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Darkflame Studios Productions Presents:

The Styx Diner - Death's Divine Anger

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STORY CONTENTS: Death, Blood, Violence, Language, Magic, Nudity

COPYRIGHTS: This story and characters owned and © R.J. Nebeker Rajah and Rajan Wolffang © Larry Gary Faytt is © Mike Augustine Mica © Monica Huffaker ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mica, Rajan and Rajah all gulped audibly; even Nina-Lia and Faytt were quiet with the sight of Allester's perfect silence and distancing, frightened them all. Allester was always animated, happy, sad, silly, or as Nina-Lia often called him "Wiggly", Allester was always doing something that drew attention. They'd seen him angry very few times, but this wasn't any of that... Quiet Rage only Nina-Lia had seen before in their youth, before she was brought in to the world of Divinity. She had warned them all jokingly that if Allester ever went quiet, the next World war was about to happen... and they now believed her words.

Allester sat in a corner of the Diner, staring out of one of the Dimensional windows at a placid lake with a few creatures flittering about the perfectly crystal clear waters. The creatures were his favorite pets, balls of light that looked like ermines at first glance, but with Butterfly like wings on their backs, very tiny legs, and antenna that poked up from between their tiny triangular ears. 'Arc Fays' were what he called them, because they moved like bolts of lightning when they pleased, even garnering an electrical field if they chose. But in this case, the multi-hued and multi-colored creatures all fluttered around one that had her colors constantly shifting. "Princess." Allester had called her; she was the Arc Fay's leader and Brood mother. They flickered around and danced along the water, Princess only two feet long from nose tip to tail tip was the largest.

Why he sat there, no one knew, even Nina-Lia his own wife didn't understand why he didn't want to hold her or be close to her. "Ally?" she ventured, stepping a bit closer to the booth he sat in. When no reply came, she moved closer slowly, until she slid in to the booth and tried to wrap her arms around him, but his tails snagged her hands by the wrists and held her at bay. His head shook slowly, but he said nothing and let her go. She slipped back carefully, she was worried for him. It didn't upset her to be pushed away or given a silent treatment, she understood the level of rage he had to be going through to be like this. So she reached out and touched the table in front of him, and the Diner answered her request, creating his favorite meal of twice whipped mashed potatoes with chives and ranch dressing mixed in to it; long cut green beans with bacon chunks and butter; and carved, nearly rare sage and thyme touched t-bone steak.

She could have cooked it herself, she knew he preferred it that way, but in this way the Diner wanted to help one of its master's. So she made his drink, a cherry and lime drenched tea that the diner never could get blended correctly. She sat it in front of him quietly, and risked leaning in to kiss his cheek... he leaned in to it just a little, not enough to be visible, but enough to reassure her that he still loved her. She smiled slightly, turned and walked towards the bar. "Get Squeak." She told Mica.

Mica didn't hesitate in the least bit, gone in the blink of an eye.

***********************************

"Ok... you reapers live life like Gods do..." Emily muttered as she relaxed in to the warm waters of an indoor pool set in the penthouse of a large hotel, ten sky windows lined the left side of the pool to let in the warmth of the sun. She floated on her back, water wings on her arms and thighs, even a pair on her tail since she didn't know how to swim. A smile folded over her lips when she heard a loud pop and then a scream from a mouse. "Gotcha." She chuckled.

In the room adjacent to the pool room, Squeak sat on his ass, every inch of fur on his body fluffed up to make him look like a stuffed animal. In his hands was a jar of peanut butter, but covering the floor, his legs, and one slapped over his face... were fake spring filled snake toys that had launched from the jar when he had opened it. After the initial shock, Squeak screamed again, but this time one of rage. "Insufferable female, how... how... augh!" he threw the jar at the wall and stood on his large feet, stomping towards the Pool area. "You are in MY home, Mine! You live here only because we ar-" he stopped when he finally realized Mica was sitting at the edge of the pool with both feet in the water.

"Marital issues cleared up? Good." Mica stated flatly. "Nina-Lia has summoned you. No questions asked." And with that, Mica vanished.

Squeak stood in shock; it had been three weeks since his first job as a Reaper, well a Reaper with access to Purgatory, and loss to the ermine female and was forced to be her partner. In those three weeks, he had been called on for minor things by Allester who was the big boss. But Nina-Lia held the reigns of that beast, for her to call on him was not just confusing but also unheard of. Something was wrong, so he summoned his Scythe and looked at Emily. "We have to go, I can't go anywhere without you." He grumbled, even as he watched her 'toad paddle' in her floaters to get to the poolside. He grudgingly helped her out of the pool, but rather than let her dry off, he brought them to the Diner in an instant.

She looked around, wearing her two piece bikini and her floaters, dripping wet and not a towel in sight. She glowered at Squeak, and started to shake herself out over him, but was stopped by some force. In fact, she couldn't move her body at all, and that worried her, until she noticed Nina-Lia walking close. Always the otter had some ancient form of dress on her body, but this time she wasn't dressed in anything so luxurious. In fact, her fur didn't shimmer or glow as it had when they first met.

"Nina-Lia, M'lady what happened to you?" Squeak said, in a very squeaky voice. His eyes were wide as he looked at the tattered dress she was wearing, stains covering the fabric... blood stains. He had been a reaper for a hundred and nine years so far, and even though his promotion was only recent, he had still met the Lady of Fate multiple times and never had he seen her without a smile or gentle air about her - much less such ratty clothing.

For a moment Nina-Lia hadn't bothered to look at them, her hand was held up - the source of Emily's paralysis. She was looking at Allester, who sat very close to where Emily was about to shake out her body. But Nina-Lia seemed to worry more about her husband than her appearance. "Don't worry about me Squeak. You and Shukiri will be working double shifts for a time." She paused and closed her eyes. "Allester will be performing some very serious dealings soon."

Squeak and Emily looked at each other for a moment, and then turned on Nina-Lia "Your dress! It's covered in Blood, you look pale... if that's possible for a Goddess, and Allester is spooked!" Emily blurted out.

Nina-Lia looked at herself, as if realizing her state of appearance for the first time. "Huh... I guess I'm letting my emotional state leak out." She said matter-of-factly. Within the space of an eye-blink, her fur radiated again and her dress cleaned and mended itself as if nothing had happened. "There, all better now." She smiled, though Squeak knew it was a fake one. She stood up and walked over to her husband, and then took a large scroll from the table in front of him, his food half eaten. When she handed the scroll to Squeak, she looked at Emily "Time for you two to learn how to be a team."

Glowering at the mouse, Emily pursed her lips and sighed a bit. "Alright, what's first then Squeak toy?"

"Squeak!" the mouse corrected.

"Stop making that noise and tell me what's on the list!" Emily retorted.

Squeak threw his hands up in to the air, holding the scroll in his left, and his scythe in the right. "Insufferable woman!" He hissed through his teeth, before putting his arm around her and vanishing from sight with the girl.

Mica sipped from a Tea cup, Faytt played with a red rubber ball between his jaws, biting down hard enough the ball should have popped, but always returned to its proper shape. "Those two would make an awesome married couple." He stated with a chortle.

Nina-Lia snickered a bit, showing some more life as she gave a brief smile. She turned to her husband, but blinked when she noticed he was gone. He had slipped out without her knowing, he had never done that before and it worried her far more than when he was quiet.

***********************************

Allester stood amongst the Arc Fay, Princess rested on his shoulder babbling incomprehensible things in his ear while her servants ran around finding things to please their creator. But he just sat amid the flurry of fur, lights, wings, and constant chatter. Finally, it all stopped. Every last Arc Fay froze and went silent. Walking in to the Garden was an unknown human. He stood five foot five, crimson hair worn in a shambled mop on his head with piercing red eyes and freckles, hordes of freckles. His build was much as their Creator's, slim but muscled, and the man carried a set of short swords on his hips, though he wore business clothing of charcoal grey and whites.

"Weapons are not permitted in the Garden!" Princess finally snapped out, and a swarm of her minions rushed the man. They all hit an invisible wall and crumpled in to goofy flattened lights for several moments before springing back in to their natural forms and buzzing around the walls surface angrily.

"Ginger." Allester finally said, speaking calmly and without opening his eyes.

The man smiled and dipped his head. "Twenty thousand years now and you still remember my presence without even looking at me." He said, even as he removed his weapons and set them aside before walking through the invisible wall and cloud of Arc Fays. The creatures hissed and snarled unbelievable sounds such tiny things shouldn't be able to make. "These are interesting things you chose to make."

"They are my friends." Allester said, unmoving. "Why are you here? You and yours swore you would move to another Dimension and never return."

Ginger thought for a moment and then smirked. "Chaos m'boy. Chaos." He chuckled. "You were my perfect student, ahh the Mischief you got in to, the Chaos you wrecked, I was a God so proud I wanted to give you my title!" he sighed. "But then you met that bitc-"

Allester lunged in the blink of an eye, his fist slamming in to the man's face so hard a crack of thunder hissed in the air and the human went flying, literally. Soaring several hundred feet; before meeting a mountain face, and halting in a crater along its side. He climbed from it, only to have his face smashed once more, this time right in to the ground. "Do not refer to my wife at all, Ginger." Allester snapped. "I'll remain civil if you can keep her mention from your disgusting lips."

With a sputter of sand, Ginger sat up laughing. "Great hit boy, you really caught me off guard with that. But fine, agreed. You could have been a Chaos Knight boy... but no..." he shook his head and stood up. "Why'd you have to do it hmm?"

Allester's eyes narrowed, Ginger was awfully close to mentioning his wife again, but he kept his word, though he rolled his eyes at the question, "Love. That's all the answer you will get from me." He said.

"Love?" Ginger groaned and rubbed his head. "For the Gods sake Almarria spoiled your brain with her foolish ideals to steal you away from me."

"And several of your other Chaos Knights, too I might add." Allester gloated. "The ones you sent to retrieve me, the ones you sent to kill my wife in the hopes of turning me."

Ginger's hands rose up in a placating fashion and he sighed. "Fair enough, I tried to cause you harm, you caused me harm in return."

"It doesn't answer WHY you have come back though." Allester paused and smirked a bit "But I'm glad it was you I sensed, you I can beat without any effort."

With a loud laugh, Ginger tilted his head back and roared with a smile. "As Death, yes, you could. But the reason I broke the pact is simple as I said, Chaos. I am the God of Chaos after all."

"Not good enough."

Sighing, Ginger held out his right hand. "To see you; and to warn you." He paused and looked around. "The war is ending, and the other gods think it's time they returned to reclaim their worlds from those chosen."

Allester's ears shot up and his eyes narrowed. "Why? What's here for them? Why should I trust you?"

"Because boy, I'm a God of Chaos like I said. They were going to sneak in, I knew you would have set out defenses to detect any incursions - didn't think you'd have them so well set though, nearly died getting to this side, clever boy." He muttered "But I want you to have a fighting chance, so I thought to warn you."

"Ohh yes, and with nothing to gain from it either." Allester responded sarcastically. "You know full well, that as Death no God can beat me. I can only be ended by giving my blessing to another who is worthy. The Ancient Gods wouldn't be stupid enough to spark my ire again... not after last time."

Ginger smirked some and shook his head. "Can't fool one of my best students." He sighed. "I want a free pass, to come back and be left alone to my own devices." He said.

"No."

"What? Why not? I warned you didn't I?"

"Without setting terms to agree upon before warning me. So no." Allester said firmly.

"Come on, I don't want to be around nothing but Gods anymore... It's so... BORING."

"You fight with us. You can move to Marcista."

"Fight? Are you kidding? For Marcista? There's nothing on that world!"

Allester smirked "Exactly. You could make your own people there, all by yourself, to be LEFT ALONE as you want. All you have to do is side with us."

Ginger ground his teeth, getting through the dimensional portals trap laden passage, had taken far too much out of him, getting in to a Gods personal space took even more, even at his peak though, Death was immune to his powers. "Marcista and Cavin. Both planets are in the same system, I can't have just one planet to generate Chaos on!"

"Swear never to enter a World Protected by the Styx."

"...Fine. I swear once the old Gods are beaten to a bloody pulp, I'll take those two planets for myself and never enter the Styx again - UNLESS invited by a God of the Styx." Ginger recited.

Allester nodded his head and held out his hand, "Invited ONLY by Myself." He corrected, and when Ginger took his hand, Allester's fingers closed viciously over the other mans. He watched Ginger's face contort in to a painful grimace, but still trying his best to smile until Allester released his hand and grabbed his shoulder. They were gone from the Garden.

***********************************

"GINGER!" Nina-Lia snarled through her teeth, her upper lip curled and her eyes flaring controlled rage when the man stepped in beside her husband. It took her barely a step to blink from existence and clobber the man - once more his face ached, as di his body after slamming in to the wall nearby.

"She's still alive?" Ginger coughed as he sat up, looking at Allester. "God of Death, right, never mind. You wouldn't take your own wife's soul." He said, rubbing his jaw "Bloody Hell, does everyone have an incredible right hook now days?"

Nina-Lia was marching over to him again, drawing one of three weapons that can kill another god, the Key of Fate. Ohh how Ginger's eyes opened wide and his mouth went slack. Nina-Lia liked that look of fear and horror on the man's face; she started to saunter her way towards him instead, tapping the dagger sized key to her palm. Before she could reach him though, Allester's arms wrapped around her from behind and he kissed her cheek. "He's siding with us in a coming war. He'll be gone soon after, on his word as a God."

With her ears perked, Nina-Lia looked at her husband sideways, not wanting to take her eyes off of Ginger just yet. "He knows if he breaks his vow, he becomes mortal and powerless right?" she asked.

"Yes... Yes I do." Ginger said.

"Good, break it. Now." She retorted, hissing through her teeth.

He smiled at her and laughed "Fiery thing." He said simply and sat down in a booth, only to be tossed from it as the Diner snarled a loud growling sound that echoed in the air. He looked around a moment and frowned. "What is this place?"

No one answered him. Instead, Allester whispered in his wife's ear what he was told by Ginger. Her ears drooped slightly and she shook her head some. "We're outnumbered. Thirty-two to five."

"Six," Ginger corrected as he looked at Mica, Rajan and Rajah closely. "So your wife became Fate... You Death, these Twins the Gateway, and... the woman here the Gatherer. Quaint."

"Woman?" The twins asked, even as Mica tensed and his eyes widened a little bit.

Ginger smirked at the revelation, and he was about to continue when he felt a sharp object planted to his groin. "He's talking about himself, after I give him a little nip to the tip for pissing off our Fair lady." Mica said, holding a vicious looking Dagger from an Ancient culture in hand.

The twins snickered at Mica's statement, both of them crossing their beefy arms across their chests. "Should teach him not to upset Nina-Lia. Short fuse that one."

"WHAT?!" Nina-Lia barked, whirling in her husband's arms, her mood already foul, he had to hold her back visibly with his strength.

"We're sorry!" The twins yipped in unison, fear dripping from their voices.

Ginger laughed heartily. "My gods I love this place. It's... it's beautiful. The Chaos here... and yet... it's so basic." He laughed. "Allester my boy... Amazing work!" he said, wiping a fake tear from his eye.

***********************************

~And to this day, I dedicate my book to my parents - Rest their Souls, my brother whose blood is on my hands, and the life I've lead up to this point in its confusion, hate and utter redundancy. For without these things, my Book would not exist. My Life would be as worthless as it is now. Nothing shall fill the void my life makes up except the extinguishing of it and those around me and those around those and so on and so forth. Life is fruitless, Useless, and worth nothing. Even now you buy my book that explains my life, the life of my family, their deaths, and now mine. You paid for it, read it, and now see how useless it is. How useless you are.~

Richard smiled as he looked at the final page of his book. His giant round ears rolled forward, his smooshed face and large black nose framed by the giant ears. The grey and white fur on his face was ragged, torn, and missing in places where scars ran rampant across his body. For a Koala, he was thin and short, almost malnourished, but all by choice. Two books now, he had published, fuzzy and loved creations of a wonderful cluster of characters he had created. His publisher wouldn't bother reading the book until after it was in production and millions sold. So he leaned over his typewriter, an ancient creation from another era, and pulled the closing piece of his book free.

After tucking the page away, he looked out the window and smiled at the crowd milling about at the Tavern he used to go to for quiet respites. But once fans of his books found out he went there, they crowded him and hounded his life every day. Slowly they sucked the will and fire for life from him, and now, he would reclaim it. With a click of a button, an explosion ripped through the air. The Tavern imploded, caving in on itself along with the two buildings flanking it, and a third that was behind the large building. People screamed in agony and terror. Those who survived the initial blast and the fall out crawled over corpses, the living broken forms of people crying for help, all of them ran towards the street. But Richard had planned for that.

Another explosion erupted from the streets beneath their feet, fed perfectly by the city sewers focusing the blast upwards, and Richard just smiled a crazed smile before a piece of blasted concrete flew in to his window and crushed his head.

When he opened his eyes, he looked around the strange room he was in. Blood red walls surrounded him on all sounds in an octagon shape, black drapes teased from the vaulted ceiling towards the center point where a grand crystal chandelier hung down to the center. Just beneath that beautiful work of art, Richard saw a black circular bar planted to the ground with marble like surface. Two large black wolves were manning it on opposite sides, towels wiping across the bar top. It was a wonderful lounge, no noise filtered up to his ears and the only other patrons were content with their own meals to disturb him. A small fox and jackal sat in one booth far away from him thankfully as the fox looked too young to be in a blissful place like this.

Then there was a mouse and ermine supping soup in the proper fashion, and his heart melted with happiness. Finally, civilized people were around him, minding their own business and not rushing him for his fame. It was the other couple sitting in a booth just in front of him that disturbed him. A human with fox ears, a Rishishka. Richard knew the race was very rare to see, mostly because they hid themselves away behind their mountains and avoided contact with Humans and the Animal clans. The dark furred otter was beautiful though, his eyes were glued to her green eyes and the soft purple fur of her throat. But an air of danger surrounded the couple, as if just being near them risked his life.

"May I take your order sir?" a male voice questioned, when Richard broke his gaze from that otter woman his eyes met a human male with red hair and freckles. His name tag read 'Ginger' and had a little doodle of a cat face next to it.

"Oh! I uh, where..." he paused and shook out his head. "Sorry, I must have dozed off and lost my menu. May I-" he stopped as Ginger placed a menu before him and then walked off silently. Richard was in love with this place now. Employee's who knew not to banter, quiet customers who minded their own business, and people who ate properly, it was Avalon to him. If only that dangerous couple weren't here, or at least that Rishishka. He could do with the otter's company any time. As if reading his thoughts, her green eyes met his and she gave a soft smile. He quickly yanked the menu in front of his face, "What am I, six?" he huffed to himself in a low whisper and peeked over the edge of the menu.

She was no longer looking at him, but speaking softly with her companion. Richard gave a soft sigh and turned to look at his menu, only to gasp and blink.

Cracked Brainloaf - 0.99

_ Eyeball Pate' - 1.79_

_ Brick Skull Soup - 3.19_

_ You blew them up - 0.89_

_ Body Soufflé - 10.99_

_ Blood and Gore everywhere - 0.19_

Richard slammed the menu shut, panting heavily. The others all looked over at him curiously, their stairs all angry from his disturbance. It was only proper that they'd be angry at him for his actions, he couldn't fault them for that. "Apologies, everyone." He said respectfully, dipping his head and opening his menu again to hide his face.

Your fans are dead. Dead and Dying.

_ You died as well._

_ Why did you do it? Did they deserve it?_

_ What shall you do now that you're dead?_

Screaming in rage, Richard threw the menu away and stood up. "MANAGER!" he snarled, and even as the other customers stared in rage at him, all he could do was pant heavily and wait.

Ginger walked over and frowned "Sir, you are disturbing the other guests." He said.

"I don't care. I am Richard Malkin, I demand to see your manager. This menu is a farce!" he growled.

Ginger took a moment to pick up the thrown menu, opening it and reading off in a calm tone.

"Carmin Meatloaf,

_ Escargot Pate'_

_ Braised lamb Soup_

_ Yogurt and Thyme Cake_

_ Beef Souffle'_

_ Bordeaux and Ginger ale"_

"What is wrong with the menu sir?" Ginger continued.

Richard snatched away the menu and opened it up to see. Everything was there as the waiter had said.

Everything.

Was he going insane? Maybe. He was making plans, plans to stop fans. He sat down again and frowned, "Forgive me folks. I... I'm under a lot of stress. Please, allow me to buy you all a bottle of Bordeaux." He dipped his head and looked at the waiter. "I- I'll have some Soup and Ginger ale. I shouldn't be drinking." He finished in a hushed voice.

As Ginger walked away, Richard ran his hands along his ears and fidgeted his feet. "May I?" a voice only an angel could have said, feminine yet motherly. He looked up to find the otter looking at him and then the booth seat in front of him.

"Oh! Oh please, please!" he stammered, standing up to pull a chair out for her, only to realize it was a booth, so he waited for her to settle down. "I'm Richard." He said.

"Yes, I heard." She tittered in a light giggle.

Richard would have blushed so crimson it could be seen through his cheek fur, if he could. "Right, I am so sorry for that outburst."

"Stress. I heard." She said again, and the way she sat let the little black dress number she wore show off her buxom bosom.

He couldn't help but stare. She didn't seem to notice, or care. "Yes. My publisher has been on my tail for the last month to finish my next book." He frowned a moment, black lettering seemed to peel away from her darker fur and cross over the purple fur of her breasts. 'You killed them all' it read 'Why did children have to die for your ego?' another scrawling asked him. Jamming his hands against his eyes, he scrubbed hard and huffed.

"Well, I'm Nina-Lia La-Rose Darkflame." She purred in response, smiling so sweetly.

He paused, her name was so familiar and yet, he couldn't put his finger on it. "I'm pleased to meet you. Is that your body guard there? Dangerous creatures those Rishishka."

Her ears hiked up, the cookie cutter shapes slightly pointed. "Oh? You know of his species?" she asked.

"Only that they're reclusive, xenophobic to an extreme and even to this day are considered the most vicious soldiers around."

"Ahh, so the rumor mill stuff." She giggled and smiled even more. "Allester is a big cuddle bear, he just appears vicious an uncaring. Part of his job."

Then it hit him, "Ahh! La-Rose Studios!" Richard said, smiling all the more "Your company offered to do a movie of my first book." He said, though when that happened seemed to elude his thoughts. Did that happen? His head felt foggy, and as he peered towards the violet cleavage again, his eyes saw those words once more. 'You loved your fans once' and 'why? Why kill them for being them?' once more he screwed his eyes shut and snarled.

"I'm afraid you've confused me with someone else." She responded, as if she didn't feel or even see the words her fur was printing in his vision.

"What's wrong with him?" a voice asked in a whisper.

"I don't know. Couldn't be stress." Another said.

"Isn't he that famous writer?" a third voice added.

"Yeah, he killed a bunch of people, blew himself up too!"

"Really? What an idiot." One voice laughed.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Richard screamed, standing fast, and feeling something hitting his fist as his hands came up to pound his heads sides. When he stopped, he peered at the prone form of Nina-Lia. Blood leaked from her eyes and ears, as if she'd been hit by shrapnel. His head snapped around and saw the other customers also laid out, bleeding everywhere.

All except the Rishishka.

The man looked like a movie poster version of Death, complete with Scythe. "I-I-I didn't mean too! I didn't want to hurt her! So beautiful. So-herk!" her choked out, the world had shifted. He stood in his room, the wall blasted in, peering down at his own corpse. A blue light chained him to that body, and the strong smell of death filled his senses. Sirens, Lights, Screams, all of it filled his ears and he trembled.

"Gods, I can't believe I went along with their game for so long." A man said from behind him.

Richard whirled around, expecting to see that pissed Rishishka. Instead, he saw the human, Ginger.

"No, Thank you?" the man asked, sitting on Richard's bed as if he owned it. "Dear me, mortals don't respect the Gods anymore." He shook his head and glowered at Richard. "I am the God of Chaos, Ginger."

Raising his left eyebrow and shifting his footing, Richard snorted. "A God named 'Ginger'? Really? What kind of idiot do you think I am? What is all this?" he snapped.

Ginger crossed his arms over his chest, his left lip curling. "Be very careful how you speak to me. I cut your tether there," he motioned to the blue light "and you cease to exist entirely. A God cutting chains is not the same as Death or a Reaper cutting them. But I am interested in you Richard. You have the potential to bring Chaos to this world." He smiled wickedly.

"Chaos? Pfft, I just wanted to be left alone. Now get out of my face you filthy thing." Richard snapped, reverting to his natural state when around people he didn't consider 'normal'. But then that Rishishka was walking through the hole in his wall, Scythe still in hand.

"Fucking blood hound Allester." Ginger said, and once more the world snapped out of focus.

Richard was looking down at a small building that housed a small diner with a neon sign blinking from Red to Blue and reading "Styx Diner" in to the night sky. "What in the Nine Gates?" he asked, noticing the blue light still coming from his body and trailing over the horizon.

"Talk fast. Death won't take long to hunt your soul down. Do you want to join me? I can protect you from his sight." Ginger said from close by... floating in the sky.

"That was Death?" was all Richard could spit out.

Ginger rolled his eyes, "Yes. Allester is Death, and you were staring at his wife's tits. She does have an amazing body, but I prefer big butts, can't lie." He said and smirked "But HITTING her, oh you are so screwed if he catches up to you. I'm sure you wouldn't suffer for too long, maybe five millennia if her bleeding heart works him down. But once again, join me and I can protect you."

Richard tried to process what he was hearing. When he felt his breath leave his chest from a strong tugging feeling on that blue light, he shifted. "Fine. I will!" he said, just as he felt someone 'walking' on that light towards him. He watched Ginger smile, it was crazed and fear inducing, as he reached down and grabbed that blue light. "Wait! You said if you cut it I'm done for good!" he screamed! Just as Ginger ripped the light apart, he felt like he was punched by a truck and then shuddered as he felt himself losing connection with the universe. Until Ginger touched the shredded end of that light to his own chest. The blue light flared in to a crimson light and Richard felt invigorated. He also felt the 'movement' on the light vanish.

"A Second chance Diner. What were you thinking Allester? I bet it was that bitch who put you up to it." Ginger snarled, shaking his head. "My greatest student, why did you have to fall for that creature? Ohh well, I'll make sure to end her when the others return."

"NO!" Richard cried, grabbing Ginger by the ankle. "I want her. I want Nina-Lia. Give her to me and I'll do anything you want." He hissed, his eyes twitching wildly side to side.

"Fine." Ginger said, and then they vanished from sight.

***********************************

"I told you this would happen!" Nina-Lia said, she was perfectly fine since she never got hit. No, Ginger had somehow yanked Richard out of the Diner and in to a fake one. Allester had punched his way in to Ginger's mock up just in time to see the aftermath of the hit, and he was stalking the Diner's kitchen floor. It was just him and Nina-Lia, the other three were to scared of their Bosses to do more than peek through the door a crack.

Allester's entire body was cloaked in azure and violet flames, the blaze so hot it melted several pots and pans a good twenty-feet away. "I already knew he was lying. He's broken his word, he will start to lose his powers as a god now. Become mortal, and when he does, I'll be there to give him a nice trim." He growled, smashing his fist in to a cutting board, it exploded from the force and sent shrapnel everywhere. The bits seemed to dodge around Nina-Lia's body, and pelting the wall near the door that the others were peeking through. "He actually made a mockery of the Diner, and worse yet, he created a fake of YOU that he mangled for Richard." She snapped, his voice raised to a level that the other Gods had never seen before.

"What's going on?" Squeak asked from behind the three deities on the other side of the wall, startling them all.

In an instant, the door flew open and Nina-Lia glared at those gathered, her own divine power blazed a black spot in the door way. But she moved off towards a set of stairs that seemed to morph out of the wall just for her. "Privacy is a thing CHILDREN." She called over her shoulder as she hiked her dress skirts and stomped up the stairs in a way that made the Diner's walls and lighting rattle. A Goddess enraged was a scary thing.

"Ginger stole the Soul we were supposed to receive today. Made a fake Diner to intercept it and then let the Soul hit Nina-Lia's fake." Mica said after the stairwell sealed itself. She looked at Squeak and Emily. Before either could respond, the Diner's door opened and let sunlight in. There wasn't supposed to be any Soul's coming.

"Hi!" a chipper woman's voice called out as she stepped in. "Been awhile, does Rajah and Rajan still work- HEY BOYS!" Merideth barked, rushing over to the group still tangled up on the floor.

They all stared at her - The Diner was in 'God Mode', only the Dead and Divine could find it, much less enter, something was wrong.

Very wrong.

~ The End...

~~ To be continued...