The long boat drifted along the dark waters of San Francisco Bay, the only sound being the flashing of the tourist's cameras and the black waves lapping at the boat. Some of the passengers took pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge; others were pointing to the unusual amount of crows and ravens that gathered around the bay.

But one of the passengers, sitting in the corner of the boat, kept her neon green eyes on the immortal prison of Alcatraz.

The Rock.

She knew of only one prisoner in the past decade, and that was the powerful sorceress known as Perenelle Flamel. But the Alchemyst's wife had escaped with the help of one of the immensely almighty Elder Areop-Enap. The spider Elder's power was equal to Hekate's or Odin's, and yet she had been trapped beneath the prison until the Sorceress had unleashed her and, together, they had trapped the Next Generation known as the Morrigan in Old Spider's place.

And know Danu was going to unleash the Crow Goddess.

She looked over her shoulder at the dark water and dipped her fingers testingly into it. Then, standing up, she shed her long overcoat, revealing her long green dress intertwined with myriad flower. And then, she dove into the water, ignoring the cries and shouts from the passengers of the small tour boat.

As the Danu reached the shores of Alcatraz she didn't worry about hiding her immortal appearance for recently Dr. John Dee had purchased the prison, and had closed it down to the public, saying that he was going to restore it.

The Elder walked up the side of the Rock carelessly, fearing nothing until she would reach the Morrigan's prison.

Only she had forgotten one other creature that had been on Alcatraz. One who had never left…..

The sphinx trotted around angrily atop the prison roof. She had been robbed of the Sorceress, failed in keeping Areop-Enap securely in her subterranean prison, and hadn't assisted the Crow Goddess as the Sorceress and Old Spider had dragged her beneath the water tower and into an eternity of punishment.

And then she stopped.

Her nostrils flared as the smell hit her. It was the aroma of an all-powerful aura. One of the Elder's auras. And that either meant that they were there to save her…or destroy her.

She began muttering to herself as she scanned the barren landscape for life. Then she spotted a smudge of green along the island's horizon, and she knew who it was.

Danu.

Only she wouldn't be here as the kind and gentle Elder, she would be here as Juno, goddess of revenge and retribution. The sphinx knew that as soon as the Elder spotted her, she would transform into the dark form of Juno.

Only the daughter of Echidna had no idea what that form would look like; no one had ever lived through the fight to tell of it.

The sphinx thought about spreading her wings and flying away, far from the goddess. But she knew that Danu would find her, there was no running from her. She was there for her, and there was no stopping the Elder's warpath. Bloodlust was one of the most powerful emotions, one of the few that the Elder Race could feel.

The sphinx took a deep breath and prepared herself for a fight…..

.. …just as Danu raised her head and saw the golden coat of her body, her snow white feathery wings, and the beautiful face of the sphinx.

And her transformation into Juno began.

Her neon dress flamed to a midnight black, her eyes turning from stunning emerald to a bloody red, and her spear point flashed from white marble to an ugly sable. Her raven hair began to float, as if it was underwater, and her tanned skin turned deathly pale. Her fingernails changed from plain and glossy, to a murky black, the tips etched in red.

This was Juno.

Crimson mist flowed in huge banks off her hands, coiling all across the barren island landscape like snakes. She knew she had to focus; to go after the Morrigan, but all she could see was the sphinx, all else was clouded by her wrathful bloodlust.

The Egyptian monster glided from the roof of the prison to the misty rock below it, landing with a loud thump. She began to walk slowly towards the Elder, head held high, her face fixed into an ugly mask of false triumph, her mouth wide, flashing her pointed, yellow fangs.

Juno whipped her spear forward, striking shockingly close to the sphinx's ear. The goddess twirled her weapon as the monster circled her, eyeing her with cold black eyes.

"It has been a while, My Goddess," She said mockingly, trying to obscure Juno's judgment in battle with anger.

"I will make sure you can see no more when I am through with you, sphinx!" She spat, her face remaining unchanging and unreadable.

The sphinx hissed, feinting a lunge towards her. Juno twirled the spear at the direction the creature swayed to, then, in sudden anger, smacked the daughter of Echidna upside the head with the flat side of the spearhead.

She hissed again as the spear blazed white hot against her flesh. Her retractable claws shot out as she lunged ferociously towards the incredibly ancient Elder.

Juno spun, claws barely raking her face, as she flew past her. While her face was turned away from her, the goddess struck the spear through the sphinx's wings, pinning them together.

And then every glass window that was left intact shattered with the sound of the monster's scream.

Juno lowered herself to the earth and pressed her pale palm to the russet dirt. Neon orange sparks fluttered into the ground, her aura flaring into the same exotic color.

Then, while still screeching nonstop, the sphinx was engulfed by an explosion of earthen roots ripped from the dry, cracked underground and intertwined themselves around her body, wings, and beautiful face.

Her cries of pain turned to yells of panic as she was dragged deeper and deeper into the earth, the roots crying in earnest.

"You are no more, sphinx," Juno, slowly turning back into the gentle Danu, said flatly and expressionless.

The Elder turned as she became once again Danu and headed for the secret tunnel beneath the water tower, the cries of the sphinx suddenly muffled by gravel as the monstrous creature was buried alive.