The chamber trembled with the cataclysmic might of gods and demons. The doors of the After-Dark continued their slow, massive opening; the black-light of sorrow and hate shining brighter and brighter through into the chaotic chamber. And The Pantheon pushed back with all of their godly might, straining to keep the interdimensional path sealed.
Before the gray haze of dust and ice had even settled from the main wall's destruction, Naecken and Vengeance plowed through another. Their battle escalating even as they exploded into a seperate chamber, the rest of the witnesses merely able to feel the shudder of their titanic might as it shook the fortress itself.
"..oh god..." Velo's desperate cry rasped with strained vocal chords, even as he leapt onto the fractured ice-altar.
Straddling Tayden's still, pale form, Kristogar pulled the dagger free from its settlement in the ex-angel's sternum. More blood escaped in a lazy bubble, the final bit of pressure leaving his internal organs. Velo's hands scrambled in the thick, wet, hot mess of blood and tissue. Calling upon every last bit of medical training, the man worked fervently trying to find a way....trying to look for anything he could repair. Anything of Tayden's cardiac center that was salvageable.
"...come on...come on..." his raspy breathe panted with a cloud of chill. "...don't do this to me Tayden..."
Wrist-deep in the pool of blood, Velo's raspy grunts came faster and faster, hoping against all hopes that the absolute temperature would be enough to slow the body's decline. Slow enough that a battlefield-trained medic....working with only a single laser scapel...could find some way to repair the massive damage to such primary internal organs.
It was a no-win scenario, and Velo knew it.
"...dammit...please god..." Kristogar pleaded under his panicked breathe. "...please....I'll do anything...."
And, with those words, Tayden's eyes suddenly shot open wide, startling Velo momentarily. Tayden's pale lips suddenly parted, a single long rasp of final breathe escaping into the frosty air...
"Oh no! NO!!" Velo's voice squeaked to almost-normal, a sudden panic filling his soul. "Come on Tayden! COME ON!!"
He pounded on the upper part of the man's chest, trying to jumpstart the rhythym of a damaged heart.
"Don't leave us now!!"
And Tayden's heart........stopped.
Don't leave us now
The words rang in Tayden's ears, getting further and further away...
Don't leave us now
Tayden yawned, stretching his arms a bit. He opened his eyes to find himself in a long, vibrant tunnel of color and sound....
"Ah....nice...." he mumbled, beginning to swim towards the pinprick of radiance, lying far, far down the tunnel. "...this has been overhauled since I last came through...."
He backstroked down the tunnel with a pleasurable grace and ease, admiring the pyres of exploding rainbows, and melting stars. He dog-paddled through the plains of Dream, giving the god of the Endless the 'peace' sign. He tipped an imaginary hat at the white-nothingness of 'The One From Beyond'. He winked with a casual flirt as he passed a cloaked, female skeletal figure standing on the bank of the stigian Styx.
Tayden did a double-take at the scythe-bearing reaper, even as he continued past her...
"...hey, you know a guy named Grimm?" he asked.
The skeletal figure merely gave him the finger.
Tayden turned forward again, swimming on.
"...wow...she's in a mood today...." he muttered.
And, on he swam, towards the light. Towards the warmth, and waiting embrace of love and paradise. He was going home. And, taking a deep sigh, he realized that he had missed it.
Suddenly, half-way down the tunnel, a single door of light creaked open...
"Excuse me...Tayden, is it?"
The voice was powerful and wise. An oft-mechanized rhapsody of eternal patience and modest presence.
"That's right....?" Tayden nodded, floating to a stop near the doorway.
The tall, imposing figure of stood siloutted against the bright illumnination behind him. It was a moment before Tayden could make out his features.
The temporal architect. The god of progression. Graham Wells' idol and hero...
"I am The Time Trust..." the smiling being offered.
"Yeah...yeah..." Tayden snapped his fingers with rememberance. "...I remember you..."
"Do you?" the Trust asked.
"Yeah....we met, remember? During that Multiverse conflict a few months back..."
The Trust smiled again.
"Did we?" he asked with a hint of ambiguity.
"Yeah...you helped us take down that 'Continuity'-jerk..."
"Did I?"
Tayden stared at the figure.
"...it's like talking to The Question..." he muttered.
"Tayden....The Courts of Light requests your presence..." the Trust finally announced.
"...ummm...really? Me?"
"Yes." The Trust nodded. "Really you."
Tayden shrugged.
"Well...okay....sure..." he said.
And with that, both beings stepped forth through the door of light....
*************
"Aeolus! Our strength fails us!!" Arges roared.
He, as with all of his godling brethren called forth the heighth of their mighty forces. And, still, it did not seem to matter. The door pusehd back, still opening wider, and wider.
Screams of the damned and undead wailed throughout the chamber, racking the already trembling torture of the structure itself.
Mick's eyes squeezed tight, he could feel the darkness clawing at him. Calling his name. Tainting his heart.
He wanted to call him. He wanted to open his mouth, and scream the name. He needed to fight back. He needed....to escape. To rest. To let Mxy take care of things.
Mick.......was tired....
A movement behind him suddenly caught his attention. Hands? Something...someone scrambling against the enchanted iron that bound his arms to the massive column. Someone...trying to free him?
"Who...who's there?!" Mick asked, his voice betraying the sheer fear he was feeling now.
"You always were a cry-baby, I swear...." the familiar voice came near his right ear.
Mick's eyes widened.
"Larry?!!" he exclaimed, trying to turn to see the man.
"Who else is going to bother to try and save your candy ass?" Larry Lance replied, struggling with the chains.
And, for the first time since this day began...for the first time in quite a while....Mick smiled.
"You came all this way for me?" he asked with a mock astonishment.
"I was bored."
"Oprah was a rerun, huh?"
"Yeah, and Spike's showing all those damn Bond movies again..." LL replied. "I mean, my god, how many times are they going to run Goldfinger?"
"At least it's not View to a Kill..." Mick shrugged.
LL flinched.
"Oh, god....I'd rather hump a broomstick than that nasty Grace Jones..."
"So that's supposed to explain that night I found you in the broom closet?"
LLance halted in place.
"I thought we said that we would NEVER mention that again?!"
"Okay! Okay! Jeez..." Mick nodded, shaking his bound chains fervently.
LLance grinned, going to work on the shackles again.
"...so...you came all the way to Antarctica for little old me, huh?"
"Well....there is this whole 'opening-the-gates-of-hell'-thing, you know..." LL replied, shaking his head. "...why do you think it's always about you?"
Mick smiled.
"I love you, too."
LLance sneered, still struggling with the chains.
"Hopefully marriage will take care of that..." he sighed.
"Heh." Mick grunted.
But, as he perused the carnage of the chamber.....the steadily opening doors of hell....the life-less form of Tayden....Velo pounding on his chest with a frantic anger....
....Mick's smile began to fade....
"...Larry..." he began.
And LLance caught the tone of his voice, pausing to look up.
"...if anything happens..."
Larry shook his head dismissively, trying the chains again.
"I know, I know....I'll pick up your child support payments for you..." he tried to joke.
"No man....seriously..."
Larry paused, not looking up.
"...if anything happens....tell Shirls' that....that....I...."
"....I know, man..." Larry nodded. "...and I will...."
Mick sighed, even as LL worked harder.
"...and, dude....." Mick said. "...you.....those first few months with the Revolutionaries....with the MBL.......I couldn't have made it without you...."
Larry said nothing, finding a lump rising in his throat.
"...you're my best friend...." Mick finished with a hushed tone.
"...oh...shut up....you wuss..." LL replied with a whisper, his voice catching a bit.
*************
"Heeeey....." the ex-angel, ex-living mortal nodded with an approving smile. "....nice upgrade, you guys..."
The luminescence of his surroundings was staggering. Walls made of galaxies. Floors of made of gravity-wells. And, the awesome light of The One penetrating overhead.
The Courts of Light.
"WE ARE PLEASED THAT YOU APPROVE, WARRIOR OF THE LIGHT..." the all-encompassing voice of the Metatron ringing off scale within the limitless range of thought and mind. "BUT, IT IS NOT ABOUT THE ALTERED PERCEPTION OF THIS PLACE THAT HAD US BRING YOU HERE."
"I kind of figured that..." Tayden nodded, running his fingertips across the rippling omnipresence that crafted the percieved surface of the massive table in front of him.
Within the tabletop, Tayden could make out the battle in Antarctica, flaring with an accute precision through the rippling surface.
"Things are getting nasty, huh?" he asked, the view of the interior chamber illuminated in the scrying surface.
"Far too out of hand..." the godling known as The Time Trust replied, sitting as with his comrades, surrounding the table.
"What's to be done, then, eh?" Tayden asked, looking at the all-powerful gods surrounding him.
"Doth my children's children fight the darkness....thus is their duty...." the mighty Zeus said, staring at the view of The Pantheon. "...still, they shall not be enough..."
"So, what is it you want me to do about it?" Tayden asked. "I seemed to have coughed-up the big one, you know?"
"Certainly, we expect that you will have no deciding sway in this battle..." the High-Father added. "...for yours is another task."
Tayden squinted with confusion.
"So...wait...youre saying that you brought me here....just to tell me that I can have no real use in the conflict?" Tayden asked. "Well....duh...I'm dead! Of course I can't help...."
"AND THAT IS WHY WE HAVE PULLED YOU FROM THE PATH OF THE AFTERLIFE..." Metatron announced.
"Verily, thy task is not complete." Odin joined in.
"My 'task'? You mean, the reason I was sent to Earth in the first place?"
"Indeed." The Trust answered. "It is not your time.....and I should know."
"So...what?" Tayden asked. "You just going to send me right back?"
"YES." Metatron nodded.
"What about THIS, though?!" Tayden asked with a modicum of excitement, pointing towards the conflict. "What about the Gates of Hell, and all that?"
"THE ONE IS NOT PREPARED TO ALLOW THE COMING DARKNESS JUST YET..." the all-voice replied.
"I know!" Tayden answered. "So what are you going to do about it?"
Steps are already being taken, mate.... the voice of a certain 'Continuity' replied. ...the Courts have seen what happens when this plays out in other realities. We won't allow it again.
"What steps? How are you going to stop this?"
"Our agents are enroute to the plain of mortals, even as we speak..." a golden-light being replied.
Tayden nodded at the being.
"Hey..." he grinned.
"Hello, Tayden..." the being known as The X replied.
"So, then, how am I supposed to get back, then?" Tayden asked, turning back to the Court members. "Last I remember, I had a nasty little knife-wound, and was missing about seventeen pints of the red-stuff, you know?"
The Time Trust smiled.
"Patience..."
*****************
The gateway was now partially open, black claws and tentacles trying desperately to slither through.
"...I think I just saw Tayden..." Morpheus commented, pushing against the doors with a grunted exuberance.
"That's great, Morpheus...." Castor began.
"....but, did he have an army of seraphim at his side?" Pollux finished.
"We could....HNNGH....use the help...." the veiled Stheno said, the massive Gorgon pushing with all of her power.
"MORE POWER!!" Aeolus barked. "JUST A LITTLE MORE!!"
Across the chamber....
"Okay....screw this!!" LLance yelled with frustration.
He took a few steps back from the column.
"Hang on....I'm going to try something...." he mumbled.
And, with a sudden sprint, raced straight at the column. The moment before he collided with the stone-mixed-ice, LLance went insubstantial, diving through the pillar.
With a sudden jerk, Mick toppled forward, as LLance did a phase-tackle into his back. The momentum of the ghostly forms tumbled to a rolling stop on the ground.
"Wait! Wait!" Mick yelled, lying on the ground, staring at his foot. "Don't let go! Don't let go!"
LLance, his hand still on Mick's shoulder, noticed that the man's left foot was ankle-deep in the floor. Mick quickly jerked the foot above ground-level.
"...okay...okay..." he nodded.
LL let go of his shoulder, both becoming solid again.
Mick looked up at the hanging chains, and back at Larry.
"Now, why didn't you do that to begin with?" he asked, a wry smirk on his face.
Larry opened his mouth to comment, pausing briefly.
"Uhh...oh, I just wanted to make you squirm....yeah....that's all...." he replied very unconvincingly.
"...moron..." Mick shook his head.
Larry leapt to his feet, reaching down, grabbing Mick by the hand.
"...okay, now, let's get out of here...." he said, hoisting Mick up.
Mick's eye rolled, as he staggered a bit. Larry jerked his hands out, steadying the man's seemingly frail form.
"Easy, chief....easy...." Larry said, a look of concern coming over his face. "...you okay, Mick?"
Mick nodded, a faint smile crossing his features.
"...yeah....yeah....I'm fine, man....really.....just dizzy...." he said, trying to reassure the man.
"So...how about you call out Mxy, and we blow this joint to hell and back?" Larry replied, the trembling sounds of Naecken and Vengeance going at it.
Mick shook his head.
"I don't know it that would be such a good idea, right now...." Mick said.
Larry frowned.
"I don't unders--"
His words were suddenly drowned by the crackle of an energy beam embracing him.
Mick jerked around to find Larry standing completely still. His skin had turned a dirty brown....
"Larry?!" Mick asked.
Stone. Larry Lance was now a solid, stone statue.
"I find that carbon-based life-forms are far easier to manipulate than others I have encountered."
Mick spun around to the source of the voice.
"I wonder....would your fifth-dimensional ties protect you from such a device?" Saros asked, walking towards him with some form of advanced weaponry in hand...
"AEOLUS!" Arges yelled. "WE CANNOT HOLD IT FOR MUCH LONGER!!"
The Pantheon struggled, even as the Gates widened.
And, suddenly, a faint breeze kicked up....
Aeolus turned his head, as if listening for something.
"What...?" Medea asked, as if hearing the same thing.
"Something....rending the spatial firmament...." Aeolus began.
And small smile crept onto his face.
"...someone....bending the z-axis...."
And, with that, a spatial wormhole 'boomed' open in the rear of the chamber.
Castor: "Hell...."
Pollux: "...yes!"
Aeolus smirked, even as figures stepped out into the chamber.
"You're late, Prophet...."
The firm hands of Turkish Stringfellow braced against the door.
"What is it they say....'better late than never'?" Stringfellow smiled.
"...always have to make the dramatic entrance..." Aeolus shook his head.
"Cross! Greystoke!" Turkish began. "Take to the battlefield! Friday! Z! We have to close this door!"
Friday shifted three-personalities over, calling up the massive might of Aggador Tallmoore.
"Ha!" the joyous bellow of the personality coming forth. "I've known women that can push harder than this sad crew!"
Arges cocked his only eyebrow.
"Charming newbie you guys have taken in, Turk..."
Z grunted, as she began warping spacial waves, straight into the open pathway, pushing whatever it was on the other side back further into its' own realm.
"Rowena!" Turkish announced over the roar of chaos. "You know what to do!"
***************
"Oh...great...." Tayden sighed. "...I see the 'deus ex machina'-team has entered the conflict..."
He turned, staring at the writer.
"....shocking..." he drolled.
He turned back to the Courts...
"So, when do I go back......and how?"
"You are a rather impatient young being, aren't you?" The Time Trust asked.
"When it comes to the end-of-the-world battles.....yes!"
******************
Velo ran, screaming with exhaustion and fury, diving at the alien Saros. The immense figure, in turn, shot him with a beam, petrifying him in his tracks.
"These humans are all the same..." he sighed, turning back towards the quickly retreating Mick.
At the altar, a shadow fell over Tayden's lifeless corpse. Rowena, the avatar of life itself, stared down at the white face with a small, warm smile.
Leaning slowly down, she placed her lips on Tayden's....
******************
"Whoa!" Tayden nodded. "She digs me!"
Before anyone could comment, a doorway of light suddenly opened with the chamber of the Courts...
"There is your path home." The Trust indicated.
"Oh." Tayden replied with a hint of disappointment. "That's it? Just a doorway?"
"WHAT WOULD YOU PREFER?" Metatron asked.
"I don't know..." Tayden shrugged, walking over to the doorway. "...maybe. like, some chariots of fire, or something.....hell, even a supernatural-cool-techno-sorcery elevator would be interesting....you know...something with a little flair..."
He paused, noticing everyone was staring at him.
"...ummm...did I just swear...here...?" he asked. "Sorry.....how embarrassing...."
And, with that, he stepped into the doorway of light....
*****************
Rowena releashed her passionate kiss on the man's lips, even as Tayden jerked straight up with a deep breath.
"Woooooooaaawww!" he exclaimed.
He turned with a smile, staring at the heavenly beauty before him.
"I tell you, 'red.....you've got some knockout lips..."
And, suddenly, Tayden felt very good about himself. Not for being alive again, mind you. But, even as she turned away with a small giggle, he realized....
...he had just made life itself....blush....
The avatar said nothing, turning with serious gaze upon the open doorway. Where others diverted their eyes, as to keep from going mad, she stared straight into the abyss. Focused on the indescribable darkness before her, she began a slow, steady stride straight for the opening.
And....her words hummed with joy....
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:I love you:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:. the words drifted across the sub-ether dimensions of pain and sorrow.
And, screams of a different type began to wail from the opening. The screams of eternal light, blazing the darkness with every word...
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:I love you all:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:. she continued, the denzins of Hell itself retreating further back into their realm. .:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:I love you forever:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
On the other side of the chamber.....
Mick tripped, falling into a pile of icy rubble. His ankle was now twisted. And his fatigue....
....he was so tired....
"Please....stop running....it only makes me have to work that much harder for my experiments...." Saros said, walking across the pile towards him.
He raised the weapon, Mick closing his eyes....
Suddenly, another portion of the main wall exploded, as a figure flew haphazardly straight into Saros...
Both figures rolled to a stop, Saros leaping to his feet with supreme anger.
"How DARE you!!" the alien yelled with indignance.
"...hey...don't look at me..." Ozzy Baxter began, trying to get to his feet. "...wasn't my idea...."
Saros raised the weapon towards him....
....just as a silver axe sliced his arm completely off....
"AAARRRRGGHHH!!!!" the alien roared in pain.
"It's called a 'Fastball Special', asshole...." the massive roar of Grimm rang easily above the chaos. "....I read it in a comic when I was a kid...."
The axe spun, whipping past Ozzy's ear, flying end-over-end into Grimm's powerful embrace.
"You want to talk to someone, Saros?" he began striding forward.
...and the axe gleamed against the burning glare of Hell's light....
"...talk to me..."
