Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the characters written here. They are own by their respective owners. Nuff' said.

Warning: This is rated M for a reason (blood, gore, extreme violence, language, and possible adult themes/lemons, etc.) Some of the characters will be a little OC.

Now on with the chapter. This chapter and the few after were the winning votes from a poll

The Black Leaves

Chapter 46

Naruto slinked his way inside the building and stayed clinging to the walls. He looked around see he was in someone's bedroom; complete with a bed, shelves filled with random stuff and a closet for clothes. Looking at all the stuff on the shelves, Naruto could see that the room obviously belonged to someone of the female gender.

Not giving it too much thought; Naruto made his way to the front door and held his ear to it to check for the sounds of anyone nearby. Hearing only the muffled sounds of conversation down below, he slowly opened the door and made his way into the hall.

The hall was just as empty of people as the bedroom had been. Naruto slowly crawled along the wall until he made it to the top of the stairs and made his way onto the ceiling. He could hear the voices more clearly now but was unable to link any known faces to each voice.

He slowly crawled along the ceiling until he found the room where the voices were coming from and took a look inside. Now, Naruto was expecting some kind of sex slavery auction or some sort of dungeon when he peered into the room. What he did see was absolutely as far from what he had expected as possible.

There were a lot of women; as Naruto had originally guessed. But they were not doing anything sexual or vile by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, Ayame along with a large group of women were all sitting around the living room of the apparent home and were all calmly discussing something while eating snacks. Naruto almost fell off the ceiling when he saw the group. To think that her father would be so paranoid only to find this instead.

Naruto moved a little closer so that he could hear whatever it is the women were talking about.

"So, does that sound good to you all?" One of the women asked the group.

"I don't know." Spoke up another. "What if he doesn't like it?" Her tone did little to hide her obvious fear.

"We have all told you time and again that there is nothing to worry about. The demon was put here to protect us. As long as we are not a threat to the village, he will leave us alone."

"But all we do is feed it other people! That's wrong! It's just plain nasty and wrong!" The woman argued loudly before standing up. "Even if they are criminals, we shouldn't sacrifice them like sheep!"

"They are hardly people." Ayame said coldly. "We offer the demon the very worst that the village has to offer. They are nothing more than a plague on our home and giving them to our defender is very least we can do to clean up our village as well as show our appreciation to the demon."

Naruto was taken back by the words the young waitress had said. All his life he knew her as this cheery, always smiling and sweet young woman. He had never even heard her say a negative word since he first met her.

The woman slowly sat back down with an abashed look on her pretty face. "Who will it be this time?"

"Another lost soul like always." Another of the women said. Naruto took note of the prayer beads wrapped around her wrist. "Another man that had lost his way and succumbed to the sins of greed and envy."

'Boy...We sure hope those two words won't mean aaaaaanything in the future...' Venom mused tom himself.

"Another meal for the village demon." Ayame said coldly before taking a sip of her tea. "You shouldn't feel bad at all for them when they are getting what they deserve."

"That is a little cold." Another woman piped up. "I mean; yeah sure, some of them are evil to the very core but some of these criminals might be able to redeem themselves. You can't just force your own sense of justice on these people because one of them hurt you in the past."

Ayame set her cup down hard on the table in front of her. "I will never forgive anyone in that prison. What happened to me and my family is only a small part of why I want that building gone. I hope that the village demon destroys that place and everyone inside it."

"Please calm down." Another woman said. "I know it's a rough subject but not everyone at the prison should take the responsibility of just a few."

"As far as I am concerned; every single criminal was involved and must be punished." Ayame growled while sending several of the women that spoke nasty glares.

"But you still can't use your family's issues as an excuse to have people murdered. Not only that but your obsession with the village demon is more than a little unhealthy."

"That demon protects us and gets rid of the filth that infests out home!" Ayame shouted for the first time in Naruto's memory. "It is the best thing that ever happened to this village and I will gladly do everything I can to help it do whatever it must to keep this village safe! I thought I joined this group to so just that; not question whether it was right or wrong to do it!"

"Just shut the fuck up!" A younger woman shouted back. "We don't give a flying fuck what you want or believe in! If we don't want to offer any more sacrifices to the village demon; we don't fucking have to! Someone else can do it!"

Ayame did not say a word and sat there like as if she had not heard the shouting woman. This only caused the angry woman to get even more furious.

"If you feel that strongly about that damn monster then why don't you just go fuck the damn thing!"

"Since I seem to be the only one that can truly appreciate what the demon does for us; maybe I will." She snapped back. "I bet it'll be a better lay then that pencil prick of a husband you got!"

Ayame put her cup on the table in front of her before getting to her feet and leaving the room, then the building. The still shocked Naruto was sure to quickly and quietly follow her.

'Well, was not expecting all of that." Venom muttered.

"I can't believe that bitch!" Ayame muttered to herself as she marched down the street. "I was the one that had the idea to start the group and they all decide to abandon it!" She stopped before taking a deep breath. "What have I gotten myself into? Now I have to let the demon use me or else I won't be able to show myself in front of them anymore."

'We doubt that's going to happen.' Naruto thought to himself.

'Now wait a minute boy.' Venom interjected. 'She seems to be a good choice as a future bride. Imagine it, all those starchy noodles and chocolate you can eat and a wife that won't mind a bit of the alieny-ness we will be bringing into the bedroom.' He chuckled lowly.

Naruto ignored Venom as he continued to spy on the young ramen waitress.

Ayame shook her head. "Why should I care what they think? I'm not going to whore myself out to the demon just to show my loyalty." She held her head in her hand. "But what can I do?" She sighed heavily. "I should just go back and apologize for running out like I did." And Ayame did just that.

Naruto did not follow her this time however. He went to a save location before de-cloaking and walking back to the ramen shop. "I can at least tell him that his daughter isn't in any trouble." He muttered to himself.

'We wonder what kind of problems might have happened to cause our little ramen girl to despise the prison so much.' Venom wondered.

"We wonder what old man Ichiraku has to say about what we have found out." Naruto said under his breath. He returned to the ramen stand and told the old man that there was nothing to worry about. With a sigh of relief, he agreed to withhold his end of the bargain and waved bye to Naruto as the young ninja left the restaurant.

"How are we going to find out what happened without making either of them upset?"

'Let's go ourselves.' Venom growled. Naruto agreed before making his way towards the village exit and towards the location of the village prison. It was a bit of a walk, but after an hour or so, Naruto arrived at the location.

The prison sat on a small island right in the middle of an inactive volcano. The volcano itself sat in the center of a massive canyon and reached up to just a little higher than the surrounding cliffs. The magma inside the volcano was still liquid with the only thing keeping the mountain from bursting being several well places and powerful seals.

Naruto was sure to be out of the sight of the guards before shifting into his monstrous form and taking a huge running leap over a large portion of the magma onto the bridge leading to the prison building. The guards obviously noticed the large dark mass flying through the air and causing the bridge to tremble; but decided that it would probably be best to just let the viscous demon do as it pleased.

The guards in front of the main entrance to the prison did not even risk looking at the demon. If it was here, there was a reason; and that reason was one they would rather not know.

'How will we find the guy responsible for hurting Ayame's family?' Naruto questioned his alien.

'God question. Guess we make our way to the warden of this little slaughter house.' Naruto could have sworn he could hear Venom salivate.

The massive beast made his way through the main section of the prison and into the hallway that lead to the warden's office. Without even bothering to knock, Venom opened the door and forced his large body through the small door frame.

The prison warden was so shocked and terrified of the beast forcing his way in; that he could not move from his chair. Venom looked over at the scared little man before making his way over to a large filing cabinet on the other side of the room. Venom looked at the man again before violently ripping out shelf after shelf of the cabinet; looking at each specific file until he finally found the one he was looking for.

He looked at the file until he memorized the man's face and location before tossing the file aside and walking back to the door. Before he walked out however, Venom turned his head to look directly at the prison warden and gave a deep, threatening growl before leaving through the small door frame.

The large beast made his way through the prison; forcing his way into the prisoner holding area and continuing onward. The normal rabble rousing that would usually fill the halls and cells went completely silent as Venom walked past each one.

The prisoners knew about how they were slowly being fed to the very monster currently walking the prison halls. The worst of them being fed first; making those smart enough, to know that good behavior extended their life. So to see their executioner walk past their cells filled their hearts will absolute dread with them all fearing that the prison sacrifices were not enough, and the the monster would start taking more than was offered.

Venom walked past cell after cell; going down corridor after corridor. Until he reached a seat of heavy steal doors marking with a sign that basically described the area beyond as holding the most dangerous prisoners the village has ever had. He pushed past the large steel doors and proceeded down the very well lite corridor.

On either side of the corridor were cells just like the rest of the prison; the only difference being the large number of seals, talismans, charms, and chains that covered a majority of the bars of each cell. The individuals held within each cell just watched as Venom walked by; no words were uttered from any of them as they sat in their cells and watched.

As he walked further down the corridor; Venom could hear the sounds of one single person muttering to them self. Venom walked continued towards the noise until he reached the cell it was coming from.

The cell had twice as many bars as the others around it and was so covered in chains, ropes and charms that is was nearly impossible to see the prisoner inside.

The man was very rotund, with facial features and skin tone alluring to him being a mix of at least two different races. His brown curly hair was kept short and his eyes simply stared at the wall directly across from him. He just stood there, staring at the wall all the while muttering something under his breath.

Venom watched the man for a moment before slamming his hands into the bars to try and grab the man's attention. The man did not react initially and simply continued to stare at the wall and mutter to himself.

The symbiote did not appreciate being ignored and slammed his hands harder onto the metal bars of the cell. Again, there was no reaction.

With a low growl, Venom grabbed the bars and started to pull; bending the metal and breaking several chain links. The man did not even flinch as the sounds of metal bending and breaking echoed throughout the corridor. As the metal gave to Venom's strength, the loud ringing of an alarm blared from nearly every possible angle.

The sounds of the guards charging towards the cell quickly followed the beginning of the blaring alarm. Shouting and chatter were heard coming from both ends of the corridor and the cells all along it. By the time the guards were able to get to Venom's location; the symbiote had finally ripped several of the iron bars out and was glaring at the still motionless man.

The prison guards did nothing as Venom forced his way into the cell.

"I know what you are." The man said in a way-too gleeful manner. He turned and looked up at Venom with absolute admiration. Needless to say, Venom was very confused.

"I know that the great Goddess sent you to rescue me from this wretched land." He fell to his knees as tears welled up in his eyes. "Please do as the great Goddess commands and help me return to the Club. Take me back to the Goddess so that I may finally receive her blessing."

Venom looked down at the man with his usual scary expression. Whatever he was talking about sounded crazy. Too crazy for Venom's liking. The symbiote had handled cults before and in his world, rarely were they ever something to not worry about. He was not about to allow another one to try and destroy the world like all the others.

He leaned in close to the man; close enough that the very end of his snout was nearly touching him. "Tell us everything." He demanded in a very low and quiet tone. He did not want the guards standing just outside to figure out what he was planning to do.

The man stared up at Venom for a moment before nodding quickly. "Yes, yes. Of course sir." The man stood up and sat down on the prison cell bench. Venom looked back at all the guards standing around before letting out a threatening roar and charging towards them; forcing them all to flee. He turned back around and returned to his spot directly in front of the prisoner.

"To make a long story short; I was traveling around trying to find people to help distribute my Lord's medicine and elixirs when I was captured for it all by a small group of people in some shanty town." The man scoffed at the mentioning of his capture. "They were all so poor that it wasn't hard int he slightest buying my way out of the prison. I was even able to pay off the local authorities to look the other way as I killed the bitch that was responsible for my capture."

"Who?" Venom asked in a dark tone.

The man shrugged. "Just some dumb bitch who spotted me and noticed what I was selling. How was I supposed to know that some damn waitress knew anything about drugs and potions?!" He asked defensively.

Venom did not need anymore clarification. As far as he was concerned; this man was the murderer of Ayame's mother. Now, he could kill the man now or have him lead the symbiote to where ever this 'club' was the man was talking about. He decided to kill two birds with one stone and opted to kill the man during his destruction of whatever club he was a part of.

"Very well. Take us back to the club so that we can inform our lord that is was us that saved your neck." Venom growled.

The man looked at Venom for a moment. "Y-yes sir. I think I remember the way back. But it will be a long trip. At least the way I got here. How did you get all the way from the city to this shitty little hovel?"

"Does it really matter? We are here to retrieve you. Just be happy with that and let us go." Venom demanded before turning away from the man and walking out of the cell. The few guards that thought it would be wise to return were quickly scared off by the massive brute.

"But sir!" The man called quickly. "I still have so much stuff yet to sell here!"

Venom turned to face the man once again and stood tall. "We can leave with you alive or with only your head. Either way we are heading back now!" He roared loudly.

The man sniveled and backed away before quickly bolting in front of Venom and leading him out of the prison and away from the village. Venom followed the man in silence as he lead him further and further away in a direction he had never traveled.

After a few days of traveling with a very annoying and complaining man; Venom was about to rip his head off and call it a day. That is, until they reached a harbor with a very ritzy luxury linear docked. The symbiote did not question as the man walked aboard unopposed and proceeded to climb aboard himself; albeit a little bit more stealthily.

The ride was long, lasting for three full days before finally meeting another luxury ship right in the middle of the open ocean. When the two ships were right next to each other, a bridge extended between them and several fancy folk crossed; including the man leading Venom. Said alien leapt over to the other boat before the two ships could disconnect and turn back around.

Again, the voyage lasted for nearly a week and Venom was so bored out of his mind that he was tempted to just slaughter every passenger on board. Finally they arrived to their destination; a massive city that looked similar to the one Venom had once called home several hundred years ago. Venom followed the man off the boat and into the city before suddenly yanking him into a dark alley.

"We must until the cover of night before we can move any further." He growled.

"Of course." The man scoffed. "The club is only open at night. I was just heading to my prestigious hotel before getting ready. You should do the same. I'll meet you at the Club entrance and you can let our Lord know about my rescue."

"We will meet you at the club entrance." Venom said lowly before cloaking himself once again. The man; thinking that Venom had left, returned on his path to his home, completely unaware of Venom stalking him from the sides of the buildings around him.

He saw the man enter an incredibly tall building and sighed heavily; it was going to take him hours to find the exact room that the man lived in. He looked up at the large windows at the very top of the structure.

'Gotta start somewhere.' He thought as he began to climb. He made it half way to the top of the structure when something caught his attention through one of the windows. Needless to say it was nothing short of a naked woman just walking out of the shower; but Venom doesn't give two shits what you think about him. Venom has boobs to look at and enjoy.

And so he did, he watched the wet woman dry herself off with a towel and walk to her bedroom; where she proceeded to apply make up and did other things wealthy women do. It was after she got dressed that Venom got bored and continued on his way to the top of the hotel. When he reached the very top he just barely saw a flash of some purple fabric leave through what was probably the front door to the large apartment.

Not taking any chances, Venom quickly scaled down the building until he was just barely above the entrance. A few seconds later a portly man wearing a long purple robe and an elegant masquerade mask went into a nearby vehicle and took off. Venom quickly followed behind the vehicle for quiet a while before it came to a stop in front of one of the sketchiest alley's Venom had ever seen.

The man got out of the vehicle before it zoomed off and proceeded to stand there looking back and forth between the two alley entrances. Seeing that this was his man, Venom leapt over to the wall closest to the man and climbed down a bit before revealing himself.

"Took you long enough." Venom snarled before dropping to the ground.

"Sorry, but I had to get ready after all. It would not do any good if anyone actually knew who I was in there." The man looked at Venom for a moment. "Are you not going to wear the uniform?"

"We have ours." Was his only response. The man looked at Venom again before turning and walking deeper into the alley. Venom followed as the man walked down and took a sudden turn down another nearby alley. The symbiote looked down it and saw a large line of people dressed like his escort but with varying styles of the decorative mask.

They were all heading down a small flight of stairs and entering the underneath of a dilapidated apartment building through a horribly rusted door. As they approached the stairway, Venom formed the cloak and mask out of his own form and allowed control back to Naruto's body. The man took note of the sudden height and mass change but thought it wise not to say anything.

The two got into the line and waited until it was there turn to enter. There were two well dressed guards standing on either side of the door once they entered. Inside was a grimy hallway with a flickering light bulb barely showing the way to another rusted, decaying door. Everyone was heading towards the single door, so Naruto did as well.

Walking through the door; Naruto was almost in shock at the sudden change in scenery. Beyond the door was a massive chamber decorated with the most lavish of furnishings, decorations and architecture that the boy had ever possibly imagined to exist. The outer rim of the chamber lines countless numbers of hallways; and as Naruto looked up, the hallways continued up each floor with a large glass dome at the very top.

"Enjoy yourself." The man said before leaving Naruto to wander around the place. Seeing that there really was no one Naruto could talk to without risk of exposure; he decided to walk along the rim of the chamber and figure out where all of the hallways lead.

The first hallway lead to another chamber with more people but with more furniture for sitting around and chatting; nothing out of the ordinary. The next hallway was like the first, except for the fact that everyone in the room was fucking like crazy with a variety of girls all dressed in a wide range of outfits.

'We think we figured out what kind of club this is.' Venom said.

As Naruto walked along and looked down each hallway; he grew increasingly disgusted as he bore witness to each of the acts going on at the end of each individual hallway.

'We are going to have so much fun.' Venom cackled. His host had become so disgusted that he couldn't bring himself to look any further and retreated to near the center of the main chamber. That did little to ease his mind as he could hear nearly every moan, cry, whip crack and so much more.

'As much as well enjoy food being tenderized; we do have a limit to how much.' Venom mused as he saw through his host's eyes. He could see Naruto watching as a man dragging behind him a naked woman by a thin leash. The woman being dragged had her arms and legs missing and the areas where they had been amputated shoddily stitched up. While she was being dragged, the woman made no sound at all. The stitching around her throat revealed the obvious surgery used to remove her vocal cords.

'Imagine what this people would do if they found our home.' Venom whispered in Naruto's ear. 'What they would do to poor Hinata. We can't let that happen can we?' He chuckled darkly. 'We should kill them all. Every last one needs to die. No survivors.'

'Not yet.' Naruto argued. "We wait until the big cheese shows up.' Venom replied with a low chuckle before going silent. Naruto sat there waiting for what felt like hours and was about to leave, assuming that the leader was not going to show.

All of the lights in the building slowly dimmed and several intense spot lights flashed on; pointing at the direct center of the room.

"Welcome friends." A regal male voice shouted out happily. Everyone looked up and could see a tall white-haired man standing at the highest balcony in the building. The spot lights did not shine on him but he was still clearly visible. On the same balcony sat a number of men and women all dressed in expensive clothing and wearing the same masks as everyone else.

"I hope you all are having a wonderful time here; as usual." He spoke clearly. "But the fun must stop for now as another member has been chosen to join me up her with the elite!" He raised his hands high as if he was praising some unknown deity. "Oh wonderful Goddess! Would you grace us with your precense and bestow upon the chosen your power?"

'Good showmanship.'

The center of the room opened up and allowed for a small stage to rise up where the spotlights pointed. A single spotlight flashed on that was pointing directly at the very center of the glass dome on the ceiling. Right in the middle, with eyes closed and arms crossed across her chest; hung a young teenage girl dressed in nothing but very thin, translucent purple fabric that covered only the bare minimum and revealed everything.

The woman suddenly opened her eyes and spread her arms before slowly descending down towards the stage. All the while performing several turns, flips, and twists similar to a ballerina. The goddess landed on the stage on the very tips of her toes and stood there with a blank expression with her arms outwards; as if she was expecting someone to walk into her embrace.

Naruto looked into her eyes and noticed that they were completely soulless. Like as if the girl was under some kind of trance or other mental manipulation. Naruto took a step closer to get a better look.

"Come forward; one who has earned the Goddess's blessing!" As the white-haired man spoke, two larger burly men dressed in old executioner outfits wielding incredibly large axes walked out of the darkness and stood on either side of the small stage.

'Whatever power this girl can give. It must be dangerous if it requires guards.' Venom chuckled. 'We should play around a bit before taking what we need.'

One of the masked figures in the crowd moved their way through the throngs of people and towards the stage. The massively disgusting smile on the figures face revealed them to be at least somewhat male. The man made nasty little giggles as he approached the girl.

"Are you ready for the Goddess's blessing?!" White-haired dude shouted.

The other man nodded so fast the it looked like his head would fly off. The dumb expression on his face almost made Naruto laugh, if he wasn't so disgusted with the man.

"Then walk into our Goddess's embrace and accept your gift! Become one of the elite!"

The man licked his lips before leaning towards the woman; his lips puckered humorously. The goddess slowly closed her eyes and leaned in as well.

Naruto gave a small smirk as his outfit writhed and moved. Several tentacles extended down from around is legs and slowly slithered over to the stage the goddess was standing on. Their black color allowed them to move about without risk of being seen in the darkness; until they reached the stage. Before they entered the light; the tentacles shimmered out of the visible spectrum and slowly slithered closer to the girl.

The man and the goddess's lips were just about to touch when she was suddenly jerked away. Her face and body did not change at all or show any reaction to suddenly being two feet further away.

The man looked outright horrified as he looked at the girl then up at the club's leader. Said leader had the most displeased expression Naruto had ever seen on a person's face.

Naruto's grip on the girl loosened a tad and she slowly returned back to her original position; still with her arms outstretched and her lips ready for a kiss. THe man, still spooked, slowly leaned back in and was about to have his lips touch hers when the goddess was once again suddenly yanked back away.

"It seems we have a trickster in our midst." The leader nearly growled. The people around him all had worried expressions; except for one who looked more amused then anything else. "Would anyone care to step forward and admit their transgressions upon our fair Goddess?"

Not a soul moved. The man looked at the two executioners, who proceeded to each grab one of the goddess's arms and pull her towards the man. They face no resistance. One of them grabbed the back of the girl's head and forced her forward towards the man that was still had his all puckered up.

Just before they touched; the girl was yanked back once again. This time with enough force to pull free from the executioners' grip and fly upward away from the stage. She continued to hang above the stage with her face back to normal and her arms at her side; her face as stoic as ever.

"Will the party responsible for this please save themselves the humiliation of us finding you and please step forward?" The white-haired man said through clenched teeth. A small tap on his shoulder caused him to turn his heated gaze towards the woman closest to him. She did not say a word and instead, pointed at a figure within the crowd.

The man looked down and could see the faintest hint of a smile upon the person's face. It was a little out of place in a crowd filled with varying levels of fear and worry.

"You!" The man called down to the figure. "Approach the stage."

Naruto looked up; the smirk still present on his face as he did what he was told. Everyone watched as Naruto climbed onto the stage and stood next to the man who was supposed to have gotten his gift already.

"Do you find something funny about the blasphemous actions going on tonight?" The white-haired man asked in a very controlled voice. "Or are you the one performing these acts and humiliating me in front of my followers?"

"A little of both." Naruto stated with a massive grin.

"You FUCK!" The other man shouted. "Tonight was supposed to be MY night. The Goddess's power was MINE!" He quickly snatched one of the axes away from one of the executioners and gave it a mighty swing towards Naruto.

The blade made contact with Naruto's chest and dug in deep. The weapon made it nearly to his spine when the resistance forced the blade's momentum to come to a halt. The man smiled at how effective his swing was and tried to pull the axe out of the blasphemer's chest; only for it to hold fast and not move an inch.

The man yanked on the axe handle, but the weapon refused to move.

Naruto turned his head towards the man. "What? Is that it?"

The man looked at Naruto with a combination of shock and terror before looking up at his master with the same expression.

A tentacle slinked out from underneath Naruto's robe and wrapped itself around the axe handle before removing it with a disgusting 'shliking' noise. The tentacle dropped the weapon half-haphazardly before sliding back into Naruto's robe.

"Now then." He said as he allowed the tentacles wrapped around the provocatively dressed girl to show themselves. With a simple tug, Naruto broke the rope holding the girl and lowered her down closer to him. "We will be taking this. Have a good night."

He turned towards the crowd; who were now shouting venomous words and threats. Naruto rolled his eyes in annoyance and was about to forcibly move the crowd when he was caught off guard by a long, rubbery black arm wrapping itself around the goddess and ripping her away from Naruto's grip.

Naruto looked back up to the balcony and saw a man wearing a pitch black wet suit and a gas mask standing next to the leader of the club and holding the young girl over his shoulder.

"I don't know what kind of tricks you are trying to pull; but I can not allow you to take away the heart and soul of our group." The man stated calmly. "I can see through your illusions and tricks and I have to say that I am unimpressed. You will now see what the power of the Goddess can do to her most loyal subjects." He gestured his head towards the wet suit wearing man who set the goddess down and leapt down from the balcony.

The man was somehow able to shape himself into a perfect, bouncy sphere before landing and bounced twice before 'opening' back up into his normal appearance. He looked Naruto up and down several times.

"You look too stiff. You need to be more flexible if you ever wish to steal the Goddess away from us."