"Now this is cool!" Buffy laughed.
Being a few thousand feet in the air does that to people.
"Glad someone's enjoying this." Ioulus muttered, eyes closed tightly.
"Oh come on. It's no worse than a plane…not that you know what one of those is as they haven't been invented yet." Buffy mused, "Of course riding on a horse with wings? Priceless. I feel like She-Ra."
"She would make a potent Valkyrie." Balder noted from his own steed.
"She doesn't need the encouragement." Hercules smiled.
"When do we touch the ground again? WHEN?!!!" Ioulus shouted from his own winged horse.
Hercules looked down to Athens.
"Now!" he said, pulling the reigns on his horse and skydiving.
Below, Sarumon watched with Orc lieutenants all around. He smirked evilly.
"The fools. Have they forgotten that our master will intervene if they take action?" he said aloud.
An Orc looked prepared to speak. Sarumon shot him a glare.
"That was a rhetorical question, oaf." The white wizard replied.
The Orc nodded and crouched down out of the wizard's sight.
"All the same, prepare the forces. We should indulge ourselves before Dahak himself arrives." Sarumon smiled.
One by one, the winged steeds of the Aesir swooped down just above the city. Arrows and spears of light immediately flew to the ground and eviscerated the Orcs in the streets. Humans held captive in their death camps cheered as they saw the awesome forces coming to their aid. The cheers fell silent when huge shadows loomed over them.
Boulders were hurled at the winged steeds, knocking a few of the gods from the air. Hercules grimaced when he saw what threw them. They were four giants, each at least forty feet high with hoofed feet, a singular horn on their crowns, and one great eye in their bestial foreheads.
"What in Tartarus are those?" Ioulus asked.
"What he said." Buffy added.
"Those are Cyclops." Hercules noted.
"I've never seen a Cyclops that looks like that!" Ioulus said.
"That's because they aren't from our world." Hercules said, as he urged his stallion onward.
Swooping forward, the greatest hero of Greece flew directly at one of the hideous roaring giants. The Cyclops bellowed gleefully and struck out, grabbing Hercules from his steed and squeezing him in its palm. The giant laughed and began to crush Hercules.
Of course when Hercules flexed and the creature's hand snapped back open, there was Tartarus to pay.
The Cyclops fell to the ground with Hercules on its chest staring up at the others.
"Alright, so who's the idiot who thought they could beat me by siccing giants on me?" the godling asked, "Are they forgetting who I am?"
The Cyclopes roared and advanced upon the godling standing atop their fallen brother. Hercules just smiled and his entire body started to arc electricity.
"Sorry. Forgot who I was talking to." Hercules smiled.
The new god erupted in lightning and struck each and every Cyclops in the knees, savagely burning their legs and making them drop to the streets. The giants roared in pain, as Hercules reformed and casually walked past them.
He blocked the blow of a cave troll and sent it spiraling into the sky, as arrows of light showered the fallen Cyclopes ending their lives quickly and mercifully.
"What else do you have, wizard?" Hercules asked.
Looking through his crystal ball, Sarumon sneered.
"Send in the second wave."
"Oh crap!" Buffy shouted, "Hercules!"
The godling turned towards Buffy but was met by an ominous shadow lunging down at him. Within seconds, his head and shoulders were engulfed by huge jaws. Before being bitten, Hercules noted that it was some kind of wingless dragon that attacked him. From her steed, Buffy couldn't tell what kind of dinosaur it was but she figured it for a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Of course it wasn't, it was smaller and three-fingered instead of having the tell tale two of the T-Rex. It was an Allosaurus, or to be more exact, it was Gwangi.
And Gwangi's jaws were forced open by Hercules after only instants of being bitten down on, any wounds already fading away. Hercules then merely leaned back, floating in the air, before hitting the dinosaur with a punch, knocking it unconscious and breaking its jaw at once.
"Wow." Buffy mused as she flew over the city, "I really could have used him when we fought the Mayor. This guy's a smacker down of giant monsters."
"CAW!"
Buffy turned and shrieked as something gigantic gripped against her steed and sending her falling off. As she fell, she noted it was a giant bird, a vulture, with…two heads? Whatever it was, Balder was already in pursuit of it, firing beams of light that scorched it. It had taken the Slayer mere instants to form those thoughts. She now formed thoughts that basically told her no one was close enough to save her. She was going to die….AGAIN.
She didn't hit the stone streets though. No, she hit something softer. Something that swirled around her and gripped her. When she regained her wits she saw that she was in a hand. Furthermore she was face to face with a giant ape.
"The Roc is down!" Balder shouted to Ioulus, "How's Hercules doing?"
Ioulus watched his partner. A giant land bird of some kind was dead at his feet, just as he was swinging some sort of two headed wolf around by the tail, slamming it into the horns of a four legged dragon of some kind as big as an elephant. The giant crab was incinerated by energy flying from the god's hands in the next instant. After that, a large bronze minotaur crumpled when he hit it.
"He could be doing better." Ioulus replied.
Plumes of flame covered Balder and made Ioulus wince away as a great flying dragon swooped past them. Balder's winged stallion neighed and burned as it fell to the ground with its rider still on it. The dragon turned around in mid air and started towards Ioulus.
"Oh for the love of the gods—" Ioulus groaned as he desperately tried to both control his steed and fish out some of the Aesir arrows.
The dragon roared as it flew faster towards him, flapping its wings and outstretching its claws. It wasn't going to enflame him. It was going to eat him. Probably his horse too.
Ioulus swallowed and let an arrow of light fly. It grazed the dragon's back, making the creature hiss in pain. But still it came. Another hit it square in the head, knocking it off balance for a moment. But still it came. Ioulus fired another arrow that missed and another that grazed its underbelly. The jaws of the dragon opened as it neared its target, wings no longer flapping, but gliding and producing a dive-bombing sound.
"Why did it have to be resistant to magick?" he complained as it neared him.
Its head exploded in a burst of light as Balder flew up beside him and the dead dragon descended.
"Resistant doesn't mean impervious my friend, something I am only too aware of." The light god smiled.
"Could you have cut that any closer?!" Ioulus shouted.
Why the hell did she always end up in situations like this?
That's what Buffy had been asking herself in those precious moments as a giant gorilla held her in its hand like a toy.
"Why me? Why doesn't Dawn ever become King Kong's Buffy Doll?" Buffy sighed as the huge ape looked at her, mouth opening and closing as if in study.
It held her close to its face and sniffed her, hot monkey breath showering Buffy.
"Okay, that's it." Buffy said, striking out with a free arm and nailing the ape in the nose hard.
The startled giant released her, and she fell a good twenty feet to the ground in a crouch. Then Buffy immediately realized her mistake. She had just picked a fight with someone who outweighed her by several tons.
"Where is Hercules when you REALLY need him?" she asked herself, as the giant ape looked down upon her.
It reached out again. Buffy rolled to the side.
"Uh uh. No more Malibu Buffy time for you!" she quipped.
She cart wheeled beneath the great ape's legs, making it bend over and look between them as she went. So Buffy did the only logical thing. She tackled Kong's head. The surprise of being tackled caught the creature off balance and made it fall over its own feet. This made Buffy feel especially good because her whole body ached after tackling it. She had to get away and make sure she never picked a fight with another giant gorilla as long as she lived.
Something caught her eye for the first time. Well, not the first time, but in the panic she hadn't put two and two together. Kong was chained by the ankles and wrists with only enough slack to let him move around a bit. Buffy took in her surroundings.
"This is like a big pen. A big holding pen." She noted.
A few curious sounds made her turn her attention from Kong and look behind her. Chained to the opposite side of the pen were two other large apes, but these notably smaller than Kong, only around ten feet or so. One of them was covered in white fur. She looked at the smaller apes and to Kong again.
"They're his babies." She said as realization hit her.
An arrow also hit her. Right in the shoulder. She grunted and dropped.
"Indeed they are." A voice said.
Buffy gazed up at…some kind of demon. He was tall and dark skinned, ugly with horns protruding from his forehead and a swinging tail. In one hand he held a crossbow. In another…well he was one handed. It had apparently been cut off and replaced with the tip of a trident.
"The big one…he obeys when I hurt them. He's enough of a parent not to risk the life of his children. So powerful once, now so easily broken when I make one of his pups scream." The demon chuckled, "I love a good scream. Perhaps you'll give me one."
Buffy stood slowly and jerked the arrow from her shoulder.
"Not…real…likely." She growled.
The demon just shrugged and fired another bolt. Which Buffy caught.
"You're quick. You might even prove to be a challenge. Kalibos always enjoys a good challenge." The demon sneered, dropping the crossbow.
"They wouldn't obey you would they? Not like the others, so you had to hurt them. I don't care if they are ten feet tall, they're still just babies." Buffy growled, holding her shoulder a bit, "They're innocent and I'd help anybody…anything that needs it if they're innocent. I think I can feel the fire coming back in me now, because I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass. Things like you….they remind me of why I do what I do."
"And what is that?" Kalibos asked, sneering.
"I slay."
Kalibos lunged at the side with her injured shoulder. Buffy spun away and caught the arm with the trident before twisting it and delivering a kick that sent Kalibos flying. She smirked as Kalibos looked up in rage. She jangled the keys she had grabbed from his belt.
"I'm going to let them go after I'm done with you." She said matter of factly.
"They'll kill you." The demon growled.
"I don't think so. He could have killed me anytime he wanted." Buffy said, shrugging at Kong, "He didn't. I guess he likes blondes."
Kalibos merely chuckled, distracting her as his good hand reached for the whip on his belt. It cracked out at amazing speeds. But Buffy had been ready and with a stinging sensation, it wrapped about her forearm.
"Like I didn't see you going for that." She rolled her eyes, "Goodnight Mr. Calabash, wherever you are."
Kalibos didn't understand her meanings, but he didn't have much time to think about them either. She had swung him hard, sending him flying. And in one grave instant, he realized where he had landed. Horror filled his eyes as the massive face of Kong looked down on him almost with a smile of satisfaction. The last sight Kalibos ever saw was a massive thumbed foot coming down at him.
"Need a hand Herc?" Ioulus asked, as he and Balder set down beside the god, striding towards Sarumon's makeshift fortress at the palace.
"Nope." Hercules said, breaking off the stinger of one of the giant scorpions.
"You're doing quite well for yourself." Balder noted.
"Well I've been killing monsters since I was a baby. Literally." Hercules said as he cast the scorpion to the side.
"Our forces are quelling Sarumon's Orcs and beasts at all sides. He was not prepared for an attack by gods." Balder explained.
"He was probably expecting Dahak to step in. I'm really hoping he doesn't." Ioulus shivered.
"I don't think he will." Hercules said, "As powerful as he was, as powerful as Q said he has become I think he still fears the Creation Stone. The Paints as well."
"Well yeah, considering we could make hundreds of Stones with the Paints. Hey…that's good." Ioulus smiled.
"Looks like that 21st Century thinking is catching on." Hercules smiled, barreling past ghouls and walking skeletons.
"I guess we should follow him." Ioulus mused.
Balder tossed him a fallen skeleton's sword.
"Take that. We'll need you to protect yourself. I doubt Sarumon is so lightly guarded." Balder said.
Ioulus nodded.
The fist of Hercules collided with the palace doors, sending them off their hinges. He strode in, battering any Orc that dared approach. Balder did likewise, as Ioulus managed to slay a few with his newfound weapon. Surprisingly, resistance was low.
"I don't like this." Ioulus mused.
The trio crept on, passing a row of statues. Some were men, some looked to be Orcs.
"I REALLY don't like this." Ioulus said again.
A rattling made the human warrior jump and the two gods pause.
"That sounded like a serpent." Balder stated.
"Yes it did. A serpent….statues." Hercules thought aloud before slight panic lit up on his features, "Ioulus, close your eyes."
"What is it?" Ioulus asked.
"Remember the She Demon?" Hercules said.
Ioulus closed his eyes tight.
"Not another Gorgon! I hate being turned to stone!" he whined.
"What of us?" Balder asked.
"We're gods. A Gorgon's gaze shouldn't affect us like mortals. In theory." Hercules said.
"In theory?" Balder questioned.
"In theory?! IN THEORY?!" Ioulus shouted.
"Shh!" Hercules replied, "Yes in theory, though there were plenty of gods who feared my sister Athena's shield the Aegis."
The rattling sounded again.
Balder took Ioulus's arm and guided him along as Hercules was ever watchful for the Gorgon, wherever it may be. Passing the stone statues of men and Orcs, they finally came to what appeared to be a throne room. Hercules grimaced as he saw Sarumon sitting on the throne, Orcs to his side, a large saber-toothed cat lying at the foot of the throne. It roared. Hercules was unimpressed.
"Your days of terrorizing this world are over, wizard. We've sent out the word. The gods are repelling your forces all over the world. It's about time too." Greece's greatest hero said, folding arms.
"Mind your tongue, godling. The actions that your brethren have taken have doomed this world to destruction. My master shall be along anytime now, and I imagine he will be most satisfied to destroy his old enemies." Sarumon smiled.
"He won't come. Not while we hold the things he fears. If he was really so anxious to destroy us he would have done it the moment we destroyed the Balrog." Hercules answered.
"What's going on?" Ioulus asked.
"Shh." Balder replied.
"You're quite sure of yourself aren't you?" Sarumon asked.
"Completely." Hercules nodded.
"Then perhaps the great Dahak will not come after all." Sarumon stated glumly, but then, smiling, "Not that we need him to."
An arrow whizzed out of nowhere striking Balder in the shoulder. He roared in pain and dropped to the floor.
"M-mistletoe." He murmured in pain.
"Balder?! Herc?! What's going on?" Ioulus said, opening his eyes.
Hercules turned.
"Ioulus! Close your eyes!" the god shouted.
Ioulus did as he was bidden, just as soon as a large trunk of a snake wrapped about his body and twisted him about. He didn't see the bow in her hand, having shot Balder with his one weakness, nor the hood she wore over her face so that Sarumon and his forces in the throne room were not accidentally petrified. But he did hear the sweet as honey voice.
"Open your eyes, brave one, and peer beneath my hood. Look upon me. Look upon Medusa." She crooned.
"Uh uh. No thanks." Ioulus said, as his sword dropped to the floor.
"Drop him." Hercules ordered, hands lighting up in fire.
He was struck from behind though, by a bolt of fire. The new god dropped to his knees, clutching his burning back.
"Someone has overstepped his bounds." Sarumon said walking down the steps from his throne, "It would seem you have exhausted much of your power going through my forces. How sad to have come this far, only to fail."
Hercules turned and lobbed a fireball at the wizard.
"I'm not dead yet." He cried.
Sarumon blocked the blast with his staff.
"Yet." He grimaced, "Zenobia, fetch."
With that the saber-toothed cat roared and leapt at the godling. It tackled him to the floor and sank its giant fangs into Hercules' skin. He cried out at the pain, which mere moments ago wouldn't have hurt him in the least. It was true then. He was losing power. Still, as little more than a youth, he had killed the Nemean Lion; a terrible creature whose body was invulnerable to harm. It was worse than this thing. Much worse.
Hercules snapped the neck of the creature in an instant and stood, blocking a sword shot from an Orc with his gauntlet, before spinning and clothes lining it off its feet with power sufficient to crack the marble floor. Another Orc came, followed by another. They were incinerated before they could even attack.
Hercules looked over to Balder, the Norse god's hands still smoking with energy. Veins had become visible all over his body. Sweat poured from him. His eyes were bloodshot. He coughed and looked to Hercules.
"Press on my friend. Save your strength for the wizard." Balder wheezed, "I'll—I'll try to help….Ioulus."
"Try and fail!" Medusa seethed, tossing Ioulus into the fallen god.
Hercules would have incinerated her there, but knew Balder's words were right. He needed to save his strength for….
"SARUMON!" Hercules shouted, seeing the wizard was gone from the room.
Hercules took flight, finding that behind the throne there was a doorway. He ran through it after Sarumon.
Medusa, for her credit, was thrashing both Ioulus and Balder soundly. Ioulus held his eyes closed tight, as Balder, weakened by mistletoe, lay on the ground coughing weakly.
"Well, now that everyone else is gone, I suppose my hood is no longer necessary." She hissed.
Balder hazarded a look, and wished he hadn't. Her face was green with scale, snakes flowing off her head hissing in places hair should have grown. And her eyes, her eyes glowed with such frightening brightness.
"What do we do, Balder?" Ioulus asked.
No reply.
"Balder?" Ioulus asked, feeling for his friend and finding only stone.
"Even the gods fear my gaze, manling, and rightfully so." Medusa cackled.
Ioulus opened his eyes for only a second and saw the pain filled visage of Balder was now a stone statue on the floor. He clamped them shut an instant later, and that was smart. Medusa had shot her head between Balder and the human, hoping to catch his gaze in the brief instant his eyes were open.
"Oh manling, you and I are going to have so much fun." She hissed, a serpentine tongue flicking out over Ioulus's face.
Hercules caught sight of the white wizard shortly after he had left the throne room. Sarumon shot bolts of lightning at the man-god as he gave chase. Hercules took them in stride, his drive and will much greater than his power at the moment. Sarumon laughed and took flight again. Hercules pursued. Soon, they neared a door. Hercules let loose with all his strength and godly power and flew through the air, tackling Sarumon through the thick wood.
They both crashed to the hard, stone ground, but it was Sarumon who recovered first. He sneered and sent telekinetic force out, sending Hercules flying into the air. The god of man easily countered, flipping and landing atop the fortress, showering down bolts of lightning. Sarumon however, managed to shield himself with a field of energy.
"You have youth and power on your side, godling, but I have age and experience." Sarumon chuckled, "And that will be your downfall every time."
"I guess that's why Hera, Echidna, and Dahak defeated me. Wait…they didn't." Hercules growled.
Sarumon smiled and pointed his staff at Hercules. Hercules prepared for the bolt of energy, but it never came. Instead he was merely held fast in the air. He grunted but found he could not move.
"This won't hold me for long." He said, gathering up the last of his divine energy reserves.
"It doesn't have to. You killed Zenobia. She was a wonderful pet of mine. Luckily though, I have others."
Hercules pondered the wizard's words, but then he heard something that dwarfed them. Something down, below the fortress walls. Something big. He nearly swallowed when he saw the immense something rise above the walls, standing on hind legs. Then he felt a blast of fire hotter than any other he'd ever been subject to. He fell to the top of the fortress, free of Sarumon's spell. Gathering his strength, he looked up at massive jaws coming down.
And then he was swallowed.
"Open your eyes, my pretty." Medusa said as she backhanded Ioulus with all her serpentine power.
"Ugh…no." the hero said, bleeding from her strikes.
She had been batting him about for minutes now, like a cat with a mouse. With an almost inhuman amount of willpower, Ioulus kept his eyes shut. He knew that soon she would grow bored from beating him and just kill him. She wanted a statue, but she didn't like being bored either.
She struck out again with great strength. Ioulus was ready this time. Having trained in the East, he knew a good deal about the martial arts. He had trained with his eyes closed before, and learned to feel the air for his opponents strike, to smell their breath as they approached.
He gripped her arm as she attacked, and raising his elbow, snapped it. Medusa screamed in pain. Using her enormous tail she batted Ioulus away.
"You bastard! I'll tear your eyes from your head for that!" she howled in agony.
"Great." Ioulus muttered in pain.
Suddenly, the room was showered in light. Ioulus saw it even with his eyes closed. He saw the outline of the bones in his hand, so great was the explosion of light. He heard Medusa scream in agony. He also heard coughing.
"Balder?" Ioulus asked.
"Ohhh…yes my friend, I am back." The Norse god of light answered, "It would appear that the gaze of a Gorgon is slightly less effective against a god. Also…the pain of the mistletoe…it's gone. The transmutation must have affected it somehow."
"AAAAAAAAAAAH! YOU BASTARDS! I'M BLIND! MY GAZE IS USELESS NOW! YOU'VE BLINDED ME!
Ioulus opened his eyes.
"All I needed to hear." He said, rolling for his sword and gripping it.
A quick movement later and Medusa's head hit the marble floor.
"You disposed of her quickly enough." Balder said, Ioulus helping him up.
"Probably wouldn't have without you. Ugh, I had my eyes closed when you did that light show and I'm still seeing stars." Ioulus replied.
"That is unfortunate." Balder added.
"Why's that?"
"My powers are returning slowly and you are blinded. I doubt we will stand much chance against those Orcs coming this way." Balder noted.
"Orcs?" Ioulus asked.
Though his sight was wounded, he could still make out the shapes of dozens of figures pouring into the throne room's open doors.
"Zeus on Olympus! How many of these guys does Sarumon have?!"
"Prepare for final battle my friend." Balder said, summoning up as much power as he could from his limbs.
Ioulus took a ready stance.
"Been nice knowing you." Ioulus said, "Let's send these guys straight to Tartarus."
"Even I may die in my weakened state, but many of them will know the embrace of Hela!" Balder shouted.
The Orcs charged them….
……and scattered right past as soon as they entered the throne room.
"Huh?" Ioulus paused, "What the-"
Twin roars got Ioulus's ears.
His gaze shot down the hall as he saw two huge…creatures thundering towards them at amazing speeds belying their bulk.
"Out of the frying pan and into the fire, I swear to Zeus." Ioulus said, still holding ready.
Balder smiled.
"There is no reason to worry Ioulus, we are among friends who know their true enemy by instinct." The god smiled.
The two behemoths stopped their charge as soon as they entered the throne room.
"Hey guys, miss me?"
Ioulus blinked.
"For big monsters, they sure have high pitched voices." Ioulus reasoned.
"Check your vision, short stuff." Buffy said, leaping off the back of the albino ape.
"Hey! I'm as tall as you are!" Ioulus defended once he saw Buffy more clearly.
"Yeah and I admit I'm short." Buffy smirked, "Like my rides?"
Balder smirked and approached the black ape.
"It is good to meet you too, Joe." He said.
"Joe? You named him Joe?" Buffy asked.
"It's his name. We gods can speak to beasts." Balder said, petting the huge ape, "He was taken from one of the worlds Dahak ravaged and put with this one and its father."
"Huh. Thought they were brothers." Buffy said, studying the huge black and white apes.
"No. Joe is an adult. This other one is still but a child." Balder smiled, "He has no name as is the law of the wilds."
"Uh…yeah." Buffy said, "So where's Hercules?"
"Pursuing the wizard." Ioulus said, "Though I have no idea where."
"He went to the back of the fortress." Balder added.
"Huh. That's where Whitey's dad took off to. Just sniffed around and started climbing the fortress once we got here." Buffy said.
Joe grunted.
"I see." Balder nodded, "Joe says that they smelled something as they approached. Something they didn't like."
The great white ape mewled.
"He's afraid." Balder noted, "Something bad is here."
Joe looked up immediately and howled in fear. Grabbing the younger, but equally large ape, he pulled him towards the door and ushered for the others to likewise come.
"What's got them so—"
A great crashing came from overhead as a giant reptilian paw slammed through the ceiling, just barely missing the trio.
"—spooked?" Buffy gulped.
The titanic paw recoiled and they got a clear view of the thing that had smashed through the roof. Huge, like a lizard or dinosaur, with a long snout and scales that seemed smooth and gray; a great slitted yellow eye looking down on them. An eerily familiar roar greeted Buffy's ears.
"Oh my God….its the giant lizard Matthew Broderick killed." Buffy said, as she broke off into a run, Ioulus and Balder behind her.
"Giant lizard?" Ioulus called.
"Yeah! It's from a movie! Some people called it Godzilla, but Xander gets pissed anytime we call it that! He says to call it anything other than Gino makes it an abomination in the sight of the Lord!" Buffy cried over her shoulder.
"A shame that Q did not send this warrior Matthew Broderick to help with this creature!" Balder shouted behind her.
"What's a movie?!" Ioulus screamed.
Buffy just rolled her eyes. Then it dawned upon her.
"Anybody else realize that thing's not chasing us?" she asked.
"Maybe Sarumon doesn't want to ruin his fortress?" Ioulus postulated.
Gino's roar sounded, followed by another equally loud roar.
"Or perhaps the white beast's father has engaged it?" Balder proposed.
"Holy crap! He's big but that thing's A LOT bigger! He'll be killed!" Buffy shouted.
Atop the fortress, a battle of David and Goliath proportions was beginning. Kong was a huge creature to be sure, but the dragon before him dwarfed him in size. It was like a small cat deciding to do battle with a hulking man. Gino roared shaking the fortress, for a moment Kong felt a twinge of fear. But that was only for a moment.
Was he not the lord of Skull Island? Did he not fight and slay creatures like this to secure his sovereignty? Was he not Kong, worshipped as a god?!
The huge ape snarled and leapt through the air at the much larger foe.
He was casually batted aside, crashing to the top of the stone fortress, nearly making the roof collapse. Kong sat up, dazed. His eyes glanced up and he shot to the side. Gino's immense paws then slammed into the top of the fortress, collapsing half the structure. Kong leapt from the roof as soon as it came down. His strength was nothing to the monstrous size of his foe. Still, he was more than brute power!
He hurled a good sized boulder, striking the dragon in the head. It roared in annoyance, staring down at the ape-god with hatred.
"He nearly struck me." Sarumon said, atop the monster's head, anchored by a spell, "Burn him."
Gino roared and started to inhale. The wind picked up about Kong and grew warm. A creature of intellect like Kong realized something was amiss. His great reflexes caught first sight of the blaze appearing in the dragon's mouth. A moment later, there was only an inferno.
Sarumon smiled down at the blaze below his thunderous mount. He tapped his staff to its head.
"Excellent my friend, but now we must dispose of the others." The sorcerer smiled.
Gino turned its massive head towards the other side of the fortress and peered down. There was the annoying girl with, the other god, a man, and two apes. Gino roared angrily and proceeded to inhale again.
"Ah crap." Buffy swallowed.
The flames were reaching their zenith and were about to sweep out and raze the land again.
Suddenly, one side of the fortress's wall shattered and a singed Kong tackled the ankle of the giant. Gino was thrown off balance by this tactic and its flames missed their intended targets totally. Kong on the other hand, gripped hard to Gino's leg and bit into the tough flesh, grinding and gnashing with each bite. Gino howled in pain and arched its head down to see what fool would dare attack it.
Kong clung to its leg with one hand and thundered the other against his chest, roaring in defiance. Gino growled and inhaled again. Kong waited. He was ready. Fires erupted out once more, barreling towards Kong. The great ape then leapt away from the leg and gripped part of the fortress, climbing atop it. The flame struck Gino's own leg, and more importantly, his own wound.
The giant screeched in pain, flailing its head back and forth as Kong scampered across the remaining roof of the fortress. Sarumon steadied his mount and gave it direction again. Its slit eyes locked onto Kong and suddenly the giant lizard seemed to fly into the air.
Kong leapt from the fortress and continued running, only for the massive monster to thunder down in front of him and turn its bulk to face him. Kong stopped dead in his tracks.
Almost with a chuckle, Gino's tail lashed out and sent Kong crashing into the fortress. Gino then roared in triumph.
"Oh God, its going to kill him." Buffy said.
"Balder, we need to get some Valkyries here now!" Ioulus yelled.
"I am sorry. My strength has not returned enough to summon them. Nor do I think we would receive help as they are dealing with the city below." Balder swallowed, turning to the other apes, "I am sorry, more than you will ever know."
Kong shrugged and pushed rubble off of him. He was battered, bleeding, and in more pain than he had ever been in, but he would not relent. The great forepaw of Gino pushing down on him however, pinned him. The massive monster dwarfed Kong totally and seemed to smile in delight as it gazed upon the ape. Sarumon, atop the creature's head also smiled wickedly.
"So unreliable. You would have done well to behave more like my other pets and left your feeble "dignity" behind. Now, you pay for your insubordination." Sarumon reprimanded, "Kill him."
Gino's jaws opened wide for the kill.
And closed as the great dragon rose back into the air in pain.
"STAY THY HAND VILLAIN!" a voice thundered, accompanied by actual thunder, "I COMMAND THEE HALT!"
Gino's head turned to face the gnat that had struck it, a massive stone hammer returning to his hand and sparking lightning.
"This does not concern you, godling." Sarumon warned, "Best to slay giants in Athens below than to test my patience."
"Not my concern?" Thor asked, "Oh, but it is. I know I am not the wisest of gods, nor the gentlest, but Thor is ever the warrior and can respect any god, man, or beast who fights with all the resiliency his heart yields. You shall kill that beast when I go to the embrace of Hela and not before."
"You are a fool!" Sarumon said, sending a bolt of fire at the god of thunder.
Thor deflected it with his hammer.
"True, but heroes are often fools, and from such great stupidity, LEGENDS ARE BORN!" Thor said, firing lightning at the wizard.
Sarumon countered by blocking with his staff.
"It would seem we are evenly matched!" Sarumon laughed, as the last of the lightning arced off of his staff.
"Perhaps" Thor said throwing his hammer, "BUT THEN AGAIN PERHAPS NOT!"
Sarumon raised his staff just in the nick of time to block the attack.
Of course, it mattered little in the end. Thor's hammer Mjolnir split the staff in two, driving the shattered ends into the chest of the wizard while the hammer's strike sent the wizard from atop his perch, falling to the ground below.
Gino meanwhile snapped at the thunder god and caught him in his jaws. Thor however, refused to be eaten, gripping the top jaw with his hands and steadying his boots on the gums of the lower jaw. He strained and fought the giant lizard's powerful mouth in an ultimately, losing struggle.
"To me Mjolnir!" Thor shouted, his mystic hammer traveling to his side.
One hand shot out and gripped it as the other failed to hold the jaws open.
"Let us show this creature why Thor is no delicacy!" the thunder god bellowed.
Gino's jaws clamped shut and the creature seemed to smile.
That smile was cut short by lightning erupting from the monster's mouth in all angles. It screamed in pain, running, leaping and plowing itself into a nearby hillside. In its now open mouth, Thor stood screaming in rage as lightning burned it and made teeth explode.
"Wow." Buffy said.
"Yes, my brother for all his brutish ways, is indeed and valiant warrior." Balder smiled.
Thor flew from the mouth of the creature and lobbed Mjolnir at one of its eyes. The resulting explosion showered the countryside for miles around. Gino rose, half blinded, and thrashed back down to the ground. With one good eye, it watched Mjolnir again return to the hand of the thunder god. Gino rose again in anger and inhaled.
Thor swung his hammer, gathering the storm to him.
"Let us end this then." He smiled.
Gino prepared to let loose his flaming torrent, but again screamed, fire exiting its mouth as it fell back again upon the hill, writhing in agony and shredding the earth with its enormous spines.
Thor looked at the creature puzzled as it fell back before he struck. After a moment of screams and agony, the giant lay perfectly still; blood gushing from its mouth as the fire subsided.
"Od's Blood!" Thor said, landing on its massive chest, "What sorcery is this?"
A familiar glow of blue and yellow issued forth next to Thor.
"Not sorcery." Hercules said, materializing, covered in gore and blood, "Just me."
Thor turned to Hercules.
"Where did you come from?" Thor asked.
"In there." Hercules pointed at the monster, "It swallowed me. That was its mistake."
"Eh?" Thor asked.
"Well, that's not the first time I've been swallowed by an enormous monster. Not even the second. I just got my bearings, ripped through the tissues, and tried to squeeze its heart until it stopped beating. That was taking too long though. Of course by then, I felt electricity. I had to figure that was you, so I absorbed as much of it as I could and released it into its heart. Then I just teleported out. By Zeus, I'm drained." Hercules said, going to one knee.
Thor stared harshly at the Olympian for a moment before jerking him up and clasping him by the shoulder.
"For a lowly Olympian, by Odin, you have fortitude! Perhaps I'll let you take my place on the day of Ragnarok when I must face the Midgard Serpent!" Thor laughed.
"Sure." Hercules smiled before passing out.
Thor shook his mighty head.
"Clearly too much strain on the boy."
Sarumon coughed and sat up. He was in quite a lot of pain. Ribs broken, impaled by his own staff, and numerous wounds all over his body from the fall. But he would not relent. He gritted his teeth through his bloodstained beard and growled.
"It will….take…much more than….that….to dispose of the…Lord….of……Isen—Isengard!" he managed to grunt.
A loud roar caught his attention.
Sarumon was gripped in a massive hand and soon came face to face with the bloodstained visage of King Kong.
The great ape stared at the fallen sorcerer for a moment with rage.
Then bit down on Sarumon's neck and spit his head out of his mouth. He likewise threw the body away like a ragdoll. And he beat his chest, roaring for the entire world to hear.
"Ow. Little loud." Ioulus said, holding his ears.
"Loud, yes, but his words are beautiful." Balder smiled.
"His words? What's he saying?" Buffy inquired.
Balder turned and smiled to her.
"It would be hard to give the full meaning to a mortal, but to sum it up, he's saying that we are all free." The light god chuckled, "Our world is free."
Another world was not quite so lucky.
Fire and twisted metal rained down upon it. Behind a dormant volcano, Starscream and Spike hid from the onslaught.
"God….I swear, you get me out of this and I'll reform." Spike murmured, "I'm all for a good scrap, but this is way out of my league."
"We're going to die…we're going to die…oh Primus we're going to die. That's Unicron…the Chaos Bringer…the eternal foe of Primus." Starscream shivered, his enormous metal frame rattling as he did so.
"I reckon this guy's the devil then?" Spike looked up, visibly afraid.
"As close as human legends go. I thought he was just a myth but—" Starscream shivered.
An enormous scrap of twisted metal crashed to the ground in front of them. It was gigantic, dwarfing Starscream as easily as he dwarfed Spike. Starscream's ocular sensors showed almost immediate recognition.
"Bruticus."
The enormous gestalt was half melted and missing a leg. Half its head was gone. Its melted visor turned at looked to its creator Starscream.
"Bruticus—"it wheezed,"—imminent destruction…assured."
Then the enormous head of the robot merely snapped off, as if under strain just looking at Starscream.
"He was the mightiest warrior the Decepticons had." Starscream gasped.
"What say we make ourselves scarce?" Spike asked.
"Agreed." Starscream said, preparing to transform.
His insignia lit up.
"Starscream! Starscream! We need you!" Soundwave's normally monotone voice came across in waves of panic.
Starscream ignored it and transformed. Spike leapt into his open cockpit.
"Starscream! For the love of Primus, help us!" Soundwave kept shouting through the linkup.
Starscream froze and would have broke into a sweat were he capable.
"Devastator has been crushed underfoot! Menasor and Defensor were obliterated! Superion is barely functioning! Omega Supreme was the first casualty! For the love of Primus, Starscream we need you!!!" Soundwave yelled, frightened to the core.
"I—I---can't." Starscream replied, "It's just too much, Soundwave! Too much!"
"STARSCREAM I'M BEGGING YOU! MY CHILDREN, YOUR BROTHERS, WE NEED YOU HERE!" Soundwave's frantic begging came through.
Through the linkup, Spike could hear the screams. Without it he could hear the explosions. Looking back over his shoulder, the enormity of Unicron was clearly visible even over the volcano that housed the Autobot base. Beams of light shot from the monster's eyes, as fire erupted from its mouth destroying so much.
"We're down to a few Starscream! Please!" Soundwave begged.
Spike vamped out.
"Let's go." He said, "Let's go fight that thing."
"WHAT?!" Starscream shouted, "Are you insane?!!"
"A bit. I may be an evil bastard, but if it were me and mine out there…if it was Dru…or…or Buffy…I'd go even if I knew I was going to die."
"We're no match for Unicron!"
"Something I know all too well, but if I'm going out, I'm going out fightin' to the last." Spike said, lighting his last cigarette.
"You're insane!"
"This we've established."
"H-hey, can I get a word in?"
Spike and Starscream both froze.
"Who in the universe—"
"Glinda?" Spike asked.
"Uhh, yeah. Hi." Tara's voice seemingly came from nowhere and everywhere.
"What are you doing here?" Spike asked.
"Got my part of the weapon. It's also our transportation." Tara replied, and Spike could swear she was smiling a little, "Need some help?"
"Yeah, not that a spell will do a lot right now." Spike said.
"Well, I made some friends while I was getting my part. We can help." Tara replied.
"Give it all you got girl, but I don't know who in the hell could ever stand up to that thing."
A huge purplish doorway appeared in the sky, and a ship that seemed to be miles wide in diameter appeared above Unicron.
Onboard, a motley crew stood by Tara.
"He says we probably don't have a chance." Tara said to one of her newfound friends.
A smile came over his lips as he tightened his black leather gloves.
"Your friend's never met the Authority." Midnighter smirked.