In the largest temple on the surface of Sicarus, a giant had been captured. Vulkan was raised against the back wall of the temple, behind an unholy altar. Large spikes crafted with dark energies jutted out from the back wall and through Vulkan's arms, legs, and torso. The physical trauma did not kill Vulkan – such is the constitution of a Primarch, but he remained thoroughly incapacitated. Infront of the altar knelt a warp-creature adorned in accursed power armor.

"Vulkan…" the daemon sighed as he rose to his feet, "Your arrival is an unexpected – albeit pleasant – surprise."

Vulkan opened his heavy eyelids at the sound. Searing pain coursed through his body, but he was determined to see just who his captor was. Once the daemon stood at full height, Vulkan could make out the finer features of his visage. His head was adorned with a crown of horns, and his malicious grin revealed a mouth dull of pointed fangs. His red eyes glowed with Chaotically enhanced psychic energy, and they stared at Vulkan as though this daemon was terribly familiar with him.

"Who…" Vulkan gasped, his lungs barely able to fill with enough air to speak, "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

"Oh, come now, Vulkan." the daemon chuckled as he walked around the altar, "Are you so callous as to forget me?"

A flame on the altar's torch flickered, and in its light a plethora of golden characters on the daemon's armor and face shined in dancing beams. Seeing these characters had awakened a newfound sense of dread in Vulkan.

"You're one of the Word Bearers…" Vulkan barely managed to spit out, "No, no… is it really you, brother?"

"It is I." the daemon chortled as he drew closer to Vulkan, "And I must say that I'm absolutely relieved to find ourselves in this situation. Nearly all of you Primarchs went missing in action! I thought it to be a blessing at first, but then Corvus taught me a proper lesson in expecting the unexpected. Now with Guilliman's revival, all I can say is that I'm thrilled to end one of you nuisances permanently."

"Guilliman… has returned?" Vulkan wheezed, "Lorgar… what has occurred?"

"Oh, bother." Lorgar chided himself, "I speak too much. Just be a dear and keep yourself impaled on that wall, will you? You perpetuals can be such a pain, but thankfully those spikes your impaled with are slowly draining your soul from your overly-muscular body."

Vulkan tried to speak, but something in the back of his vision caught his attention. A black energy seemed to be glowing from behind the closed entrance to the temple, far at the other end of the nave. Its paradoxical black light seemed to such in all color around it and was slowly spreading through the cracks in the doors. As it made its way into the temple it covered every surface it touched with pure, lifeless black. This initially was concerning to Vulkan until he saw a few instances of black feather popping from the darkness, only to shortly be suck back in.

"Corvus." Vulkan thought to himself, "I do not know how he is here – and I certainly do not know how I got here – but I am grateful for his presence all the same. I will need to keep Lorgar distracted until he can enter the temple."

"Oh, woe is me, Lorgar!" Vulkan wailed, "How could you have betrayed your own brothers like this? How could you betray our very Emperor? Our father?"

"Betray?" Lorgar asked as smoke fumed from his nostrils, "How dare you call me a traitor! I loved that false emperor! You and all of my other brothers hated me for that! Guilliman destroyed Monarchia for that, and yet now he swears to protect these humans that commit the same sin of worshipping a false deity? You dare to call me a traitor? I'll show you pain that will make you wish for the days when you were a captive of Konrad…"

Lorgar ceased his monologuing when he glanced at the floor and noticed the black energy spreading throughout the cathedral. He turned his head left and right and saw that same energy completely enveloping the church, and his face twisted from unbridled fury to an unsure panic.

"Vulkan, what is this?" Lorgar demanded from the Primarch, "What have you done?"

Once the energy reached the black wall it slowly embraced Vulkan, disintegrating the spikes piercing his body and enveloping him with darkness."

"This…" Vulkan sighed as his wounds slowly began to heal, "Was not me, brother."

"Then who…"

"LORGAR!" a voice screamed from the void. Its fury was so palpable that the Daemon Primarch himself thought his eardrums might pop.

"No…" Lorgar whispered, "Not him. It can't be him!"

Lorgar turned around to see a strange mist rising from the floor. He slowly back away, prepared to dash into a sprint should this mist prove his greatest fears true. Before he could react, however, a series of ebony projectiles whizzed out of the missed and pierced Lorgar's, each sending a jolt of fresh pain through his body.

"CAW!"

Lorgar turned once again to find each projectile had morphed into individual ravens, who now stared at him judgingly as they flapped their wings to remain in position.

"CAW! CAW! CAW!"

"No…" Lorgar muttered, "No no no no no! I need to find a way out of here before…"

Lorgar froze as a twinge of fear shot down his spine. He had turned. He was no longer facing that strange, rising mist that had manifested within the temple."

"Lorgar…" that same voice from earlier growled. It sounded clearer now, as though it was no longer speaking from the void, but from directly behind the daemon.

"There you are you big f**king nerd!" Corvus' voice cried with sadistic delight, "Where's my goddamn money?"

"M-m-money?" Lorgar nervously asked in an attempt to play coy, "I don't recall owing you any thrones…"

Lorgar was stopped as a feather fist slammed into his mouth, sending his body to the floor, and knocking several of his fanged teeth loose. Lorgar wiped his mouth and saw that blood now stained his hand. The blood and missing teeth bothered him not – such minor injuries are simply for an immortal daemon to heal. However, only one person – one thing – had so brazenly attacked him and left unharmed. There was no doubt that this was Corvus.

Lorgar looked up to see a shadowy figure towering over him. There were enough familiar features for him to make out that it was his brother, but the twisted powers of the Warp had turned the Primarch into a monster. His body was covered in black feathers, and his armor had seemed to fuse with his flesh. Sharp talons and burst from his fingertip and large wings burst from his back. The only part left uncovered was his face, but even that was coated in a sheen of silvery metal. Too add to the horror were the endless rows of black fangs filling Corvus' mouth that Lorgar witnessed as the Primarch went into an unhinged bout of laughter.

"What's the matter, Lorgar?" Corvus growled as he loomed over Lorgar, "You were talking all that good s**t just a second ago! Something about 'pain that will make Vulkan wish for the days when he were a captive of Konrad?' Where's all that bravado now, huh? Come on, fight me! Hit me!"

"Ah, no!" Lorgar screamed as he turned onto his belly and attempted to scurry away from Corvus, "Somebody, get me out of here! I need an adult!"

"And there it is." Corvus groaned as he slowly followed Lorgar, "Just as pathetic as ever. You were a burden on humanity since the day the Emperor found you. All you ever did was preach and whine, and then you turn on all of humanity because daddy didn't like what you had to say."

"He burned my city to the ground!" Lorgar protested in an emotional outburst, turning his back to face Corvus. This proved disadvantageous, however, as Corvus quickly took the opportunity to grab Lorgar by his collar and hoist him into the air.

"And you ruined humanity's chance." Corvus growled, his cold breath brushing off of Lorgar's face, "You're pathetic. You were given chance after chance after chance and yet you still proved to be nothing but a failure. Even your sons know that, but you were always too busy hiding away in your tower to ever notice."

Corvus paused as he pulled Lorgar closer, their faces merely inches apart.

"And before you ask," Corvus hissed with a knowing smirk, "Yes, this is a Jojo reference."

"J-J-Jojo?" Lorgar stuttered, "I'm sorry, but I feel that I'm missing some context…"

Lorgar stopped as he once again felt the agonizing pain of a Primarch's fist connecting with his skull.

"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!"

A storm of punches rocked Lorgar's daemon form, each landing a devasting blow on his head or torso. He felt pain unlike anything he had experiences since his apotheosis. A small part of his mind wondered if somehow this was how he died. If even an immortal daemon could be permanently subdued by the fury of a Primarch.

"OH NO!" Lorgar screamed, his pain leaving him incapable to properly react to the ongoing assault. A fist dug into the daemon's shoulder, shattering his incorporeal clavicle.

"OH MY GOD!" Lorgar screamed in agony.

Another punch landed on the daemon's upper leg, splitting his femur in two.

"HOLY S**T!" Lorgar howled as Corvus continued his relentless assault.

The beating continued for only a few minutes, but for Lorgar each crushing blow slowed time by hundreds of thousands of measures. When Corvus finally lost interest in his assault, Lorgar lay on the ground helpless and broken. Corvus stared at his bloodied fists, smirking with delight knowing that he had accomplished a job well done. The darkness enveloping the chapel began to recede, and Corvus continued to loom over his brother, ensuring he wouldn't get up.

"Why?" Lorgar sobbed. He attempted to move – stand up, crawl away, anything – but his shattered form refused.

"Why? Why can't you leave me alone? Why do you keep doing this?"

"Because you won't f**king die." Corvus flatly answered, "Until your unholy, twisted form ceases to exist, I will continue to haunt you. Every day and every night I want you to cower in fear knowing that I am still here. Knowing that as long as you exist, I will return."

The darkness continued to recede, slowly revealing bits and pieces of the temple that it had once consumed. An incorporeal energy enveloped Corvus as the atmosphere returned to normalcy."

"Do you understand, Lorgar?" Corvus snarled, "For as long as you live, I too shall exist as your eternal tormentor. You will never escape me, traitor."

A flash of light filled the temple, its blinding fury lulling Lorgar into a blissful sleep. Once the light had receded, the temple had returned to its usual unholy state. Lorgar remained unconscious and splayed on the floor, and before him stood a properly confused Vulkan.

"Um, brother Corvus?" Vulkan asked as he scratched the back of his scalp, "I appreciate your assistance, though I am quite unsure of what just happened."

"CAW!"

The sudden sound pierced Vulkan eardrums, and he frantically looked around the room in an attempt to find its source. He soon discovered a lone raven pecking at the ground, standing a few inches past Lorgar's boots.

"Corvus?" Vulkan asked, kneeling closer to the bird, "Could it really be you?"

Vulkan stretched an armored hand out towards the bird, who quickly leapt to the air and perched itself on the Primarch's index finger.

"CAW!" the raven cried.

"So, I suppose this is you…" Vulkan sighed as he raised his hand closer to his face, "I know the Warp can cause some strange changes in mortals like us, but this is truly perplexing. How on earth could you so thoroughly thrash Lorgar when you are just a tiny bird? TELL ME YA SECRETZ, YA BIRDY GIT!"

"In here!" a feminine voice echoed from outside the temple walls, "I'm telling you; I saw him fly in here!"

Footsteps pitter-pattered outside the temple, slowly making their way to the front entrance.

"Stinky Pete," the same voice commanded, "Please take care of these doors."

In a flash of sickly green light, the temples doors shattered, sending a maelstrom of splintered wood into the nave. Vulkan turned away and covered the raven with his arms. Even without his armor Vulkan knew flying articles of wood would do nothing to his transhuman body, but the constitution Corvus' birdy form was a complete unknown. Once the onslaught had ceased, Vulkan turned back towards the entrance. He saw a pair of shadows waltz into the corridor, but the still settling dust from the explosion left the finer features of their frames a mystery. One seemed to be human, while the other – armored and unnaturally large – could only be a space marine. Corvus suddenly leapt off of Vulkan's hand – seemingly guided by instinct – and perched itself on the human woman's shoulder.

"Aw, sweetie…" the woman cooed as the raven nuzzled against her cheek, "You can't just go running off like that!"

As the duo drew closer, Vulkan could see just who had entered the temple. The woman's face was familiar – Lilith from the Boiling Isles. But that familiar face meant nothing as Vulkan saw that she was accompanied by a plague marine.

"YA CARE TO EXPLAIN THIS JUNK?!" Vulkan roared as he raised his fists, "WUT, YUZ DONE AND GONE TURNCOAT OR SUMFIN?!"

"Oh Titan it's Vulkan…" Lilith whispered to herself as she noticed the jolly green giant, "Um, hello, Vulkan… a lot has happened since we last met. I had a nice chat with Nurgle and apparently, he wants to help us. He sent my Pete with me here to…"

"WAAAGH!" Vulkan howled as he charged Lilith and her nefarious Nurglite, "DIS IS WHY YA NEVAH TRUST AN ELF! YA TRY N' EARN ME TRUST THEN GO N' JOIN CHAOS! I'LL RIP YA ZOGGIN' TEEF OUT!"

"Ah!" Lilith cried, crossing her arms to shield her face, "Stinky Pete, do something!"

"Heyo!" Stinky Pete hollered as he snapped his fingers.

A surge of psychic force shook the ground. While Lilith attempted to maintain her balance, Vulkan seemed unperturbed. He continued to rush the duo as the very walls of the temple shook violently. Dust began to fall from the ceiling, and when Lilith looked up, she could see the stones above Vulkan's head start to shake loose.

"FINK YA STINKY BOYZ GONNA STOP ME WIFF DAT WEIRDBOY JUNK?" Vulkan asked as he drew closer to Lilith, "AIN'T NUFFIN' GONNA STOP A PROPA…"

Before Vulkan could finish his sentence, the temple's ceiling came tumbling down in an avalanche of hardy stone. The nave once again filled with dust, and Lilith and Pete waited silently for it to settle. They could not afford to make any assumptions on the raging Primarch's disposition. It was better to wait and see if he was properly incapacitated.

Once the temple had cleared, Lilith could see that the Primarch was indeed incapacitated, but perhaps her chaotic compatriot had done too good of a job in seeing to that. Vulkan body was pinned to the ground by a mountain of hellish brimstone, and his mouth gasped for air as the last bits of life were clearly leaving his body.

"Ugh…" Vulkan sighed, "And here's to you, Mrs. Robinsuuuuugh…"

A harsh rattle filled the temple as Vulkan's body slipped into death.

"I think that may have been overkill, Stinky Pete." Lilith groaned, "Literally."

"Heyo!" Stinky Pete answered.

A loud thud suddenly echoed through the demolished cathedral, and both Lilith and Pete could sense the sound came from behind them. The duo cautiously turned around to see a hunched bird-like creature covering its body with magnificent gray wings. The creature slowly rose to a full stance and extended its wings outwards, revealing its vibrant feminine form. It's arms and torso were covered in crimson feathers that seemed to drape over her waist, while the rest of her body was the same shade of gray that composed her wings.

"Hey there, dorks!" the avian woman shouted as she sauntered into the temple, "Heard some ruckus coming from over here and… Lilith?"

"Eda?" Lilith gasped, recognizing her sister's familiar facial features, "What on Titan has happened to you?"

"Made peace with the curse you gave me, turned into a hot bird-mama, made an uncomfortable amount of space marines discover their kinks." Eda explained, "But enough about me, what's up with you…"

Eda dragged on the final syllable of her sentence as she took in the sight before her. Admittedly, the raven perched on Lilith's shoulder seemed somewhat appropriate, but the bloated plague marine and Vulkan's dead body left Eda feeling a now all too familiar mix of confusion and revulsion.

"Wow, okay…" Eda stammered, "There is a lot to unpack here."