose another roar.

Cydney didn't know any magic. Not really. She had never shown talent for it as a child, and as an adult it wouldn't be unfair to say that she'd gotten even worse. The only reason she'd even been admitted into C.O.M.A.S is because she'd offered to design a new logo for them. Despite not having any special powers to speak of, she felt no fear as she stood face to face with a prehistoric monster. This was because, for all her lack of supernatural talent, there was one thing she was really good at.

Costumes.

Cydney possessed a remarkably strong eye for detail and the uncanny ability to memorize and recall specific features, especially those that looked good. It was why she was a spectacular logo designer. It was why she was an excellent decorator. And it was why her skill in costume design was unparalleled, and she could flawlessly mimic the appearance of anyone she had ever seen.

"Leslie!" she yelled. "Toss me my suitcase!"

A few seconds later, a suitcase came flying out of the tower doors, landing right at Cydney's feet.

"Now you just hold on a moment, okay?" she told the beast. Reaching down beside her, Cydney yanked a pull tab attached to the suitcase and in a matter of seconds the thing had inflated into a full closet, more than large enough to fit the average human woman. She opened the door of this suitcase-closet and stepped inside, emerging a few minutes later with a white shirt, leather jacket, shades, and dark, slick hair. She was the spitting image of...

"Rick Thunder: Dinomancer!" she exclaimed, even her voice changing to match that of the 1950s-styled 'hero'. "Petra, Petra!" Cydney said, "Why are you yelling? Did I tell you to cause trouble around here?"

"GRAAAARGH!" the pterodactyl roared.

"What, you're doing all that screeching because you missed me?"

"GRAAAAAARGH..."

"That's totally not cool, you know?"

"Rrrraaaargh..." Petra grumbled, hanging her head down dejectedly.

"There, there," Cydney said, patting the pterodactyl's beak. "I've got some business to take care of with the emperor, so I'm gonna be gone for just a couple more hours, okay?"

There was a brief silence that might have been awkward if it were between anyone besides a pterodactyl and a Rick Thunder impersonator.

"Okay?" Cydney repeated.

Petra finally snorted in acknowledgement.

"There's a good girl. Hey, did I leave any more of the crew lying around?"

Petra nodded, pointing its beak somewhere out toward the distance and letting out a soft shriek.

"T-Rex and the Greater Impossisaurus, huh? Grab those guys and take 'em to Fun Land or something. We'll meet up later, yeah?"

Petra nodded again, flying off in the direction it had pointed to earlier.

Once the dinosaur was pacified and a far away, Cydney stepped back into her wardrobe, emerging in her normal form - dark skin, braided, rainbow-colored hair, and designer glasses - and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Glad that's over!" she said. "Now all we have to do is get this population thing under control, because it looks way too empty around here. Hmm...I wonder if I could dress as six million different people at once..."

---

Artemis' eyes quickly darted to her right. Knox was fast, as was to be expected from the Immortal of Time. Even with her newfound Focus powers, there was no way she could keep up with his speed. Not naturally. Of course, Artemis was an Immortal, too, so she didn't have to fight naturally.

"Gravity Well!" she shouted, quickly sinking to the floor, just barely dodging a strike from one of Knox's knives. She countered, reversing her grip on the Mathamune, lightly tapping his chest with the handle of the sword. There wasn't a lot of force behind the strike, and there didn't need to be. She extended the effects of the Gravity Well to the wall behind Knox, so the hit was more than enough to send him flying toward it.

But she wasn't done yet. She pointed her sword at the bathroom mirror, shouting "Tessellate!" The glass instantly shattered into a number of identically shaped fragments. Sharp identically shaped fragments. "Now, Suspend!"

With a single word, Artemis had suspended the gravitational fields of everything in that room...except that between Knox and the broken mirror. With theirs the only field active, the pieces of glass accelerated toward the Immortal of Time at an impossible speed. As the mirror shards flew toward their target, Artemis finally noticed that Knox had actually changed clothes and realized she was still wearing the hospital gown she'd found after taking her bath.

I have to do laundry after this, she thought.

---------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, just downstairs, Antitheon had appeared in the Royal Library, still giddy from Olivia's death. The joy he felt was probably why he wasn't made sick by the fact that there were two Immortals just a floor above him. It was also probably why he wasn't too angry when Clara contacted him about a potential new assignment instead of immediately meeting him per his orders.

'Your eagerness is adorable, Clara, but follow my instructions. We must take care of the essence of Light before you do anything else,' he replied. 'If you must, note down the Immortal's presence for later. You can kill them after we've met.'

[Mizagium]

Hrathen Thundercougerfalconbird waited patiently for Emily Robertson to awaken, which ordinarily wouldn’t be difficult for a ninja. Patience wasn’t even a virtue, it was a way of life. Part of the Thundercougerfalconbird clan training involved standing in line at the DMV for a week in order to ask which way to the restroom. No food. No sleep. No relief. Just a solid week of standing, shuffling forward occasionally. By the time Hrathen had reached the counter, everyone was at lunch and didn’t return for two days. Various monarchs of Really Cool Land had attempted to decommission the DMV, but the process for doing so was so tedious, that they all eventually gave up.

That the DMV was actually a ninja conspiracy had never been revealed to them.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

Emily’s scream – who else could it have been – chilled the air around him. He was not going to be held responsible for harm to an honored guest, even if he didn’t trust them. He kicked the door with all the power his ninja muscles could muster, tearing it off the hinges and shattering it against the far wall. He was inside, knife drawn, and pulling Emily to the gound, defensively before he noticed what she was wearing – or wasn’t.

“What’s happened?” he demanded, crouching over her and scanning the room. “Are you injured? Did someone – “ at last he saw and reddened after getting an eyeful. “Ah, that is – I – “

Much to his – and perhaps Emily’s – embarrassment, more ninja appeared in and outside the guestroom, including master Veritaz. The Thundercougerfalconbird patriarch surveyed the scene, fixed Hrathen with a hard look, and said through gritted teeth, “What is the meaning of this?”

“It… isn’t what it looks like?” Hrathen sputtered, looking to Emily for support – then away, sheepishly.

-

Clara Lux accepted Antitheon’s decision without further questioning. It wasn’t in her nature to question the herald of Seraphina. Nothing much was in her away, just Light and whatever Angelic force animated Holy constructs. Satisfied, she did make note of the other Immortal’s position within the rave, then vanished like a light being switched off –

And reappeared before Antitheon. She’s warped away before disengaging her Yesod transformation and did so then. The golden light dimed until normal flesh tones and clothing returned. Clara felt deflated and clunky now without Yesod’s power carrying her like water. She surveyed her clothing – torn here and there from the energy erupting from her body earlier – and decided it was no longer satisfactory. It would need to be replaced soon. It would not do to serve the Mother in rags.

Still, she knelt. “Lord Antitheon,” she acknowledged, “what further use have you for me?”

-

Disoriented by the changes in gravity, Knox floundered in the air for a moment before he tried something he hadn’t before. “Synapse Quicktime!” Time was funny and not many people realized all the different ways it could be manipulated. What Knox had done was to increase the speed of his thoughts, his ability to reason and perceive. Time around him seemed to slow down, but it hadn’t. Rather, his perception of it had been increased to the point where everything felt slower. It was a sort of localized form of Focus, one he wasn’t sure would be possible to a non-Immortal.

He hadn’t extended the Quicktime spell to his muscles or anything beyond his mind, which he now realized was a mistake. He was still ‘falling’ toward the far wall and – shards of glass were quickly closing the gap, even to his enhanced senses. There were a couple of things he could do to escape or counter. Artemis seemed determined to show off her Spatial abilities, so he might as well show off his Temporal ones.

Time Tunnel: Reversal. He hadn’t actually said them out loud – his muscles were still too slow to keep up with his thoughts, but the ability still formed in his head, and thus in reality. A tunnel of reality altered, originating in front of his face and extending back to the bathroom. It caught the shards of tessellated mirror and reversed, pulling them back along their path to the mirror, where they would reform into a whole.

Once the shards had been pulled far enough away from him, Knox braced himself and – Quicktime Release! His perception of time returned to normal, which was extremely disorienting. He slammed into the far wall, having forgotten about the gravity well. Meanwhile the mirror shards briefly reformed into the mirror – then tessellated again and shot along their original path. By that time, Knox had recovered and rolled out of the way so that the shards cut into the wall, and not him.

Even though he’d revered the attack, it still occurred anyway, because he hadn’t severed the temporal causality of the event, which would have prevented it from ever happening. It was well within his power to do so, but it cut (so to speak) a little too close to time travel, something he’d vowed to eliminate in the world.

Rather than attacking, Knox made a gesture that said, Eh? Pretty cool, right?

[Calefrun]

Finally managing to pull himself free, Al quickly removed his shirt and tied it around his wounded arm. He considered attempting to use fire magic to seal it, but realized that the width of the gash may result in that approach doing more harm than good. He slowly got up to his feet, wincing from the pain, and began quietly making his way through the wreckage. He had seen Vega approach, so he just needed to stay out of her sight long enough for him to figure out a way out of this mess.

"Cloud Land? Government secrets?" He deliberately spoke towards the most spacious part of hull segment to make his voice echo as much as possible. "You mean those octopus freaks? Trust me, if I could forget about that whole mess I would. And who's Altair? Someone you care about clearly, but what does he have to do with me? Is this 'Shogun' of yours holding him prisoner or something?"

---

The air near the Mysterious Hooded Mariachi Guy fizzled for a moment, then the woman from his team back in the arena appeared out of nowhere.

Without hesitation, she started speaking quickly, "I just finished reading that report you gave me and handed it off to Jerrus. What in the seven underwater hells-"

He shushed her, and she noticed that one of his hands had not only turned into a telescope, but was also clenched tightly into a fist.

"Not now, Allie- that can wait. Are you seeing this??" He pointed at the river, and she looked to see two young men engaged in an inner tube battle.

"Err, no offense, Cale, but I don't see how that's more important than-"

"Can't you see? He's disrespecting the Loop!"

"He.. what?"

"Look at this little shitlord! He made a bridge through the loop instead of going around it like a normal fizing person! Isn't that like... against the rules or something?"

Allie scowled. "Err... I'm pretty sure the only rule in a tube race is that you can't go on land. I don't think that light bridges quite qualify."

The man shook his head. "No no no, this is all wrong! I'm going up there to give that punk a piece of my mind!"

"Hang on a minute! I need to talk to you about that... report... aaaaand he's gone."

---

Before Cozal could decide how to react to Draconis' light bridge, he noticed a man approaching the river at an alarming speed. It was, of course, the Mysterious Hooded Mariachi Guy, though as he ran his hood and sombrero flew off to reveal the head of long, unkempt, blueish-silver hair below. It also became clear that the man had one bright blue eye, as well as an eyepatch surrounded by recent-looking scars.

The man - who shall henceforth be referred to by his true name, Cale Efrun the Illusive Squid (or CETIS for short) - leaped several dozen feet into the air before landing on a tube a short distance ahead of Draconis.

He dusted off his coat, then glared at the Star Samurai. "I trusted you not to be an asshole, but you've convinced me that you don't know the first thing about inner tube etiquette." He drew a pair of pistols and spun them around. When he stopped them again, they had each transformed into an ornate katana. "I want both of you to come at me! And let's let the music play!"

[Myrdraxxis]

"Larry!" Gree barked at their green alien teammate. The man stepped jut ahead of his commander and raised both hands. He wasn't carrying any weapons, and a moment later it was apparent why. A wall of blue energy rose between Rax, Jaiden and Darrus, just as the enemy samurai's attack struck. THe wall held for a moment then began to recede. Larry grit his teeth as he tried to withstand the blast.

'This guy's good." The alien soldier muttered.

Vin decided to take the initiative on this one and without waiting for Gree's (er, Taler. Taler was still his CO) orders, charged past Larry, past Jaiden and Darrus and with a nimble leap, jumped up on Rax's shoulders. THe large alien let out a roar or irritation, but Vin didn't idle long enough for it to matter.

The mark on his hand glowed in eldritch light, the mark of the Outsider that Zais had given him. 'So wait, does that mean there's no elder god giving assassins super powers now or is that a part of Dace's new job?' Vin mused as space-time warped around him and he appeared behind Ophiucus.

He unloaded his pistol at the man's head.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And that's what happened." Leske finished explaining things to Captain Neero. The cpatain of their vessel stared at the assembled group: Leske and Rick standing there kind of awkwardly and Kayla holding one of their apparent invaders by the ear. He took a long sip of his drink and smacked his lips loudly, gaze not leaving the group.

The deck rumbled under their feet as one of the enemy ships got a lucky shot in.

"Interesting." And by interesting, he meant 'God dammit why do I have to deal with this?' "Hey you.' He addressed Leporis. "You important or anything? Is anybody gonna care if you're missing?"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roewk needed to leave.

It wasn't the incessant noise that these people called music, nor the over saturation of sensation that permeated this place that made this decision for him. Although to be honest he was well and truly fed up with those as well. Perhaps he should have been more careful when he'd expressed to Ollie his wishes to be elsewhere.

It hardly mattered now. He shoved roughly past a young couple, ignoring their indignant cries as he rounded the corner past the main dance floor. This place seemed to stretch on forever and ROewk hadn't managed to explore much past the labyrinth of side-rooms that all seemed to contain some manner of degeneracy. He rushed into one of those rooms now (luckily it was empty) and slammed the door closed.

With a sigh he collapsed onto a couch and exhaled, the life seeming to leave him as he did.

"Oh, Ollie." He muttered, shutting his eyes. He'd been too late to help her. Roewk had tended to stick close to the other Immortal, being out of his element in this environment. But he'd decided to leave her be for a time and enjoy herself. Before he knew it he had lost the girl, and barely even noticed something was wrong. Damn him for being unable to navigate this place. He'd arrived just in time to see Ollie struck down but that...whatever it was. A human? It was far too infested by Light to be truly called such. And the feeling she had given off...

He'd been able to do nothing. Could only sink into the mass of people and hide while the murderer walked free.

"What now?" He had to inform someone. The Council. The others needed to know. But how the hell did he get out of here? His Element wasn't as free-form as Light, or Darkness or Space. No, he was the Immortal of Wood and that left him with very few options outside of nature. He'd always been keenly aware of those limitations and sough to maintain a level of personal skill to cover that weakness. He could teleport out of this place....but that would be throwing himself out into some random space. He had no idea where this place was, or if it even exited in the same dimension as Awesome Land.

"Maybe if I just just telepathy and hope someone hears it?" He mused. Eh, it was worth a shot.

'Um, can anyone here me? Artemis? Noores? Knox?' he called out. 'I don't know where I am exactly but I need some help. Ollie called this place the um...something about a rave? The A-rave-ian Nights?'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Azzie, being among the Thundercougerfalconbird ninjas that had leaped to arms when the scream had been heard, was the first one to break the silence after Hrathen spoke.

And he did so by letting out an irritatingly loud wolf-whistle and slow clapping.

"Gee Gee, bro." he grinned, giving his fellow ninja a thumbs up. "Hope you had a nice life."

[Monika]

Artemis opened her mouth as if to comment on Knox's technique, but before she could say a single word, she paused. A strange sensation fell over her - as if her brain were wrapped by an invisible rope and someone was gently tugging at it. She knew the feeling all too well; it was the trademark of her Telepathy technique. But she hadn't activated it.

"Hmm..." She held her hand out in front of her, motioning for Knox to wait. "I suppose that's not entirely impossible," she muttered to herself, considering the situation.

Indeed, she didn't necessarily have to initiate the Telepathy. The mechanics of the technique were such that anyone whose mind she had ever read maintained a sort of standby link in her own mind - and that included all of the Immortals. She wouldn't have a problem destroying the link, of course, but most of the time she kept them intact to use at her discretion later on. The flip side of this was that the other party could use the link to talk to her, if they so desired. Communication was a two-way street, though, so she'd still have to activate her end if this mystery caller were going to successfully have a conversation.

She thought about it for a moment. The link's 'signature' was unmistakably that of Roewk, the Immortal of Wood. Roewk, who had turned his back on the Council. Roewk, who had refused to participate in the crusade against Zais, opting to run off with the Immortal of Light instead. Roewk, whom she was fairly certain didn't even like her - not that she gave such matters any consideration. If Roewk of all people were trying to contact her, then it must have been about something very serious.

It was settled, then. Artemis fully opened the link, just in time to hear Roewk mention something about Ollie and the A-Rave-ian Nights. 'Start over, Roewk,' she replied. 'What's going on and exactly where are you?'

---

Amelia hastily moved her arms to cover her ample bosom as her cheeks flushed a bright red - instant blushing had actually been an assignment in one of her hensōjutsu courses.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" she shouted again. "I just woke up and all of my clothes were gone! All of them!" She fixed a stern glare on each of the ninja, saving the most condemning one for Hrathen. "That one-" she pointed at the ninja, "-has been giving me weird looks all day, ever since I got here!" Moving her arm back into place, she added, "And now I know why! He must have been planning this since my arrival! Waiting for me to go to bed so he could steal my clothes and see me naked and do Seraphina only knows what to me afterward!"

Amelia reached onto her bed, grabbed a pillow, hoisted it high into the air and then threw it at Hrathen. "PERVERT!" she cried. Then, when she noticed that nothing was covering her body anymore (and that what seemed like the entirety of the Thundercougerfalconbird clan was still watching), she moved her arms back into position over her chest and cried again, "PERVERTS! YOU'RE ALL PERVERTS! IS THIS HOW GUESTS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY ARE TREATED?!"

---

"Man, keeping a city of six million refugees under control is a lot of work," Clyde said, wiping some demon sweat from his demon forehead. He'd been patrolling Super Land for the past however-long - partly out of a sense of responsibility and partly because there was nothing else to do. In truth, even keeping the city under control wasn't that exciting. The people who had evacuated from Awesome Land were surprisingly well behaved.

"Probably Artemis' doing," he noted. "If she sent them here, then they probably know not to cause trouble. Sure does make things boring, though." Clyde let out a loud sigh and shrugged. "Well, I suppose this peace is a good thing. They should enjoy it while they've got it. I guess I can quell my boredom at the library. I'm sure there's at least one book I haven't read there yet."

So Clyde made his way back to the Super Land Royal Library, pushing open the massive doors to find Antitheon hovering inside, right next to a kneeling, shabbily clad woman he didn't recognize.

"Clyde!" Antitheon turned around to greet the Demon King, an uncharacteristic grin plastered on his face. "Excellent timing!"

"You're awfully happy today," Clyde note, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "What's got you all excited?" In truth, he wondered if he even wanted to know the answer. Anything that could have the angel in such high spirits could not have been a good thing.

Antitheon motioned to the woman at his side. "Clyde, I would like you to meet Clara Lux, the first of my Angels, the human chosen to wield Seraphina's All-Revealing Light."

"Oh, so you've made a new friend?" Clyde scoffed. "I guess that's something to be happy about."

"As if the ascension of a mortal to Angelhood is cause for celebration," Antitheon shot back. "No, this is why I'm in such a good mood." He snapped his fingers, the loud click reverberating from the library walls. At once, the grapefruit-sized sphere of energy that Clara had bound to her person rose into the air, just in front of Antitheon's eyes, presenting itself for the Demon King to see.

Clyde stared at the strange orb for a while before looking back at Antitheon, who could barely contain his glee. Figuring that the angel wanted him to ask what the orb was, Clyde decided to play along. "And just what is that you've got there?"

"This," he replied, "is the essence of Light. Olivia Lux, former Immortal of Light, is now dead!"

Clyde froze, his eyes widening in disbelief. Dead? he thought. He had sat in on the first Immortal Council meeting in the hopes of reclaiming Super Land from the group. He had seen Olivia - or Ollie, as she'd gone by - just briefly; the girl had left shortly after Artemis declared war on Zais. Consequently, he hadn't gotten to know her that well. She seemed like a good enough kid, if a bit hotheaded. And now she was dead. A woman he had just seen weeks ago - a woman who seemed young enough to be his daughter - was dead. On the orders of the angel he found himself working for, no less.

"I can see the news has left you speechless!" Antitheon exclaimed, still smiling. "But that isn't even the best part! The woman who killed her - the woman kneeling before me right now - is - was - her older sister!"

Clyde looked at Clara, still showing that sickening subservience to the angel. Her skin was noticeably tanner, but there was an undeniable resemblance between her and the former Immortal of Light. Finally, words came to him. "That's cold, Antitheon. Even for you."

But Antitheon waved the remark aside. "The bond between this woman and the Goddess - between any person and the Goddess - will always be greater than any bond forged on Earth," he replied. "Now," he said, turning back to Clara, "we have to bring the Light to a place of safekeeping. I'm going to take you somewhere very, very special." Slowly, Antitheon's characteristic angelic sphere of light appeared around himself and Clara, preparing to whisk them away to whatever destination he had in mind. Before they could disappear, however, Antitheon looked back at Clyde and tossed him a handful of playing cards from his robe pocket.

The demon caught them deftly, the cards bearing a surprising amount of weight. He didn't need to ask what they were. They were the same cards from which Antitheon had pulled Seraphina's Everflowing Time and Everpresent Space, the swords he'd used to give Clyde a front row seat to the killing of Zais. The same cards from which he'd taken Seraphina's All-Consuming Darkness, the sword that had nearly sent their floating island plummeting to the ground (for a second time). Swords of immeasurable power, good only for destruction.

"I want you to find the next handful of Angel candidates and give them those swords," the angel explained. "The sword of Knowledge, Omniscience, should help you in that endeavor. Test the blades yourself, if you'd like. I would not deny you the opportunity to personally use such precious pieces of craftsmanship. As a demon personally chosen by me, you should be more than capable of handling their power."

Clyde stuffed the cards into his own pocket, struggling to conceal his disgust. "Just why am I doing this? Where are you running off to?"

"Have you already forgotten? You're doing this because you are sworn to obey my orders," Antitheon replied matter-of-factly. "I'm going off to take care of angel business. I am an angel, after all."

And with that, Antitheon and Clara disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Clyde alone on the main floor of the library.

Staring at the spot the two had been standing in moments before, Clyde asked himself, "How the hell did I get into this mess?"

[Monika]

Antitheon and Clara reappeared...somewhere. It was an endless expanse of white. The sky was as pale and bright a white as could be, its color mirrored by the ground below. The two melded together so seamlessly that it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. Such a place would have been disorienting - incomprehensible - to ordinary mortals. It was a good thing, then, that ordinary mortals couldn't come here.

"Welcome," Antitheon announced, no small measure of pride in his voice, "to Sacred Land. This is the dimension where Mother lives. A dimension that only She and other divine beings can access." The angel frowned, the words not feeling right on his tongue. "Well, Mother is the only truly divine being in the universe, excluding Uncle Delmerith," he corrected. "But, in Her infinite grace, She has allowed Her son to pass through freely. An opportunity that I am extending to you."

Antitheon motioned for Clara to follow him as he walked off in some direction, blindingly white and indiscernible from any other in Sacred Land. After they had traveled for what could have been seconds, days, or even weeks, he finally stopped in front of some unremarkable spot and clapped his hands twice. The air in front of him (was there air in Sacred Land?) shifted, the space distorted, and the endless expanse of white gave way to a large marble palace, just barely less white than the dimension around it. It was simple and unassuming, yet at the same time spectacular and imposing.

"This is Her home," Antitheon said. "She has lived here alone since Uncle Delmerith was sealed away. Well, until I was born, at least." His tone here was difficult to make out. There was no trace of the cold arrogance or faux kindness he normally expressed. There was happiness, to be sure, but there was also something else. Something like...sorrow. "I do try to be a good son and make sure She isn't lonely. But She's been rather distant as of late..." He caught himself before saying anything more. "Never mind. I'll have to ask you to stay outside, Clara. I'll be back momentarily."

The angel snapped his fingers and the orb of Light detached itself from Clara, hovering at Antitheon's side. The doors to the marble palace opened of their own accord, just long enough for Antitheon and the element to enter, swinging shut immediately afterward.

---------------------------------------------

"Is there anything else you would like me to say?" Messenger asked, peering through some door in the palace that was just slightly ajar.

A soothing, heavenly voice, rich with poise and grace, responded from behind the door. "Tell him I do not wish to be disturbed," the voice answered. It was smooth and feminine, cool and otherworldly. It seemed to echo throughout the palace halls, even as it came from a room that was nearly closed off.

"Anything else?" Messenger pressed.

There was a brief pause before the voice responded again. "Be sure to make the girl the offer. That is all."

Messenger nodded. "Understood. The message shall be passed along." Closing the door the rest of the way, Messenger took a look around at the main room of the palace. It was a sparkling white, like everything else in the area. Lined along the far wall were fourteen massive transparent cylinders, evenly spaced out. Tubes ran from the bottoms of the cylinders through the back wall and into some unknown area. Attached to the top of each cylinder was a large glass sphere, roughly the size of a fishbowl. In one of the spheres, something appeared to be swimming. A few small glowing wisps of...something...floated around in the bowl aimlessly. Probably not fish.

Aside from the spheres and cylinders and tubes, the only other thing in the room was a single crystalline throne, placed in the center of the room, just a few feet in front of the back wall. Messenger seated herself on the throne - noting that her feet didn't even reach the floor - just in time for Antitheon to enter through the palace doors.

The angel scowled as soon as he saw her.

"What's wrong?" she asked coyly. "Not who you were expecting to see?"

"What are you doing in Mother's chair?" Antitheon demanded.

"I'm here to greet you, of course," Messenger answered.

"I don't want to see you," he spat, folding his arms. "Hmph. But not even you could sour my mood, Messenger. Look what I have!"

The Universal Element of Light flew around in front of Antitheon, orbiting the angel a few times before going still.

"Congratulations," Messenger replied, seemingly disinterested in the matter. She clapped her hands a few times in a pathetic attempt at applause, prompting another scowl from the angel.

"Now, where is Mother? I wish to show Her the spoils of our victory."

"She's in the Garden right now. She does not wish to be disturbed."

"But-but! I have the Immortal of Light!"

"You say that as if She does not already know. Or have you forgotten that She is omniscient?"

"OF COURSE I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN!" he shouted, stomping his foot on the marble floor.

"Besides," Messenger said, "you didn't really kill the Immortal of Light and take her powers, did you? Wasn't that the work of your friend? She should be the one taking credit for the action. Aren't you going to invite her inside?"

"WE ARE NOT FRIENDS! And you would have me invite her here? And risk having her filthy mortal eyes gaze upon my Mother?"

"She's an angel, Antitheon."

"She's a human with angel powers!" he shot back.

"Even so, inviting her into our home would be the polite, gracious thing to do. It's what Seraphina would do. Were you raised to be so cruel?"

Antitheon was practically burning red with anger now, his fists clenched and his body trembling. He strode past the crystalline throne, not sparing Messenger a glance, and stood in front of one of the cylinders - the one whose glass bowl had the wisps swimming in it. With none of the delicacy that might befit the handling of such a sensitive object, he shoved the element of Light into the cylinder, the glass orb resonating in response. Finally, he took a deep breath and spoke, as calmly and as loudly as he could.

"Clara!" he called out. "You may now enter the Marble Palace."

[Myrdraxxis]

Roewk sighed and looked around, taking in the sight of the endless rave, completely undisturbed despite the clear signs of death and destruction that had taken place not an hour ago. The more he was here, the less Roewk liked this place.

'I'm in some place called A-rave-ian Nights. Some kind of, as far as I can tell, endless rave dimension. Honestly how anyone could stand to LIVE here much less stand it for more than an hour is a mystery to me-'

Roewk stopped and sighed again, focusing. 'Ollie is dead.' He said it plainly. 'SOmone named Clara killed her and took the Immortal essence from her.'

[Mizagium]

Were Clara capable of real human emotion, she might have fainted from the honor of being granted entrance to the Marble Palace - the home of Mother Seraphina! But alas, she was not. Anitheon had perhaps been a bit too zealous in creating a Nephilim that he'd completely burned out any humanity remaining. Of course, if that's what he wanted, then it was a success. Still, Clara Lux could certainly appreciate the honor bestowed upon her. In fact, she very nearly refused politely at first and insisted she was unworthy, but then she recalled earlier.

Antitheon did not say or do anything he hadn't already made up his mind about. He wasn't about extending a hand out of politeness. If he said she was to enter the Marble Palace, then she was. So she entered.

"My Lord, Antitheon," she said, bowing slightly in deference. Then her eyes fell upon the Messenger, who was clearly not Seraphina...was she? Words escaped her and she turned again to Anitheon for guidance.

-

At first, Knox assumed Artemis didn't respond simply to not play into his game. But then her face changed, and her eyes unfocused on him a little. Knox lowered his arms (though still keeping weapons in hand in case it was a ploy) and took a few steps closer.

"Artemis? What's up?"

-

Leporis sniffed and rubbed at his ear, still store from Kayla's motherly scolding. "Well, I mean - I'd miss me if I were gone. But, I can't imagine anyone really out there. Arcturus doesn't know I'm out here, I think. Ophiuchus...eh could go either way with that freak. Orion - Betelgeuse - he might care, but more in a 'you're under my command' kinda way."

Rick Thunder slumped against the far wall and unzipped his duffle bag a little, so that four compsognathus snouts erupted out, sniffing the cabin air. He had to fight to keep the four dinosaurs from escaping.

-

Veritaz shut his eyes and inhaled slowly. He tried to think back to a time in his life when he'd been so close to flipping his shit, and, honestly, couldn't. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that doing so would expunge the situation from reality - and when he opened them again, he would be somewhere nice and peaceful. Like the DMV. But nope. Everything was still where it was: Emily, naked, furious. Hrathen, redfaced, embarassed. Azzi, amused, slow-clapping. Everyone, averting eyes, shuffling feet. Himself, still about to lose it.

"Everyone out," he barked. In an instant the room was clear. He caught Hrathen by the shoulder and hissed, "We'll have some words in a moment. Azzi - stop that and take Hrathen...somewhere I can't kill him." Once they had left, he turned back to Emily.

In a flash, he'd produced an oversized, and quite comfortable robe from the wardrobe or wherever ninjas hide clothes and draped it over the girl.

"Miss Robertson," he said with gentle sincerity. "You have my sincerest apologies for the situation - you are correct, this is not how guests of the royal family are to be treated, and you have my word that the King and Queen will hear of this matter. But first, please, tell me exactly what happened. I know how this must appear to you, but I have doubts that Hrathen - or any of my ninjas, for that matter - would concoct such a ridiculous and inappropriate plan." If they really wanted to see you naked, they wouldn't have gotten caught, he added silently.

"Please, the details if you would. I'll personally convey it to the King and Queen and get to the bott - the, uh, truth of the matter."

[PART II COMING SOON]

[Bruce Leroy]

Alarms blared overhead waking Cod from his nap. “What the hell is going on?” he murmured to himself half awake and walking to the navicomputer. As he wiped his eye, trying to wake himself up, he saw that there were ships incoming. “Shit! What now?!” He jumped into the pilot’s chair and disabled autopilot. Switching the thrusters to full power, he turned the ship away from his incoming pressures, when a comm was sent to the navicomputer. He pressed the alert and an image of Marcus appeared before him.

“AWWW What the hell do you want?”

“Look here Cod. If it were up to me, you would already dead. That being said, Fish wants you alive. So if you could just be kind enough to surrender your ship. We’ll take you to him.” Marcus replied with a quirky smile.

“Yeah… about that …. NO! But now that I know it’s you guys imam go ahead and blast you into space.” With that Cod turned the ship around and headed directly towards the incoming ships. 'Four of them. I should have planned this better...' he thought to himself.

Fenix, looking at his screen, laughed as he gave the command for the ships to attack. With the command given the ships sped up to engage Cod. Once Cod came into range they opened fire.

“SHIT SHIT SHIT! This was not a good idea.” Cod yelled as he took evasive actions. Just as he evaded the fire wave of blasts he heard a voice coming cross the commlink. “I must have left it open.” Just as he reached to shut it off he heard a voice he had not heard in a long time.

“Ah so we meet again.” The voice said.

“Fox McDesuburg…”

“How nice of you to remember me. By the way I brought some old friends from the past. You remember HOVA, Blade, and Mr. Jackson don’t you?”

“OH FUCK NO! We are not doing this. Nope. NOPE!” Sweeping his ship back around he began an attack run.”

“Do you mind if I cut in?”

“Who the hell are you?” Cod barked.

“Who am I? I am your magguffin. I am the one. I am the only. SKY CAPTAIN BACTUS VIRERINA, CAPTAIN OF THE SKYS!! We just so happ’n to by fly’n by, searching for our plot. Something about Booties, I don’t know, but we just so happ’n to see ye in a bit of trouble, didn’t we Victa.”

“Aye capt’n but it Jimm..”

“Not now Victa. There be an epic space battle afoot. We can’t be the Captain of the Skys if we can’t control them now can we? To battle stations lads! 1 versus 4 don’t seem like fair odds to me. 2 versus 4 seems a wee bit better, but when ye got meself and the crew. Heh this should be easy.” Taking a long swig from his bottle of rum he raised his other hand giving the signal to attack.

With that, the Foul Thunder and Cod Commando’s ships began to attack. Cod sped up in front of the Foul Thunder and began to shoot at Mr. Jackson’s ship. He fired three blasts and each landed on their target causing it to explode and the pilot with it. *One down* While this was happened the Foul Thunder had finally turned its starboard side towards the enemy. Upon the Sky Captain’s command fire a volley of space cannonballs towards HOVA and Blade. Amidst a sea of space cannonballs there was nowhere for the two to go and they exploded into space debris.

“Aye ye should be able to handle this. We done helped ye out enough. Anymore and be having to charge ye. But we, uh, we will be taking the debris for the three ships. For let’s say upgrading purposes.” With that the Foul Thunder gathered what debris it could and set off. “We got some plot to get to with Capt’n Alexand’r and some sort ov wondr’n drunk’n gambler. Welp good luck mate. Don’t go dying like these mistakes to mankind.” With that the Foul Thunder and the Sky Captain turned away and flew off towards their destiny.

Fox, distracted by what had just transpired, did not see the Cod was closing in on him before it was too late. Commando fired 5 blasts into the side of his ship.

“You haven’t seen the last of me!” Fox cried you.

“For the love of God, I hope you are wrong about that.” Fenix replied.

“Wait you’ve been here the whole time?” Cod asked.

“Yea those guys were dicks. We just wanted to get them out of our hair. We didn’t have it in us to take ‘em behind the shed so to speak. You actually just made me a bit of money. We had a bet which of them would last the most. Thanks by the way. Anyway here are the coordinates.”

“Wait. So you just used me to kill off these failed mistakes?”

“Yup and you preformed your job perfectly. Admittedly we didn’t plan for the Sky Captain.”

“That’s ‘SKY CAPTAIN BACTUS VIRERINA, CAPTAIN OF THE SKYS’ you scallywag.” The sky captain yelled.

“How did you even …”

“Ye left the channel open.”

“Oh… Ehhm what is this Space Skype?. Whatever we didn’t plan for the SKY CAPTAIN BACTUS VIRERINA, CAPTAIN OF THE SKYS, but it was entertaining. Now that we know you can be a heartless killing machine, we know you are ready to face the truth.”

“I WORK FOR A SECRET GOVERNMENT AGENCY. I AM HUNTING YOUR BOSS, A MASS TERRORIST. AND WE BOTH WENT TO THE SAME SECRET AGENT SCHOOL. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT I CANNOT BE A HEARTLESS KILLER?” Commando yelled

“Look man. I’m just following order. Here are the coordinates. I’ll see you when you get here. Go smoke a cigar or something… chill out man. Fenix out.” With that Fenix closed the commlink.

Cod typed the coordinates into the navicomputer and sat back in his chair. Thinking about the events that just transpired, he lit a cigar and tried to relax. As the Navicomputer calculated the time to reach his destination, he smiled thinking to himself, “at least those assholes are dead.’

[Mizagium]

Betelgeuse felt the near point-blank shot from Vin. It wasn’t something he was used to, not so suffused with the Hunter’s Blood as he was. He was filled with so much, he practically sweated the stuff. But at such a close range, and with that Outsider’s Mark…well, how could he not? The shot thankfully didn’t do much beyond superficial damage, but it still hurt and it threw him forward.

Rax wasn’t there to break his fall, so Betelgeuse stumbled and caught himself on the ship’s floor, managing not to smash his face in. But he was angry. Angry at the man who’d shot him. Angry at Ophiuchus for baiting him like this. Angry at Antares for destroying his old arm. Angry, most of all, at himself for being lured away from his old life and into the service of Shogun Arcturus.

So maybe it was the fury boiling inside him, or maybe the Hunter’s Blood had cast a veil over his thoughts, or maybe some combination of the two, but Betelgeuse roared like a beast. He got to his feet and spun around, coalescing his red energy into a crude broadsword shape. It was longer than he wanted, and the corridor narrower than he liked, so the energy blade sliced through the walls and doors, and anything immediately beyond, throwing sparks and bits of molten metal all around.

He swung up, cutting through the ceiling, and then brought the blade down, down on Vin over and over with wild, furious blows.

-

Vega followed Al’s echoing voice to nowhere. “Can it be said that the government is holding anyone prisoner? Or just that they have imprisoned someone? Either way, I want him back.”

Then something he said echoed within her. “Wait, octopus freaks? What are you talking about?”

-

Draconis made to draw Ootenkiryuuga but paused. “Please, ridiculous man, stand aside – er, float aside. My business is not with you. This boy,” he gestured at Cozal, “has committed crimes against my government and I have been tasked to bring him to justice.”

Now he actually drew his sword – and the dragon hissed in delight. “So please, do not interfere.”

[Monika]

Antitheon returned Clara's look and considered it for a moment. On the one hand, he thought it was important to maintain the air of cordiality and politeness he normally kept around her. On the other hand, he really, really didn't want to say anything about Messenger. After a while, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he could-

"I suppose you're not all that excited to see me either," Messenger said to Clara, almost successfully feigning a tone of disappointment. "I'll introduce myself anyway. My name is Messenger. I suppose I am something like Antitheon's sister-"

Antitheon flinched.

"-though he would never claim such a thing himself. In truth, I don't really consider myself to be an angel. The circumstances of our creations are rather different, as are our purposes. I exist only to act as the mouthpiece of the Goddess," she explained. "With that said, I don't expect you to show the same deference to me as you do to him."

As if she would, Antitheon thought.

Messenger closed her eyes for a few seconds and then said, "There. A short biography of sorts should've just appeared in your head. Hopefully that gives you a good enough idea of who I am."

Knowledge transfer. What a waste of psychic powers, thought Antitheon, who looked at the spectacle with mild disgust.

Messenger shot a glance to the angel as if she could tell that he was thinking about her, but said nothing. "And, as you have guessed, who I am is not Seraphina. She is tending to plants in the Garden right now and did not wish to be disturbed. If you'd like, I could go ask Her to make an appearance. I'm sure she wouldn't mind just this once, for one of her Angels."

Antitheon clenched his fists at the ridiculous statement Messenger had just said. That Mother would be willing to meet with some lowly human but not with Her own son is absolutely preposterous! he said to himself. Though he didn't say anything out loud (struggling desperately to keep quiet), his body language suggested that Clara had better politely decline.

"If you'd rather let Her continue tending to Her Garden, that's fine. In either case, I had something that I needed to ask you."

---

'Stay put, Roewk. We'll be there as soon as possible,' Artemis replied. "We have to go, Knox. Now."

Artemis flexed her fingers and a portal opened right in front of her. She had heard about A-Rave-ian Nights a few times before. It was a popular destination for graduate students who had finally cracked under the pressure of mounting research work and needed an escape, so a couple of well-intentioned classmates had given her its spatial location while she had been pursuing her doctorate. Of course, crumbling under work was the last thing Artemis would ever do, but she kept the location memorized on the off chance that the information might come in handy one day. It looked like today was that day for her.

"Ollie is dead," she explained in her typical blunt style. "And Roewk needs our help. Let's go."

Without another word, Artemis stepped through the portal, finding the elegant lighting and fragrant scents of the Royal Library's bathroom at once replaced by the dim hue of glow sticks and the stench of sweat. Submerged in a sea of people, it dawned on her how difficult finding Roewk here might be.

---

Amelia glared at the elder Thundercougerfalconbird with an expression equal parts frustration and embarrassment.

"The full story?" she asked. "I woke up. I was naked. I screamed. Hrathen came running in and pinned me to the ground. I don't know how much more you want beyond that." With an exasperated sigh, she added, "I think that's enough for me to tell the King and Queen personally. They have to know that this kind of behavior will not stand. I think we should arrange for a sexual harassment class to be given to all of your ninja so that know just what is and is not acceptable."

[Myrdraxxis]

Neero nodded thoughtfully at their prisoner's answers, every so often taking a sip of his drink. He took a moment to glance back over his shoulder towards the frantic chaos of his bridge and the space battle beyond.

"Soooo" He drew the word out, sliding his gaze back to Leporis "What I'm here is there's no good reason to keep you alive." He delivered the line so casually that it took the others a moment to realize what he'd said. Leske snorted and Ydda actually blinked at her captain in shock. 'That is," he continued, ignoring the looks he was getting, "Unless you give us a very good reason to."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh shit." Vin managed to dodge-roll out of the way as Betelgeuse's attack skimmed the top of his head. The assassin put some distance between himself and the rampaging space samurai with a quick Blink, reappearing behind the relative safety of Rax and Larry's line.

"Think things just got a bit more complicated." He commented to Gree. TO his credit, Gree didn't look TOO worried. The commander narrowed his eyes.

"Taler, time to get mad." Gree said. Taler grinned viciously (an act ruined because of his helmet) and said,

"Can do. Tell your boys to clear the way." With that, Taler began calling upon the same rage that now fueled his martial skills. THe same red hatred that made online video games toxic to play and players to throw controllers through the wall. With an incoherent yell Taler began charging TOWARDS Betelgeuse's wild slashes, firing all the while.

Larry saw him coming and ducked out of the way, but Rax just laughed and joined Taler's charge.

"Larry, keep them covered as best as you can!" Gree called. Larry yelled something unflattering but nonetheless began casting small shields to block the wild attakcs that occasionally got to close to their team's berserkers as they closed the distance to their target and began attack with fervor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roewk weaved through the crowd, muttered and growling as he went. Irritation at all these packed together bodies was beginning to get to him. It occurred to him that unless Artemis managed to teleport right to his side (something that couldnt necessarily be counted out) he would need to find a place where he was easily visible.

Unfortunately there was only one such place in the immediate vicinity. Unfortunately that place was the bar. More specifically, on top of the bar. Where there were rather risque dancers er...."dancing".

"'Scuse me." He muttered as he nudged his way to the bar, very much feeling like he was back in highschool and having been dragged to a party that he had no place in. "I just need to uh," he wasn't sure his words were heard over the loud music, but nonetheless he hoisted himself up onto the bar. Immediately he was set upon by the dancers. He cleared his throat, trying to ignore their proximity and scan the crowd. He did his best to ignore just how little the ravers were wearing, a fact he'd managed to avoid thus far during hius stay here. Alas, his stressed mind was reaching its breaking point and years of repressed emotions were coming back despite his breat-er, that is, his best efforts.

It took him several minutes, and several points of being very, very distracted, before he spotted Artemis among the thong-THRONG, the THRONG of people and called out.

"Artemis!" He yelled over the noise, standing on top of the bar, surrounded by lascivious ravers. "Help."