Teen Titans; New Generations - Against All Odds – The Chaos Round Part Two – Chapter 11: The Snake Which Bites Its Own Tail Clean Off – The Eve and Rise of the Dawn Maiden; It's the End of The World as We Know it, and I've Never Felt More at Home!

/

As Eris took to wiping up the slime from between her pet's body. As he toyed with her pretty locks in the woman's makeshift bed chamber, she felt like a queen.

She sighed.

And, to think. The only one who wanted to understand her needs, had been a fiercely jealous imp with a pretty face. A two – faced one, yet…He was nothing as Ares. Ares, was a brute in bed, yet she too had lied to her fair share of lovers. The old Eris remembered lying next to her brother. Peculiar…yet in this form, she did not.

He must have hurt, it could very well scratch her, that pompous l-

~Mistress Eris? ~

As Charl leaned over to gaze languidly in her direction, while the room's only light was delicately dappled across his paled skin, as a sea of stars...

She blushed and smiled in a way that felt forced at first. Finally, her mouth loosened.

~I…had a lovely hour! You made my body burn with ecstasy and –

~Say none of it, Mon Cheri –

~But…~ Eris pulled the sheets off of her naked frame as her body still rocked from a single need to drink from the modern world's largest body of water. She had been made to do more than the last romp in the sheets. At least he was well to wait on her every move…A change of pace, even.

~Ah- ha. Oui? Madame? Are you certain you are ready? ~ Charl waited on his stomach for her words to come pouring out, that she needed to dump Ares from her life. He'd be willing to fit the bill. Begging for she to take him back… After all, she was not a true goddess right now. She was as Agatha; defenseless against the temptations of others. Demon or human alike. What did he care? Aphrodite, was enough...She could have her gift of desire, back.

~I…I have planned this, and Ares was willing –

~To take your throne. ~ Eris could not speak. As If under a spell…Her eyes roamed across the room, until they froze to meet her lover's caramel ones. Shaking his head as he sat up to meet her, Charl let out his hand to latch onto hers. Eris looked lost, bewildered. No one had expressed this great a passion…It felt, strangely compelling yet–

~I will help you, to make him see it. You see, dearest…. Mademoiselle. ~ Charl smiled with that wry - wrinkled chuckle to accompany his good looks. His brown curls and soft waves rolling all down his back, made him seem the princess she had bedded, not the prince.

~ I have enjoyed our time as thee one dream - team, it puts me at ease. I feel, in control and you may not see this…But I am very happy that you stole me from my sad little world - It was a lonesome place to be…~

Woo her, have her not look away. His eyes were all on hers. His breath was warm, and sultry was his tone. She could not fight an Incubus's power. He had not only learned to control his impish form, not long enough to steer her emotions - as a ship unto his crashing waves. Charl had also manifested a brand-new body that he could not wait to show his former king Raku. He still wanted to humiliate that little fibber.

~I, will say as I wish. ~ She wrenched from his grip with a defiant snap*. Charl looked and acted as if he'd been told that his family were now out on the streets. In utter disbelief that ANYONE could tell him that his act needed work, he was stricken dull and dumb by her cruelty. He let down his disconcerting scowl and masked his unhappiness with this façade; as this desirable bed mate, a way to get under the goddess's clothes without her to notice the itch as It spread farther from her touch...

~It depends, My Queen…~ Sharpening his sights to narrow a tad, he could not grab her to still or lay a bit longer at his side as the sky turned to dusk. She walked off to find the exit from the bed, to a doorway underground. The waterways rushed about and below their feet. This was a sewer hide - away that Slade's memories had helped her to erect from magic. The pipes lined her path and made the home feel as hollow as this underground bunker was to the two power hungry sorcerers.

She'd transformed it into a nearly exact replica of the mad man's haunt. One of them, anyway. Yet Charl, had overseen the summoning of such a curse as it was miraculously brought to life. He'd also known how to summon, which left Eris to ready herself for a fight. No man would take her again, for today? For now, she was free to defy the male gaze as she saw fit!

~Come back to bed, my love. ~ Charl continued to keep his eyes on her as he was swept up in the madness. She trembled by the chill of the night; the day had not yet risen. She wasn't ill, but with her body too cold, she needed something else to keep her well… She walked back towards the bed, gingerly placing a hand onto the messy sheets. Had she been had? Was this her wish or the fates' decree?

He looked into her eyes and she looked back into his orbs of a cerulean now - blue.

~Take me away from this rotten world…Make it so…My king... ~

They fell away together, as the night air grew thick as mud around them.

Two entangled immortals with their bodies scarred so very badly. They needed a moment to breathe. To sink into the unknown for a time, to find hope in the future…

Eris breathed in the scent of that ragged cloth and smiled. Ares had his Aphrodite, once. Now, he'd let her go…

/

~Just as the sun has set on this world. ~ Ares drank in the chaos as the self 'Gemini' twin returned with some VERY interesting intel.

~Agh…. The Dream God is in fact a spy! We were tricked! This is not your vision, my king! ~

Ares turned to the timid thing and ensnared its soul - it wanted to know what this meant, now.

~As you say; this apocalypse is a false 'dream?' ~

~Y- yes! The Lord Hypnos is working with a god of Shadows to stop you! He has also teamed with the Guardian in New York – a place where a new face by the throne of Cybele –

~She? The Oracle? ~ Ares fumed, stomping his foot and shocking the self to cover his head with hiss frail hands.

~Yes…A -and, Eris…They have now found…~

Ares shouted at the top of his lungs, angry for the time SHE had wasted of his aid. No more! He no longer needed her power. He needed to finish the mortal gods and was to start a new order!

~Eris is to be forgotten; her rule is no longer our concern. Her law is finished. Is that clear? ~ Ares snorted hot fire as the self Gemini nodded longer than need be, just to please the war god.

The word was out, no matter. The Chosen's new cellmate was an obedient one. He could reel in the daemon soul as he watched the world around them, come to a close.

/

Jackie had lied, so had Ami. They'd made up (thanks to Cy and a few new faces.) The rest of the Titans were fooled, but it had been a tough fight to make amends over. Ami had actually been hurt by those words. Jackie was only playing the good cop as long as they could save the earth.

As she'd put in her last relay to the tower; she had a friend helping her to stall Eris's take over.

And someone too on her team had been on the inside, which sounded very risky. Even Ami; who'd lost her brother to a demon shadow and war god, did not want to show her bad side in front of her best friend.

She was a big help, that was all that mattered while the safety of the mortal plane was at stake!

/

Walled up in a hurry, Concordia recovered her magic as the group traveled to the heart of Berlin. Again, this had been the place where the second youngest guardian's inside voice had tracked down the big bad goddess of discord.

Concordia masked her powers and thought this was very soon, yet Alicia did not. She was ready to save her allies' home world.

/

~This is a terrible plan! ~ Cici bit her nails to the quick. For once, Slade had agreed. Isa was not to oppose her acting advisors as a queen once, but her pupil was no sacrifice to any outcast orderlies! Alicia had said this was the only way to save the boy Raku, to prevent the vision of Eris's awakening from becoming the realest of realties to this plane.

~This will not be without merit. She will have my protection. We are the only ones who can defeat the Goddess of Chaos. You must trust in the unknown's plan – its message; there is no other way. ~

To oppose a high Ethereal was to have it seal your own life away. Slade could only watch as these fanatical beings clung to such an outdated, intolerable device as superstitious fallacies and unclear predictions from the so – called Unknown were spread about as wildfire the great plains.

He had his life carved by his own actions. He had been a reckless brat, a real war dog, nothing else on his mind but to kill and –

~You are beginning to egg at my powers, please refrain. ~ Cici swallowed as she rasped this to her ally. He was, right? Slade had his eyes to the side, mortified by this curse…He had stopped her magic powers from devouring her in that dungeon world. He had believed it to have passed.

Fate it seemed, had other plans in store.

Slade made an irritated sound and tried to do just that. His emotions were sent to hell and back by this silly adventure team he'd been paired with. All women. His next life's new nightmare. No wonder Roku had been born to hate the opposite sex! He envied their tenacity…Their, enthusiasm which was as thick as solidified honey to a busy hive.

~Have we anything to add before the rest is through? ~ Alicia asked before Concordia's hood returned to cloak over her frightened eyes. She said this in a voice that knew when change was inevitable. ~ We are relics, we have no hope for a true place in any lifetime. We exist to guide and to watch. Nothing more. ~

/

Raku's heartbeat was steady. He let his eyes flutter open to gaze at the ceiling of his cell. He was caged, but not bent backwards. The face he held was now seventeen. Ignito's aid had granted him a part of the male's power to change. To grow, as a fire to the hearth was bound to revert to a pile of ash and waste. He had to hurry. Aiden was in danger; his eyes could picture another laughing and taunting his…

~Why do I still care? Is that it -

We have a task to complete. ~

Not realizing that Manifesto was currently freed from his nook, Raku leaped out, and then fell back onto his tush.

~Young lords do expect so very, little of their competitors. ~ Sighed the telepathic voice that was Raku's adult aspect. Shaking his head, Raku could visualize the shame by that sigh alone. It made his face flush crimson.

~You came into view so suddenly! And…What exactly, is wrong with my reaction? ~

~I was just about to kick the pup when it was clearly down. ~ Snorted the god - aspect. Snidely, his reply was complacent to a mentor reprimanding his student; as he had now seemed to the seventeen-year-old exiled lord, as a figure he could openly abuse like before, while back in the accursed dunes…

~Eris had brought me with regards, to this spot. ~ Raku pointed to the walls of his cell and frowned.

~I see it, yet do you see a key? Anything that was left out on…purpose? –

~W -what? ~

The god used Raku's arm to bring about his olden craft of Creativity unbound. The key was no longer a leg of wood from some nearby table. It was his ticket out of the sewer cell! He reached out and touched the object as if it would fall to pieces by his presence. Holiding his breath, it was handled with care and caution, placed right into his open palms... A thing made to be of some use, for his hope to thrive…

~I…Can work, again? –

~Was that power EVER to be trifled with? Her ability to steal your soul is a false image. Gods can coerce, yet she is weak. You, now have the advantage over that woman's abilities to warp and reform space and time as we know it…~

Raku didn't care if he felt his arms ache from the lack of use. He felt, good! His smile was genuine to he, as well as to his on looking counter – self. He wanted to display it as vividly as he could, when the time came to show Aiden. To show the boy that it was not cursed any longer. He knew now - he had always known. Abi knew, Isa knew, so did Lord Thoth.

He'd cursed himself, there was nothing to hide.

~So, you do agree with your selfish wishes. ~ Ignito pushed the child onto his side as his astral form had partly remained visible to the young prince. His presence grew stronger by the second.

~Azag would weep if ever we reverted to know, of these villainous temptations. ~

The sorcerer tutted the boy, expecting his ego to steady, along with his old – found confidence. Wedged in-between; lay its boundless and two – fold properties.

~Azag is gone, you can only find your place in the stars without his guidance. ~

Raku gulped and slowed his increasing fire, he was…Right…because of his weakness, he had fallen fast…He would keep plummeting down, before…

And… Only Lilith had…

He held his chest as a sliver was felt below his rash – prone skin. A crawling inch and pinch where his heart had yet to settle. His face grew pale, for something had stolen that fire…

Ignito looked at the boy and brought up his guard. He growled out and pointed in Raku's way, angrier than a heel biting serpent of natural disaster.

~MANIFESTO! YOU FOOL! YOU HAVE TAINTED US! I WILL NOT ALLOW THE FALL! ~

He snorted as his body turned red as a burning sun in outer space. The power was unlocked, yet another had sensed their attempts from another time, and place. The aspect used his rites to ensnare the ghost. To have it from doing more harm than it already wanted -

Raku was sweating. His heart raced as his eyes watered over and were sore by the saltiest of bleeding tears. It hurt, a memory…. No!...

~ No…NO! She…That was, impossible!? How did she…. No! She would ruin EVERYTHING!~

He wailed out as his tears made a seal form against the ground. Not knowing what was in store should the boy accidentally lose control, Ignito did the only thing he could think of –

~I'm sorry, my lord…. ~

Raku's world went dim as the room stopped spinning around the two. Ignito had taken hold, overshadowed as his son had once been. As Aiden was fighting his fiery rival right about…Now…

The light on the floor from the tear - strewn seal vanished, the sorcerer frowned. She had been halted from returning.

She was the reason he had stayed so small, to avoid giving her strength, when they had once been as one…

Ignito cleared his vessel's throat and looked about the cell while he rose to create that key all over again. Raku was still not cleared by his curse, that was why SHE could pull him back to her world through a sad vision of what was to come.

~My duty is to protect our life here, to clear thy name as well as your own, my lord. ~ Ignito reminded the unwell son of Azag as he slept inside his shell, his incomplete body as his keeper.

The self let the bars around the cell fall to the floor, he did not want to be taken from his tasks again. Raku, had a long way up to the surface to climb. The Chosen was still present. He could sense chaotic turmoil. As if, someone else had done the same as he…

Walking towards the exit, the shadow guards fell as dominos in a straight line. He'd once had the power to banish gods and demons, alike. However, his fears had born in Roku the power to arise; that cursed creature now resided in the selves. Of the tactical self, Ignito. The violent self, Manifesto. Light and Dark. Chaos and Order, for Eris was never the first to wield such strength.

/

Ava's eyes grew white as a vision casted itself over her gaze. She tried to see what it was, and knew that her parents would be pleased to discover that her intel was of a righteous sort.

~I am glad to see you back on your feet, my Queen. ~ Sten was there in his fox hybrid form, calling back the beasts with the help of a Universal soul known as Erebus. His icy fur was as crystalline delight and had Ava nearly in tears. As if Reia could see his pride in the snowy world as well, she was happier with only herself and no one else to share in the feeling entirely.

~I thought, you'd been bought out by Ares! Are you ok? ~ She telepathically mustered to her comrade. Sten had been a part of her realm to the later present. He was, also a reincarnate of Freya's child. Her incarnation's memories had revealed her as the by – product of all this.

~I had time to come to terms; my father, he cannot be saved. Mother and I are aware. His human body is corrupted by greed and fear. We came to this light world in hope of another way to combat distress in human hearts –

~You cannot control others, why did you think that was ok? ~ Ava crossed her arms and reprimanded the fox. His ears drooped down and his puppy eyes were mellower now. His heart; not as still as his human face made it seem.

~Abeni made sense, we were able to have her speak to another Universal before the same befell her country –

~Was she…she was also? ~

~Yes, and Klara escaped before Lothos could do his worst. She used her magic to hide her main city from that evil cretin. ~

~Evil, you say. He is a picture book definition of a vampire, by looks and his power to suck the souls from –

~He is an old – fashioned movie – monster, that we know about. ~ Sten snorted, as if this bit deserved a good laugh.

He continued.

~No, I'm sure he is. Yet, that Manifestation power you said, that Lady Eris –

~She's borrowed it. ~ Ava breathed out. ~Ami got into a bit of trouble; she knows a companion of ours who…-

~Erebus came to Abeni, then myself here in Skane. ~ Sten nodded through the connection. ~He has a way to stop her, but for some reason…I Don't think this is all Eris –

~Why wouldn't it be? ~ Ava gawked at the out -worded response. ~She is Chaos! She went and made the whole world –

~ A fake. This image was crafted by Hypnos –

~Haru…Haru was killed because of that fight! He hurt our ally –

~She's alive, I can prove it. ~ Sten stopped the princess. ~ That sibling; Ami, she can bring and summon her fox ally to earth. She was, healing. He did nothing but banish her to the Celestial Plane. ~

~How? We saw her vanish! ~ Ava raised her voice. This wasn't right. It wasn't a rectifiable death!

~I CAN. I am a being connected to the land of the dead. You are as well –

~Hel had her answer from me. ~ Ava sniffed and tried to cool her head carefully. Sten was cold and to the point. He had emotions, but knew how to lock them up tight.

~Then tell me. ~ Ava demanded. ~ Tell me how Ami can bring the dead back to life by her power of the sun goddess! ~

/

~Apollon…~

Beetle turned to Ami as she blinked back at him. Had she just said –

"Ah! Sorry…" She zipped out of the ward with Kaede and Koko right behind her.

Ami's parents and sisters were busy trying to figure out now, ARES'S plans. It seemed that the plan for Chaos to rein had shifted into newer hands.

"Was the prediction wrong?" Raven asked Verra, as he tried to maintain his Guardian male's form for a while to recover his strength.

~I would not call it a prediction. It was a long shot. We thought the gods' intel was legit, but…~

~Seems she had enemies, not surprising. ~ Kayu shrugged as his fox tails flashed as embers in the background behind his cousin.

~What about Hakuro? ~ Damian asked the team as he tended to Zan and Gar's wounds.

~He's, another story…Sorry, mate. ~ Kayu wasn't any help. His tails were flashing like a cat's. Agitated and burned out, he needed to be left alone to settle his cloud – bearing feuds from within.

~We don't know about them, yet what of –

Raven smacked her hip and quieted the book at her waist. Her team looked over as she nervously replied;

"Ah…A…Mosquito? Heh…"

~ It is the end of the world; I wouldn't put it past those vampire - incarnates of this plane –

~We had more of them in our world too, Kay. ~ Veravakumu yawned into his gloved palm and tried not to make the white-tailed fox prince angrier. ~ It was a jungle, a desert –

"What are you guys jabbering on about, huh?" Gar raised a brow, wincing once Dami had grabbed the green hero's leg to apply some antiseptic –

"Yowch! Dude! It's a gash, but I ain't dead. Be careful…ya know!"

"It had to be done or you'd be unable to heal at all. That's a magic wound, anyway –

"I could –

"No, Zatanna." Dick would not allow his newest magical helper of the team to use up her energies right away. "Heal yourself, first. I have someone we can ask –

"Who?"

/

"Koko?" Ami tried to look for the wolf kit goddess as she cowered in a corner of the room. Her parent's old digs. Her dad had once sparred and slept in this same place. Robin's pad…

"Ami? Amelia!" Kori was over the fourteen-year old's head. A helicopter mom, Starfire had her reasons ever since the girl had known how to push and pull her parent into a bear hug. Ami had her powers, of the sun…Oh, X'aal! It, was her fault! -

"She's spooked still because of Ares! I can't get her to –

~She is not of our clan. ~ Kaede stood in the doorway in her delinquent Japanese schoolgirl outfit and body.

~ You cannot call to her like a beast from your world. You must summon her in spirit, or she will not understand. ~

"She understood before! What happened?"

~Ares, he came and made a mess of your world. ~ Hakuro was close to the door where Kaede's ears still flicked up by his presence.

"Haku! You can still understand us, right? –

~I was born by a spirit and he, was birthed by a demi God turned rogue. I understand enough. ~ The light haired Ethereal said this, though Kori had noticed how composed he was…

Was this, the same young boy she had met? The child who'd overshadowed Dick Grayson and had fought the dragon with them to free his own memories?

"I had believed Rokuro to have found you, and that you before meeting, you had not been aware of his presence." Kori crossed her arms and thought it strange he had said anything so nonchalantly.

~I was not, nor was he. We lived as parts of the same 'coin,' as you mortals call it. ~

"So, you were born because he was alive, sort of an infinite –

~Aspect, little one. ~ Hakuro smiled back to the child. He was seventeen in her world to the teen. She could appreciate him a little more than her father and brother had.

Treating him like a child was not well to do for royalty.

"I was not told this, are you… not confused –

~I've never been more sincerely aware of my past, Star Maiden. ~ Hakuro smiled to her too. Yet, something seemed off. Something that made the ebony haired girl in the room more nervous than her mother.

~Am I being rude? I'm sorry if –

"You are acting 'strangely.'" Kori shook her head and pulled Ami over to her. Kaede nodded and saw this beast's aura, it was the body of his, yet not the voice in which used his own…

"You are being controlled… -

~Actually, I was the one who let Ares push past these walls. It had to happen. I was born for the sake of my kings and leaders, to not allow humans to usurp the high order of spirit, again... ~ The light eyed child's long hair resembled the billowing tresses of a haunting wraith. Something –

CRASH!

AAAAAHHH!~~

The team heard; Gar looked up as his hound dog ears itched from the call for help.

"Starfire's in trouble!"

"Titans! Move!"

/

Calling, calling back to the conscious world, Jackie Stone opened her eyes.

~Are we all settled? Mortal? Mortal chi-

"My name, is Jacklyn." The girl said defensively. The figure above her was called, Hypnos. He looked like a stuck-up older brother who'd had narcolepsy from time to time. His headpiece was a crown of two bat ears; while his clothing looked more befitting of the latest Isekai fantasy role. His hair was closer to dark blue or grey. Black with blues, and a clearly invisible cloak to surround them. His eyes were a dazzling crystal ball set. He could see into the past and present. Any gods who could do this, were interesting.

~ What comes of your excursion? Did your machine of wonders find my realm's location through the dawn? ~

"It tried to." She turned back to her computer screens as they'd stayed hacker – elite as ever. She'd only had a cat nap. Was Hypnos sure he didn't look inside her dreams as she dozed off?

Jacklyn tapped the keys and made the god of slumber instantly jump back in dismay, in shock of this new - found item he'd come across.

~Why are you so surprised? ~

Abeni sniffed and came up beside Jackie. ~ I would not have come, had it not been for Erebus pushing my ego aside. ~ She said this rather loudly so that the two dead -world gods would hear her cries.

~Your fear reared me closest; for you are royalty to your kindred, Lady Abeni –

~I'm not some glass- encased figure for you to do with as you see fit. ~ Abeni frowned and tried to concentrate on the young mortal's project. The miniature blueprint lit up onto her monitors; one, two, three in a row.

"Daddy thinks I don't know the source codes -well!" Jackie grinned and touched the last key to activate a limited time, star – gate style portal to the next world.

~We'll summon one other, for he can talk to the one in control. ~

"One's in. Yeah, cause' my quirky gal Ami, is a beast in the machine that you ghouls call life."

She posed in her seat, a genius at the top of her game. She was going to be the chief exec in that cozy quantum physics room at S.T.A.R labs one day, just like her gramps had been in the company's Robotics field. (Sorry, D.C fans!)

~I will call out to the ones we need to seek, my ally –

"I'm either a team player, or we just use each other. Tit for tat, an' man…Ah, I don't want to be anybody's enemy." Jackie turned to Abeni as the guardian of her own modern African woman's background, nodded.

~Then do it. ~ Hypnos said this while Erebus was watching.

"Earth is gonna come through, trust my family... She's a bad ass and nothing can bring that lady down!"

Jackie tapped the keys, hard.

Hypnos braced himself with his arm and cloak at his use; in case A' had long since kept her point – he was not welcome within her realm; Erebus was also a foe.

~ Dreamers of dark conceit and avarice, ye be! ~ The voice from the other side of that gate was loud enough for Jackie to hear it all clearly.

~Nay! WE are the protectors of the void and its life to learn - of the Earthen balance! Ye hath been called…Back, we come! WE are in your –

God of Shadows; you have followed my kind for far too long. You trust in thee; I trust not in thee –

~I can reverse it, for I know what ails the prince…The fallen son of Azag is in danger –

~Silence be it! Thou hath no reign…! ~

The world burned to ash and black, as it became as a nightly cosmos. Jackie looked up and saw what her eyes had believed all a false image. A ghoulish hologram, a fake picture from the past?

She was not in figure, though her shape looked to house many a galaxy within her robes of sea and sky blue. Of cosmic order, her skin was as the milky way, her hair as an aqua river to the mother ocean. She looked, like Lori Ainsley from Ami's pictures…A goodness to gracious goddess! A –

~Lady A'…You are aware, then you must awaken! The threat is not Chaos, yet Order! ~ Erebus claimed as Jackie sat through mid -air beside Abeni. While watching the feud, her body stayed nearly transparent. Her eyes could see stars, numbers, symbols and shapes slowly floating about.

~I too, for we share the shame of having allowed the humans such grief –

No more, I seek nothing of thy truth to thee. I seek only what is ABSOLUTE. ~ A' pointed down to Jacklyn Stone, who was unable to stop gawking. When she had, she cleared her throat and attempted to say a few words in the creature's preserved dialect.

~I, am human. I live on Planet Earth. My name, Is Jacklyn and my dad, is still a super - hero on our home world. I want to know, will you be able to help, my friend Amelia? She's in trouble and I know that you gods and spirits know a lot more than we can figure out on our own, Ami knows it too...Amelia wants to trust us to work together. ~

You ask of my aide, I am Ethereal no more, as ye hath known of me. ~ A' looked to the stars with her eyes of dark cosmic whirlwinds and sighed a deep, strong sigh.

I hath been granted further along, a new life. I am now of the Cosmic and Universal order –

~They have taken your will! ~ Hypnos shouted aloud. ~You were tricked! The orderlies have a new king, a new ruler who guides their occultist ways about! ~

~I know it, yet Tsani and Tsukiyume will proceed with my power, as will my child…Hakuro –

~What? You speak this…What is this blasphemy? ~ Hypnos was baffled by the words which the time goddess wove round his senses. Past every wall imaginable.

~Wait…The lil' light guy was…. Your son? –

~Nay…~ Erebus shook his head with a chuckle.

~They are a part of you, your power. Aspects. ~

~ Yes, and they represent the time one may be granted in three; Past, Present, Future. ~ She wove on.

~So, all this time, you were trying to make them take over to…~ Jackie held her skull and groaned. Was, this the being's telepathy? Was she being fed this information from this enormous figure in the sky?

~The past, was with Tsukiyume. The present, with Hakuro. The Future, with my child Tsani. And hope. They will not exist together, yet they all sense that IT is coming…! ~ A' boomed aloud as her voice fell to the bottom of this world as a thousand shooting stars.

~They exist; they live to be accepted. Their roles are sullied if they fight. Nay…They will continue as the stars sigh amongst themselves…As thy eyes may dream again of thy past, present and future of all of creation. ~

Jackie knew a prophecy when it came, and this was an omen. A real one!

~Then, Earth really is –

~Hope. ~ Erebus thought to himself as the words tumbled down.

~Tsani is only a part, the rest is up to all of creation to know. To fall, to rise…It matters not –

~Then what can we do? You are making it all seem hopeless! –

The goddess's eyes shut. The rage in her swirling body looked to be cataclysmic.

~Ah! No! I mean, I'm afraid! If Earth is destroyed, then I lose my home…My future…And…my friends…~ Jackie felt a sniffle stick at her nose and throat. As long as she cried now, later she could fight back the rioting emotions that left her standing around, not doing enough…Not enough to help Ami.

~Please, we know you helped my uncles and the Earth before –

~It was to show them what fate had to play. Of what was to be before their paths. ~ A' replied, still miffed by the girl's rather painful plea.

~That little boy that was once of the sun's eclipse, is through. His journey was to fail. So far, despite the gods' gifts…He has allowed his own pain to subdue him –

~There has to be more! Why? ~ Jackie made the hackles on the back of Abeni's fox form's neck stand erect. She was tempted to transform and silence the child. She, however…Was...unable to.

~He was a child born of sorrow and of love, for the love of another is what he clearly cannot grasp. He only knows of the sun and its shadows - burnt to black in the past… -

~He can change…~

Due to this fate, this place…Aiden had shown everyone that Raku had good in him. His past was a ruse. Something else remained buried within the dunes of his long- forgotten memories. That hope was among them…A small part of it still lived on…

~We saw him, he can only want to HELP Aiden! I know! I trust my –

Family is sworn, at birth as his was lost. I brought love to change him again. I gave Azag reason to free him, he did not want to be saved –

~He was tricked! ~ Jackie was talking in another voice. This was a way…. She had no idea! Lies and control, these were what egged her on! Her voice and her part…

Ami…~ Jackie smiled, knowing what it was. Who was it who had the girl's back?

~He was afraid. ~ Ami's words rang out. ~ Wouldn't you be if the only people you loved were killed, and you were unable to stay a human - you'd have to make a sacrifice. And I know! I saw his pain! ~

Ami, rather Jackie, spoke through one another. It was purely their hearts in sync.

~It all justifies, naught. He was a criminal and aimed to please a goddess of gluttony. Only to see to his own needs. He is a child of ill intent no more. Now, ye can only damn your own kind for having allowed HIM –

WHO?~

Ami's voice and Jackie's were never loud enough to the goddess.

~I can not thank you enough. ~Chuckled Erebus. He seemed glad? They were spitting mad against a time goddess!

He cleared his voice to bow before A's might. As she nodded to her rival, it all made barely a lick of sense.

~Ishtar, is not dead. She never was. For, her form was one of the first. Inanna, the one to come last and perish. They were one and the same –

~Again, aspects of a whole. ~ Erebus congratulated A' for pointing that out.

~The male and female of the soul does not always exist to the gods. As Ishtar, her rage was impure at best. Her vanity. Inanna was she before her fall. Ishtar was the shadow to another time. So, do you recall the boy's birth - time? His life lived under Inanna? She was fighting back against her alter – her aspect Ishtar. The one to fall first. ~

~ So, then she thrives. And shall once again cause such strife… ~ A' let up her eyes and had the time of this place move back.

~She is alive and ready to erase the time that held her captive. With her hosts, her followers. ~ The god Hypnos gasped…

~So, doom to the humans…To their lives, shall she spare –

~You can't! ~ Ami's eyes peeked out as a fragile red glow surrounded Jacklyn's intangible body.

~We are going to stop her! We can save ourselves, if you won't listen. Amaterasu – Hime gave me the power of foresight. That's why I'm such a braniac to my family! I got her blessing and I will do whatever I can to save them! You'll either help us end a war, or we all fall down together! No future, no present…. Time, will stop for good! –

~ Child, I care to see you come to no harm due to the sun maiden's blessing. I do not take to a lost hour. Time is my keeper and it is the Great Unknown Creator's will that I place my hope in your kindred! I hath no will to place unto thee, for it hath been already done. So, mote it. Thou hath enraged Time and its will – Order will be shattered here, now…Do leave…Or do not seek out this place, do not will –

~You're a- a- a mom, aren't you? ~ Jackie said this shakily, in tears in her own voice this time.

~Then, what about your, kids? Hakuro is connected to our world, and Yumi is marrying Kayumon as a human being. Tsani is supposed to have hope, but you won't let her see that time happen! You'd rather make it all disappear and mope up on your cloud! If you care about your kids, then don't let them die, let them find the strength to move on. To face their fears! We are all your kids, aren't we? Then, you should care about helping us before saying that you want everything to…to…Disappear! ~

/

Ishtar; a goddess beloved and hated for her crimes. The first Pandora to let the gates of the underworld spill forth their hells and woes.

She, the goddess of womanly rebellion, of spite and strength within…

And, Inanna. The many faces of Aphrodite in ancient texts. A Lady of the moon, of power and foresight.

Of love and later…

Of lust weathered by time's emergence to change, to warp and reside as it did now.

Now, a crone was dead. Her wings stamped atop by snorting stallions. Men with a million sharp spears, all ready to see to her intense send off to another hell.

One, that did not exist.

Yet, as she knew of 'voids without end.' For…One had to be wise, be clear of mind. They had to…

Seek out the dark and let it become the power she craved.

To escape –

/

Roko shivered as if her body had become rain, with the north wind surrounding it. She rubbed her hands together and gasped. As she looked for a way out of the sewer's tunnels, the chill only worsened. Her wrists – as stones to her chest as they shuddered away into madness. Was she dying? Did death finally locate her whereabouts?

~That is unlikely…~ Roko sniveled in her blasted maze and looked both ways, then saw the light clearly through her clouded vision.

She dove towards its promise of freedom and at every ounce she wept into a frenzy –

~You are a lying cheat, a wild witch as I, yet not so pretty are your tresses to thee –

Eris stood with her henchman Charl at her arm. He wanted to please and trick, though not how she saw him...now…He looked…

Hollow and as statuesque as a porcelain doll. He knelt to his lady's side and gripped her hand as she smirked at the double sided - daemon Roko.

~Here, he hath handed over the tome to his soul. For you, it shall be the same end to meet my needs. ~

Her body had stayed as bright and beautiful as a child's. Within all of that flaxen form, she was not as her dark-haired counter self from the past. This one, was much stronger.

Raven; for in aura had she once turned. And, now? She was a mystery. It was of chaos and desire, or perhaps fear…

~I live again, and to thank ye of that, I would only desire your influence –

~I care not for the child. ~ Roko spat out. ~ Why ask? He has his hopes met; you are to defeat him. I play no part. My loss is –

~Unfinished. ~ Eris leaned forth to say. She smiled, trying to have the dirty dopple let down her guard. It was too late to beg.

~You and I want power, plain as the nose on his, his beak…I suppose? ~ She seemed a bit, different. This Eris was no longer as, air – headed to Roko. However,…It raised questions as to whether she was masking her true power all this time.

~I want my freedom back, is all. ~ Roko answered and could say no less to the chaos maiden's face.

~You want it too, but without power over that Chosen, we are but specks of dust below their feet. ~

~You insist that we stir up trouble among the enemy? With the Chosen –

~As I stated, without him…We are BUT DUST. ~

Roko gawked. Thinking this to be a psychological tactic, she was proven wrong. Eris hiccupped, then sneezed before materializing a box of tissues. How did she?

Roko stopped. Ah, oh dear…She hadn't –

~Engh…So? Sniff! *~ Eris acted as a comedian. She had tasted it too close to turning! Raku's magic was of partial madness! No…

~Are, you alright –

~I was better before that brat took the show from me! Tee -hee! Oops! Charli? ~ She glanced down at her lap dog in white and blue as his puppy eyes burned into hers.

~Yes? Lady Eris? –

~Did you subdue him? The one I asked you to find? ~ She asked her faithful, Parisian saint.

~I did! He was not happy that he'd lost the throne. Should we –

~Have him to me, now! Why? Why not! ~ She exclaimed and knocked over the imp as he reverted to his bat – dog winged form, shaken by the blow.

~Y- Yes, my queen! Right away! ~ In a flash, off he ran to find what it was Eris wanted in her hands at that time. She returned her attention towards Roko and let her newfound energies amplify. Gluing the self to the floor as it had her other prisoners.

~We didn't have much time earlier, to spend together…So? How about I ask you to do me, one… Just one, special favor before I send you off to your demise? Hmm? –

She looked over as a bird craning its neck. A carrion eater…

~What? ~ Roko shook as her arms now were as stones to her sides. Eris had done that back in the tunnels. False hope had washed over her. She'd been tricked so easily!

Giddy as her face now showed, Eris floated on her cherub wings in mid – air to dance. This was not her own madness. She had been infected by another's dormant energies, ten -fold!

But…Who? Was it Raku? This was not the same! It was, tainted!

~Y-you…You've turned! ~ Eris's prisoner exclaimed before her face was pushed down into the dirty floors.

~MMMMNNNPHHMMMPHMM!~ She protested, yet her hands were tied. Roko had to send word, and the only one who could listen…

She wanted to scream, yet her pride was in control. Raku WOULD grant her mortality! She wanted to be freed of her pains!

~My LORD! MY LORD! I CALL OUT TO THEE! SAVE –

AAGHHH!~ Electricity shot through her temples as if a void was opening from within her core to allow another that same release.

Eris laughed away, then saw the mark of another's curse appear on Roko's pale forehead.

~NO! I am first to have her! You are not allowed! GO…. AWAY!~

She bided the demon a silent farewell with her palm, pushing against the daemon Roko's forehead, waiting on the smack she expected from the one tampering with her supposed rule.

~Don't come! You are dead!Die again! Again! AGAIN! AAAGGAAAAIN!-

Too late, as Eris knew the cost of lives to be taken was great…This relic had power over her…

Roko was a living messenger; a void within itself who could allow cretinously wretched beings to find this mortal plane and to drink it dry.

Like a succubus, always…It thirsted for an eternity.

/

Slade and Cici had nothing in common, yet he and Alicia had both been submerged below her rivers - running deep and cold.

She'd set up her events as if this new life she'd taken to was her only solace. Well before, she'd bemoaned to her prince and princess of her life as a prisoner of the lunar craft.

Now? She had a foothold on her abilities and had lost touch with any human emotions she could muster.

Each step made her less so; she could not pry as her sister had to be at full strength with Aggie to erase the monster causing a buzz in Berlin.

Alicia was as this newly born being; all white hair and prophetic thoughts, yet Isa had not gone with them. Instead, she had let herself to discover the tragedies of her time apart from the war and her allies, the gods back in the spirit divides. To report this action, they might have aid from the high orderlies.

A fairer fight on Earth.

She'd hoarded Aggie away with her in that suite, keeping her as she'd not been able to with Horus. How Aggie had just gone along with it all…Poor kid..

Horus had died fighting the deceitful daemons of her order in Olden Egypt. She was next to the last of her kin to exist in this new realm of shadows.

Of sin. Of false contracts.

Chasing a star in the desert, this world resembled a husk that had been unwrought with promise. It had been shorn to its edges and reworked for another to have this human 'hell' meet their needs, accordingly.

Access to the human void took time, energy too -that she did not carry, and this forced her to retreat to the Eternal courts for a quick recharge. For she, Isa was always to be a saint and goddess of all in her olden past. Never in a lifetime could she again perish. She was a mother of the unborn, the dying, and the rebirthed.

She had the humans to assist, to dissect as mere insects as she so pleased.

Due to Raku's influence on her grieving heart, had he changed her ways? To wish to protect the meaty humans? As if he partly were mortal – bound again?

Cici had only to ride on her own answers as a manhole was found below their path. Slade gripped it tightly, and with Cici's magic, he ripped it off as easily as tearing off a shred of baguette from the whole loaf.

From the source of its creation, the whole slab.

He chucked the debris away and let the ladies go last. He wanted to see for himself if Raku had been the one, the one they were to aid or hate without compassion.

As the terrible trio shifted down to the below; with grimaces not suiting anyone else's displeasure but their own, the three musketeers slapped underfoot the rapid waters of Berlin's lengthy sewer system.

Slade tried to pretend he still had a full mask on, as no emotion to his very pores would dare cause a single wrinkle to emerge.

Cici, wasn't so lucky. Alicia was worse as she shivered and sniffled by the fall winds – now coming into an equally chilly bath or river of excrement mixed with stale humor.

Vile stuff. Truly.

~We'll…Pass this way! ~ Alicia shook as if her arms would break off into the waters, so dreadfully cold.

"Just don't scream, any of you." Slade grunted and started on after Alicia had stolen his role as tour guide to this dump – lair of the chaos goddess.

~Without a cry to stun our enemies? I would not think it, unwise."

Cici's language and snidest tone bordered on both; as unbalanced as she had been since the start of their turn to the underside of Berlin's best state, now to its very worst in history….

/

The sewer was crawling with shadow - creature rats as they went along their only path into the downward depths. Cici was without a light, yet Slade had been given a small trinket by Isa before they'd departed.

Into the unknown, a sad state for them to have been led on nothing but a hunch. Just like that, nothing remained.

Except, the pitch-black remnants of this… inky hole, they'd had to scape it further on.

To scrape across and to tamper with their very abilities in the dark, to seek out and destroy that which prevented time from moving –

Along…

Slade glimpsed at the sight of the far-off doorway, seeing a way out into the darkness.

It was not supposed to be here, yet Cici went first. Quickly, he pulled back her shoulder from entering.

"I don't think so –

A shudder sounded and left the ground below and above to rock the three to and fro. It had to be a blast from –

"Head for the door, now?" Cici shrugged off Slade Wilson's grip as she didn't wait for him to come at her arm this time.

"Do you want the mission to fail? That door is not! -

A brick and slab of material from the blast had come down – it crushed a chuck of the magic door right before their tired glances. The light flickered low, from the quake in Slade's other palm.

Alicia's 'Concordia body' tried her luck and stopped the rest of the half – crushed door from being ruined forever.

~It is a portal. If we try to go through it –

"We'll be walking right into her trap." Slade let Cici go as she huffed and regained her composure. She slanted her eyes up at the male soldier, as if hoping him to have cared.

He didn't want her dead.

That was enough anyway. Anything, just to keep her going.

"Whatever is left, I'll be leading us from here on out." Slade pushed past the women and did everything he could to stay the rightful guide. In a few moments, none of them would be able to see the path in front of their feet.

/

Chaos had no light to shine.

Cici was tired and hoping to have some closure. Alicia, had used up a part of herself to fix this mess created thousands of years before. Now, she was trying to find order where there was little to spare.

Quite frankly, they could only pray that Raku wasn't the one to keep the Chaos maiden at bay. He could barely keep his mind in line…

Slade wondered if the gods in the Spirit planes had flaws, as he'd seen in the Guardians' careers on Earth -as they'd crumbled before their pasts come to light. Roku had tried to make everyone but himself, equal. To seem as imperfect and yet perfect in the eyes of that which governed 'Time' itself.

~You, understand…~

Concordia put a hand to Slade's arm and had the assassin shrug by her eerie touch. She was not balanced as a hot or cold entity.

Something, surreal. Perhaps…

~Raku was only trying to put and end to the classes of gods, yet he was impure to have done such. There is only survival, empathy, control…A human creation such as we are, they cannot govern the mortal planes –

"You say 'planes' as if more exist –

~Outer reaches. The alien beings your world recognizes greatly. ~ She replied softly, as her light could only hold steadily across his eyes.

"You, consider them to also, be human beings? I think that makes some, logical sense, at least to the spirit world, and though despite the political implications…" Slade did understand that physical life had to be as such; it was a physical sleeve that numerous and conscious souls inhabited. If so, then society was the bundle and the spirit world was the thread that wove the fabric of their very existence together…

"We, coexist and fight, just as the spirits on your world have for generations." Slade said this in a thoughtful way.

~This is why we cannot mirror or mask our humanity well. Humans are our creators, and we must uphold –

"That in itself won't cure us, or you…"

"Concordia."

The blonde Crescendo woman looked to her silver-streaked ally for the truth, her eyes guilty of something extra as tears could not show her displeasure.

"We must keep quieter than this, come now. If mother had ten babes, I would not be the one to decide their fates inside her womb." Slade almost chuckled at the joke, while Cici crossed her arm to further state, "Her ancestry ran deepest in the past. Our birth cemented this fact. The present; where it hath since fizzled out, and for that…Sigh...* …we are to continue with her treaties." Cici reminded the younger saint. Her Alicia no longer…

"Wilson, do not distract us from this case. You bare the burden of my follies as well. Stay clear of the only fraction of hope this world has left."

"Aren't you getting a bit tired of that same old routine, my dear?"

"I'm trying to prevent you from tampering with Concordia's ethical –

"She's a goddess. But, for now, you barely know her..." Slade rolled his eyes and walked ahead. She had to be afraid that Alicia would vanish, he would not be the one to do that much…

"She is a goddess of order and harmony, until her time in nigh. This effect is not endless. They are bonded…" Cici gritted her jaw and let go her anger to force her feet to move through the doorway –

~You really are such stupid creatures!~

The group had found their way through, yet other trials awaited them. Through the looking glass, passing by the chapter of the earthen and living, the light in Slade's grip dispersed.

All that was there, all that remained, was the void and that one eye staring back from the darkest of places.

Concordia cried out, as they were all swallowed whole by the tempting madness in the three's wake.

/

Waking from a life time of painful shouts in the dark, Aiden's mind seemed to hover and see, yet it could not move the doll of himself – of HIS body that had been overshadowed.

~This is like how Ami and Ava were, when their dark – sides got loose…~ Aiden shivered and wondered if he had enough to prove his own innocence.

~Comfy!?"

Aiden jumped by the other familiar voice. His, voice…No doubt…

~Double me…. Shit. ~

Her heard it; the dopple, taking in a long exhale. The smell of flesh; the blood of the innocent and ash mixed with gunpowder lingered on his ever- keeling senses. Aiden covered his intangible mouth and nose from the dirtied scent. One mixed with a wicked miasma he could not avoid as it oozed through the veil –

He doubled over, as if shocked with a thousand star – bolts at once.

~unnnnnnn…~

A grumble in his gut made his dopple laugh over and grip HIS stomach!

~Ahhahahaah! Damn! You still get motion sick in there? Earth to me? HAAHAA! Ares made me chief executioner, so you are goanna have to have a REAALLYY clean slate made when this end – of -the- world – bull is dead and buried. ~

~W…what? Wait! Are you saying that –

~Want to peek? Here you go! ~

He had not gotten a chance to refuse the offer. Aiden opened his eyes and again the feeling in his gut returned.

Fire.

Elongated shadows that tossed cars around, buildings, people! Dead…

Dead…ones….

The Tower, Titans tower was up in smoke…the fiery world had a sky; as if pulled into the void and not by Trigon or Roku's attempts.

It was a spiral of chaotic magic.

Plucking the hope from the people as they walked around, as whining animals in broad daylight!

He looked to the air and sky, the stench of rust and cannon fire now gone. The military had been…Anna…and her other, family…

As if a dream, levitating pumpkins from the fall that would have been Halloween, cascaded about the streets.

Each had a grin more frightening than the last on their faces.

Youkai and spooks were out to pay the price. To collect their fair share of unhappy victims…

The winds howled with the laughter of many villainous crooks who had been pardoned on the wing, a warning call to all who had survived this Armageddon.

The Joker in his new modern get -up.

Poison ivy - as her honeymoon had been cut short.

Riddler had a leash round his throat, and a gargoyle pulling his chains.

Johnny Rancid and Killer Moth were blasting apart the city.

Cheshire was on one wild killing spree. Her morals and fiancé; still half - awake to this new side of herself.

Madame Rouge; who was just trying to search for an exit from this crazy farm -dimensional Schrodinger's 'cat box.'

All pulled from separate dimensions, all by the breaking walls of this divide…were soon to become one.

Order on Earth had been slowly falling apart, and Aiden had no idea how to stop it…

~What's happening…~ He whispered as if this were no longer the real world, he could not return…Wait! That was what the Dopple wanted, right? To break his will!

Aiden shook his head while his doppelganger jailer grew, impatient.

~If you… so help me, want to look away, then you might as well give up now or let your head explode! I'm not buying it…Oh….Ares!~

Aiden gasped as the ground began to shift open wide. ~You pissed off the wrong Immortal. Serves us! HA! ~

Tattling? What kind of hell was this? And when did his inner dark – side become SOO obnoxious?

The ground rattled, but Ares was on break. He instead sent up his crew of followers. Medusa. Harpies in a pair, and….

The Gemini twin.

The one who had lived.

~Good enough…I can take the beating, but we have a tiny issue…There isn't enough chaos! I need you guys to make our prisoner, see the light. ~

The figures fell into line as their 'head general' made passes at the harpies, possibly Aiden's primal side acting out…

~Is that not YOUR job, sir Executioner? ~ Medusa put a lanky arm to her hip. She was first to voice her thoughts to he – a fake god.

/

The Gemini twin chuckled, with his grin as deadly as his appetite for vengeance.

~I wouldn't say it WAS NOT…. Would you? –

The harpies both prattled in, adding to the discussion and bobbing their heads in agreement.

~Point. Yet the mortals and their allies are scattered; they've left the headquarters shaped like a –

~Tis a minor setback. Go on! ~ Demons! ~ Daemon lords and ladies? We've been biting our tongues till now. I will allow this world to bow before the gorgons, on behalf of Lord Ares's decree –

Just as his hand went to point directly at the mad – world's dance party, the light headed delivery boy made it clear.

No one was leaving sane, not today or tomorrow.

It was the end of the world, so where did that leave the world's current heroes to go?

~Go, make this our new home. Make our glorious papa, proud to be alive!" As Aiden went back to shutting his eyes away from the sickly poisonous atmosphere, he wanted to know just once. Was he really supposed to lose, this once? For the wrong reasons?

/

The blast had come sooner. The fates had found their hide away and had stolen the important aspect from the Tower. After that, the building had been fated to –

~Perish…~ Ava looked over the ruin of her family's last hope and was unable to perceive what had just occurred. Hakuro had the menacing FATES of Greek myth to decide his own. He'd been no more than a puppet, unaware of what had been done to him, the Fates…They were all – knowing and seeing.

~Damned Cronie – bunch! ~ Kay was speaking of the Crones they'd just almost met face to face. No one had met the fates except those who were destined to live and die rightfully as kings…

Macbeth.

Odysseus.

Heracles, well...Maybe, not him…

Most fates were pre -ordained, some won and lost with the struggle at time's heels. If ever she wore a set…

~It must be the orderlies' doing. ~ Vee snorted in his wolven form angrily. ~They had an idea he'd be here and decided to test us or not trust us to –

"Save the world? I think we can, but it might not be because of Hakuro." Ami finally decided to speak up. If this was going to crush her family, now was the time for action.

"Ah! Dudes! Over theta way!" Garfield pointed out that a shining red and blue light was coming down from the skies. Red, blue, silvery and reeking of magical properties. In Raven's pouch, Malchior stifled a cough by how awful the scent was.

"So, do we go after it or…"

~Let it come to us. ~ Verra growled back at the eerie light in the skies.

~This time, we don't need a handicap to bring peace to this plane…Trust in your guardians, kids…This war is only just the beginning.~

/