"Behold, new friends… the great Wall of Asgard!" Thor declared, holding up his hand and gesturing forward from his place at the prow of the great long boat.

At first Selene thought that Thor was being cute with his naming. For what she was looking at was clearly a mountain, tall and proud much like mighty Mt. Olympus. But as she continued to stare at the gray stone that lay before them she saw the marks of hammer and chisel, large though that they were, and realized that Thor was being utterly truthful with his statement. She was staring at a great wall, towering all the way to the clouds so that to stand on the very top would cause a mortal's lungs to seize up from the thin cold air.

'Were I to be at my full height it would be impressive still,' Selene thought to herself. 'Nothing I couldn't smash with my fists and my feet but still one of the few things in all of reality that could hope to try and match me in size.' She felt the inner strength within her thrumming, begging for her to break free of the mortal size she had taken and become the titaness she truly was. 'Endymion could join me… we have had to be careful in allowing him to take such a size but here the gods wouldn't expect it. Together we could couple upon their wall, our bodies destroying it as we joined together…'

But just as quickly as the thought entered her head she dismissed it. They hadn't come to Midgard just to be chased away because she could not control her loins. She would restrain herself… for now.

'But one day my love will bend me over this word and all will watch as we couple.'

"Is… is it true, Lord Thor, that it was built in only a season?" one of the Midgardians asked timidly, glancing at Thor but then quickly returning their gaze to the great wall. Selene studied the structure and saw that what at first appeared to be great cracks were, in fact, the seams of massive blocks of stone.

That caused Thor to let out a deep laugh. "Nay, good Johann!" Thor cried out, thumping the edge of the long boat so hard it rocked. "Nearly all of it was completed in a season, save for the gate. That took us gods 10 seasons to complete." He chuckled at that. "It is a wonderful tale… a builder came to us one day, offering to build us a great wall that would protect us from all our foes-"

Selene listened to the story but not nearly as intently as Endymion did. He had been utterly quiet upon first spotting the wall but Selene knew it wasn't because he was in awe of it. He had seen far too much for such things to truly take his breath away. There were gods of Olympus that had more awe in them than her Endymion. He had become jaded because of all he had seen and he had done in his time. The man had invented new ways to manipulate magic. He had explored realms that had been lost for ages, their gods having abandoned the mortals that dwelled there and left them to fall into a savage existence without guidance or hope. He had created new life and then worked to perfect it.

A wall… well, it was nothing to him.

"-lured the horse away, so he could not complete his task. And when he came to us we rewarded him as he deserved." Thor hefted up his hammer. "I brained him until his head was broken into more pieces than there are sands upon the shore!"

"How lovely," Endymion muttered darkly.

"What was that?" Thor said, glancing over at her love.

Without missing a beat he stated, "Such a lovely story… it shows your cunning and intelligence, Lord Thor. Though I am disappointed by your handling of the horse… that was rather… plain."

"Plain?" Thor asked, confused.

Endymion gave a casual wave of his hand. "You waited til he was asleep and stole the horse away. That isn't exciting. It isn't daring. You just… took a horse."

"Yes, I did," Thor said, his good mood slowly souring. Others began to back away as the air slowly gained a charge of lightning within it, making hairs stand up on end. "Thou has a problem with that?"

"You doing it? Of course not. If the builder was that dumb he deserved all he had coming to him. But in terms of a grand story? It is a weak spot within it."

That made Thor pause. "A… weak spot?"

"Like a flaw in your great wall." He gestured towards the structure. "Your story is much like that wall. Grand. Epic. You had all of us on the edge of our seats. The mystery stranger who came to you. The deal that seemed too grand to be true. His foolish demands for Queen Freya's hand and the sun and the moon-"

That part had amused Selene to no end. Apparently the Asgardians had no Moon God or Goddess for if they did then they were weak and she would steal the title from them. No god would allow themselves to be sold like cattle to some mere mortal, potential giant or not.

"-the suggestion to make the end date of the task so impossible that it could never be done. His acceptance and the rate at which he completed the wall!" Endymion threw his hands out wide. "And the ending! His failure and your attack against him. Yes, perhaps it ended a bit too soon and could have used an epic battle but I understand why you would not claim such a thing, Lord Thor. You are not one for long, dragged out battles."

Through his entire speech Thor's anger had slowly dripped away, like wine in a cracked jug, leaving only confusion.

"But the middle? You merely stole a horse and that allowed you to defeat that builder? That is like saying that after you battled a horde of the undead, forced to wander the earth for they had been cast out of the Underworld, but before you battled some great dragon who spewed not flames but a deadly acid that would melt all metal so that you were forced to battle it in the nude… you had to deal with a pack of hungry dogs. Oh, there is a story there, Lord Thor, but not an entertaining one!"

Selene looked at the others and was quietly pleased that the Midgards were all quietly nodding in agreement with Endymion's words. Ingrid was thoughtful and Bo wore a smile and Johann was rubbing his lip with his scarred index finger, which was always a sign that he agreed with something. The others were quiet but none made a move to disagree with Endymion which was nearly as good as openly supporting him. It was always a delight when her love was honored for his intelligence.

'He's right, of course,' Selene thought. 'The story is a bore at that moment. It is a horrid tale of pettiness, greed, and dishonor. The Asgardians draped themselves in disgrace and yet they act as if it is some grand tale. Or at least Thor does… perhaps others will disagree with him and he will be scolded for telling such tales but the way he boasts reminds me greatly of the worst traits of Zeus and Ares.' That wasn't a good sign, especially as she had seen the way Thor had glanced at her and the other women; if he dared to try and take her she would have to explain to her dear Endymion why they needed to flee Asgard and just what the red stains on her clothing were.

"But that is how mine tale went," Thor stated, brow furrowed in confusion. "The horse was stolen."

"That might be how it went but the story doesn't need to go that way. You can tell it a different way. A better way."

"Better than the truth?"

That made Endymion openly laugh. "The truth? Oh, that is a boring thing. The truth is bland and dull and has no true value save for the historians and the scholars. And even they know that a lie is far better." He held up his hand. "I do not suggest you openly lie. That won't do. No… it is better to wrap your lies in as much truth as possible. Your lies are little babes that need to be swaddled so they might grow strong into truths of their own."

"Truths of their own?" Thor questioned.

"You would be surprised how many of the great "truths" of the world started out as lies, Lord Thor. Tell a story enough and soon all will believe it." He suddenly pointed at Johann. "How many people do you know?"

"I… what?"

"How many people do you know?"

"I… perhaps 20 or so. 30?"

"And how many do you think will speak of you to their children?"

Johann frowned at that but, to his credit, actually considered Endymion's words. "Perhaps… my sister to her children? And they to their own? And my own children, of course."

"But less than half. But if I were to say that one of the Asgardians chose to take the form of a horse to lure the builder's own stallion away?"

"Became a stallion?" Selene said in bemusement.

Endymion shot her a dark look. "I assume, like many gods, the Asgards can alter their shapes. So why not become a horse? Perhaps the one that first suggested taking the deal? Or maybe the one who decided that it would be wise to make the builder promise all in a single season. They begin to panic when the builder is able to do the task and knows that he will be blamed for what happens. So he decides to do something about it. He will become a horse… mare." He grinned darkly at that. "And that lures the stallion away-"

"The stallion mounts the god!" Thor said, cutting off Endymion. "The god tries to resist but he is mounted and taken!"

"…quite," he said and Selene hid a wince; for all the things he had done that had earned him the scorn of the Greeks and their neighbors none would ever accuse Endymion of rape. He had eyes only for her, after all.

"Aye, I see what you mean," Thor stated. "The story is better! It remains true but is built upon! Well done and well thought out!" Endymion shrugged at that. "Perhaps, as we ascend the wall, you can assist with some other tales…"

Selene chuckled, knowing that as much as he might want to pretend otherwise… Endymion was pleased with that suggestion.

'Anything that can let us get closer to the Asgardians,' she thought. 'After all… the quickest way to godhood… is another god…'

~Present Day~

"That dolt, losing like that," Noah grumbled to himself as he turned back to his computer screens. "He thought that he could so easily defeat Pegasus? He allowed him far too many chances to come back against him, especially considering his Toon Monsters. And then to whine and complain as he did about the end results? Leitcher certainly wasn't the man I expected him to be."

Noah hadn't wanted Pegasus brought into the Virtual World for the same reason he had wanted Yugi Muto kept as far away from it as possible: he was too good of a duelist. Pegasus had not only created Duel Monsters but shown time and time and time again that he was one of the Top 10 Duelists in the world, very likely pushing Top 5. He had felt that it was best to keep all of the high ranking duelists far away from the Virtual World and the Big 5 and focus on the weaker duelists on the blimp, to better ensure that they were able to get what they wanted.

'Yes, there are those that will claim that we are cowards for doing that,' he thought to himself as he settled into his chair, looking over the various viewing monitors, 'but it is a sound strategy. My father was able to build up KaibaCorp into the empire that it was by finding smaller companies that were being ignoring by the wider world and forcing them to join with him. Rather than damage himself in useless fights he made sure that he continued to grow KaibaCorp. We should have done the same.' He clenched his fists. 'But the Big 5…'

When he had presented his plan he had thought for sure they would back him and not just because he was the heir of their departed leader. It was a solid plan that would speak well to men that had never truly reached out to try and claim the brass ring. Oh, they liked to say that they were Giants of Industry but in reality each one was the proverbial Big Fish in little ponds. They liked their domains and hated to swim away from them. Or they preferred to allow others to fight for them, hiding in their shadows like the small schools of fish that followed after the Great White. Going after the weaker duelists, the ones with less skill, seemed like the perfect strategy for them.

'But it seems as if their time in the Virtual World and their multiple failures at the hands of Seto, Yugi, and Edwin caused them to seek out a way to prove themselves,' he thought darkly to himself. 'Leichter demanded to face Seto… well, I put a stop to that. Seto is mine to toy with, not Leichters'. He can believe all he wants about his duty to my father but if he truly cared about Gozaburo Kaiba then he must respect the wishes of his beloved son! So I allowed him his second choice, Pegasus… and considering how poorly he managed against him I shudder to think how he would have handled Seto! He would have allowed my step brother to run ramshot over him, doing nothing to halt him and in the end allowed Seto to walk away victorious and forced me to break the rules of this game and go after him myself.

'I never wanted Joey Wheeler or Mai Valentine either but when I informed them that Yugi Muto and Edwin Chaos were being removed from the equation they demanded that they suffer somehow. We have Tea Gardner and we could have taken Yuri Gardner as well but no… no, they all wanted something more. Joey is Yugi's best friend and Edwin and Mai are very much a couple… so those two.'

He let out a sigh.

"Things aren't going the way you hoped."

Noah stiffened before slouching in his chair, refusing to turn to face Mokuba. He had utterly no desire to look at the boy he had caged up and deal with his words.

" You thought that this was going to be easy," Mokuba said, prattling on despite all Noah was doing to make it clear he wasn't interested in talking with him. "Thought that with all your planning and manipulating this world that you would be able to easily steal our bodies."

"Perhaps you should remember that my ability to manipulate this world means I can remove your mouth," Noah commented.

He could hear the smirk in Mokuba's voice, "But if you do that then you have to admit I was getting to you."

Noah HATED that the boy was right.

After Mokuba's little comment about how long Noah had been trapped in the virtual world not lining up with when Seto and Mokuba had been adopted Noah had been trying his hardest to ignore the boy. He couldn't afford, at this juncture, to be distracted by such useless things.

'LIke father adopting Mokuba and Seto while I was still in the real world…' Noah thought to himself before desperately squashing that thought. There had to be something he was missing… something that would make it all make sense. Yes, it was true that his father had been… distracted… the last few years he had been in the Real World but Noah had also been working on many of the projects his father had given him to help him prepare for the day he would become the new head of KaibaCorp! 'He has to be wrong… that's the simple fact of the matter. He was wrong about it all and didn't know when he was adopted and he got timeline wrong. Of course he did! He was a child… honestly I don't even blame him for that. He was barely able to tie his shoes. Seto probably fed him lies too… yes, I bet that happened as well! I bet that Seto was lying to him about what happened!'

He worked his jaw, wondering why he was trying to absolve Mokuba. He was Seto's brother, not his own! What did he matter… he was just a back up body in case Seto accidently scrambled his own brains and made it impossible for Noah to use his body… honestly he could believe that happening, what with how Seto was. He would do something stupid in the Virtual World in order to escape and then he would end up overloading some redundancy system and POOF! His brain would be reduced to jelly! Mokuba… Mokuba was just the back up.

'Father… I would very much like a little brother,' Noah heard himself saying years ago. 'A partner I could trust…'

"You know," Mokuba said casually, breaking through his thoughts, "there are other ways to achieve your goal."

"Oh yes?" Noah charged, turning to face Mokuba. "And what would YOU do if you found yourself trapped in this virtual world?"

"Well… I'd see if there was a family who had a loved one who was brain damaged. In a coma, never able to wake up. And then I'd offer them a lot of money, enough so that they could never want for anything, if they agreed to let me use their loved one's body."

Noah… blinked at that.

"I… what?"

"You realize how many people end up brain dead in the world every day? I don't know the exact amount but you could probably look it up. And yeah, it wouldn't be like they were getting their son or daughter back but you would be able to make sure their body lived on and that's enough for some people. And if you agreed to help the family?" He perked up. "Oh! You could set up a charity in their honor, so their memory would live on."

Noah considered that for a very long moment before shaking his head. "No… then I would have to start over. Far better to do this so I can get MY body."

"Except it isn't your body, is it?" Mokuba pressed. "It will be Seto's body. Or someone else's. The only way you could get something that looked like your body would be Edwin."

"Oh? Can your little friend magic up bodies? Everyone keeps talking about him but he was easy enough to trap." Noah smirked at that, delighting in the fact that Edwin was most likely a gibbering mess at this point thanks to the isolation of the dome. Noah was reminded of a short story his father had forced him to read, one that concerned instant travel but the person had to be unconscious because anyone that underwent it found themselves existing for trillions of years all alone, their minds breaking from the onslaught. His father wanted him to understand that there were deeper, darker things to fear in the universe so they, doing their day to day business, should fear NOTHING.

He wondered if Edwin would be a feral beast or a whimpering craven when he finally yanked him out to parade through the Virtual World.

"First off no he can't. But he does have access to magic, including a ring that lets him go to alternate dimensions. I'm sure he could find one where the Noah Kaiba there was braindead." Mokuba pressed his face so close to the bars of his cage that it was a wonder he wasn't howling in pain. It made him look all the more deranged as he did so and Noah actually leaned back in his chair at the sight of the youth. "Second… if Edwin can do all that… if he can travel to other WORLDS… what makes you think for one SECOND that you will be able to hold him?"

"I've managed so far," Noah retorted.

"Are you sure?"

Noah… turned back to the screens.

'I have him. I absolutely have him. The terror in his eyes… there was no faking that.' But even as he thought that he began to feel concerned. 'Except… what if that was all a bluff. A trick to make me leave him be… but if I go check on him then I might give him a way to escape. That feels like something he would plan for… perhaps even knowing I would have Mokuba here.'

At once Noah willed himself to disappear from his command center.

But… he didn't appear in the dome.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Hey Koyo… ya sure dis is a good idea?" Joey whispered to his friend. "I mean… maybe if it was Mai that was in control I wouldn't have a problem wit dis but dis is Selene! That freaky Greek Goddess loves ta play games with all of us!"

They had left the city and were currently making their way through a large field of what Koyo had said were soy beans, moving towards the massive pink dome that dominated the horizon. Selene was in the lead, having no qualms about brutally killing any monsters that got in their way. Joey and Koyo were supposed to be covering the rear but Joey had found that after a few minutes of slaughter nothing wanted to get near them.

Koyo though merely smiled. "I think we are perfectly fine, Joey."

"And what makes ya so sure?" Joey pressed only to quickly backpedal. "Not tryin' ta insult ya, pal, but this is a goddess with a capital G." he suddenly tilted his head. "Would it be with a capital G? Feels like it should be but also shouldn't? Man, I don't know and I don't want to insult her because, again, she's a freaky deaky Greek Goddess!"

" You have to remember that in all the myths and tales about the gods their word is their bond. They will hold up their end of the bargains…" He paused.

"…and?" Joey asked. "I can sense an 'and' there, Koyo."

"…and one just has to remember it is literally their word. No more… no less."

Joey swallowed at that. "So basically… you literally take them at their word."

"And you remember that there is a lot of wiggle room when it comes to 'their word'."

Koyo was thinking of the many myths and legends he had read when he was younger and how cunning the gods could be to twist ones words in order to win. Normally it was punishment for someone with great hubris; some foolish person who thought they could cheat the gods and get away without facing any repercussions. But the gods always found a way to get what was due to them.

'Midas gained his golden touch and thought that it would make him the most powerful ruler that ever was… only to find that all turned gold, including the food he attempted to eat and the water he tried to drink. He turned his own beloved daughter into gold. A man wished to live forever and was granted such a gift… only to find that while he would never die he would constantly age. Women begged for protection from the gods and got it… by being transformed into beasts or statues or stars in the sky.'

He remembered the tales of the Dijinn and their cunning ways of granting only EXACTLY what their 'masters' asked for. Of tricksters of great power who would claim that they served a lord or lady only to reveal that they had been quietly altering things to benefit them.

'And the moment the deal is done… there is nothing to keep them from destroying their foes,' he thought to himself. 'Gods will grant a man victory after victory until he is a king… and then turn from them and begin helping the one destined to overthrow THEM.' He shook his head and said softly, "One never wins when they deal with the gods. Just ask Paris."

"Paris?" Joey said in confusion. "Da city?"

"The Trojan Prince," Selene said lightly, suddenly right next to them. It was disturbing to see her looking so much like Mai, even though Selene was always so quick to claim her and Mai were the same person. But Koyo had seen the two 'swap', for lack of a better, word, and the differences were clear. Selene preferred her hair utterly straight and thus when she was in control it looked longer yet lacking less body. Her face always seemed colder, her smile lacking any real love or care unless she looked at Edwin and even then it was a phantom compared to how Mai would smile at him; it reminded Koyo of the smirks she wore when dueling when she looked at Edwin, like he was in competition against him. Her every moment was like liquid confidence and her stares like the cold light of the moon she was the goddess of upon an icy night.

"Trojan, huh?" Joey said, scratching his chin.

"Not the condom, Joseph," Selene said dryly.

"Man, I know dat!" Joey proclaimed. "Like the horse that the Greeks hid in!" He smirked when he saw Selene raise an eyebrow at that. "Heh, surprised that I knew dat, huh? I know more than ya probably give me credit for!"

"I'm impressed," Selene admitted. "Though… you don't know of Paris?"

Joey's smile fell at that and he grew a bit bashful. "I, uh, kinda like ta skip ahead ta the end of does stories, ya know?"

"Hmmm," Selene said with a shrug. "You are better than most, I assume." She waited only a moment before speaking. "Paris was the Prince and son of King Priam and was, quite frankly, a foolish and dumb little boy who thought more with his cock than he ever did with his brains. Oh, they like to claim that he honored Ares when he tricked Paris, transforming into a bull to defeat his prized beast, but the singers and tale weavers fail to mentioned that Ares towered over Paris and placed his hand upon the boy's head so that it covered it completely and made clear what would happen if he decided to cheat the God of War. But Paris was a fickle creature and thought only of slating the desires of his loins… and he doomed all of Troy because of his actions.

"The goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite were feuding over a bobble… an golden apple for 'the most beautiful' of Olympus. I had left the feast early to return to my Endymion so I wasn't there when it was tossed but I am told they rolled about like piglets in the mud, scratching and clawing at each other until they were forced to separate. Each demanded that Zeus proclaim who was the most beautiful and Zeus, for once in his miserable existence, wisely refused. He knew that the pleasure of one would be countered by the wrath of two others and that was something he had no desire in doing. So Ares, flipping his coin, suggested Paris.

"The three went to Mount Ida with Hermes and began to bathe in the waters while Paris was brought to them and allowed to choose whatever he wished to determine which was the most fair. He first risked the wrath of their lovers by proclaiming that they must undress for him. I suppose it was only because they got to see the other two that Zeus, Ares, and Hephaestus remained silent. But that was a foolish way to determine beauty for each was beautiful in their own way…" She shook her head. "Endymion stated that he would have ordered each to prove their skills in womanly arts and through his cunning had them create three apples, and thus show that each was beautiful in their own way and equals in a mere mortals eyes. But Paris… Paris was a fool.

"Each goddess offered him a prize. Hera would make him the ruler of Europe and Asia. Athena offered him skill in battle, great wisdom, and the abilities of the greatest warriors to ever live. And Aphrodite-" Selene rolled her eyes, "-offered him the nethers of Helen, the most beautiful mortal in the world. Never mind of course that Paris already had wed Oenone, a river nymph and daughter of the River God Cebren. He of course chose Helen."

Joey slowly nodded at that, clearly thinking things over, wondering what it would be like if he had been the one to make the choice. "What were those three goddesses of?"

Selene smirked in approval. "Hera was the goddess of marriage and women and queen of the gods. Athena the Goddess of Wisdom and battle. Aphrodite the goddess of Love. And all three of many things but those were the main ones."

Joey frowned. "Then he shoulda gone with Athena. Hera was queen but she weren't no warrior. Same with Aphrodite. If Gramps had been there he would have picked her but only after she assured him he'd keep all her gifts forever."

"VERY wise," Selene said once more, her voice appraising as she nodded at Joey. "Wiser than Paris. The moment he chose Aphrodite and she gave him Helen he fled to Troy where all the forces of Greece came against him. And with them many of the gods. Troy had Ares, of course, because he loved Aphrodite, and Apollo and Artemis with them. But the Greeks had Athena, Hera, Hephaestus, Poseidon, and Hermes. Of course there were other reasons the war happened… Zeus' schemes to try and remove many of the demigod children, Poseidon angered that the Trojans did not pay him for building their wall, Artemis mad that Agamemnon killed a deer… but still, Paris' need to stick it in Helen doomed all of Troy.

"He even foolishly tried to invoke a promise he'd gotten from Oenone, that she would always heal him of any wound. He returned to her and begged her to honor her promise and she did, having him enter the river… and then drowned him the moment he was healed. No wound… nothing to heal." She shook her head. "Humans. Always believing they can trick us. I swear it gives you all big heads in dealing with ones such as me. Because when one deals with the gods… they tend to forget they are dealing with GODS."

"And where was… Endymion?" Noah Kaiba said, suddenly appearing in front of them, causing Joey to yelp and Koyo to stiffen. Selene stopped short but she did her best to hide how startled she had been by his appearance. "That is who you claim Edwin to be, isn't it? Endymion?"

Selene merely stared Noah down. "Endymion did the only wise thing when it came to a War he had no reason to fight: he sold his skills to both sides and walked away rich and powerful with none realizing he had betrayed them a thousand times over."

"Well… it is too bad he was not the one to think of how to breach the walls of Troy. It might have helped him escape that dome."

Koyo looked up at the great pink dome that they had been heading towards. "Edwin is in there?"

"Yes… already quite mad, if he isn't already. All by himself. Just his thoughts. Just him and the void… and you know what they say about looking into-"

Selene began to laugh.

It was a full body thing, so forceful it made all of her shake and tremble. It was the most human thing Koyo had seen the goddess do.

"-void," Noah finished, brow furrowed. "But I get the sense that you might already be mad yourself."

"Not mad… bemused," Selene got out. "When one looks into the void the void looks back… and it will see that you made a grand mistake."

"And what mistake is that?"

"My Endymion… my Edwin… he is a creative. His mind is filled with so many thoughts and ideas that sometimes I swear they are ready to burst forth like a swarm of angry bees. All sorts of thoughts and theories and interesting little seedlings that he can never dedicate enough of himself to see them all grow. Oh, everyone talks about his deceitful nature or his affinity towards magic but they forget… he is a storyteller first and foremost. The tales he can weave; they are truly amazing. And you…" Selene stalked forward, loaming over Noah, the boy looking up at her and trying to look confident and in control… and yet at the same time trembling slightly as he craned his neck up, "….gave him TIME."

CRACK!

All of them turned their focus on the dome… and stared in shock as fissures began to appear upon its surface. All but Selene, who without even looking at her Koyo knew was grinning in triumph.

"N-no!" Noah declared. "That's not possible! That's not possible at all!" He threw up his hands and screens began to appear. "What is going on in there? What is-"

"ARES!"

THAT made Selene jump and Koyo didn't blame her as he hadn't been expecting the bellow that came from Noah's screen. He glanced at it and saw an angry looking man, naked from the waist up with pale skin and a red tattoo, hurling two bladed chains at the inside of the dome. Another man, who could have been the raging pale man's older brother, hurled a frosty axe at the dome before calling it back.

"Light'em up!" another screen said and Koyo blinked when he saw the Ghostbusters firing on the dome.

Noah began to form more screens.

"Autobots!"

"Decepticons!"

Optimus and Megatron as one commanded their forces to open fire.

"Let them fight," a Japanese man declared just before Godzilla and King Ghidorah led an assault on the dome with a swarming of Kaiju.

"GROND! GROND! GROND!" a horde of Orcs bellowed as a massive burning battering ram in the shape of a snarling wolf was sent crashing into the dome. Koyo looked up and saw more fissures forming, the entire structure shaking violently.

"Kame… hame… ha!" Son Goku roared though Koyo did blink as he saw someone that looked rather like Edwin but clearly different join Goku in firing on the dome with their Ki blasts.

A small futuristic space ship flew overhead and fired photon torpedoes at the dome, Koyo just catching that the name DEFIANT had been scratched out and spray painted onto the hull were the words BEN SISKO'S MOTHERFUCKING PIMP HAND.

"Beware my power… GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!" a battalion of Green Lanterns called out.

Cyclops of the X-Men blasted it while the Phoenix unleashed her flames.

Noah let out a scream when a Xenomorph briefly looked at the camera and hissed before it began to savagely lash out at the dome, a Predator unloading its payload beside it.

Figures in power armor launched mini nukes while Deathclaws flung themselves at the structure against and again.

"DRACERYS!" Daenerys Targeryen roared, her three dragons unleashed their flames.

A figure grabbed the camera and Noah leapt back as a man in a suit with a bleeding head smiled at the camera, using his free hand to lift up his wine glass. "Great party, isn't it?" he said just before Jack Torrance ran by, hacking at the dome with his axe.

And there were other figures from no show or movie or book or comic Koyo had ever seen. Creations of Edwin's own, brought forth from his mind. An angel with black wings wielding an ivory scythe. A man with half his face fully scarred who channeled lightning from his arms, firing off beams like cannons. A figure in a brown coat and a reaper hood wielding a pair of eskirma sticks.

On and on and on they appeared, Noah rapidly forming more windows until they couldn't hardly see the dome anymore.

But they could hear it cracking.

"And… one other mistake you made," Selene said with a smile. "Edwin… he has been more than Endymion."

Koyo turned to look at Selene.

"Oh, Endymion and I traveled to many places… and we took many names. Many titles. I desire to make him truly a GOD but you humans? You have already made him one in your legends."

~Many, Many Years Ago~

Endymion glanced at Selene as they prepared to make for the Wall of Asgard. They were in the very back of the large group Thor was leading, several paces behind. "Have you decided what I should call you?"

"I have," Selene said. They had been lucky so far that no one had asked their names but they knew that Thor would be introducing them to the other Asgardians and needed to have their stories straight. "These Norse… such a unique naming system. Do you realize that they honor their parents?"

"How so?"

The goddess smirked. "They have a second name, related to their parents. A man named Siger may have a daughter or a son and they will be known as Ingrid Sigerdotter or Johann Sigerson."

Endymion considered that. "Not my father for me. Would raise too many questions. But my mother… I think that would work." He smirked. "Not what the Olympians called her… no. Her real name. The one she hid from all but me, to protect us."

~Present Day~

The dome shattered and the group shielded themselves even as the pieces turned into dust and then completely disappeared. The attackers also began to disappear but rather than shatter like a duel monster they all paused, turning into mist with peaceful looks upon their faces. They merged into streams of swirling fog that all rotated upward towards the figure that hung above them, held aloft by glowing burning golden wings.

"The Lord of Lies," Selene said with a smile as they all stared up at the dome's destroyer. "The Lord of Tricks. The Lord of Stories."

Edwin slowly opened his eyes and they BLAZED.

"The Laufreyson."

Noah… stumbled back.

"Loki."