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Chapter -25- Story Time

December 9, 2049 - morning Syracuse, New York ...

Natalia Kincade stepped into the small study.

Behind the desk, Cybil Powalski looked up. He started to rise but Natalia gestured for him to stay seated.

"Please," she told him, "I would like to join you."

Cybil relaxed in the chair. "And I would like to take the opportunity to thank you, Mrs. Kincade. I appreciate all the resources you've given to me. I appreciate all the members of your think tank, and how respectful they have been."

"Mm. It was my pleasure, Cybil." Natalia wore earth tone colors. He dress was decadent and old fashion, but small by comparison to how she once dressed fifteen decades ago. "I am pleased to give you a home. I am pleased you've made friends here. If there is anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable, I will see to it that Sero or Mela, my girls, will buy what you need, or drive you where you wish to go. My family is at your disposal."

"With all due respect," said Cybil, "Can we move past the pleasantries? I know why you've come."

Natalia smiled. "Good. Very well, then. I wish to know if Aris Falcon will survive, and I wish to know who in our flock will parish."

Cybil folded his hands. He leaned back in his seat and frowned. "First, I would like to tell you that the accuracy of my ability has increased with the aid of your husband's friend, Steven Milford." He made a brief hum sound at the back of his throat.

"Mm, Steven is not the most trustworthy man I know, however he is quite intelligent and, many times, he has prove to be useful."

Cybil nodded in agreement. "Oh, very much so! We created a drug that appears to help me with my stammering, my frustrating outbursts, and the accuracy of my predictions has increased."

"Oh? I was not aware of this."

"We were unsure if it would work. It's a mixture of several drugs, including an amphetamine, methylphenidate, dextromethorphan, and something else we synthesized together that we haven't named yet. It helps with the outbursts but it makes my other harmless tics more frequent. It's a trade off."

"Correct me if I'm wrong - I believe some of those names are somewhat familiar but I cannot place where I've heard of them." Natalia crossed her legs, adjusted the lay of her ankle-length skirt and folded her hands.

"The first two I mentioned are two different types of stimulants that are better known for hyper active children and people with problems paying attention. The third one is often found in cough syrup. It does a lot of things for the mix, but between those three ingredients alone, I'm typically in the bathroom. I should make that my office. Ngh." He grunted again at the back of his throat.

Natalia, her hands still folded, tapped her thumbs together in a rhythmic pattern. "I see. In regards to the death of Aris Falcon, how detailed is the future you've seen?"

"Quite detailed. Even more so than the unnecessary information I've just given you regarding my time spent in the bathroom. The good news, however, is that I'm losing weight."

Natalia nodded to acknowledge him but she remained on topic. "Will you tell me happens?"

"When, exactly?"

"What have you seen?"

"More than I wish to know," Cybil said pointed.

"I wish to know about the day Aris Falcon and Loki Laufeyjarson dies."

"You'll be pleased to know both men die on the same day, one after the other."

Natalia sat up attentively. "Does anyone else die?"

Cybil frowned. "You need to understand if this information is leaked to those who are involved, it would potentially change the outcome. Mrs. Kincade, ngh, if you can promise me it will stay between us then you will increase the accuracy of my prediction. Ngh."

"I wish to know as much as you are able to tell me about how it ends. Please," Natalia said in a gentle, calming tone. "I can make proper preparations for the future. However, you must tell me everything. Do not leave out any details."

Cybil fidgeted. He shrugged his left shoulder twice, stretched both of his thumbs and then closed them abruptly, cracking his knuckles, followed by another soft grunt. "Close the office door and lock it, please." He sniffed twice, cleared his desk, and said, "It all starts on Saturday, New Years Day..."

X

---

X

Saturday, January 1, 2050 - Shortly after midnight Beneath the Atlantic Ocean ...

Reno Nevada approached the glowing energy stream that flowed through a pillar-shaped gap at the center of the room. "The quakes stopped."

Reno Nevada was a fairly average man with short black hair. Average build, average height - what set him apart was the faint glow of electricity in his normally brown eyes.

Adjacent to Reno was a young-looking blond girl with green eyes. Karla Loupe, a succubus, smoothed the hem of her skirt and stole a glance at her husband, Eric Loupe.

Eric remained silent.

Karla cut her brilliant green gaze towards two other men. One was a Spanish man with a disheveled, haggard appearance. "Raul? Are you okay?"

The other man, across from Karla, was, at first glance, nothing like a man at all. He was a towering black werewolf. He stood tall on digitigrade foot-paws, and wore a simple cloth around his waist to cover himself.

Rufus Darken reached a paw out and touched the Spaniard on the shoulder. "Raul," said the wolf in a guttural yet baritone voice, "Karla, there, done asked you a question, son." His dialect was indicative of a corn-fed American southerner.

Raul Poliandro arched his brows. "Que?" The Spaniard cut his gaze towards Karla. "I was distracted ... contemplating, really. I never thought I would see inside this room ... at least not in person."

Karla shrugged with a sigh. "What does that energy conduit do? You've looked pale and nervous ever since we fought our way into this building."

Raul turned his gaze back to the pillar of energy that hovered in a cylindrical shape between two jewels set into the floor and ceiling.

Raul, revered by his friends, was a temporal guardian with the ability to move through time. The time traveler turned back towards Karla. The girl was his dead sister's only-surviving daughter.

Karla gestured for him to speak. "C'mon, we're on the clock here, Raul. Christ."

He feigned a smile at his niece. "It channels temporal energy. This is one of the pieces of technology, created by the First Age of Humanity, which allows people like me to move through time."

Eric chimed in, "So this is a temporal control chamber? Those people had the ability to control time?"

"Not directly, Señor Loupe. They needed someone who could reset time for them. But this monstrosity became too great of a responsibility, spawning alternative realities each time it was used. So the First Age had hoped to destroy it."

"And you know this ... how?" Karla smirked.

Raul replied with a quiet, mysterious smile.

Karla scoffed. "Whatever. So, let me guess, someone with the ability to control time managed to figure out how to restore it?"

Raul nodded in reply to Karla's question. "One can only assume such, Señora. No one left alive knows how to deactivate it."

"Toying with time seems dangerous," said Reno.

"Agreed," Rufus said in a throaty, animalistic voice.

"Should we destroy it?" asked Eric.

Raul shrugged. "I do not know how. This device is the reason why Steven Milford and Lance Patterson's people sank this city. They couldn't let the world have control over time. It was assumed to have been demolished until people, like myself, manifested."

Karla, linked arms with her husband, Eric. They moved to the right of the glowing energy stream, remaining silent.

Eric lifted his hand and gazed at the shadow of his fingers, cast on his palm from the brilliant glow of the energy conduit at the center of the room. He focused, using his ability of shadow manipulation to move the shadows of his fingers so that they danced over his palm.

After a moment, Eric looked back up at the rest of the group. "What comes next?"

On Reno's left, Rufus Darken was in full werewolf splendor. The werewolf turned back towards Reno and neither spoke.

Poliandro nodded to Reno. "When you charge those crystals, you'll remove the quantum time lock entanglement that has protected the last few years from being changed. I cannot reset time - rather, I cannot fix it, unless you charge that core."

Rufus cleared his throat. "When that time lock is removed, can you go back and save Ulfey from dying?"

Raul shook his head. "No. The time lock is removed at precisely the moment Reno charges the energy stream. Every second before that occurs is still locked. I can only go back to the time approximate to when Aris Falcon engaged the lock."

Rufus frowned. "So what's the point of doing this? If all you can do is go into the future from this point, it's worthless."

Raul shook his head. "We are creating a restore point. Look at it this way: If one of you is injured two weeks from now, I can go into the past a matter of hours or even days to prevent your injury."

Karla folded her arms. "I thought you once said that we shouldn't tamper with time like that. You said it's dangerous."

"Si," Raul agreed with a nod. "It is very dangerous. I was explaining to Reno with a hypothetical situation. We need to remove this temporal quantum lock. If something terrible, like Ragnarök really happens ... we need the ability to repair it."

Reno rubbed his palms together. "Then what are we waiting for?" He placed his hands into the energy stream and fed a steady current into the crystals set into the floor and ceiling.

Raul looked around at the group. "Let me see if I can go a few days into the future. Keep the jewel charged until I return." Raul glanced at a pocket watch and then vanished.

Everyone exchanged glances, nervously awaiting Raul's return.

Several seconds later, Raul reappeared, holding his pocket watch in his other hand. He looked absolutely exhausted.

Raul had two days worth of stubble and his clothes were filthy. He wore a different pair of pants than before but his shirt was the same. "It's too late."

"What?" Karla said with a frown. "Ragnarök is already happening or something?"

Raul used the back of his hand to wipe dirt from his forehead. "Everything is ruined. Nearly everyone is dead. And there is no way to change the past."

Reno arched his brows. He withdrew his hands from the energy stream and turned to face Raul. "What kind of bullshit is that?"

"Señor, the timeline is broken. Everything was supposed to happen differently." Raul sat down on the floor. The look on his face said it all - the man was defeated and fatigued.

Reno sighed. "I don't understand, man. What's the problem and how do we fix it?"

Raul looked up at Reno with a frown. "Loki and Heimdallr should have survived, averting Ragnarök. That is what should have happened in the correct future."

"So what happened?" Karla asked, unsure whether or not she wanted to know the answer.

Raul said, "When I went into the future, most of you were dead. Loki and Heimdallr died together before we could disengage the time-lockout."

Rufus grunted. The werewolf lowered to all fours, coming closer to Raul. In a gruff voice, he asked, "I thought all werewolves had to die first. Fenris would wake up and devour Odin, and then Loki dies in a fight against Heimdallr. I'm still alive, so how can they be dead? Shit happened out of order."

Raul shrugged. "They're dead. The order may not have been corrected, but it soon will be. I saw the future, Rufus. The death of Loki and Heimdallr set the world on a collision course with ... how you say ... finality. El fin."

Karla threw her arms outwards. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

Raul sighed. "Karla, I'm actually happy to hear you scream in my face."

Eric spoke in a calm, firm voice. "Answer my wife's question. None of us understand what you saw, and we're trying to fix this so we can go home to our families."

"Señor Loupe, I just came from your wife's memorial service. Her body was laid to rest - your body, however, was never recovered." Raul rubbed dirt from his forehead and sighed.

Karla swallowed. "Jesus. Jesus, we're all dead two days from now? We have to change that from happening."

"Who lives?" asked Rufus.

"None of you," said Raul.

"But who does live through this?" asked Reno.

The Spaniard rubbed his dirty face with his hands. He looked at his palms. After a moment, Raul stood up. "Sinopa took the children into hiding. Conner, Donnie, Evan and Peter also live. Donovan Loupe lives..." He trailed off, trying to think of anyone else. "James Parker and his wife used the staff of Aaron to bring the district coast back to America, but he used the staff of Moses to divert the water, so no flooding would occur. They are hailed as prophets and humanity's last hope."

Silence. Everyone listened in shock.

Raul paused briefly. He added, "There was another survivor. The Australian black man..."

A toothy grin tugged at the werewolf's muzzle. "Collobulous. My best friend is gonna get through this shit. Right on, son. So, what'cher saying is, holy shit, everyone else dies. Issat it?" Rufus shifted his weight. "What about my son?"

Raul shook his head. "All the werewolves die. Fenris wakes and breaks through the chains of the Gleipnir. Creatures become free to destroy the gods. Those creatures find their way from the Celestial Realm to Earth. First, the handful of supernatural people left in the world die. Then billions of humans. The stench was ... will be unbearable."

Rufus licked his lips with apprehension. He'd only just met his son after twenty-six years. He'd just lost Ulfey, and now he and his son, and the boy's fiancé would all die next. Rufus' stomach turned to ice. "Fenris and the World Snake - they actually wake up and attack the goddamn planet?"

"Si, Señor Rufus."

Rue grimaced. "So did the humans nuke those things?"

"Si. Nukes were used to destroy the great wolf and the world serpent. Between the creatures' attacks and the nuclear weapons used to stop them, less than ten percent of the world's population survives. This all happens in the next two days."

"Christ," Karla said. "Are you fucking with us? Please tell me you're fucking with us, Raul."

Raul grimaced. "No! I just came from your funeral. Dios Mio. I met with Natalia and Peter. We've come up with a solution but it is dangerous."

"What the hell is it?" Reno said. "We change the past right?"

Rufus clenched his paws into fists. "We gotta find Sigyn and stop her right now. We cain't let her summon those damn things."

"It is too late!" Raul exclaimed. "Don't you get it?! Things happened the wrong way! Loki and Heimdallr are dead! Aris Falcon killed them before we managed to release the time lock! It cannot be undone!"

Karla ground her molars together in frustration. "So we keep the werewolves alive, that stops Fenris from starting Ragnarök, right?"

Raul shook his head and looked down. "Sigyn killed Nichole Parker, the clone, and learned her ability of temporal control. She moved forward in time and by the time I arrived, it was all too late."

Karla threw her hands up in the air. "How the hell did Sigyn learn how to control time?!"

Rufus cut in. "Nichole Parker, the clone, was able to steal abilities."

Raul nodded, adding, "She acquired the ability to control time, and Sigyn killed her for it. But I did not know this until I traveled to the future moments ago. And now that we've deactivated the temporal lockout, she became free to move through time."

"So let's go back in time," Karla said. "We go back and we stop Loki and Heimdallr from dying. We kill Falcon and Sigyn."

Nevada eyed Raul. "Why didn't she go back further and kill us days ago? A year ago? Two years ago?"

Raul sighed, too tired to raise his voice. "Do any of you listen? I already explained this! We cannot go into the past. This is the earliest point I can go to. I cannot go back to yesterday. This is the reason I went back to Spain, many decades ago, and waited at a place, and at a point in time for Karla to find me."

Karla groaned. "At that fucking bar! You sat in there, drinking, for like ... twenty years or some shit! Why didn't you come and find me sooner?!"

"Because I did not know about the temporal time-lock! I thought my powers were acting strange," he explained. Raul rubbed his eyes with his palms. "I cannot travel into large jumps of the future because I am not quantum entangled to Earth. It moves from beneath me, in a manner of speaking. So I take small 'steps' when moving through time-space. I honestly did not know when the time-lock would become disengaged. I did not know this future existed. I waited in that bar in Spain because an oracle told me my sister's daughter would eventually find me there."

Rufus frowned. "So you can't fix anything between now and several years ago?"

"Exactly," Raul said. "I would have to go back many years and change many things. But I already tried that. I sat for decades until Karla found me."

"I understand," Reno said rubbing his chin. "Because as of a few minutes ago, the block was still in place." Nevada nodded firmly. "Sorry, it's just ... when I watch a movie about time travel, it's easy to follow. But living it ... that's another thing entirely."

Raul nodded and closed his eyes. "So tired."

Nevada crossed his arms. "What do you want us to do?"

"Nathanial Carrington has to change everything. Everything."

"Nathan is dead," Karla snapped. Karla's expression softened as sudden realization swept over her face. She placed her hands on her hips. "Wait, are you going to go back and warn Nathanial? Are you going to keep him from dying?"

"Something like that, but not exactly," Raul said. "But first, the future version of Sigyn, who has mastered her temporal ability, will be coming here."

"When?" asked Rufus.

"Likely now," said the Spaniard. "She should be here any minute."

Reno turned to Raul. "What? We've been just chattering on when we could have been preparing?"

"I am hoping she does not show here," said Raul. "But I was told, at Karla's funeral, that she appeared from thin air and killed everyone. There is no point to run or prepare. She will show when she decides to show."

Karla's eyes widened. Her jaw dropped, staring at Raul. "YOU! It was you all along!"

"Que?" Raul eyed her. "Me?"

"Yeah!" Karla threw her hands into the air. "All these years, Nathanial always knew the most bizarre goddamn things about the future." Karla smirked. She put her hands back on her hips. "All those goddamn years, he said it was one of the oracles telling him things. He even avoided Chance, because the boy was telepathic. He said he had to avoid Chance, because the knowledge would make Chance a target."

Raul opened his mouth but said nothing.

Karla approached her uncle. "But it was you! You were trying to help Nathan course correct; you were his 'oracle'. You keep going back and trying to help him fix things. Then you live it out, you see how it plays out, and you go back to help him fix it with new changes."

Raul frowned. "I can neither confirm nor deny..."

"Oh come off of it!" Karla erupted. "You're trying to get the timeline to be perfect, so everyone lives happily ever after. And you let us treat you like shit; you let us judge you for being a drunken asshole, because you couldn't tell us just how fucked up your life was. Jesus Christ, Raul."

Raul grimaced and looked away. "It's not exactly my burden the way you assume. But you're close."

Rufus patted Raul firmly on the back. "No need to hide your sacrifices, son. I'd have mainlined beers, too, if I thought everything was goin' to shit and I suddenly couldn't use my abilities to fix it."

"Stop talking, everyone," Raul demanded. "We have a bigger problem right now."

Karla frowned. "What?"

"As of this moment, there is nothing blocking time. From this moment going forward, Sigyn can find us. She'll be here any minute to kill the rest of us. I know, at first, I was feeling hopeless, but ... I was wrong. We should fight. Perhaps by telling you of your futures, I'll have changed it."

Reno frowned. "What's the plan?"

Raul gestured everyone to gather around him. "In other time loops, Cybil, the oracle, tells me that Sigyn never acquired the ability of temporal control. Now that Sigyn has acquired that ability, time can also control her. If we use this chamber, we can protect ourselves from her attacks."

Reno asked, "What do we do?"

"The only way to stop her is to overload the temporal machine. It will tear the temporal ability from any who have it. That will kill Sigyn."

Reno rubbed his palms together. "Then let's do this. As soon as she appears, I'll fry her ass."

Karla gave Raul a shove. "Get out of here or you'll die, too. Go forward through time, quick, before that bitch shows up."

"Stay safe, everyone." Raul turned to Reno and shook his hand. "You are a brave man."

"It's not a problem, Raul. I just stuck my hands in here a few minutes ago and I was fine. I've got this."

Raul cast a knowing smile. "...Si, of course you 'have this.' I've always known you 'have this,' Reno Nevada. You're a brave man. This is all happening differently than in other loops. The changes have always been small ones until this last loop."

"Then do what it takes to fix shit, Raul," Nevada replied.

"Si. I will do my best. Sadly, these most recent changes allowed things to progress far differently than before. I even let all those millions of people die because I was hoping it would save billions."

Karla swallowed. "That certainly explains why I found you in Spain, drinking away your heartache. You feel responsible for the death of millions on the District Coast, and on either side of the Atlantic."

"Exactly," Raul said. "Things will be different this time. Remember, when she appears, you wait until she's close. Then you charge the energy stream. Good luck." Without warning, Raul dropped to the ground.

Karla blinked, looking down at her uncle at her feet. A glistening red ruby shined on his forehead. Red rivulets dribbled down the bridge of his nose. Silence. Karla stared at Raul's dead body, too shocked to react.

Sigyn dropped from the rafters of the large room with a grunt. She landed like a pouncing fox and stood up with a sniper rifle. "These Earth weapons are quite accurate. They fire themselves. You simply lock in a target and they use a computer to fire. Simply delightful."

No one spoke.

Sigyn admired the rifle. "It is my first time using one of these devices. No wonder humanity invented them - it feels like having supernatural abilities ... being able to waggle one's finger and take a life."

Karla clenched her hands into fists. "You fucking bitch!"

Rufus grabbed Reno's wrist and shoved him towards the energy stream. "Do it!"

Sigyn pointed her weapon and fired.

The silent rifle's round struck Karla's telekinetic shell and veered away. Karla shouted, "Fry her ass!"

Reno thrust his hands into the energy field again. He tensed up and flooded the energy field with raw energy. Nothing happened.

Sigyn tilted her head. "What are you idiots doing?"

Eric turned to Reno. "Try it the other way! Reverse your polarity!"

"Negative charge; I got it, I got it!" Reno relaxed himself and absorbed the energy flowing between the two crystals in the floor and ceiling. He drew current, while adding a different polarity back into the energy field.

Everyone turned to Sigyn. The temporal field expanded.

Reno began to glow with a negative sort of light, similar to the glow of a black light. His forearms and eyes glowed dark with an eerie aura.

Sigyn grimaced in discomfort. "What ... are you idiots doing?"

Karla turned back to Reno. "Give it everything! I think it's working!"

Reno tensed up and gave his all. He poured everything he had into the pillar of glowing energy. The field grew to double, and then triple in size.

Sigyn dropped to all fours. Her molecular makeup was pulled apart, no longer entangled to any one specific time. She groaned in pain. Her body began to tear itself apart from the inside out. "W-wait..."

"It's working," Karla exclaimed. She turned back to Reno. "Don't hold anything back. It doesn't hurt us, just her. Let the bitch have it!"

Reno groaned and grimaced. He stepped forward, putting most of his body into the energy stream.

An eerie glow caused everyone to squint as though staring into a black light bulb that was far too bright for the eyes. Reno exuded a powerful negative-light aura.

Sigyn's body ripped apart, along with the dead body of Raul. On a molecular level, their atoms were torn from one another. Each tiny fiber of their being was free to travel to a different time period.

All that remained was a spatter of blood on the floor, accompanied by primordial sludge - mostly burnt flesh and some bodily fluids.

Karla collapsed, winded.

The glow dissipated. Rufus thrust his fist out. "It worked, Blondie!" He turned to Karla, surprised to see her on the floor. "Blondie?"

Eric turned to his wife. "Karla?"

She pointed towards the energy stream. "Reno," she wheezed, out of breath. "He just..."

Rufus and Eric looked around but Reno was nowhere to be found.

Karla crawled towards a burn mark on the floor adjacent to the normalized energy field. "He just..." She touched her fingers against the still-warm residue from the soles of his shoes. The burn mark on the floor had an imprint of his shoes at the center, the only two spots where the floor wasn't scorched.

Rufus gawked. "What the hell happened?"

Karla waved her hand at Rufus and Eric, gesturing for them to back away. She stared at the spot where he'd been standing seconds prior.

Her chest ached from where the wind was knocked from her lungs, having witnessed his death. She replayed the incident in her mind. It happened as fast as snapping one's fingers. Just like that, Reno Nevada had disintegrated.

Reno's body had vaporized with a flash of bluish-white light, with a dark glow at the center.

All that remained of him was the scorch mark on the ground where his feet were firmly planted just seconds ago.

Karla's lower lip trembled. Her blond hair shifted forward over her face. She remained on her hands and knees, waiting for her body to take a breath, but unable to do it herself.

Her green eyes glistened with shock and pain. Tears glistened. She stared at the outline of his shoes, waiting for him to reappear. She prayed he disappeared the way he had so many times in the past, when teleporting as a bolt of lightning.

A hint of steam rose from the ground where he stood before the flash. She finally caught her breath, gasping like a fish out of water. "R-Ren..." She sucked in fresh air, gasping his name. "Reno! R- Reno!"

In the past, he always reappeared almost right away. She called out again, "Reno!"

There was no reply.

Karla was a master of teleportation, and knew Reno could do something similar by transitioning into a bolt of lightning.

...But that was not what she just witnessed from him.

Reno had vaporized.

Reno was gone.

Her conflicted gaze glistened with tears, and her heart raced. She stared at the burn mark on the ground. She began to pant from an uncomfortable pounding in her chest. "No..."

A hand came to her shoulder. Eric grimaced and said, "Karla..." His voice lowered, adding, "I am so sorry. Truly."

She shrugged her husband's hand away. "Don't!"

"Karla..."

"Don't touch me!" She wheezed. "Don't! He's not...!" Karla felt overheated, panting from emotional duress.

Eric licked his lips, stole a glance at Rufus, and placed his hand on her shoulder again. "Karla..."

"Both of them," she gasped. She struggled to catch her breath again, adding, "Raul and Reno."

The city shook again. The quake wasn't as intense as earlier, but it was enough to alarm the group. Eric put both his hands beneath Karla's left arm and pulled her to her feet. "Get up. We have to find Conner and leave."

"He kept me sane when you left," she whispered. "I saved him, and he saved me. He can't be gone. He can't be dead. It's impossible. He can regenerate, and, and ... he'll materialize any second."

A deep, throaty, yet calming rumble came from the enormous werewolf. "Karla, darlin', we should look for Conner." Rufus Darken's smooth southern voice was scant solace, and his charm went on deaf ears.

"No," she said. "Don't you get it? Reno promised me he's not going anywhere, ever. He said he's here for me. He said he's here for me, and that he's not leaving me." Her tone changed, becoming spiteful. "That's way more than can be said for you two."

"Darlin'..."

Karla grimaced. "He wouldn't let himself die after a promise like that."

"We need to move," said Rufus. "If Reno really just gave his life for us, we cain't just stand around and join'em. We cain't let it be fer nuthin'. We gotta get movin'."

Eric cut his eyes to Rufus. They two men exchanged glares. "Don't talk to my wife. Does that sweet tonal shit even work on people, because it annoys the hell out of me."

"I ain't interested in yer wife, ya' dipshit," Rufus growled. "But we gotta move. Reno opened the way fer us. He knew it were a damn dangerous thing t'do. Now we gotta move. Let's go, you two!"

Karla swallowed down the emotion swirling about in her chest. Her knees felt weak but Eric held her up. She wanted to just ... cry. But after crying for Chance in 1999, and after crying when she thought Eric was dead last year ... Karla felt like she had no tears left. There was only numbness. "This is Aris Falcon's fault. Aris Falcon, and fucking Loki, and fucking Sigyn."

Eric guided Karla away from the glowing energy field at the center of the room. Rufus followed them back down the hall to another room. The main door opened and another woman came through it. She saw the group and froze.

Nichole Parker stood in the doorway, looking at the group. The brunette woman gingerly favored an abdominal wound with her left palm. She looked at the trio. Her gaze lifted to the impressive, smooth, marble-like walls on either side of the room.

Karla met the gaze of the woman. She brought her hand to her pink lips and cringed at the sensation of her heart dropping all over again. "Nichole..." She swallowed, trying to summon the courage to tell Reno Nevada's fiancée about Reno's fate.

"I told you," said the young lady. "Just Nicky."

Karla leaned against Eric. She rubbed her face, pushing blond strands back, behind her ears. "Fuck."

Nicky Parker looked around and shrugged. "Where's Reno? I found the others. We should regroup. Sigyn and Falcon are holed up in the main citadel building. It's not far. We've got them surrounded; we just can't get in. He's got Conner in there, alone. Conner, you guys; he's just a teenager. He's no match for a goddamn goddess and a psychopath."

Karla stared at Nichole for a moment. Her lower lip trembled. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "Nicky, sweetheart..."

"What?" Nicky cut her eyes from left to right. "Where's Reno? He was just with you guys."

Rufus moved between Karla and Nichole. He brought a large black-furred paw up and placed the velvet-padded palm on the injured woman's shoulder. "Nicky, girl, Reno had to use his ability to stop the machine from blocking Raul's power. It was creating some sort of entanglement lock over a block of time and..."

Nichole shrugged. "Well, I figured that much. The power isn't flickering anymore, so that means Conner did something on his end, too. This stupid buried city isn't shaking anymore. The air is less stale, now, too. I'm thinking some sort of air filtration things came online. Let's get back to the others and help with Conner. I'm ready to meet the son of my niece and nephew - god, what does that make me? A great aunt or something? Where's Reno? We should get moving."

Karla's voice cracked, "Nicky..."

"What?" She leaned to the left, peering around the huge werewolf. "You're, uh, Karla right?" She grimaced. "The succubus, right? Sorry, I don't remember your last name."

"It doesn't matter," Karla muttered.

Rufus took Nichole's wrist. "Look, there's something we gotta tell you."

"Well, get on with it. We have to get moving."

Rufus guided Nichole past Karla and Eric. The short hall opened up to the energy field. There was a splotch of bodily fluids in two places, and a burn mark adjacent to the vertical pillar of energy at the center of the room.

Rue used his free paw to gesture to a burn mark on the tiled floor. "That's where Reno were standin'. He, ah, put his hands in that energy beam thing..."

Karla and Eric came back into the temporal energy chamber.

Nicky Parker looked from Rufus to Karla. She cut her gaze to the burn mark on the floor. There was a bit of rubbery residue on the tiles. There was a pattern, the size of two shoes, where the floor wasn't scorched.

Nicky lifted her eyes to the glowing jewel object in the ceiling. She looked back down at the other jewel, set into a small circular recession in the floor. Nicky turned her attention back to the adjacent burn mark.

Karla grimaced, her heart pounding in her throat. "He's gone, Nicky."

"He does that lightning bolt thing. Let's find him and get back to..."

Rufus stooped down so that his black-furred muzzle was even with Nichole's face. "Darlin', he was standin' there one moment. Right before you walked inna room. He reached in and put his hands in that-there glowing energy stream thing. And then it got real bright. I heard a low moan, like air were pushin' out his lungs from the heat..."

"Rufus," Karla snapped. "You don't have to be so fucking detailed. She didn't need to hear that!"

"Karla..." Rufus sighed.

"No," Karla muttered, "Don't you 'Karla' me. Nicky didn't need to hear that last part, goddamn it."

"Anyway, he disappeared," Rufus said softly.

Nichole swallowed. "What do you mean by 'disappeared.' He does the lightning bolt thing."

"Rufus," Karla warned.

"No," Nicky said, "Please, tell me. Disappeared how?"

Rufus took a deep breath and sighed through his canine teeth. "He vaporized."

"Bullshit," Nicky snapped. "How can you jump to that sort of conclusion, huh?"

Rufus shook his head slowly. "Look, Karla saw him disintegrate. I'm real, real damn sorry, ma'am. No one could'a known that would've happened."

Nichole shook her head, slowly. "I refuse to believe he died touching something that puts out electricity. It's some sort of power plant. He's electrified. That ... that thing," she pointed to the crystalline power core set in the wall, "runs on gravity created by the Earth. It's not like he could electrocute himself! And people don't just disappear."

"Nicky..." Karla swallowed.

Nichole moved around the group and lowered to one knee where the two footprints were on the scorched tile floor. She winced from the pain of an abdominal injury. "Rick plunged a dagger into my back and through my heart. And I wake up twenty-six years later from cryogenic freeze."

"Yes and..." Karla found herself cut short.

Nicky continued. "And my goddamn fiancé is there, and he's the same age. Okay? Fate put us back together. I'm not even religious and you guys can't deny that's huge."

"Nicky," Karla whispered. "He disintegrated. There's nothing we could do and I am so sorry."

Nichole traced her right index finger over the rubbery residue where there were two footprints, surrounded by a scorched pattern. "As Reno would say, this is bullshit. Okay? Do you guys know what I went through?"

Karla swallowed her grief to help Nicky with her denial. "Honey..."

"No!" Nicky shouted. "I woke up from death. I fight a psychotic doppelgänger of myself - some sort of super-powered clone. And Reno's brother, who was just a teenager last I saw him, freaks out; Vincent was screaming and crying. And ... and then I there with Reno, and..." Nichole stood up.

Karla shrugged her husband away and put her hands on Nichole's shoulders. "I am so sorry. Nicky, I am so..."

"Stop," Nichole said. "There's an explanation. He turned into that ... that bolt of lightning thing that he does now."

"He's gone," Rufus confirmed. "Whatever we saw happen to him, it was violent n' ugly."

Nichole squinted. "No. He was zapped to wherever this core-thing connects. He's somewhere. He's here somewhere. We'll find him. Fate doesn't just bring two lovers back together after all that time, and then kill one. That's bullshit."

Karla and the others remained silent.

Nichole winced, left hand over her gut. "Aris Falcon will know. Let's find that guy and corner him."

Karla placed her hands on Nichole's shoulders and pivoted her until the two faced one another. "Let me see."

"What?"

"You're bleeding through your shirt," said Karla. "I need to see how bad it is."

Nichole nodded. "Boys?"

Eric and Rufus turned away.

Nichole lifted the front of her shirt and showed Karla where she'd been injured. A bloody mess glistened on her stomach. "Good thing I had my appendix taken out when I was a kid. I'll be fine. It's just a puncture."

"It will get infected," Karla whispered to her.

"We have to get out of this goddamn city first."

Karla licked her lips, somewhat empowered by Nichole's optimistic outlook. "Maybe you're right - maybe Reno was teleported somewhere. I've seen him zap a telephone pole and ride the wires across town. Maybe he's on the other end of wherever this energy field goes or something."

"See? Stay positive." Nichole replied with a weak smile. "We have to find my niece and nephew's kid. I don't even know if Fox and Topaz survived all this shit."

"Fox and Topaz were with Charlie Foster and Johann Foster. Those boys are very, very capable Specials. They'll keep the twins safe. Charlie is a telepath for God's sake."

"Topaz is pregnant," Nichole said. "She's not going to be able to defend herself."

"Okay, do you know where Conner is? We'll find him and get him out of here."

"Yeah, he's in that citadel at the center temple. The barrier is gone but I can't find a door." Nicky turned back to Karla and added, "We've been down here for two days. It's time we finish this nonsense."

Karla nodded with a sigh. "Yeah."

"Are you okay? Look, he's alive. Just trust me. I feel it in my gut."

"Me? You're asking about me?" Karla palmed the moisture from her eyes. "You're the one who was clipped by a bullet."

"Look, I have this weird hyper-perceptive thing now. I can hear things that are really soft like heartbeats. And I don't even need it to know you're really upset. But trust me, Reno's fine. Gut feeling. I trust my gut. He's not dead."

"Yeah, about the perception thing," Karla shifted her weight. She pushed her hair back and rubbed her face again. "That sounds like a disadvantage," Karla said. "You going to be okay to fight with us?"

Nicky nodded. "When someone fires a gun or screams, it's like my ears know to protect themselves. I figured out how to control it in just a few hours. Now I only hear subtle things. Come on, he's fine. It's kind of weird you're so upset about him anyhow."

"Look, I'm married. It's not an issue."

"No, I know you guys stopped that stuff," Nicky said with a sigh. "It's just weird knowing you guys had a thing, when you thought your husband was dead, and when Reno thought I was dead. I feel like I'm forced to be friends with my man's ex-girlfriend."

"We never dated," Karla said. "Let's go. I'm feeling better now."

"Good. Look, I get it - you guys were pals. Trust me, he's fine."

Karla nodded. "Yeah. I hope you're right."

Nichole frowned. "Sorry. I didn't mean to treat you like a kid; it's just weird because you look so young. Reno told me you were immortal or something, but it's hard to wrap my mind around that."

Rufus frowned. "Please, Nicky, just don't get'cher hopes up." He looked over Parker and frowned, reminded of what he'd done with her clone several months ago. Rue cleared his throat.

Nicky shrugged. "Look, if Reno really disintegrated, there would be ashes, or some sort of residue other than rubber tread-marks. His electricity thing just melted the bottom of his shoes a little. He's not dead."

Eric sighed. "Karla saw it all, Ms. Parker."

Karla murmured as if disgusted. "He burst, from inside out, and vanished."

Eric added, "We can't afford to stop and look for him. We have to keep moving forward. I'm sorry to sound so callous, but I have a family to rescue. And so do you. We should get moving."

Nichole lifted and then lowered her eyes, as if sizing up Eric. She approached him and, in a soft tone, said, "I came back from the goddamn dead. I was murdered. I felt myself die."

"Welcome to the club," Eric said. "Yes, I'm serious."

Nichole grimaced. "What I mean is, I woke up from cryogenic-fucking-stasis two-and-a-half decades later. Who was there waiting for me? Reno Nevada. You remember that guy? The homicide inspector with the funny name? Throws lightning bolts out of his hands?"

"Don't condescend to me, young lady," Eric snapped.

Karla put her hands up. "Eric, Nicky, let's not fight each other." She moved between Eric and Nichole.

Rue groaned. "Let's just get moving. If I stand around, I'm liable to start thinking about how messed up everything is. Raul is gone. We can't change shit now. Reno is gone or missing. We gotta move."

Karla remained between Eric and Nichole. "Let's think positive. I can't lose Reno. He means too much to me. Nicky, he is special to you. I'll help you find Conner. The egotistical little shit wouldn't be able to brag anymore if I rescued him."

"You and Conner don't get along?" Nichole asked.

"Not really. We're fire and water. And ... it's complicated. We can't stand to look at each other. Look, I'd rather not discuss it."

Nichole grimaced.

Karla shrugged. "Anyway, he doesn't deserve to die. Let's go rescue him, my kids, and get the hell out of here."

The werewolf's triangular black ear flickered listlessly with irritation. "If we just leave, like we did twenty-six years ago, this shit will never be over. We gotta kill Aris Falcon. We gotta bury him down here. We gotta end this shit."

"Rufus," Karla said with a sigh, "We have to get our family and get out of here."

Eric grimaced. "I hate to say it, but Rufus is right."

"What?" Karla turned around to face her husband, surprised. "You're agreeing with Rufus, now?"

Eric's eyes cut from Karla to Rufus. "I may hate him because he fucked my wife last year..."

"I thought you were dead!" Karla exploded.

"Because you left and didn't come back," Rufus added. "Do you really deserve to be so possessive? Or are you acting like this because you don't know a proper way to apologize to her?"

Eric continued, unfazed by his wife's outburst. "...But Rufus right." He ground his molars together, "About both things. Look, so long as Aris Falcon is alive, my family will always be in danger." Eric glanced at Nicky, adding, "Ms. Parker, your family will be in danger as well."

"So what's our plan?" asked Nichole.

Eric sighed through his nose. After the brief pause, he spoke in a tone of authority. "Leaving to regroup is not an option. We have two objectives. One, we get our children out of here. Two, we come together and kill Aris Falcon."

The succubus eyed her husband. "Fine. Sinopa can protect all the children. We'll send our kids, Conner, and Topaz back with Sinopa."

"We could use Topaz," Eric argued. "She's an experienced Master Thief, who can..."

"No," Karla snapped. "She's pregnant, you twit. I'm only staying married to you because you came back for our children and me. You're a good man, Eric, but you need to let me do the thinking for this family until we're topside. Are we clear?"

He groaned in frustration. "I can't believe we're arguing again already."

Nicky threw her hands up in the air. "Everyone shut up and follow me! God!"

Karla put her arm around Eric's waist and rested her head on his shoulder. "I've got you trained, and for that I'm sorry."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Eric demanded. He crossed his arms over his chest. The group walked out into the street.

The quartet emerged from an enormous building at the heart of the ancient city. Up ahead, there was an elevator shaft that came down through the bedrock, above, and stopped in the middle of a street. A large lift was on the ground level.

They began walking up the ancient road towards the main citadel at the heart of the city.

The succubus sighed. "We always argue, and then we have makeup sex," Karla replied in a gentle tone. "I basically trained you to argue with me. Look, let's just get our kids out of here and then we can figure out how to kill Aris Falcon and that crazy bitch, Sigyn."

Nichole looked back at Karla. "What about the other guy?"

Karla shrugged. "Loki is Heimdallr's problem."

Rue sighed. "You just wanna up 'n leave again?"

Karla grimaced as the group walked towards the central temple less than a mile away. "That's not what I meant. I'll do this with you guys. Let's find Falcon and kill him today. Rue, you should get up that elevator we just passed."

Rufus drew in a long, deep breath through his snout. "I already put all my cards in place. Rama 'n Aimee are safe. I already made my peace with my son."

Karla frowned. "Rufus, you have nothing down here to fight for. But you have a son, and a future daughter-in-law waiting for you topside."

Rufus opened and closed his huge paws a few times. "Blondie, you's a pretty face 'n all, but shaddaup."

"Hey!" Eric snapped. "Do not talk to my wife like that."

Rufus bared his large lupine fangs. "Quiet, you. This-here's how we talk to each other - we sling compliments 'n insults inna same sentence, dig? I ain't gonna pretend to be someone else jus' cause you's insecure."

Karla held her hands out. "STOP, both of you! Stop the sword fighting and put your cocks away! Rue, you don't have to risk your life. Go home, babe."

Rufus shook his head. "No. Hell no. I'm here cause I ain't gonna let Falcon come after my son. I'm down here, same as y'all. I'mma kill that sumbitch, and you knuckleheads are gonna need my help to do it. So, is the drama hour done? If so, let's go find the others 'n kick the doors in on that citadel."

Karla sighed. "You can stay, Rue. I'm sorry I asked you to leave. You have just as much riding on this as the rest of us."

Rufus rubbed his paws together. "I came down here to free my best friend from cryo-what-sis. Mission accomplished. Collobulous is helping the others get clear. But I'm stayin' 'cause that's what friends do fer each other."

"Friends huh?" Karla whispered.

Rue glared at the succubus. "Karla, you's a friend. Eric, Nicky, I dunno you two all that good. But I know everyone else in this shit with us. Evan, Johann, Fox 'n Topaz Parker; hell now I even know Reno's brother, Vincent. We all gotta work together. Now let's rip this place to shit, y'hear?"

Karla nodded and gestured for everyone to follow her back through the narrow hallway. "Alright, Rufus, where's Collobulous?"

"He didn't come down here. He's up in New Atlantis with Donovan Loupe, Kalen Kincade, and that-there lioness-woman. They's gonna tear that city apart until all the people evacuate."

Karla smiled. "Sekhmet - the lionness' name is Sekhmet, Ruebear. Okay. Let's meet up with Sinopa and have her take the children up to New Atlantis."

An energy-based rifle discharged. The round passed through Eric's torso, which darkened like a shadow.

The energy discharge was little more than a clear haze through the air. It struck the wall behind Eric Loupe. His eyes narrowed. His chest changed from tenebrous back to corporeal.

Karla turned to her husband and put her hand on his shirt. "Did something just...?"

"Yeah. I did it without thinking about it. Maybe when I heard the shot?" Eric touched his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

Rufus sniffed. His tall black-furred ears laid back. The werewolf snarled, baring his fangs. "Here they come."

Karla pushed her fingers together, popping her knuckles. "I see'em."

One of Falcon's remaining patrol teams came around the corner. They saw the other squad, weapons out, and drew their own.

"Oh, good," Rufus said. His black pelt bristled and his tail puffed up. "I was lookin' forward to gettin' into it with these sons'a bitches just one more time before we leave."

"What's the plan people?" asked Karla. "I'm exhausted. I'm saving whatever fight I have left for Falcon and his cronies."

Rufus glanced over at Karla, "I say we flank'em, Blondie."

Karla smirked. "Fine by me, Ruebear." She tensed her forearm. A muted pink glyph appeared skin deep beneath her palm.

Rufus disappeared. He reappeared behind the first group of soldiers.

Eric glowered at his wife. "I hate the pet names you two call one another. You never came up with anything sweet for me."

Karla smirked. "So come up with something sweet to call me. Or do I have to initiate everything in this relationship?"

Eric returned the smirk. His body underwent a rapid metamorphosis to an inky black form. It disappeared into a drainage pipe alongside the street.

Karla looked down. She furrowed her brows. "Damn. The inhabitants really were advanced. They had plumbing and storm drains."

Rufus dove into the group of soldiers facing the women.

Nichole withdrew a flash-suppressed pistol she'd procured in the past two days since waking up.

Karla looked back up. Her husband's shadow form rose up around the second group of soldiers, ensnaring them in nebulous tar.

Karla grimaced. "Okay, okay, damn guys. Hog all the goddamn action." She huffed. "I needed to snap necks to feel better! It's how I deflect okay?!" She opened and closed her hands. "I'm going to need a goddamn shrink after this shit. What was Tamamo and Rachel's doctor's name? Usagi or something?"

Rufus closed his jaws over the neck of one of the soldiers. He jerked his head back and forth rapidly while using his claws to eviscerate another attacker on the left.

Karla clenched her fists. She turned towards the shadowy form of her husband. Eric's tarry mass encompassed the other squad.

The flailing hand of a soldier thrust through the darkness. It sank to the ground. Karla watched as the soldier's hand grew still. Her eyes trailed along the dead man's wrist to where his body disappeared into the shadow mass.

"Oh, sure, drown them," she grumbled. "I don't even get to fight anyone?! This is goddamn bullshit!"

And then it hit her. She swallowed back a sudden rush of emotions. The adrenaline faded. "Bullshit," she whispered. The word was a favorite gripe, often exclaimed by Reno Nevada. The man whose death she just witnessed. Her heart ached.

Her desire to fight faded. She stood in silence, watching as Rufus and Eric defeated both attacks squads.

Nichole stood further back. She approached Karla from behind. "Reno said that a lot."

"Yeah. You heard that huh?"

"Yeah," said Nicky with a sigh. "It's awkward because you and he had a thing. But when he saved me from that suspended animation crap, he acted like you and he were just friends." Nicky looked around at all the fighting. Rufus was tearing apart soldiers on one side. She looked away from the gore. "I can't believe werewolves are real. Or super powers, or any of this mess."

"Yeah," Karla drew in a deep breath and let out a long, slow sigh. "Nicky, just so you know, Reno and I were friends first. Our 'thing' wasn't about sex. He encouraged me to be the succubus I am. I nursed him back from his coma when he came out of stasis. Later on, he helped me through coping with the loss of my family."

Nicky frowned. "I'm not upset with you. You thought Eric was dead. Reno thought I was dead. I understand how grief works."

Karla turned from the gore caused by Rufus. She glanced over at the black tar drowning the other half of the soldiers and sighed. She faced Nichole and grimaced. "You know, Reno never fell for your clone. He felt nothing for her."

"Yeah, I'm told his brother, Vincent, had a thing with her." Nichole cringed. "Vincent." She took a deep breath. "Okay, look, let me just say this last thing. You guys had a 'friends with benefits' arrangement. You have every right to be upset at whatever you saw. But trust me, I feel it in my gut, Reno is not dead."

"My husband is back," Karla said. "I have to try and make things work. For my family. The life I made with Eric is what I've wanted." Karla lowered her gaze to the ground. She cringed at the sound of anguish and tearing flesh from across the intersection.

Nicky nodded. "I understand, but I can tell you're upset about Reno. You still care for him. So, tell me, honestly, what did you see? I need to know."

"I saw him die," Karla replied in a quiet tone. "It was in his eyes. He knew something was wrong. And then there was a weird dark light that discharged from his body. And then he was ripped into..."

"Into what?"

Karla closed her eyes and sighed through her nose. She felt the emotion bubble up from her aching heart. "I saw him ripped into ... I don't even have a word."

Nichole's breathing quickened. She clenched both of her hands into fists, keeping the left one over her belly.

Rufus dropped the last attacker's lifeless body. He looked at the two girls and approached them. He withdrew a bottle of water from his hip pack and poured it over his head to rinse away the blood matted in his fur.

Nichole rubbed at her eyes. "God..."

Rue frowned "Nicky, there'll be a time to mourn. But we'll understand if you need to..."

"No!" she flailed her arms, trying to push Rue away.

Rufus caught Nicky's forearms in his large paws and held her still. "If you swing around like that, you're liable to make that-there stab wound worse. You need to calm down."

"She needs to mourn," Karla scolded.

Nichole struggled against Rue's powerful paws. She tugged, pushed and, finally, she fell into his pelt, weeping.

Karla grimaced, not understanding why Nicky would hug Rufus instead of her.

Nichole's knees gave out. She sank against Rue's hip, crying hysterically. "He can't be gone," she sobbed against his furry chest. "He can't be dead! The two of you just rescued me! After all that time, Reno and I finally got back together!"

Karla frowned in understanding. It was Rufus and Reno who found and rescued Nichole from stasis. She turned to Eric and sighed. "Of course she would trust Rufus. That big dumb teddy-bear wolf is one of the first faces she saw when she woke up down here."

Eric said nothing.

Rufus lowered to one knee and put one arm around her shoulders to keep her steady. He used his other paw and waved for Karla and Eric to go into the safe house, where Sinopa waited with Karla's little boy, Donnie Loupe.

Karla watched them, torn with emotion. She wanted to help somehow, but she didn't know what to say or do. She walked past them. "If he's alive, we'll find him. If he isn't, Aris Falcon will pay. First, we'll get Sinopa and Donnie out of here safely. Then we'll find Conner and kill Falcon together. I promise."

Nichole sobbed into Rue's soft fur, ignoring Karla.

Karla struggled with the knot in her chest. She reached for Eric's hand and squeezed it firmly. She took a deep breath and teleported the two of them out of the street, and into the safe house.

X

---

X

EPILOGUE

Several weeks ago (December 9) ...

Natalia fidgeted with an ornate mirror, one of her favorites. She lifted her gaze to Cybil with a frown. "I am truly saddened by the loss of Reno Nevada. He, like Nathanial before him, was a man with great potential."

"Potential?"

Natalia nodded. "If only Nathanial had done things differently, he could have been the savior of us all. To hear that Reno has been lost is heartbreaking. I had such plans for him, and so many people will grieve his death."

Cybil grimaced. "It's complicated."

"Indeed it is. However, and please, I mean this with the utmost respect - I asked you about the death of Aris Falcon. Does it happen next?"

"It happens right around the same time Nichole is sobbing into Rue's pelt." Cybil stood up from his desk. He stretched his back and walked over to his bed. The oracle laid down and folded his hands behind his head. "Thank you for putting up with my grunts and my groans. All these silly tics and frustrating flinches ... I didn't grow up with this. People have no idea how difficult and emotionally exhausting it can be to..."

Natalia stood up, picked up her chair and moved it near Cybil's bed. "I respect you," she said. "For many reasons. You've endured so much. You've handled it with such grace."

Cybil glanced over at her with a small smile. "You are a master of words."

"You are a master of our futures."

"Very well. This part of the story takes place in the Lost City, below the seabed. Get comfortable." He cleared his throat, grunted and took a deep breath.

Natalia remained silent. She folded her hands, sitting up properly in the chair.

Cybil started the story again. "While Nichole cried to Rufus, sobbing in his chest like a big teddy bear ... Aris Falcon was drawing his right fist back. In his left hand, he had a sonic sound device, with this thumb mashed over the button. The poor boy didn't stand a chance fighting Doctor Falcon head-on like that. Aris clenched his hand into a fist and launched it into Conner's face..."

X

---

X

January 1, 2050 Lost City, capital of the First Age ...

*Conner Parker sailed through the room. * Incredible pain surged through his face and chest. His thoughts, however, were on Tamae and their future baby.

Conner hit the ground. His shoulder throbbed.

Would he die today? Was this how Karla felt, twenty-six years ago, when presented with a choice to go home with her family?

All he could think of was not being there as the father of his future son. Not seeing the boy's birth.

Conner's cane rolled out of his palm. The pole's unique golden orichalcum metal reflected an eerie glow, coming from the center of the room.

The light was cast from a jewel wedged in a pillar at the center of the room.

Conner lifted his gaze to the iridescent jewel in the central pillar and squinted his eyes. The power core throbbed, like the beat of a heart, illuminating the large rotunda.

Aris Falcon stood over Conner. The man brushed his hands over his black suit. "You're lucky I still need you, boy," the man said, "or you wouldn't have survived that. You cannot use your agility and grace ability against me"

Aris held a small device up, showing it to Conner. "Ironic for you to have aligned with Steven Milford - he's the one who invented this."

Conner looked up at a sonic oscillator. It had a small speaker grille in the side and was the last thing he had heard before stumbling into Aris Falcon's left hook a moment ago.

All around them, the Lost City shook. Dust came from the ceiling. A crack formed in one of the walls.

Across the room a Norse deity, Loki, and his wife Sigyn, battled against another Scandinavian god, Heimdallr. The three gods twisted, shoved and clawed at one another.

Falcon glanced over his shoulder at the trio of warriors.

Slumped against a wall, Conner also watched the battle. He He sat there, dazed, trying to get his wits about himself.

"It is over, Heimdallr!" Loki shouted.

"We both know it ends with our deaths. If I die, you die," Heimdallr replied, spitting a fragment of a tooth to the floor. It shined like gold.

Loki spit from rage, exclaiming, "I will change the prophecy; you cannot beat us both, Heimdallrr!"

"I held back," Heimdallr exclaimed. The glowing Norse deity appeared exhausted. Clasped to his belt was a broken golden horn. He spoke through shattered golden teeth. "But now that I know what you've done, now that I know how you attacked humanity with bombs that vaporize flesh ... I would rather stop Ragnarök in its tracks and be known as a Kin-Slayer than to let you have your way!"

Loki and Sigyn moved in unison. They snatched Heimdallr by his arms and slammed the glowing god against the wall. Loki and Sigyn struggled to keep the deity pinned by leveraging their weight on his forearms.

"You cannot beat us both." Loki sneered. "You may kill me if you're able. I see little point in life or in death. My wife will rule Earth as its one true goddess and become all-powerful with the faith of its worshippers. But if I can change the mythology, then I will."

Heimdallr jerked forward, trying to break their grasp. His forehead struck the bridge of Sigyn's nose.

The Trickster's queen stumbled back, over one of her ten foxtails, and spilled across the floor with a groan. She brought her hands up over her face, protectively.

Loki put one foot on the wall and braced himself. With his hands on Heimdallr's forearm, he swung the glowing Norse god into the pillar at the center of the room.

Heimdallr's face struck the glowing jewel and he sunk to the floor, screaming in pain.

Conner and Falcon watched the attack. All at once, the quaking ceased. Conner and Falcon exchanged glances.

As Heimdallr rose desperately to his feet, the quaking resumed. Loki and Heimdallr grappled once more.

Conner reached his hand towards the floor. His golden staff trembled briefly. The cane lurched into the air and slapped against Conner's palm.

"No, Parker," Falcon said.

"Get the hell away from..." Conner grunted, suddenly unable to speak.

Falcon, with his hand around the teenager's throat, sneered with satisfaction. "You will not intervene."

Conner struggled against the powerful grip around his neck. He felt himself lifted off the ground until he was face to face with Falcon.

The doctor replied with a sardonic smile. "I see the hate in your eyes. But there is absolutely nothing you can do about it, boy."

Conner brought his cane up, across Falcon's face.

The doctor's head jerked to the left. Falcon dropped Conner on the floor and staggered back.

Conner landed on his back and groaned. He brought his right hand, gingerly, to a lump on his left side.

"Aris!" Loki exclaimed. "Help me throw Heimdallr into the power core! It will drain the energy in his body, absorb it, and stabilize the power core. It is the only way to stop the quakes!"

Aris glanced down at Heimdallr. "Will it be enough?"

"Possibly. Perhaps we should use the boy, too."

"We need him," said Aris. "He was our access card into the citadel; it is likely that only he can access the inner sanctum as well."

"We're in!" Loki quipped. "That's all we needed from him. We don't need him anymore. Help me to throw them both into the core!"

"Not until I am absolutely sure the boy's usefulness has ended! I have waited fifty years for this moment! I will not ruin it because of your impatience!"

Heimdallr got back to his feet. The glowing white god staggered for a moment. A thin evanescence of energy floated between his body and the glowing jewel pulsing in the central pillar. It drew his life essence from his body. Heimdallr stumbled away, putting distance between himself and the pillar. The energy draw faded.

Conner reached for his staff again. He held it outwards. A discharge of raw electricity erupted from the top of the cane. It struck Heimdallr, electrifying the man with raw current.

Heimdallr gasped. His mind cleared. His eyes widened and his body brightened. The glow made it difficult for everyone else to see.

Loki clenched his hands into fists. "If you do not throw the boy into the core, then I will!"

Heimdallr, fully restored, dove towards Loki and the two grappled with one another again.

Aris Falcon approached the two deities. He tensed his body, summoning the powerful inner strength stolen from Collobulous so many years ago.

Falcon took both gods by their throats and hurled them into the glowing power core in the central pillar.

They struck the core with enough force that the crystalline object drained both gods of their life force. They cried out in anguish together.

Falcon used his stolen telekinesis and held both of the deities against the power core until the massive earthquake stopped.

The bodies of Loki and Heimdallr dropped to the ground, dead.

Aris huffed, followed by soft panting due to over-exerting himself.

Sigyn crawled across the floor and pulled Loki's head into her lap. She glared back at Falcon. "What did you do?!"

"I did what was necessary. I fulfilled their prophecy. They fought to their deaths."

"No!" Sigyn shouted. "You murdered my husband!"

"Be quiet, Sigyn," he said, pronouncing her name 'Sagan.' "I did what I had to do. I did what your pathetic spouse would have done to me if given the chance."

"You killed my husband, Falcon!"

Aris narrowed his eyes. "He said he always knew he would eventually die, and that he wanted to leave the world to you. Now calm down."

She stood up, hands drawn into fists. "You have no idea who I am."

"You are what I re-made you to become."

Sigyn glared in rage. "You do not know me."

Falcon smirked. "You wanted to learn how to steal powers and I genetically altered you to take them. I know exactly what you were, and what you've become."

"I will use these powers to kill you, Falcon."

Dr. Falcon scoffed. "I have a handful of stolen powers and I've had over twelve decades to hone my skill with them. You have no idea who I am. But I understand how your mind works, due to your age."

She blinked. "What?!"

Falcon lifted his chin, gazing down at her. "Now that I've bested your husband, your role is to give yourself to me as a spoil of war." A sly smirk slid across his lips. "That is to say, I may allow it if you prove yourself useful."

Sigyn raced towards Falcon in grief and emotion. She lunged for him.

With calm calculation, Falcon grabbed her by the throat and slammed her face down upon the tile.

Sigyn hissed as the wind was knocked out of her lungs along with her pride. Desperately trying to flail free, the widow found it futile.

Falcon pinned her firmly. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear. "Humility is important to learn, even for a woman never bested by a man before. Humility is ... mm, shall we say ... ladylike."

"How dare you touch me?! I am the first and the most powerful of all fox spirits! I am the only ten-tail in existence! I am -"

"- You are beautiful," Falcon praised. "And, perhaps, you might best me in prolonged combat. But you are tired from fighting Heimdallr, and I have defeated your husband. So either submit to me or join Loki in the realm of his daughter, Hel. What will you do, Sigyn?"

She looked back up at Falcon, bruised and exhausted. After a moment, Sigyn rested her head against the floor. Her gaze landed on Conner. She mouthed the word 'run' to him.

Conner staggered to his feet, supporting his weight on his staff.

"You're not leaving," Falcon said, still facing away from Conner. "After all, boy, I just saved your life from Loki Laufeyjarson."

"You just took his wife as a war trophy," Conner said in a weak tone. The pain of his broken rib made it difficult to project his voice, let alone to take a deep breath. "I thought maybe you might want a moment with her."

"Oh, is that what you thought?" Aris turned about, facing Conner with a smirk. "I am a scientist. What makes you think I am one of those brutes who'd need to have sex with a woman on a battlefield? This is real life, not mythology, boy."

"It's human nature," Conner murmured, fighting the pain to speak. "Karla told me everything in life is about sex except for sex. Sex, itself, is about power. And now you've killed Loki. So, now human nature takes its course. Am I right?"

"How noble," Aris said. "You're trying to buy her time to escape. A moment ago she was trying to buy you time to escape. But neither of you are leaving. Oh, and for the record, Conner, I am not the kind of man to force myself on a woman like that." He shoved Parker back down, hard.

Conner grunted softly. He blinked. His eyes felt dry and there was a faint ringing in his ears.

Aris pivoted on his heel and knocked Sigyn back to the ground before she could get out of the room. "You see?" Falcon said with a smile. "You're both mine. And if I were to have her in such a capacity, it would not be here, nor would it be now. She would give herself to me out of obligation."

Silence.

Falcon opened his hands, motioning to the general area. "The shaking has stopped, the power core is restored to full energy. I've waited nearly a century to see what lies within this citadel. The both of you will accompany me to the heart of the inner sanctum."

Sigyn crawled towards Conner. "Let me see the broken rib."

"Stay away from him," Falcon snapped.

She glared back at Aris. "He could die from his injuries. And then you'll have murdered my husband for nothing. Shut your mouth and let me tend to his wound."

Falcon said nothing.

She turned back to Conner and lifted his shirt, carefully. Sigyn leaned close and said, "The swell is from a crack, but it is not fatal." Her voice was a soft whisper.

"I'll be fine," he assured her. "I've had worse training accidents. Honest."

"I will not wife that man if I can help it."

"I'll try to create a distraction," Conner whispered back.

"We have to kill him, together."

"Reno tried," Conner said, keeping his tone hushed. "He forced that stupid seed down Falcon's throat. Or ... nut, or whatever it was. That should have killed Falcon. It didn't."

"It was a seed from fruit of the tree of life," she said. "It should have killed Aris Falcon. I believe a powerful current could trigger the seed to grow within Falcon's body. It would tear him apart."

"Reno's lightning couldn't penetrate Falcon's barrier. I don't even know what power does that, but we can't electrocute him."

Sigyn cut her eyes to the side, as if gesturing to Conner's cane. "You can. Simply by touching him. I saw what you did to restore Heimdallrr; do it to Falcon."

"But his active barrier will absorb the electricity arc."

"Catch him off guard," she said. "Electrify the cane as it makes contact with his skin. The barrier is an aura around him, but if you break the skin..."

"I can try," Conner murmured. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because you can stop Falcon. He needs to die. If you kill him, I will let you live."

"You tried to kill Karla," Conner said. "We're not allies."

"Right now, Conner, we are. Despite our alliance, and your friendship with the succubus I must kill her - it's part of prophecy."

"What prophecy? Jesus Christ, you don't have to kill her."

"I was a Norse goddess of strength, loyalty and consistency. A grieving mother, a proud wife in the face of shame. But long before that, I was the first spirit fox, a trickster vixen of victory. And as a mother of a race, and a mother of a murdered child, I am the epitome of motherhood. Karla is a succubus, the jezebel, the antithesis of motherhood."

"I don't understand," Conner whispered.

"Are you two finished?" Falcon said in a loud, clear voice.

She whispered to Conner, her lips close to his ear. "I am prophesized to fight and defeat such a creature from the globe. She is the last of her kind. What was said of my prophecy may still be buried beneath the Scandinavian soil, but I still know my path."

"You stay away from her."

Sigyn stood up. "We can worry about that later. I will allow you and Tamae to live. But the succubus is a thorn in my side, and will not live through the night."

"No," Conner said in a stern tone. He got back to his feet, again using his cane to stand. "So help me God, I will kill you both."

"You know what you have to do," said Sigyn.

Falcon took her by the neck and guided her face towards the power core in the central pillar. "So, you're trying to talk him into killing me? It won't work, because he can't kill me. But if you're going to plot my death behind my back, then your usefulness is at an end."

Sigyn resisted, flailing about.

Falcon forced her closer to the power core. He held her firmly by the throat, guiding her face nearer to the glowing jewel on the pedestal.

She struggled, overpowered by his raw strength.

Conner's cane came down on Falcon's wrist, breaking the bones in his forearm. The hooked tip of his cane broke the man's skin, digging in deep.

Falcon dropped Sigyn on the floor. He whirled about and used his free hand to grasp the cane firmly. "I'm not done with you, yet, Conner." Falcon's forearm began to heal instantly.

Conner tensed up, despite the pain in his chest and shoulder. He pulled down on the staff, causing the hook to break the skin on the backside of Falcon's hand Electricity gushed out of the cane and into the doctor's palm.

The energy caused Falcon's muscles to contract, clenching the staff involuntarily. The electricity flooded Falcon's body. He cried out and doubled over, using his free hand to clutch his stomach.

Conner tumbled back. The cane clattered to the floor. He slid down the wall. It hurt too much to move anymore.

Falcon doubled over and dropped to his knees. All at once, the seed from the tree, which came from the ancient Garden of Eden, began to grow inside of Falcon's body.

Roots burst from his abdomen and raced into the floor tiles, breaking through the floor where they anchored firmly into the ground. Falcon clawed wildly at the enormous roots growing from his belly.

Sigyn crawled over to Conner, panting softly. She laid her head in his lap, watching Falcon struggle with a rare look of sheer panic in his eyes.

The body of Aris Falcon turned inside out. A large tree trunk began to grow upwards where he'd stood; Its bough unfurled toward the impossibly high ceiling.

Sigyn climbed into Conner's lap and hugged him. "You've avenged my husband. You killed the man who widowed me. I give myself to you."

"You're only doing this to hurt Tamamo, because you know what happened between us."

"It doesn't matter. You've earned my..."

"Wait, stop." Conner relaxed his weight against the wall, panting softly. "I have a broken rib and I think my left shoulder is dislocated. Just stop."

"I am your trophy of war," she said. "And yes, I know it would hurt Tamamo. But it was she who hurt you first. The witch deserves to have her heart torn to pieces for what she has done to you."

Conner looked away, glancing at the power core where Loki and Heimdallr were killed. His gaze shifted to the large tree trunk in the middle of the room.

Sigyn said, "They are dead. Let me consummate this victory with you." She reached down, unfastening the front of his pants, and the zipper of his sneaking suit, worn beneath.

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END of Folly of the Gods

Story Conclusion: "Atonement of the Gods" NEXT!

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Next Book: (hyperlink coming soon)