***Elsewhere, and elsewhen outside of the time…***

There exists a plane of existence outside of consciousness. It is called by many names by many people. And within this plane of existence is a pocket dimension, ruled by a single being.

This being is the voice and will of this pocket dimension. And the only one "they" will listen to.

Who are they you ask?

The loyal servants of this being. Mortals who have made a vow and dedicated their entire soul to serve the ruler of this dimensional plan. And these mortals have made this place their final resting place.

But that doesn't mean eternal peace, not in a normal sense for mortals.

Even when they have long taken their last breath, death will not get in the way of their duties. They have lost so many things in their life. Their mind, humanity, sense of being and even their will. Their own bodies have decayed to simply being a husk of their former self, until only their devotion remains. When they are nothing but an undead shell of who they were, they continue to stand guard. Forever waiting, watching, and eliminating anyone who dares set foot on this sacred ground.

Such things rarely happen though. But that peace was broken not too long ago. Someone dared to enter but the intruder managed to get away.

And now for a second time, the eternal sentries felt a ripple in the air.

They immediately moved, but the disturbance quickly faded from their senses. Just as fast as it appeared.

This should have confused them, but they are mere shadows of what was once human. They have long lost the mental capacity to question things or to even care in general.

With the sudden absence of the intrusion, the sentries stopped in their path. But they didn't turn back yet.

That something is still there but outside their senses. So they waited, until their endless patience was rewarded with the return of the intruder. The blasphemous being finally showed itself and the sentries are more than ready to eliminate it.

And they were about to, until they heard HIM speak.The voice of their Almighty. The sole ruler of this place or as they prefer to call him, their Father telling them to not move.

This should confuse them, but they have longed stopped caring of such matters. And like the obedient soldiers they are, they did as they are told.

In front of the now still army of undead Moon Knights, a small and dusty boy is standing as equally still. His eyes are glowing in pale moonlit white.

When Khonshu turned to see what is behind him, he is greeted with a large horde of undead staring back at him with intense hostility. The god felt like a goat being dropped in a den full of hungry lions. The predatory gaze of each zombie zeroing in on Moon God's being.

Like they don't recognize him as the Egyptian God of the Moon, they only see him as a strange intruder that needs to be eliminated.

For a split second, things were quite but Khonshu knows that they will jump any second. But he knows that the true ruler of this plane is his counterpart, and technically he is still the God of the Moon. Khonshu recalled how he was able to command the zombie that tried to kill him before, albeit only for a short period. But it's the only option he can come up with.

So without delay, the child god telepathically yelled in his mind a single command to stay. Yelling it as loud as he can and pushing it to as many heads he can get.

The God is immediately hit with a huge wave of pure emptiness. He is familiar with the hollow shadows of each zombie, but the sheer numbers of them is so heavy. Practically crushing.

Khonshu didn't give in to the pressure of their collective weight of their hollow hearts. His arms and body might be sore but his mind isn't yet, and he have no time for doubts. He just continues to push his voice mentally to their will.

…STAY WHERE YOU ARE…

He said, both in his mind and outloud. It's not a yell, more like a soft whisper barely enough to echo within the vast space Khonshu is in. As soft as a feather and as intimate as a promise, but it's effects and intentions are loud and strong. Strong enough to make the hundreds of zombies freeze in place.

Khonshu, as he connects to the zombies in front of him, can sense each of them. And he estimates there to be more than 50, possibly even more outside his line of sight. But the god doesn't want to know how many there are, nor have the time too.

Things went quite again, Khonshu managed to command the zombies to stay still, but he is now faced with another obstacle. Making it actually stick.

The moon god can feel the resistance of the mind of each zombie. Like they can tell that his voice isn't truly the one they serve, so they are instinctively slowly rejecting it.

It is taking a lot of Khonshu's mental concentration to push his will unto all of them and actually maintain that connection. Once he turns his head around, Khonshu will break that connection and the zombies will return to their original intention of attacking him. So, he has to stay as still as he can.

5 seconds have passed, and things are quite once again.

Slowly, Khonshu took a step back, not even turning away and maintaining eye contact with the zombies. Nothing happened so he took another step back.

One step…

Two steps…

Three steps…

So far zombies are still standing still and Khonshu have moved a bit further now. Until he hit something.

The moon god's left foot accidentally hit the disembodied alien arm on the floor, resulting on him tripping on it. He quickly readjusted his balance, but it is already too late. Khonshu broke his hold on the zombies.

Realization dawned on the banished god as he can sense the undead move on their own. He knows that in the absence of their "father" telling them to stop, the zombies will return to their previous task of eliminating the intruder.

So with no other option, Khonshu ran. He can feel the lingering pain and sore muscles, but he don't care about that. His desire to get away as fast as possible is enough to give him a good enough boost of adrenaline, though there is a little voice telling Khonshu that it will not last long.

The moon god can hear the army behind him, but he didn't look back one bit. He just kept running as fast as he can down what he is now noticing is more like a large bridge. He doesn't know where he is going, but that doesn't matter.

A slight ripple in his left was his only warning when he quickly ducked, narrowly avoiding a zombie that managed to reach him. Khonshu immediately yelled, "Stay back!", and the zombie froze for a second. Long enough for Khonshu to kick it away, but the fallen zombie is quickly replaced with 3 more.

The moon god had to keep on dodging, ducking and jumping to avoid the horde of zombies that are coming closer with each second. Until Khonshu found himself pushed to the edge of the bridge, surrounded on all sides. The god only took deep breaths once he realized he is trapped.

One zombie at the front lunged at him, knocking both of them off the edge and falling to the endless abyss below.

The moon god felt weightless for a second, as well as the sub-zero air whipping around him, but that chill is replaced with heart-pounding panic as the zombie appeared in his view and moving to grab him

The two wrestled in the air, with the zombie trying to put his hands around his neck. Khonshu managed to push it away for a while. He quickly grab hold of the zombie's wrist and pushing it back, but his exhaustion is starting to catch up to him. The undead zombie is slowly overpowering him. The moon god's arms are shaking as the zombie's hands inches closer, and closer to its target.

Desperate now, Khonshu tried to recall how he got in this place.

He now remembered that he was in a train. An alien attacked the vehicle and he tried to keep it from going further. The creature was then bounded, but broke free, and was about to jump at him. In response, he jumped back while desperately wishing to be anywhere. Just to be far, far away from the train.

Then things became a blur. One moment he is dodging a fatal swipe from the alien, then he felt a massive headache take hold on him unit he passed out. When he woke up, he found himself here.

If only I can do that again.

He thought. So he tried it again. Repeating in his mind over, and over again about returning to New York from wherever he is in time and space.

But nothing happened.

The zombie's hand is now just millimeters close to his neck. Still struggling to push it back, Khonshu released one last command.

"Stop.." He was barely able to say it, coming out as a desperate whisper. But it did the job and Khonshu can feel the zombie's force waver enough that he is able to push the undead's hands away. He is also aware that it will not last.

He now tried to think of something more specific. The first think that came to his mind was the apartment he was staying in. But he realized that he is still free-falling.

I will be crushed to death if I fall on concrete,

He reminded himself. There is as the risk of bringing the zombie with him in an apartment with civilians. The child god do not want to risk that, so he tried again. Scanning his mind for any safe place.

Khonshu quickly thought of someplace that is open with little civilians, and a place where he can survive if he falls from great height. Then it hit him.

Water…That's it!

Khonshu quickly thought of water. Visualizing a body of water where he can land in his head. He recalled the open blue colored waters and even holding his breath in case he does teleport.

But nothing happened again. He is still free-falling down with a zombie, and he can feel it slowly gaining back its strength.

Why isn't it working!?

He yelled at himself. For a while, it seems that his efforts are in vain, but Khonshu stubbornly tried again, while asking himself what could be at fault. He did think of water, so why didn't he just teleport to water.

It dawned to him that he wasn't specific on where to land, and he could have just teleported to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The god quickly scanned his memories on what are the bodies of water in New York that he can use. And he recalled a time he watched the sunset on the East River on his first night.

Without a beat, he said,

Take me to the East River!

Even visualizing the river bank with the skyscrapers in the background.

At that moment, Khonshu starts to feel an odd disturbance in the air but he paid no mind to it. Thinking that he is getting delirious from exhaustion, or he is just that desperate for something to happen. He just kept on visualizing the East River the first night he woke up in this universe, even the old, hidden and very uncomfortable shack he slept in.

Then in a split second, Khonshu is no longer in the air, but surrounded by water.

The blue and wet material took him by surprised but he quickly pulled himself together, partially expecting this and was holding his breath in the last minute. The moon god can still feel the inertial of the fall, pushing himself down but he is slowing down now. Until he is just floating in the blueish and dirty river water.

In front of him, he can see the Zombie Moon knight is equally surprise at this. And in its confusion, it quickly loosened his hold for a while. Khonshu took this as an opportunity to kick it away from him.

But this shook the zombie out of its confusion and oriented itself to attack Khonshu again. It dashed forward and managed to grab his shirt to pull Khonshu closer.

The god, thinking fast, plunged his hand directly to its chest. Even using heka to strengthen his fist even more, pushing it deep inside the zombie's chest until he reached what he hopes is where its heart is. Though he is a bit doubtful as he can't feel anything solid like the organ, only a subzero cold take hold of his hand.

Khonshu then immediately opened his palm and pushed out as much heka, as much of his divine moon light as he can. This is a bit similar to what he did with the train earlier, but instead of strengthening the object, he is pushing his own divine energy directly to at the core of the undead. He kept on pushing, not wasting any of it until he can feel his heka completely fill the sub-zero void in the zombie's chest. Almost to the point of overflow.

Then he send out a telepathic message.

I am your God and you will obey your master

The zombie freezes in place again, but still didn't let go of Khonshu's shirt.

So the god yelled out,

YOU. WILL. LET. ME. GO!

And the zombie finally did. Khonshu quickly pulled his hand out of the chest and swam up. Taking a deep and much needed breath as he broke through the surface.

But his relief is short-lived as he felt himself sinking again. He learned then on that he doesn't know how to swim.

Panic took hold of him as he struggled to flap his arms and legs around him to stay afloat. But this is proven to be futile as he can still feel himself sinking every second. Water is starting to rush to his mouth as he struggled to move his already tired limbs. He did one last kick until he no longer has the strength to move. All he can do is feel himself sink down to the water again.

The last thing he saw as he lost consciousness, was a white hand pulling him up.