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Chapter Text

As the elevator arrived on the 99th floor of Vought Tower, he opened his crimson eyes. Black, cascading cloth wrapped around the small room in the elevator. The sharp screeching of metal scraping metal as an armored hand reached out to the floor. The man rose and exited the elevator and entered the hall. His metal boots clattered against the granite floor. He walked towards the conference room and hugged the wall outside the doorway. He could vaguely hear a conversation happening.

"What part of this is so difficult to understand?" said a man in a green and gold uniform. 

"Understanding isn't the problem. I'm not going to do it." said a woman in a white and gold outfit. 

"Oh please. I'm not asking for that much,  you know. Just a little cigar smoking that's all. I mean I guess you don't have to if you don't want to be in the Seven."

"I..." Starlight was disgusted, but she did really want to be on the team. But to give this creep what he wanted upset her deeply.

The man walked behind the Deep, reached under the Deep's arm, and violently grabbed him by the throat. "I think that's enough of that."

"Who the...fuck are you?" he asked, struggling to breathe.

"What's the problem?" The hooded man squeezed harder. "Can't breathe?"

A loud smashing came from behind the three."Who in the fuck are you?" Came a voice from behind them. Homelander floated outside the hole he had just blown into Vought tower, cape waving in the cool night air.

"Catch." The hooded man threw the Deep into Homelander and jumped above them. He flipped and firmly planted the heel of his boots into Homelanders skull and pushed down hard with his legs. The two supes fell to the earth in a crater of broken asphalt and dust and ash. The hooded man lightly fell to the earth and landed like a crouching gargoyle. He stood as a blue flash ran past him. A-Train stood, arms crossed. Queen Maeve dove down and landed holding Black Noir in a fireman's carry. The hooded man reached behind him and grabbed a pair of ink black daggers. Noir rushed forward and paused and grabbed his neck. His head softly fell off his body, and the body slumped to the floor.

"What the hell?" Homelander exclaimed, "What happened?"

"I didn't even see him move!"

"To hell with this." A-Train moved in a blue and white blur and slammed into the midsection of the hooded man. They fell backward, the knives falling from the hooded man's hands. A-Train landed on top and went to slamming his fists into the jaw of the hooded man. The hooded man pushed hard with his palms into the stomach of A-Train, knocking the wind out of him and pushing him off. The hooded man swung his feet over his head and violently shot himself back onto his feet.

A-Train attempted to sprint back forward and tackle the hooded man again. He wrapped his arms around the midsection of the hooded man but the man had turned a quarter to the side and slid his foot in front of A-Train's lead foot. A-Train fell to one knee. The hooded man shot his right fist under A-Train's jaw twice, in quick succession. The hooded man grabbed A-Train by the back of his polycarbonate chest armor, and flipped forward over A-Train's back, and slammed his boots into the asphalt. He lifted A-Train over his head like a crucified savior and slammed him into the road feet first, shattering his shins, splitting his feet in half, and crippling him forever. The Deep screamed and jumped forward. Thrymos grabbed his knife on the asphalt and with one swift strike split the Deep clean in half. The hooded man dropped the knife as Maeve struck, then Homelander snuck under her punch delivering a hard right into the hooded man's armored stomach. The hooded man shot up into the air but turned and from rockets in his boots fired forward and delivered a bone-crunching punch to Maeve just below her left eye, and she slid and did not get up. A purple and black bolt of lightning slammed into the hooded man's back and he fell to his knees and exhaled deeply. "Nice try there. You're quite the fighter." Stormfront said.

"Go fuck yourself." The hooded man said, voice thickly coated in malice.

"Who are you?" Homelander asked.

"I go by many names." The hooded man coughed a small spot of blood onto his gauntlet. "But my true name is Thrymos."

"And what the fuck does that mean?" Homelander smiled menacingly until he looked over at Stormfront. Her face wasn't right, the unmistakable guise of pure terror coated every inch of her face. "What's wrong?"

"What have we done?" she said breathlessly.

"What is it?" Homelander asked.

"His name...Thrymos...it's Greek for..."

"Rage," Thrymos growled. 

"In the books we burned...his tale..." she slowly stammered, her voice leaving her.

Thrymos stood slowly and turned to her. He smiled, but it was wrong. It was monstrous. Blasphemous. Twisted. Demonic. Evil. Wrathful. Hateful. Horrible. Manic. And in her final moments, Stormfront saw what lay behind the crimson-red eyes of Thrymos. A vision of a tornado of white fire, burning the area around them to ash, lighting the very air itself aflame. And in the heart of that immolated maelstrom lay a demon king, with vast wings dwarfing the greatest dragons and drakes in any story told and untold. Her heart pounded with terror, she was sweating profusely, and all at once her bodily functions stopped, all in an instant. Her brain stopped sending signals, her heart stopped in her chest, her blood stagnated, her lungs deflated, her muscles slacked, and her final breath escaped her body and she fell to the floor and was dead. Not a scratch or mark laid present on her body, Thrymos had never even touched her.

Thrymos turned and faced the gaudy idol with the same look in his eye. Homelander shot out steaming, boiling crimson plasma from his eyes, and it slammed against Thrymos' armor. He fired with all the hatred of the world behind him, but no heat in the universe from heathen gods or men could've stopped the black hand of Thrymos. He grabbed Homelander's face, fingers covering the eyes of Homelander, like a thumb over a hose, the hot beams of plasma split and slashed nearby buildings. He lifted the idol and slammed him into the earth, Homelander bounced out of that crater, and Thrymos struck Homelander in the chest sending him hundreds of yards away. Homelander barely stood up before Thrymos struck him again in the stomach. They demolished an entire street in the city and continued on the fight into the countryside.

Over the course of a week, from New York to Los Angeles Thrymos pummeled Homelander, whom had lost the will to fight on the second day of their battle. Their endplace was in the ruined remains of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Nothing in that vast desert survived, not the smallest beetle nor the greatest Condor. And in the dark ashes of the dead city, Thrymos rose from the crater like an Orphean character dragging the limp body of Homelander, barely alive, by his cape. A crew of reporters had gathered a safe distance outside the burning corpse of the city. He threw the still-living body of Homelander towards them. If not for the distinguishable cape, the broken body of Homelander wouldn't be recognized. His right arm was twisted and bent in the wrong ways, his left arm was missing below the shoulder. His legs were gone beneath his knees. His face was utterly unrecognizable.

"This is the man you worshipped like a god?" Thrymos wiped away the blood from his eye, it was leaking from a tiny cut above his eyebrow. "And this is what your idol is now, a failed messiah, a false prophet, the golden calf. What a sad state of affairs, a sorrow-some society this pit of hell is. You worshipped him! He is an abomination! He should never have existed, and yet you, oh, you put him on a pedestal he was unfit to even view! I hated him but oh how I hate all of you, sad, weak-willed, penitents of this gold-leafed calf."

"Hey, you!" yelled a female voice from the crowd of reporters. Starlight pushed through the crowd and faced Thrymos. "What the hell have you done?"

"What have I done? I have dethroned this abomination and shown you who he really is."

"And that meant Maeve had to die?" Thrymos stood watching slowly. He felt the smallest of a fleeting flow of heartbreak and regret surge in his heart. His brow softened.

"She died?"

"No shit! She was dead on impact you idiot, you caved her fucking skull in. What in the actual hell is wrong with you?" Thrymos stared at the fiery woman in front of him. A nostalgic feeling crept up slowly from the bottom of his heart. She reminded him of someone he once knew.

"I didn't mean to kill her."

"Oh, that fixes everything because you didn't mean to punch her at damn near the speed of sound."

"Do not patronize me, you have no idea who you're talking to. It is sad that Maeve died, but she was in my way."

"What in the actual fuck? How could you say that? She had a future you heartless son of a bitch."

"HEARTLESS!?" the sound of his roar sent a shockwave through the crowd. "The only reason I'm here is because I had a heart! Do you even know what he's done?" Thrymos pointed to the body of Homelander. "Do you know what horrors he committed? What horrors he would've committed if I hadn't stepped in?"

"That is what he's done, now let's look at what you did. You murdered an entire street of New Yorkers and completely decimated the cities of Dallas, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Phoenix, and not to mention Alburquerque. You're truly delusional if you think you're that much better than he is." Thrymos paused for a moment, he tried to calm his anger but the fire was beginning to consume him.

"If you truly think that of me, if you truly think I'm no better than he is, then maybe your best course of action, is to tread lightly and think about the next words you say."

"You're evil. You're not a hero."

"Maybe not. But I am willing to do what you and the rest of this cesspool couldn't."

"You got those people killed."

"Hah! No, they did not die because of me."

"Yes, it is, how could it not be your fault?"

"They were weak, they allowed me to kill them."

"What kind of backwater shithole did you crawl out of? You have the power to decimate a city with a single strike, you're responsible for every displaced rock."

"If you constantly worry about what's beneath you, you'll never walk. I did them a favor. I'd rather be dead than worship these hollow statues."

"They were people, they had lives-"

"Worthless lives. Lives where they meandered day by day and did nothing of value. If their lives meant something, Homelander here wouldn't have made it anywhere. He'd be slumming it out, sad and pitiful in a ditch. People who live without enforcing their will do not deserve life."

Starlight didn't talk. Her mouth was agape, and no words exited. She felt the raw hatred of Thrymos pouring into her soul, corrupting it, and making it wrong. Thrymos turned and pulled a small crossguard hilt from his cloak. It was a traditional handle for a European sword, only in the middle a great rotary sat with odd-colored symbols connected by a great vortex in the black-in-black void where the rotary gaps were. He lifted the handle over his head, and the rotary spun violently and the symbol of a green hand holding a small coin filled the rotary. The flanges of the crossguard expanded and a great blade rose from the guard. The blade was as long as a man is tall, and it was as wide as four hands across. He panted heavily and aimed with his eyes the blade right at Homelander's neck. Starlight, rushed forward and stood between Thrymos and Homelander.

"Out of the way." Thrymos panted. Starlight remained steadfast in her holds and Thrymos raised the greatsword with all the might in his body. He paused at the peak of his arc for but a second before swinging downward with all of the might in his body. A vine-inlaid rope wrapped around the waist of Starlight and forcibly pulled her out of the way of the swing. A great clash sounded and when the dust settled the sword was buried halfway into the earth, and Homelander was dead. Thrymos grabbed the handle of the greatsword and the handle returned to its original state and Thrymos walked away from the battle. He walked into the desert and disappeared against the ink-black sky.

"You didn't have to pull her so hard you know." said a man's voice

"Shut it, Apollo. I didn't see you rushing in to help." said a woman's voice. Annie's eyes adjusted from their daze, and she looked at the woman before her. She had long brown hair that reached the middle of her back. "You okay?"

"I think so."

"You know that's the first human I've ever seen give ol Thrymos lip like that," Apollo said. "That's a very dangerous game."

"Agreed, but your bravery is admirable."

"Who are you?"

"I am Artemis, this is my brother Apollo."

"Like...the Greek gods?"

Artemis let out a small chuckle "We are Greek Gods love." Starlight began to speak but Artemis let up a finger.

"We'll explain more later. For now, come with us." They stepped into a golden chariot and Apollo took them to a golden coliseum in Olympus. 

Thrymos walked into the dark of the desert and stared up at the stars, his oath embedded in the night. His eyes glistened, tears running down his face. 

Thrymos: I feel you, my Thaea, I feel you.

Pain rung out through the night, the gods attending wept, and even the most heartless of gods felt a twinge of sullen pain in their chest.

Thrymos: Does he think that he can hide you, Does he think I will not fight for you, I am in the darkness for you, 

Starlight heard the melancholy cry, and though she could not hear the words, she knew the pain of heartbreak and loss in them.

Thrymos: Till I'm with you then I'm with you there, sweetly buried in your Raven hair.

Tears fell down his face, his voice cracked in agony, and he walked back to Olympus.

...

They ushered her into a guest room with luxurious accommodations. Annie turned on the TV and A loud trumpet played and Apollo walked on stage with a microphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen, many of us didn't think he'd make it this far but Thrymos has made it to Round number 7! This next battle is gonna be a slobber knocker, and it commences in 3 days. Be right back here for his next battle!

Thrymos sat in a dark room lit dimly by a small candle in the corner. He held a small picture of him and a smiling woman and he stared at it a while and put it away. Outside the door, a woman raised her hand to knock. She kept the arm raised for a while but then let her arm go slack and she walked away quietly. She walked into a room where a dark woman sat pondering.

"This has to stop right now, Nemesis."

"It can't, if he knows you're responsive it'll crush his warrior spirit and he will never survive the gauntlet."

"You don't understand. Every day he forgets more and more about who he was, who he is."

"If he knows, he will be killed. Don't you understand? There is nothing more dangerous than a man who has nothing to lose. Besides this side of him is hardly new, he is a warrior."

"He was a general and yes he was that way on the battlefield. When he came home he was different. And sometimes he did things that made him not sleep so well but he was who he truly was around me. And I could help him through the bad times and the bad things but now, I can't do anything. I'm powerless. He nearly killed that girl, Nemesis. He's losing who he is."

"I'll not have this plan ruined by your bleeding heart. This is the way things must be. Surely you of all people would want him to succeed on this quest."

"I'll not have you assume what I want. What was done to me was horrible, and I still have nightmares over it. But he and I could work it out together, there are many other places to live instead of Olympus, but instead, he is becoming a demon. He may not even be the man I fell in love with now. I don't recognize his gaze anymore."

"I am his mother, I know what is best for him. This plan will work if you just think rationally for half a minute."

"You know who you think he is, I know who he is. This is not him. You'll be the death of him." The woman left the room and returned to her room.

"He'll kill Zeus because of me, Thaea" Nemesis whispered to herself.

...

Before the sixth battle, Starlight, or Annie rather, was guided by a small watch on her wrist into a small VIP room in the middle of a wall of fans in a massive arena. Annie had seen a few Superbowls on TV but their stadiums were in size, far removed from the massive pit that lay before and above her. It was hard to count, but there may have been 50 Billion people packed into the stands. She looked above her and saw clouds folding over the top of the stands.

"A new visitor I see." said a deep voice from behind her. She turned behind her and saw a man, roughly six foot two, with raven black hair and a vague five o'clock shadow.

"New?" she asked.

"Oh, another visitor." said a scarred dwarf who walked in. He wore medieval attire fit for a medieval lord, including a gold ring with a ruby jewel.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" she asked.

"Did those gods explain this to you?" the dwarf asked.

"No. I just got plucked out of my world and got sent here after Thrymos fought my...boss technically," she said.

"Ah, so we're not the only ones it seems, Bruce."

"Oh no, we can't handle the truth but that pampered duke's son can comprehend it just fine," Bruce said.

"You shouldn't throw stones in your glass house, Bruce Wayne," the dwarf said slyly.

"If it isn't the pot calling the kettle black, Lord Lannister," Bruce replied.

"What are you guys talking about?" she asked.

"The best way I can explain this is that we also encountered this man," the dwarf said, pointing to a portrait of Thrymos in the arena. There was silence in the room.

"So...what is his deal?" she asked

"Excuse me?" asked Lannister, puzzled.

"She means what's wrong with him," Bruce said, translating.

"Ah, well that is the question isn't it," Lannister responded.

"We have a few guesses, but it's nothing concrete," Bruce said. They all walked over to the window facing the coliseum and sat down. Just then at the entrance to the room a lean-bodied boy, no older than fifteen walked in. He was decently tall, had dark black hair, and held himself with the unmistakable aura of royalty. He walked in and sat down in one of the recliners that faced the arena, the one right next to Annie.

"Oh, another visitor it seems," said the boy "I see you've met Bruce and Tyrion."

"Yeah...who are you?"

"Ah, I am Paul Atreides. My father is a duke on the planet of Arrakis."

"You lost me."

"In my universe, humanity lives deep in space, Arrakis is one of those planets."

"Your universe?"

"Ah, so the gods didn't explain it to you either. Let me explain, our universes exist on top of one another, and small changes throughout the history of those universes diversified them. In my timeline, another planet hit Earth destroying it. In others, it exists until the heat death of the universe."

"So is that why I have superpowers?"

"Yes. Both you and Bruce's universes have them."

"So how many universes are there."

"Infinite."

"Damn...do you know what is wrong with that man, Thrymos, I think?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. It's hard to say for certain."

"What do you all think of him?"

"He fights like a rabid animal. I have never seen a warrior so hellbent on killing himself. He will push through any lethal injury to murder an opponent," Tyrion said.

"Why?"

"A good question, but one I'm not sure we can answer, he must have his reasons."

"I may be able to do something," said Paul. He pushed a button on his armchair and a few moments later a trolley like a hotel room service cart came in. He removed the silver lid and a large pile of a blue, sandlike substance sat in a small jar. He reached in and grabbed a pinch of it and put it in his mouth. His eyes shone deep blue and he saw everything. When his trip ended he breathed slowly. All the horror being experienced in such a short time. 

"So, what happened?"

Chapter Text

Paul projected the fight on a holographic display, allowing them to see it. He hooked up a helmet of thin metal bars wrapping around his head, projecting his thoughts to the screen. He began. He closed his eyes, remembering the battle.

...

"Give him the glasses," said the squat old man. Jake reluctantly handed the pair of glasses, which could destroy Noah Cross and raze his plans to the grounds, the lifeline for Evelyn and her daughter Katherine, over to Mulvihill, who had a gun aimed at Jake's stomach, and gave their lives away. He looked down in shame, unable to face the man. Mulvihill gestured with his gun, Jake walked out of the apartment. The air was arid and dry, the night was tepid and stagnant. Jake's head was in a spiral, desperately trying to wrap his head around the events that had transpired. He had come here trying to find a mistress, and had stumbled upon an act of corruption near to man's first disobedience. They drove, reaching a rendezvous point in Chinatown, police ready to arrest them. Mulvihill gestured with the pistol again and Jake exited the car. Noah and Mulvihill exited the car, the police rushed on Jake, arresting him.

"Hello, Katherine, how are you, my sweet little Grandaughter?" Noah had barely let the words out when the woman next to him, his daughter, pulled a gun and shot him. The bullet grazed his chest and lodged itself in his arm. He yelled in pain as Evelyn grabbed her daughter and quickly got into a car, driving off, the police opened fire, when a cloud of darkness swallowed the car, the bullets hitting it flaccidly and falling to the pavement. Noah and the police looked at each other as the sound of the car faded away. One of the police officers got into a squad car and drove forward, and slammed into the veil of darkness. It crumpled and the cop shot out of the window and crunched like an accordion against the veil. The veil shifted, and a man walked on top of the car. He looked back longingly at Evelyn, a tear fell down his face. His eyes were red and puffy, as if he had been crying for a year. The blistering and bubbling hate that radiated from the man shook the hands of all the police in the area. The grip on their guns faltered, some even dropped their weapons before bending over and picking them up quickly. Thrymos walked forward, tears dripping from his cheeks. He snarled and ran forward.

The police opened fire, the bullets bounced off his armor, the cape occasionally shot tendrils up to block bullets at his face, Thrymos grabbed two knives from behind him. He drug his knife against the soft chest of a cop, blood spurted from the wound and sprayed on Thrymos' body. He flipped the knife in his hand and slammed it up through the man's head. He slashed the head off with his other knife, the corpse of the man, and threw the head at another cop. He stepped forward and slashed two cops and picked them apart quickly, they fell to the ground dying. He darted forward, impossibly light on his feet and punched a hole through two more cops, Mulvihill shot into Thrymos, the bullets ricocheted back into his body, and he fell to the ground bleeding. Thrymos' tears ran down his face and dropped onto the asphalt, sizzling against the hot road. Noah tried to run, but Thrymos sent a knife into his leg. Noah fell to the ground and tried to crawl away, Thrymos looked down and sneered at the man in front of him. He grabbed Noah by the throat and lifted him slowly. His grip tightened around the man's throat, Noah grabbed his arm and desperately tried to pull him off. Thrymos slammed him into the ground. Noah yelled in pain and grasped for his broken hips.

"You feel it don't you? The slow creep of death. It approaches you, slowly, ready at any moment to reap your soul. Well don't worry. The living aren't done with you yet!" Thrymos kicked him in the ribs. Noah doubled over on the ground and grabbed his sides. "All that power you held, is nothing without the strength to keep it!"

Noah began bleeding from the mouth, "Please...stop," he said, just managing to speak.

"Stop?" Thrymos asked, he kicked him in the ribs again, and stomped on him twice. Bones crunched beneath his feet. Thrymos bent over. "Did she tell you to stop? Evelyn, did she tell you to stop?"

"That...doesn't ma--" Thrymos grabbed his throat.

"Answer the fucking question!" Thrymos' pupils contracted, leaving only a single dot of black in the crimson sea of his irises.

"Yes," Noah admitted. Thrymos nodded angrily, he grabbed Noah's head and placed his head between his hands and slowly squeezed. Noah grabbed Thrymos' hands and screamed as the vice grip cinched. One of his eyes bulged out of his head and popped out. Thrymos squeezed harder and eventually Noah's head gave, Thrymos' palms touched together. He released his grip and let Noah's corpse fall to the ground. He turned and walked away from the road. 

...

"Damn," Starlight said. "I mean damn." 

The group looked at each other and nodded slowly. Tyrion shook his head slowly.

"He's so...different," Starlight said. "When I met him, he was angry, no doubt about that, but here...he seems so much more...sad."

"It is interesting," Bruce said. "I feel for the poor soul."

"He's kind of an ass," Starlight said, still unsure about him. "But...he is a little more than I thought he was."

"People often are," Paul said. "Even the Harkonnens, but we'll get to them later."

"Who was that guy? He hardly seems like a warrior," Starlight said. "How were these fights decided?"

"A spinner wheel," Paul said, deadly serious. Starlight laughed before realizing. 

"Wait, really?" Starlight asked.

"For being deities, they are a highly uncreative bunch," Paul said. "But the good thing is that the weakest fighters are always first. So it's not entirely unfair. Noah was the...thirteenth roll, I believe. Regardless, the next fight is quite different."

Another hologram appeared on the screen, this time overviewing the smoky and smog filled city of London, England.

Chapter Text

Thrymos entered the stinking city of London, wiping a tear from his eye. It reeked of poor sewage and death, rats scurried openly in the streets, black smoke from factories filled the air, making it difficult to breathe. The water in the river Thames was greenish black, and Thrymos avoided it desperate to avoid Cholera, Typhus, or Tuberculosis. He gagged slightly as the smells filled his nose. He puked in the street. He wiped the spare vomit from his mouth and climbed onto the roof. It was a big city, and he had much to do. He walked on the rooftops of London, looking around at the city streets, disgusted by the entire town. He walked slowly, trying to find the house he was looking for. He walked for an hour until finding a pale young girl, with golden hair, sitting at her window, staring out into the street. Though he couldn't understand why, she looked out with a sense of longing, a sense of wanting. She reminded him of a songbird, trapped. He hopped over and entered the home quietly, though it seems no one else was home. He walked up the stairs and entered her room. She startled as he entered. He shushed her and sat down in the corner. She was young and beautiful, much like Thaea, though his love had raven black hair, and a darker demeanor. She looked at him nervously.

"I assure you, I mean you no harm," he said. He shifted in the chair, his metal armor screeching together. "I simply wish to know where your guardian might be?"

"He's a judge, he's in court today," she said, still eying him up and down. He huffed.

"When will he be back?" Thrymos asked. Cracking his knuckles. 

"I don't know," she said. "He spends long hours in the courtroom, he could be there until tomorrow for all I know."

"I hate waiting," he said. "Do you happen to know where the court is?"

"I don't," she said. He nodded.

"Fair enough, I suppose," Thrymos said, standing up, and holding his hand out to her. "Well, time to go."

"What?" she asked.

"Unless you'd like to stay?" he asked. She got up and quickly packed a bag. They left the home together and walked down the street, into the shadier parts of town. She looked nervous but trusted him. He found some old clothes and draped her in them, disguising her. They walked until reaching a meat pie shop. "Hungry?" 

"Not really," she said.

"Neither am I," he said as he knocked gently and walked in. Only two other people were in there, a plump elder lady, with wild brown hair. She had her hands on her hips, sassily rebutting the man in front of her. He was stocky and wide, with an apron on. He had streaks of grey flowing through his hair, and thick bags under his eyes. He turned his dull and dead eyes to the two. The lady looked at the armored man oddly.

"You alright?" she asked, gesturing to him, noticing his armor. "There some play yous supposed to be at?"

"I wish," he admitted. He gently pushed the girl forward, and removed the hat from her head. The man's eyes adjusted in the dim lighting of the shop. He looked at the girl in odd recognition. His eyes widened in realization. 

"J-johanna?" he asked, tears lining the corners of his eyes. She cocked her head to the side, confused. The man stumbled forward and embraced her. She jolted back in fear, Thrymos separated the two briefly.

"Easy," he said to her, her eyes wide in fear. "This is your father."

"My...father?" she asked. They embraced in the shop. Thrymos smiled to himself. Reminded of his old life. He turned to leave the shop, when the man called out to him. 

"What of the Judge?" he asked, concerned. Thrymos turned back to him, his flowing cloak flapping from the air rushing in through the open door. He smiled to himself and cleared his throat. 

"The Judge will be dealt with, he's in court, I'll be visiting him today," he said. He walked towards the door. He looked at them one last time before leaving the shop. He had taken a few steps out of the door when a young brown haired boy bumped into him.

"Oh, my apologies sir!" he yelled. Thrymos shook his head.

"No harm, no foul, sir," he said. He coyly smiled. "What seems to be the problem, you seem bothered."

"Well...I am sir," he said. "It's a very long story, but a girl I'm in love with has gone missing!"

"You're lying I think," Thrymos said. The boy jolted back in shock, Thrymos held up a finger and pointed to Johanna inside the shop. "Is that her?"

He looked back and forth between the man and the shop, nodded his head, and rushed into the shop. Thrymos smile faded as the boy's eagerness reminded him of himself. Thrymos turned away and jumped up to the roof of the shop. Night approached and covered the city in it's eternal blackness. Thrymos paced across the roof of the shop. He looked out at the city. He sensed the Judge walking towards the courtroom, a late night courtroom appearance. 

Thrymos: "There, out in the darkness, a fugitive running, fallen from grace, fallen from grace, Gods be my witness, I never shall yield, 'til we come face to face, 'til we come face to face."

Like a morning songbird, Thrymos' crisp Bass-Baritone voice rang out against the night and reverberated against the city, his voice flowing through the alleys.

Thrymos: "He knows his way in the dark, mine is the way of the Lords, those who follow the path of the righteous, shall have their reward, and if they fall as Lucifer fell, the flame, the sword!"

Thrymos looked up at the night sky, the stars, like splattered white shining paint against the black night sky, ringing out, illuminating the dark city, he found himself enamored with them, the eyes of the gods staring down at him, shining across the concrete jungle he found himself in.

Thrymos: "Stars, In your multitudes, scarce to be counted, filling the darkness, with order and light, you are the sentinels, silent and sure, keeping watch in the night, keeping watch in the night."

He gazed at the bright speckled dots of light, knowing that several of the lights now were dead, appreciating the morbid beauty of it. He paced across the roofs of London, hopping from building to building, the people below finding themselves fascinated by the songbird on the roofs, and listening to his voice, like the finest stradivarius.

Thrymos: "You know your place in the sky, you hold your course and your aim, and each in your season, returns and returns, and is always the same."

His voice was full of admiration, his appraisal of the stars made even the most cynical and downtrodden men walking in the streets look up with hope and wonder. A few allowed tears to fall down their faces. 

Thrymos: "And if you fall as Lucifer fell, you fall in flame! And so it must be, for so it is written, on the doorway to paradise, that those who falter and those who fall, must pay the price!"

His sudden turn to harsh conviction was like a bullwhip in a library, a swift and crisp crack, splitting the air. The crack ran through the city, the emotional whiplash knocking a few people off their feet and onto the dirty concrete streets, rats scurrying away from the songbird.

Thrymos: "Lords, let me find him, that I may see him, safe behind bars, I will never rest, til then, this I swear, this I swear by the stars!"

His voice rang out against the city, shattering a few windows from the power held in his chest, and shot out, and nearby, the Judge Turpin felt a shrill shiver slither up his skewed spine. He held his coat tighter to him, despite the warmness of the evening. He entered the courthouse.

Thrymos ran across the roofs, directly at the courthouse. Like a shade, a Spring-Heeled Jack, hopping across the roofs, blacker than black, the void itself, dotting out the shine of the stars of the night sky, and terrifying, the people hid in their homes, the streets cleared, rats died of terror in the streets. He jumped until reaching the pitch before the courthouse. He entered the house slowly, feeling the smooth marble railway beneath his hand, walking up the grand staircase. The metal armor of his boots clattered on the pearl-white stairs beneath him, scraping and scratching the marble. He clattered into the courthouse. The court was in session, he stood, waiting at the door until shoving the doors open and entered slowly, the Judge jolted, taken aback by the sudden interruption. 

Thrymos walked slowly and deliberately, each step calculated and measured, intended to build the most uncertainty possible. He was both entirely human, and inhuman, like a skinwalker, a being trying to pass off as human, but entirely uncanny, and not human. Turpin shifted in his seat, and was silent. Thrymos looked at the jurors and the lawyers at the tops of the court. He raised his arms, his black cape flowing behind them. His smile was soft, his eyes were glistening.

"Gentleman of the Jury, I come here today to reveal the truth," Thrymos said, pointing towards Judge Turpin. "This man is an arrant fraud. He holds no papers of the law, from any source recognized or improvised. Not only is he not a true member of the law, he is entirely illiterate, and only the Beadle Bamford has any sense of the law, and has helped your Judge Turpin memorize a few passages of your laws to memory."

"Lies! Lies, damn you!" the Judge yelled as he reached for a lawbook and began reading feverishly from it, Thrymos turned to the men of the court.

"Not fifteen years ago, this man invited a woman to his home, and violated her, in the full livery of the law, in front of members of the upper class, who watched on and laughed as he took her forcefully, as he betrayed the law he's so thusly appropriated," Thrymos said with the conviction of a preacher. "Not four weeks ago, this man was driven from Edinburgh, Scotland for having sexual congress with a goat, yes sir, that is what I said, a goat."

The congressmen rioted in their chairs, one stood and pulled a gun, shooting Beadle Bamford in the chest. Blood erupted from his mouth and he fell to the floor. The congressmen rushed the judge, swarming him like a ripe grain is devoured by a swarm of locusts, stabbing him with the shattered remnants of a broken chair. Thrymos left the courthouse swiftly and retreated to the pie shop. He sat in a booth. The members of the courthouse shuffled in and sat in the shop, talking with each other with a scared calmness. Thrymos bit into a meat pie, the taste was bad, but he continued to eat. One of the congressmen, the one who shot the Beadle Bamford, sat in front of Thrymos. He scooted closer to the man. He adjusted his coat.

Where did you get the details on that judge? he asked.

Details?

Yes, the details, sir.

You mean for Turpin?

Yes. When did you discover his actions...in Edinburgh?

Never was in Edinburgh, doubt he ever was, Thrymos said. The man laughed and bought him another pie.

...

"Wow..." Starlight said, exasperated, and speechless. She felt her eyes glistening with fear. "He...what kind of power is this?"

"He has a silver tongue," Tyrion said. "Not unheard of, but to this extent, to make men who trusted that Judge turn to savages and murder him, that requires something more."

"I've seen this ability only in metahumans, he may have once been a god, but a god he is no longer. This is unnatural," Bruce said.

"The amount of anger in his heart is unbelievable, it radiates from every part of him," Tyrion said. Paul nodded his head and began preparations to show the next fight. The images on the screen were far more clear, divorced from the spice visions of the final few fights. They began through their memories.

Chapter Text

Paul began by recounting his first time meeting with Thrymos. He had been drugged by his doctor, Yueh, and forced into an ornithopter. Thrymos appeared from the shadows in the thopter and quickly dispatched the guards. He turned the ornithopter and headed back for Arakeen.

The Baron, obese and pale, covered in a black robe, sat at the head of the feasting table, devouring several birds. On the other end of the table, Leto Atreides, paralyzed from a poisoned dart lay nude in a chair. The Baron continued his gluttonous feast. Beside him sat his prized Mentat Piter De Vries, sinister eyes gazing the room, itching for more Melange, the spice. To his left, his favored nephew Feyd-Rautha stood pale and thin, hateful eyes piercing through Leto. Next to him was Glossu Rabban, whom the Baron didn't care for, believing him to be brutish and simple.

Leto sat at the table and desperately held his tongue on the stub tooth that Yueh had given him. He needed the Baron to come closer to use the poison, but for now the Baron continued his feast. He had moved onto a steak cube when Yueh came into the room. He was being escorted by a group of Sardaukar, garbed in Harkonnen livery. The Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corino IV had personally supplied his elite soldiers to The Baron for the sole purpose of conquering the Atreides. As the Baron ate, however, he thought about the defeat of his enemies and found the skills of the Sardaukar sorely lacking, and was disappointed to discover the truth of the recent rumors about Selusa Secundus' growing incompetence.

Yueh stood nervously at the entrance to the room, as men closed the doors behind him and looked with pain at his former master, Leto. Yueh threw that dart into Leto's back and Yueh disabled the shields and Yueh showed the weak points of the base. But deep in his heart both Yueh and Leto understood why. The Harkonnens had captured Yueh's wife, Wanna, and were torturing her. Yueh knew she was dead but he had to be sure. He looked up nervously.

"What do you want?" The Baron asked harshly between bites of chicken and rolls.

"I disabled the Atreides shields, destroyed their comms, and delivered the Duke and his family to you," Yueh said. He stood, filled with sorrow and misery, but determined to discover the fate of his beloved Wanna. The Baron shifted in his chair and took a bite of a sausage.

"That was our deal," he said, aiming for another. "Right down to the letter,"

Yueh waited for a response that never came. He looked at the ground nervously. His black hair was greasy and the bags under his eyes deepened. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "My wife, Wanna. You were to return her to me."

"Ah, that is what was agreed upon, yes Piter?" He asked.

"Yes, Baron," he responded. Piter was supremely irritated by the whole ordeal. He worried about the spice death that was encroaching on him. But the Baron seemingly didn't notice or didn't care and continued on with his show.

"You know, I don't believe I used those words," The Baron said, grabbing a small loaf of bread and smearing thick greasy butter on it, throwing his head back and dropping the chunk of bread into his mouth. "Do remind me, dearest nephew,"

Feyd began, and Rabban knew better to speak up, "I believe you said that Yueh could...join her, dear Uncle."

"That is what I said," he said. "So join her." The baron coughed and Piter raised his hand. The Sardaukar drew their swords ready to strike Yueh down when a commotion was heard outside the hallway. Smoke emitted from the entrance, behind it, a deep darkness, like a neverending abyss swallowed all light that grew near. The Sardaukar formed ranks in the hallway, ready to fight. Thrymos appeared suddenly, his blades aflame.

"Attack!" they yelled as Thrymos began picking them apart, flashes of blue and red shone through the hallway, shining against the hall and into the dining room. Thrymos buried a knife in the neck of a Sardukar, kicking him in the face, and pulling him back hard. He reached through the shield of another and crushed his throat, blood sprayed, hitting the shield and shining blue, the red blood smearing against the inside of the shield. Thrymos threw him into another soldier, walked over, and stabbed him in the neck. He spun forward in a spiral and killed two more.

The Baron shifted uncomfortably in his seat. A Saudaukar was fighting a yet unseen source. He seemingly fought the shadows themselves, and only the flashing blue of a knife being deflected off his shield gave the Harkonnens any semblance of understanding of the fight. It turned, however, when the flashing red of a pierced shield radiated through the dim chamber and Thrymos emerged and pulled the blade from the back of the neck where he had placed it. The Sardaukar fell to the ground and Thrymos entered the room. He tore a piece of his cape and covered the Duke. He reached down and pulled Yueh up off the ground and shoved him to a corner of the room.

Thrymos turned to look at the Harkonnens and Piter directed the Sardaukar forward. They attacked with billowing speed but Thrymos, lightfooted and swift, took them out with the grace of a dancer. Aside from the spilling blood and harsh screams, this might have been a beautiful sand walk. He ripped the shield from the last Harkonnen soldier and cracked his skull with his metal fist. The body hung by a strand of cloth in Thrymos' fist, hemorrhaged and bleeding from the skull. The blood pooled on the ground and Thrymos dropped the body unceremoniously.

"Well," Thrymos began. "Aren't you a sad lot?"

Rabban yelled and grabbed two swords from the dead Sardaukar and charged Thrymos who ducked the attack and planted one of his knives in Rabbans side. Rabban buckled and tried to slash Thrymos across the face but he blocked his arm, smashed the back of his fist in Rabban's face, pulled the knife and planted it in his stomach. He kicked Rabban over and he laid bleeding on the ground.

"You know, this plan was truly brilliant," Thrymos said. "I admit, Piter, you have outdone yourself, truly. However there was always one Achilles heel, a hair in the soup if you will. What exactly would happen should it be discovered that you used Harkonnen livery to cloak the Sardaukar from detection?"

The three remaining Harkonnens were silent, but the unmistakable cloud of an atomic bomb erupting over Carthag. From behind him, Paul and Jessica Atreides walked slowly into the room, stepping over the carnage. Paul walked towards Yueh and they began a conversation that Thrymos couldn't hear. He avoided Jessica, her face, her mannerisms were too painful to see. Piter took note of the subtle face, filled with horror and pain. Feyd walked behind the Baron's chair and walked forwards, facing Thrymos. He pulled a sword from the body of a Harkonnen and held it in his hand.

"I challenge you, for ownership of Arrakis," he said. The Baron shifted nervously in his seat.

"I accept," Thrymos said. He kicked bodies out of the way forming a small ring. Illuminated by the bright flash of the atomic explosion they saluted and Thrymos stepped forward and swiped at Feyd's head. Feyd backstepped and returned a swiped, his knife dully deflected off Thrymos' armor. Loud clangs of the knives striking each other rang through the hall. Feyd cut the side of his hand on the sharp and serrated edges of the segments in Thrymos' armor. Thrymos swiped and lightly cut Feyd. Feyd kicked Thrymos in the foot and he fell to one knee. Feyd stabbed at Thrymos who deflected the knife with his armored hand. Thrymos stood and they traded blows, more clashes of the knife until Feyd kicked Thrymos in the jaw. Thrymos recoiled as Feyd swiped the knife from his hand. Feyd took an ice-pick grip and swung down at Thrymos. Thrymos caught the arm and planted his fingers into Feyd's chest.

"You rely so much on those Shields," he said as he ripped his fingers from Feyd's chest and let him fall to the floor. "You forgot the original way we stopped blades."

Piter's head fell from his body as Thrymos' cape snapped quickly and left a bloody smear on it. The Baron sat wide eyed in that chair as he desperately started his suspensors. Thrymos' cape, seeming sentient, wrapped itself around the Baron's foot and cast him into the wall. The Baron's suspensors busted and the full weight of him crashed down on himself. The Baron struggled to even crawl as Thrymos placed his boot on the back of the Barons head and placed his weight on that foot, crushing the barons head beneath it. He stepped from the gore and turned to his left, leaving the scene.

Apollo and Artemis entered afterwards and, after lengthy discussion, took Paul with them but left Jessica to help her love. Yueh had taken a sword from a Harkonnen and slit his own neck a while ago. As he and the Baron talked, Yueh had figured out that Wanna was in fact dead, and he died with some solace. Paul hopped on Apollo's chariot and rode away with him.

Apollo guided him into a cold and drab room, which Paul spent time decorating and livening the room, making it feel like home.

He sat in a chair and waited for the next round.

Thrymos brooded in a dark room and tears began cascading down his face. Tears not of sadness, but of anguish, of hatred. Of pure and unadulterated pain and suffering. Pain that pierces skin and hits straight to the bone. His chest physically hurt from the heartache. His now mortal body felt almost unfamiliar to him. But he stood and walked over to a corner of the room and slid his armor on. He walked out of his room and through the halls, and stepped foot into the arena, ready for his second battle. 

"Just eleven more to go," he said.

...

Paul ended the memory, looking around nervously. None of them spoke, they sat in their seats and waited for the next battle. They entered a drab looking New York City.

Chapter Text

The old man stirred in his bed. He shifted and kicked the covers off of him. He turned over and felt a cold sweat chill run down his spine. "You here to kill me?" he said, seemingly to no one in particular. Thrymos stepped out of the black shadows in the room. The Comedian relaxed when he saw him. He looked up with old and tired eyes. Eyes that had seen so much. Thrymos' feet made the sound of an axe chopping wood as he stepped forward. 

"Yes," he said. 

"Thank god," The Comedian said. "It's over." 

Thrymos sat at the end of his bed. He studied the old man in the bed, hardly the stud he used to be. As a younger man, The Comedian had been quite handsome. Dark black hair and brown eyes now gave way to a gray, wrinkled, and dim face. Thrymos sighed and cracked his knuckles. The Comedian sat up and shifted the covers onto his lap. 

"What brings you here?" The Comedian asked.

"I'm here to kill you," Thrymos said bluntly

"I know that," he said. "But clearly you ain't here to spare me from my misery."

"I'm here for a number of reasons," Thrymos said. "From what you did to Silk Spectre, to stopping Ozymandias."

"He been stopped?" he asked.

Thrymos held up a bloody gauntlet, and the Comedian nodded his head. Thrymos took his clean hand and flopped a heavy leather bag on the bed. The Comedian pursed through the bag, filled with tapes and confessions.

"What's this?" he asked.

"That will make this right," Thrymos said "And you."

"I ain't gonna defend myself," he said. "I'm too old, too tired. And I won't defend what I did to her. And I'm guessing you don't really give a damn that she forgave me."

"I don't," he said.

"Fair," he said. "I loved her though. God, if only I could go back."

"You can't change what you've done," he said, "But you'll be made right. I tipped Rorschach off, he'll be here in a few hours. I trust him to turn those tapes into the authorities."

"Why not yourself?"

Thrymos gestured to his body. "Don't have the proper 'turn into the authorities' garb, now do I?"

"This world's seen worse," he said "How's Manhattan dealing with this?"

"Exactly how Manhattan deals with anything," Thrymos said.

"He ain't omniscient," he said.

"Well now Ozymandias is out of the picture, his powers should be returning in full force."

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"Buddy, you ain't from here, no one could know all you do and be from here. I don't know what future shit is going on but spill it, what happened?"

"Fairly straightforward actually. Ozymandias breaks in and kills you by throwing you out that window there," Thrymos said, pointing. "From there, Rorschach tracks your death all the way back to Ozymandias and ... well you can figure the rest out. Teleports the big squid into New York killing millions but stopping the war."

"Damn," The Comedian said, "You should've let me die."

"Perhaps," Thrymos said. "But at least Veidt isn't a problem anymore."

"Where are you from?" he asked.

"Olympus," Thrymos said.

"As in Greece?" he asked.

"The very same," Thrymos said. "I used to be a god."

"What happened?" he asked

"Long story," Thrymos said. "Longer than you've got."

"You gonna kill me now?"

"I killed you ten minutes ago," he said holding up a syringe. "While you slept."

"Any pain?" he asked

"No," he said.

"Thanks," he said "It's more than I deserve...you think it's meaningless for me to apologize?"

"No," he said

"I'm so sorry," he said as his body relaxed and his hands fell. Thrymos shut his eyes as Rorschach entered hurriedly into the room. Thrymos looked over in surprise.

"Well," he began. "You're here earlier than expected."

"What the hell did you just do to him?" Rorschach asked.

"I killed him," Thrymos said bluntly.

"Why?" he asked.

"He attempted to rape the original Silk Spectre," he said.

"I see," the blotted face shifted around. "And what of Veidt?"

Thrymos turned and pointed to the briefcase sitting on the bed next to the dead comedian. Rorschach looked briefly and turned back to Thrymos. Thrymos walked past Rorschach, "that briefcase explains everything better than I could," he said. He continued and down the stairs when Rorschach called out to him. He turned halfway on the stairs and looked up at the blotted face.

"Did you make this?" He said, holding out the suitcase.

"No," Thrymos said. "He did,"

...

Starlight placed a hand on her chin, deep in thought. "Should he have let Ozymandias kill those people?"

"Clearly not," Bruce said, voice full of conviction. Tyrion shook his head.

"War is always good to be avoided, but killing millions to prevent it, eventually you weigh the risks versus the rewards. Three million is a lot of people."

"Would've stopped the war, nuclear war," Starlight said.

"Manhattan might've stopped the nukes," Paul said. Bruce scoffed.

"Dr. Manhattan is an asshole," Bruce said.

"Even so, that was a rather boring fight."

"Regardless, he moved on," Paul said, readying another fight.

...

Thrymos left the arena, and the measly fight was over. He walked out of the arena to the audience booing and jeering, but he ignored their insults and continued into the halls of Olympus; all clad with marble and inlaid with gold. The equipment of great heroes from all lands hung in the halls. Heracles' club dangled next to the invincible lion pelt, Gilgamesh's great Sky Cutter lay next to it, and even Beowulf's sword nægling was set upon it. Thrymos admired the ancient weapons, some older than himself and continued through the halls. When he returned to his chambers he entered the dark abyss. The room was darker than dark, and only a single candle in the corner of the room illuminated the dark. Thrymos found his bed, stripped of his armor and laid in it. He held the covers, and sobbed silently.

His pity and shame and despair were quickly overcome by immense pain and vengeful grief. He grit his teeth and felt the fire burning within him, though he knew he no longer could summon that flame. He clenched his fist hard, and in the dark abyss a figure approached Thrymos from within his room. It dripped and sopped with soaking wet meat. Pink and white flesh fell to the floor as it approached Thrymos who looked up, seemingly unbothered and entirely bored with the eldritch horror in his room. It had only a single eye, and half a mouth but it spoke to Thrymos eloquently.

"So," it began. "This is what has become of the great and mighty Thrymos, eh? A mere shell of his former self."

Thrymos said nothing, ignoring the amalgamation of flesh. He took a photo from his pocket and stared longingly at it. 

"I can save her-" it began when Thrymos, agile and keen smashed the creature into the wall. It fell to the floor and Thrymos grabbed where its throat should've been, picked it up, and pinned it against the wall.

"You will speak of her no more!" he said. But the creature wrapped a thick tendril-like arm around Thrymos and slowly pulled him off, despite the best efforts of Thrymos. The creature slung his arm to the side.

"If you want to die, go right ahead and travel into the next bouts, but just to let you know, even your battle against Morgoth was nothing compared to the hell the Mountain will unleash on you," it said. "As to normal men, The Mountain might as well be Heracles. If you want to win, you'll need your flame again."

"I will summon it myself," he said. "And raze the Mountain to the ground."

"Don't be a fool," it said. "Your fire was effective before only because your body was immortal. How exactly do you plan on counteracting the flame?"

Thrymos sat, enraged and angered, but ultimately understood that the creature was correct.

"What do you want?"

"Simply put, to live inside you," it said.

"Like a parasite?" Thrymos responded.

"Nothing like that," it said. "A parasite would simply suck you dry and leave your husk behind, but I am not so cruel. I am offering a trade. You get to use your fire, and I get to live inside a physical body."

"And if i die?" he asked, "What becomes of you?"

"Believe me, when I say this," it said. "Any fate you meet, I shall meet with you."

"Why?" he asked. "Why exactly, are you here?"

"I wish for a body, I have been a clump of mass for so long, and...I feel for your situation."

"What are you?"

"I am Ecthra," he said.

"So I'm supposed to let hatred itself into me?" Thrymos asked. "I've heard of you. They burned most of the books you were in, as mine were, but one single source remained. You enveloped Typhon in the second battle between him and Zeus."

"I've learned from my mistake," he said. "And the simple fact is, you won't survive the next round without me, and as the bodies pile on, I become stronger. At the end, even Zeus won't be able to stand against you. Thrymos, you have the chance to be the only survivor of the Adynato Ganti, don't throw this away."

Thrymos looked at the ground, tears of pure rage seeping from his eyes. He knew the creature spoke the truth but the idea sickened him.

"If I were to accept you," he asked, "How limited would my movement be?"

"None," it said. "I will appear as a hefty tattoo over your heart. I will harden your skin, and strengthen your muscles, the more you use me, the stronger you'll get. And of course, your fire will burn brighter than it ever did."

It ended its proposal as Thrymos sat upon his bed in thought. He looked at the lump of flesh standing before him. He held his arm out and it took the gesture as acceptance. It wrapped over his arm, swirled around his chest and midsection, and twisted in the air, burrowing itself in his chest. Blood and flesh spat from the burrowed hole and Thrymos grunted in extreme discomfort. It didn't necessarily hurt, but it felt wrong. Alas the creature made its final move and Thrymos absorbed Ecthra into his chest. The crimson red tattoo spread all across his chest and back, stopping just before his neck. Thrymos crazily smiled and summoned his fire to his hands and coated the entire room in the flames laughing maniacally and crying tears of blood. He snuffed out the flames and his sclera's lost their color, turning black as the void. His irises filled with blood, changing from the pure blue into a deep red. He felt the hate he once commanded flow through him and become his again.

Chapter Text

They descended upon the city of Newark, New Jersey. Jeśus Rossi grabbed Jennifer Melfi as she was entering her car, in a parking garage under her work. She had just gotten off the phone.

"I got a knife, I'll cut you bitch!" he yelled. Jennifer stepped on his foot with the spike of her heel, briefly letting off of his grip, she ran for a while before he caught up to her and grabbed her again, unaware of the rumbling in the background. He had only just opened a door to the stairs leading up to the office, and threw Jennifer onto them, when a voice rang out.

"Insolent Boy, this slave of passion, basking in your glory!" 

The voice both tumultuous and beautiful sent chills through Jeśus, and he turned around, desperately looking for the voice. Anywhere for the voice.

"Ignorant fool! This brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph!"

The voice did not sing, it roared, like an angry lion, like a pained caged animal, repressed emotions and feelings made voice. Jeśus fell to the ground, and Jennifer herself was afraid.

"Who are you? What are you? What..." she began, and she felt a gentle caress on her shoulder, but still, nothing was there.

"Flattering child you shall know me, see why in shadow I hide, look at yourself in the mirror, I am there inside!"

The final verse rang out like a belting roar, and Jennifer floated above the stairs, the dust on her clothes being shaken gently off. She looked into the reflective metal bars and saw a glimpse of the face within, a face of white, with ruby eyes. She hardly felt comforted by the supernatural oddity. She was rotated in the air and set down lightly on the stairs, on her feet. Jeśus turned to run but stopped, petrified, unable to move. He felt a commanding and demonic figure hovering, in the embrace of an Iron Maiden, unable to cry out in pain. He felt its breath on his neck. 

"I am your Angel, come to me, angel of music..."

Jesus shivered, Thrymos...it, savored every moment of fear and terror, feeding off of it like flies to dead flesh. This vulture-like being that haunted him.

"I am your Angel of Music, come to me, Angel of Music!" 

Thrymos roared and, like a cat plays with an injured mouse, let Jeśus go, who ran as best he could, falling on his face, scratching his body. He yelped in fear, trying desperately to get away. Jennifer collected herself and stepped out of the door, watching.

"In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came, that voice which calls to me and speaks my name, and do I dream again, for now I find, The Phantom of the Opera is there, inside his mind."

She sang, curiously studying the man, the day's horror weighing heavily on her heart. Jeśus nearly made it to another staircase, when a tendril of Thrymos' cape grabbed his ankle and dragged him across the pavement. His face was torn slightly, bleeding on the ground, leaving a bloody smear on the asphalt. Thrymos tossed him back away, and grabbed a spare car, throwing it into the exit.

"Sing once again with me, our strange duet, my power over you, grows stronger yet! And though you turn from me, to glance behind, the Phantom of the Opera is there, inside your mind!"

Jennifer realized he was singing at Jeśus, not her, realizing the danger present. She called the police, giving them the address, and they raced over. Thrymos's cape grabbed him and pulled him up sharply into the roof, and he fell on a slightly padded part of the cape to prevent his premature death. Thrymos eyed his prey with the look of the most vile Chimera, salivating over his hunt.

"Those who have seen your face, draw back in fear, I am the mask you wear--"

"It's me they hear."

They began singing, separate and divided but this odd duet of theirs continued nonetheless. Thrymos made no notice of her, completely and entirely focused on his kill. He struck him in the arm, the bone snapped like a wishbone, and he yelled in pain, Thrymos slammed the brow of his head into Jeśus' nose, blood spraying out.

"Your (my) spirit and my (his) voice, in one combined, The Phantom of the Opera is there, inside his mind."

Voices bid her beware of this demon, though she already decided on that, terrified of him and his anger, reminding her too much of the anger of another of her clients. Thrymos' tendrils balled up and slammed into his thighs, snapping the femurs. He fell to the ground and Thrymos grabbed his legs and spread them. Thrymos leaped and stomped hard on Jeśus' hips, shattering his pelvis into sand.

"In all your fantasies, you always knew, that man and mystery--"

"Were both in you...."

She finished his lyric, as six policeman barged through the remaining entrances, three paramedics rushed in, comforting her at last, and the police moved to surround the two. She noticed herself singing under her breath, matching him.

"And in this labyrinth, where night is blind, the Phantom of the Opera is there, inside his mind."

The police surrounded them at last, Thrymos noticed their approach and dropped Jeśus at last, the man now a battered slab of meat, his skin ripped and bleeding, one of his eyeballs missing. He was still breathing, and through magic of Hypnos, was still wide awake and fully conscious, his pain now a pathetic whimper. Thrymos laughed and gestured to the police, who jolted at his sudden movement.

"I have brought you, to the seat of sweet music's throne, to this kingdom where all must pay homage to music, to music."

Thrymos turned, his cape swirling beautifully in the dim lighting. His movements were filled with malice and contempt, as he stood over Jeśus.

"You have come here, for one purpose and one alone, since the moment I first heard you sing, I have needed you with me, to serve me, to sing, for my music, my music."

He gestured to Jeśus, but Jennifer felt an audience which she couldn't see listening in. The police felt it deep within their stomachs, but they held strong. Thrymos turned to look at Jennifer. A saddened look on his face. He turned to the police, smirking.

"So what now, gentleman?" he said. His casualness disturbed the police, who's hands began to shake, their guns jolting in their hands.

"We're taking him to the emergency room, and you're under arrest," a brave cop said. Thrymos chuckled. 

"Why bother? Taxpayers shouldn't have their money used on unnecessary acts," Thrymos said, pointing his finger and shaking it twice, as the deep sarcasm in his voice melted into the pavement.

"You bastard! You're under arrest for attempted murder!" he yelled. Thrymos' face became comically sad. 

"Attempted? Look, I am trying here, cut me some slack, this armor moves weird."

"How can you say that?" The cop asked.

"How can I say that? How can you, with assumed full soundness of mind and faculties, actually offer him, HIM, an ambulance?" Thrymos asked back.

"He's injured, we don't care who is hurt, they deserve treatment."

"Treatment? You know he was going to rape her right? Why does he get treatment? I'm sure those two black kids you shot deserved treatment too."

"How did-"

"Irrelevant. Hypocrite! You're damn lucky, really damn lucky I can't hurt you. Otherwise you'd be in a puddle of your own intestines."

The cop said nothing, and Thrymos basked in the collective fear. 

"You know something else, Melfi? They were going to mishandle this case. Oh yes, your rapist here was gonna be let back out on the street, and you, like an idiot, didn't let 'him' handle it. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. But why? Why save this guy?"

"Because despite what you might think, this is not the correct way to go about things," Melfi said, shocking Thrymos. "He deserves prison, and maybe he should be killed under the death penalty, but that's in a court of law, with a Judge presiding over the case. You can't be Judge, Jury, and Executioner."

"You...would defend him?" Thrymos said, unable to comprehend her decision. "In what world should he live? Why..."

Jennifer noticed a small layer of tears in his eyes, and though intrigued and unconvinced, she pressed on. 

"He should be left in the hands of the Police, they have the jurisdiction--"

"You trust these men?" Thrymos asked. "Hm? That one, who I mentioned before, that one, who beat his wife so bad she needed facial reconstruction? That one, who is currently fighting a bribery charge? These are the men you trust? Not the one who's preventing this man from committing more horrors?"

"One evil does not cancel another out," she said. "And I don't think any good would absolve you of evil either."

Thrymos' legs slacked, but he caught himself. He looked at her, his eyes welling up.

"I gave you my music...made your song take wing..."

His voice cut off, his tears stopping his song in it's tracks, he stood, crying, and though she felt a small twinge of pity, her disgust with him rocked him to his core. He stepped back, and the paramedics grabbed Jeśus and escorted him to be loaded into an ambulance. The police dared not make a move on him.

"So we load him up and take him to St. Vincent right?" he asked. The other paramedic nodded. Thrymos looked back at Jennifer, who was being lead away by one of the police officers. Thrymos' mind raced at a million miles a minute, trying to understand, begging for explanation, and for a moment, a single solitary moment, Jennifer turned her head, her hair flowing behind her, Thrymos saw Thaea in her face. He yelled and bolted over faster than the blink of an eye and shoved the paramedics away, punching his fingers into Jeśus' chest. 

"You will curse the day you did not do...all that the Phantom asked of you!!"

Thrymos pulled hard and ripped him in half vertically, his head flopping over to one side as the ribs gave way, blood sprayed and his soft squishy entrails flopped wetly onto the floor, Jennifer yelled out, horrified, and Thrymos, in one swipe of his cape, disappeared from sight, as if he had never existed. Apollo and Artemis comforted her and lead her to the arena. She walked through the halls that so many have traveled through before her, finding the viewing area. 

"Hello?" she asked.

"Oh hello," Bruce greeted her.

...

The viewers looked at this tape with more intrigue, Starlight looking off into the distance, deep in thought. Tyrion shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the subject of the fight.

"He saved her," Paul said, finally breaking the silence. Bruce breathed in.

"I suppose he did," Bruce said. "I am interested by what he said."

"What's that?" Tyrion asked.

"He gave her his music?" Bruce asked.

"The chance for revenge I imagine," Starlight said. The others nodded, but Bruce still wasn't convinced. 

"I don't think it's that simple," Bruce said. "If it were merely about revenge, wouldn't he have said that? He said music specifically."

"It's just to fit the lyrics. It's The Phantom of the Opera," Annie said.

"Think about what that character means first," Jennifer said as she entered the room, having left to freshen up and newly dressed in a business professional attire. "The Phantom is a character so isolated from his fellow man because he views his face as horrific yes?"

"I suppose," Annie said, shocked slightly by the new entry. Jennifer opened a fridge at the corner of the room and pulled out a water bottle. "Isn't it possible he just likes the music?"

"I guess, but I also think there's more to it," she said. "I've reviewed his other music, and I don't think they're picked accidentally."

"I like this one," Tyrion said. 

"She knows what she's doing," Bruce said. They watched yet another fight, this one beginning in the deep open void of space.

Chapter Text

Jimmy, the ever petulant monster, turned the Tulpar towards the Asteroid. It lurched in the vacuum of space, the Tulpar's captain, Curly, stared blankly at the monitor, unmoving and dead-eyed. Jimmy felt a hand grab his shoulder roughly and toss him across the room. He slammed into the wall, and fell to the ground. Thrymos landed in the chair and pulled up hard on the steering manifest. The ship surged upward, the Asteroid just missing the leftmost wing of the Tulpar, Thrymos leaned back and sighed out, standing and pressing the autopilot button hard, sending the ship into an idle state of travel. Thrymos turned and saw Jimmy crawling across the floor like a flaccid viper. Thrymos walked over and picked him up by the throat, preparing to end his life before a small idea came into his mind. He drug Jimmy into the Chryochamber room and threw him into a pod. Before Jimmy could resist Thrymos pressed the button and froze him in place. He sighed out and exited the room. The other members of the ship were there. Daisuke, in a flamboyant floral shirt, Anya in a quaint off-green uniform, Curly in a normal Pony Express uniform, and Swansea in his yellow shirt. Thrymos began stripping his armor, setting down the gauntlets, the metal clanging against the wooden table. He undid the chestpiece and set it down, revealing his bare chest, red tattoo over his heart. He removed the armor from cloth and threw on the shirt. Undoing the armor on his legs. The crewmates just looked at him, this odd and unusual man. 

"We're heading for...well wherever we're going," Thrymos said bluntly. The other members of the crew were silent, grabbing at their clothes nervously. Thrymos shifted in his seat. "I assure you, I mean you no harm."

"You did just beat the shit out of Jimmy," Daisuke said at last. Thrymos smirked to himself and let out a small chuckle. He cracked his knuckles. 

"I suppose my first impression could've been a tad friendlier, but I was pressed for time," Thrymos said, looking at Curly with disdain. "Some of us are ready for the necessary action."

Curly knew Thrymos was talking about him. Thrymos stared until standing. "I'm going to rest for a while," he said, laying down on the couch and drifting off to sleep. The crewmembers of the Tulpar stood awkwardly. They shuffled towards the medbay, sitting on the benches.

"So is he just gonna live with us now?" Daisuke asked. The crewmembers just shrugged their shoulders. 

"He did say he wasn't gonna hurt us," Anya said hopefully. "Who knows, maybe he just didn't like Jimmy."

"I think we're all ignoring the biggest question," Swansea asked, "How the fuck did he get here? We're in the middle of a shipping route, and he just...appeared?"

"Stowaway?" Daisuke asked. 

"Hell no," Swansea said, "There's no way in hell we could spend damn near six months on this ship and not have known. Hell, I don't even know where you would go to hide."

"The cargo bay?" Anya asked. Swansea began to refute before thinking.

"Possibly, ain't there motion detectors in there?" Swansea asked. The other members shrugged, unsure. Anya looked down. They didn't sleep that night. Thrymos woke up and began cooking in the kitchen. The smell intrigued the other members of the ship. They walked into the living room slowly. Thrymos set out plates.

"Morning."

"Morning..." They said with hesitancy. Thrymos swallowed down a glass of water, looking at the crewmembers. Curly came in last, and Thrymos' half smile turned into a scowl. Thrymos set his glass down and looked at the crew.

"If you have questions, ask." he said bluntly. They stayed quiet. Curly cleared his throat.

"You always look at me like you hate me, what gives?" Curly asked. Thrymos stood slowly. He walked over and looked Curly in the face.

"You knew," Thrymos said. Curly's eyes widened, as did Anya's. Swansea and Daisuke looked at each other confused.

"Jimmy was a friend--" Curly got cut off by Thrymos grabbing his throat and lifting him up in the air. Anya stumbled back.

"What the hell?" Swansea asked, getting up.

"What's going on?" Daisuke asked.

"You knew what he did to her, and yet you still let him live. You knew he couldn't take responsibility, you knew he was a danger, YOU KNEW!" Thrymos said jerking Curly around, his legs kicking, his hands clawing at Thrymos' grip.

"Please..." he managed to squeeze out. 

"Believe me, the only reason I'm not rolling around in your twisted mangled guts is because I'm only here for him." Thrymos said, eyes shining red with anger and hate. He saw glimpses of fire in the palms of his hands. He threw Curly back. "We will land on Earth, you will testify against Jimmy for all that he's done, and you will hand in your letter of resignation, and you will never pilot another ship."

"That's not fair," Curly said. 

"Neither is forcing Anya to share a ship with her rapist. As soon as it happened, you should've shot him in the head...though a small part of me is glad you didn't. When he goes on trial, the look on his face when he's finally forced to take responsibility? Oh it'll be golden," Thrymos ended as he cast Curly back. Curly sulked into the captain's quarters, and did not come out for a while. 

Thrymos retreated to his room, he stayed there for hours, rarely leaving to commune with the other members of the crew, and waited. 

...

A week before they landed, Anya entered his room, holding a clipboard with a piece of paper nervously. Thrymos looked at her.

"Anya," he said, she sat down in a chair in the corner of the room, she gripped her pregnant stomach tentatively. Thrymos couldn't bare to look at her.

"Thrymos?" she asked. 

"How are you?" he asked, his eyes glistened, Anya nearly saw his melancholy in that dim room.

"I've been better," she admitted. "I've been wanting to speak to you, we've been traveling for months, and I still don't know anything about you, and...I'd like to."

Thrymos stared out at the wall, taking in her words carefully. "I'm not one for sharing."

"I imagined," she said, shifting. "But I see how you look at me."

Thrymos' eyes shone with anger. "You--"

"Not like that. I know you don't see me in that way," Anya said. "But you do look at me in a certain way. I just want to talk."

"What do you want to know?" Thrymos asked, leaning forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, just above his knees. She grabbed a pen and began scribbling, testing the pen for ink. 

"Who are you?" she asked. Thrymos ran his hand down his chin, feeling his jaw. 

"My name is Thrymos," he began. "I'm...I'm a former god."

"What happened?" She said. Thrymos looked at her with an odd look in his face.

"That's a surprisingly nonchalant response to that one," he said. "That's new. Most people just scoff, which I can't exactly blame them for."

"Well, we checked the ship when we left, and there was nobody but us," she said. "Suddenly you're here."

"So what do you figure?"

"I don't figure anything, just making an observation," she said. Thrymos cupped his face in his hands and rubbed them down his face. He sighed. "What happened?"

Thrymos: There was a warrior and his wife, And she was beautiful, A foolish warrior and his wife, She was his reason and his life, And she was beautiful, And she was virtuous, And he was...naive.

Anya listened to his lament, she wrote down into her notebook, her eyes full of sympathy. Thrymos' voice cracked on the last note, his pain laid bare.

Thrymos: There was another man who saw, That she was beautiful, A pious vulture of the gods, Who, with a gesture of his claw, Removed the warrior from his plate, Then there was nothing but to wait, And she would fall, So soft, So young, So lost, And oh, so beautiful...

"And did she fall?" Anya asked. Thrymos looked up at her, eyes full of hate.

"Not willingly."

...

The Tulpar landed in New York City, delivering their cargo. Curly obeyed Thrymos, and didn't apply for another piloting job. The trial was swift, Thrymos was the prosecuting lawyer, ripping Jimmy apart on the stand, pushing for a death penalty, an unheard of concept for mere attempted murder. Yet the charge went through all the same. The liquid entered his veins, and Jimmy was dead. Anya finally managed to gain her medical license, Swansea and Daisuke managed to find new work in New York, repairing old ships. Thrymos walked out of the city, though justice was served, his anger remained.

Beata, My Thaea, You know I am a righteous man, Of my virtue I am justly proud.

He sang to the upper echelons, the finest seats in the coliseum as much as he did to Thaea, his declaration beginning, his hatred unfolding in his chest and coming undone. Ecthra beneath the skin began stretching. 

"Beata, My Thaea, You know I'm so much purer than, The common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd,"

Thrymos spat as he sang, salival venom spraying across the ground.

"Then tell me, dear Thaea, Why I see him gloating there, Why his smoldering eyes still scorch my soul,"

An effigy of Zeus in the thunderous clouds ignited 6 rounds of anger and malice within Thrymos.

"I feel him, I see him, The carelessness of his whims, are blazing in me out of all control,"

Thrymos' flame rebirthed itself and Thrymos breathed blissfully as the heat returned to him.

"Like fire, Hellfire, This fire in my skin, This burning, Desire, Is turning me to sin."

Thrymos kneeled as the fire enveloped his body, tickling his skin lightly.

"It's not my fault, I'm not to blame, It is the twisted god, The wretch who sent this flame, It's not my fault, If in his plan, He made this fire so much stronger than a man,"

Thrymos' mania took over, his mind gone but briefly still horrified the audience to its core, and Thaea weeped in the crowd, horrified of her husband.

"Protect me, my Thaea, Don't let this siren cast his spell, Don't let his fire sear my flesh and bone, Destroy him forever, And let him taste the fires of hell, And just let her be mine and mine alone,"

The fire swirled around his feet gently, Thrymos controlled the swirl with his hand swinging it around like a marionette. 

"Hellfire, Dark fire, Now deity, it's your turn, Choose me or, Your pyre, Be mine or you will burn, God have mercy on him, God have mercy on me, But she will be mine, Or he will burn!"

He raised his hands to the sky, and his fire spread out and covered the area of a city, it held for a moment, swirled and immolated Thrymos in a tornado of fire, the fire flashing white, the great demon king making glimpses and light appearances. The gods were horrified in the stands, and when Thrymos left the black box, the gods threw their food at him. Thrymos smiled and raised his arms, basking in their hatred of him. He walked back into the halls of Olympus.

Chapter Text

The land was sterile, the sky and the trees were gray and decaying, all life was dead, save for the three people walking through the land, reaching the town of Woodbury. They entered and a man, tall and lanky, met them.

"Welcome, survivors," he said, holding a knife in a sheathe at his side. He looked at them with a hint of sadism in his eyes. "This is Woodbury, my town."

"Your town?" Rick asked.

"Indeed," he said, with pride. "I'm the Governor of this town, but you can just call me Philip."

"Wouldn't that make you a mayor?" Glenn asked. The Governor shrugged.

"Technically I suppose," he said.  "But then again, that's just what they call me, I never asked for that name."

"Fair enough I suppose," Glenn said. He looked at the tall man with hesitance. 

"Long travel?" Philip asked. "Come to my office, take a load off, I wanna ask you guys a few things."

They followed him hesitantly, into a huge building at the center of the town. As soon as they entered, Gabriel Harris, a bodyguard hiding, stuck a gun in Rick's back and pushed him forward. The Governor's happy demeanor changed into something more dark. He snarled. 

"A few weeks ago, some survivors of a helicopter crash entered my town, I fed them to the walkers, as I will to you, unless you tell me where you've been camped out."

"We haven't been camped out anywhere," he said. "These suits were on dead bodies."

"Liar," he said, and another guard slammed Rick's head down on the desk, The Governor stood up and pulled his knife from the sheathe. "You don't understand, I always get what I want."

He reached down with the knife and prepared to sever his hand until a rumbling shook the building. A huge black shape exploded through the roof and slaughtered the guards. He settled in the room, the huge flowing cape falling to the floor. Thrymos stood slowly and stretched, cracking his bones. He relaxed.

"What the fuck?" The Governor explained as Thrymos threw a knife into a guard who was entering the room. "What the hell are you?"

"None of your concern," Thrymos grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him in the air, paused, and slammed him into the floor, falling several levels. The Governor rolled out of the concrete rubble, holding his side. Thrymos rose slowly and stepped forward. Thrymos drug the governor to his home and threw him in front of it. The Governor scratched and clawed at the armor of Thrymos, cutting the tips of his fingers, blood running down his hands. Thrymos threw him into the house, a few guards rushed in from the open door, Thrymos quickly ripped them apart, viscera spraying on the floor. The Governor crawled to a gun on the floor and fired into Thrymos, Thrymos giggled as the bullets bounced off his armor and skin, the governor's eyes widened in realization.

"What the hell are you?" He asked, exasperated, and nearly crying.

"Does that truly matter?" Thrymos said, turning, his black cape flapping from artificial wind. "You stare at severed heads to desensitize yourself, don't you? What childish methods. Believe me, no matter what you've seen, you have only a glimpse of what horror truly is. All the hell you've been put through and put people through, and yet nothing compares to me."

Thrymos picked the Governor up and threw him through a wall, his chained zombified daughter, Penny, bit at the two men. Thrymos laughed. Walking forward and raising his fist above his head. 

"No!" The Governor yelled as Thrymos brought the fist down, killing the zombified girl. Thrymos shook the gore from his hand and turned to the Governor. He hid his teary eyes by darkness. He drug the governor out of the house, his fling, Andrea, ran forward to him. Thrymos blocked her off with a small wall of fire, she backed up and the fire stopped. She tried running forward again but the fire reignited and pushed her back. Thrymos smiled.

Thrymos: Prince Ali, Yes, it is he, But not as you know him.

Thrymos danced swiftly on the dirt, plumes of fire decoratively spouting off of him. He spun with the grace of a swan, smooth and beautiful, Rick, Glenn, and Michonne walked towards him and watched the dark man. She turned her head to avoid his gaze, Thrymos walked over and grabbed her head, forcing her to look up at him.

Thrymos: Read my lips, And come to grips, With reality

Thrymos' twisted smile stretched, his pale white-yellow teeth shone in the sunlight. She looked up at him in fear, he pushed her back slightly. 

Thrymos: Yes, meet a blast from your past, Whose lies were too good to last, Say hello to your precious Prince Ali

Thrymos swiped his hand and the black tendrils of his cape stripped Philip to his underclothes and seemingly back to his original personality, Brian Blake sat there in the dirt, humiliated and afraid, shaking with fear.

Thrymos: So Ali, Turns out to be, Merely Aladdin

Thrymos soaked in the attention of the small town, knowing that by doing this he likely damned them to death by the walkers, but Thrymos did not agree with the concept of the necessary evil, planning to purge him anyway, knowing the walkers were merely animals, not inherently evil themselves.

Thrymos: Just a con, Need I go on? Take it from me

Thrymos gestured to his chest, smiling at Andrea, her eyes dead and glazed over, staring blankly at the shell of a man in front of her, horrified and yet disappointed. She walked back.

His personality flaws, Give me adequate cause, To send him packing on a one-way trip So his prospects take a terminal dip.

Thrymos slapped Brian and began rolling his arms in a small circle, summoning fire under the Governor. He screamed in pain as he rose in the air, hovering above the ground as the audience watched in horror.

His assets frozen, The venue chosen, It's the ends of the earth, whoopee

Thrymos swung his arm up, sending the governor high into the air like a rocket, flaming and burning, his screams of agony spreading through the city, and alerting a horde of walkers that Thrymos had no intention of dealing with.

So long! Ex-prince Ali

Thrymos laughed maniacally, fire swelling around him, forming into a huge cyclone around him and he raised his head to the sky, the fire firing upwards hard, and exploding, forming a mushroom cloud like an atomic bomb released. His fire finally coming back.

...

"What horrors have been unleashed upon us here..." Tyrion said, slowly. Jennifer shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"He's declared war," Bruce said. Paul nodded his head.

"If Zeus were here, who knows what he might've done?" Starlight asked. They shrugged and moved on to the next fight.

Chapter Text

Maureen Prescott walked down a dark street hurriedly,  two dark shadow approached her from behind. Their footsteps were heavy and slow, and yet their speed matched hers. She looked behind her quickly and hurried forward faster. A man she had not seen threw his arm around her and she jolted back, but his strength kept her in place. She tried to get away but he held her tightly to him.

"Be not afraid," he said, as he directed her to a local area in the park. She was still afraid but he kept walking with her. "I apologize for the roughness, ma'am, I didn't have much time."

"Who are you?" she asked. "Why are you here."

"My name is Thrymos, not that you'd know me," he said. "Those men are following you, even still, they don't see me."

"How?" she asked.

"Let's just say I have a way of blending in," he said. "I don't expect you to understand, but don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you."

"Still worried," she said.

"I don't blame you, ma'am," he said, bluntly. "We're going to head into the park, listen to me ma'am, we're going to head to the park. I'm going to reveal myself to them and lead them away. I'll take care of them. Find a place to hide, stay there. Don't bother coming to find me."

"How will I know if you win," she said.

"You severely underestimate me madam," he revealed one of his ink black daggers, the blade was long, longer than a forearm. She looked at him nervously. "If it makes you feel better, have this one."

He tried to give her a knife but she pushed it back into his hands. He nodded and lead her into the park. When the time was right, he bid her to run, and he threw off his black cloak, revealing his pale skin in the single nightlamp that hung overhead, him having ditched his armor for this encounter. His body was toned and each muscle was so sharply etched into his body, it looked chiseled. He waited as the two young men approached hesitantly. A third man came from behind them. Thrymos stood, basking in the darkness as rain began to pour. The water rolled down his body and dripped off of him.

"Who the hell are you?" Billy asked. Thrymos paced, staying inside the light of the lamp. He raised his hands.

"In life there are crimes with no answer," he began. The teens watched him dumbfounded. "Especially those of murder and rape. Who was Jack the Ripper? I mean the most infamous serial killer in existence should be well known but we know so sparingly little about him. I mean we know he was rich, one of the prostitutes he killed was last seen leaving with a well dressed gentleman, we know he was educated and a doctor, considering the precise surgeries he did in an alley under a time restraint and without light. But other than that? Who was he?"

Thrymos reached behind him and pulled out a severed head from a bag hanging off of his belt. He studied the decapitated head. The teens jumped back in horror.

"I mean look here, does this man look very special? He's rich and a doctor, but he's so boring, nothing about this guise would make you think he was the most infamous serial killer of all time, don't you think? Don't meet your heroes I guess."

Thrymos tossed the head to the side. Billy, Stu and Roman looked at one another in horror.

"Who are you?" Billy asked again, holding his knife tighter.

"I am justice, and fire. I am retribution. I am Thrymos," he said. "And I have come to wreak vengeance upon you. You know you actually manage to kill Maureen? Of course all of you are killed by her daughter, but what's that matter? We all deserve to die, don't we?"

"What?" Stu asked, eyes wide with confusion. Roman glared at the man.

"Ah so much to explain, but so little time. I have my ways of changing events, but only in one place at a time. Thankfully, I got here before they wanted me to."

"Shut the fuck up," Roman said at last, frustrated by the man's riddle speaking. Billy, Stu, and Roman rushed Thrymos who caught their blades and tossed them all back. He pulled his knives from sheaths in the back. He raised his arms to shoulder level, pointing them to the side, the knives tipped forward. He moved his hand and held the black knife in the light.

Thrymos: "These are my friends, see how they glisten,"

He spoke to the knife, Billy got up and stabbed again, but Thrymos side stepped and tripped him, sending him to the ground, he rolled on the concrete, and felt his head.

Thrymos: "See this one shine, how he smiles in the light, my friend, my faithful friend,"

Stu stood and swiped at Thrymos who backstepped and kicked Stu back. He studied his knife closer.

Thrymos: "Speak to me, friend, whisper, I'll listen, I know, I know, you've been locked out of sight, all these years, like me, my friend, well, I've come home, to find you waiting, home, and we're together, and we'll do wonders, won't we?"

Roman approached from the back, stabbing down, Thrymos backed up, slamming into Roman and sent him back hard. Maureen had disobeyed Thrymos' command and hid in a bush, watching the battle intently.

Thrymos: "You thеre, my friend, Come, let me hold you, Now, with a sigh, You grow warm, In my hand, My friend, My clever friend,"

Billy and Stu stood and rushed Thrymos, he deflected their blades and butted them with the pommels of his knives hard, their heads snapped back hard, and they fell to the ground. They crawled away, rubbing their bleeding noses.

Thrymos: "Rest now, my friends, Soon I'll unfold you, Soon you'll know splendors, You never have dreamed, All your days, my lucky friends, till now your shine, was merely obsidian, Friends,"

The three teens stood slowly, knives in hand. They approached slowly, Thrymos readied himself, his gaze never leaving his knives. They approached him at once, slowly walking forward, the tension in the air buzzing like a horde of mosquitos angrily flying around and they prepared for the first strike to come.

Thrymos: "You shall drip rubies, You'll soon drip precious, Rubies,"

The teens barely had time to react as Thrymos moved violently quick, dragging his knives across their throats, blood spouting from their necks as they gurgled on blood. They dropped to the ground, Billy crawling a few feet towards Maureen, before Thrymos slammed his knife into the top of his head. He pulled it hard, blood spraying over his face. It dripped down in rivers to his chin and onto the ground. He raised his arms and looked to the sky as the rain came down harder.

Thrymos: "At last, my arms are complete again!"

He breathed heavily, letting the rain wash the blood off his face and knives. Maureen approached him slowly from behind. He turned gently, putting his knives away. He took his cloak off the ground and wrapped himself again. He turned to leave when she grabbed his arm. he looked back at her confused.

"That was Billy, he was such a nice young man, I don't know what could've happened," she asked. Thrymos shrugged.

"He thought you did," he said. She cocked her head to the side, confused by the statement. Thrymos rose a hand. "Pardon me, I know things you don't, and I forget that sometimes. So because of his father's affair with you, his mother left him, feeling spited he felt you were to blame."

"And Stu?" she asked.

"Poor lad, he truly deserved better friends," Thrymos admitted. "Billy pressured him into becoming a killer."

"Poor lad?" She asked. "Didn't you kill him?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I take pleasure in harming him," Thrymos explained. "The other two sure, but not him."

"The other one...he's my son, isn't he?" she asked.

Thrymos nodded his head solemnly.

"My boy, my poor sweet boy," she said, covering her mouth and tearing up.

"I'm sorry, Maureen," Thrymos started but she held up a finger.

"Don't be sorry, sir," she said. "You were only defending yourself, and me, but I still grieve for the boy."

They sat in silence on the steps leading up to the park, Thrymos covering her with his cloak. He got up to leave again, but she pressed her body against him. She looked up at him with hungry eyes.

"You know I never properly thanked you for saving me, sir," she said, unbuttoning her blouse, Thrymos pushed her away gently.

"I appreciate the gesture, ma'am," he said. "But my heart belongs to someone else."

"You're a better man than half this town then," she said, a hint of sarcasm on her voice. Thrymos ignored it. "Can I thank you in another way?"

"Perhaps discontinuing your extramarital activities," he said. "I don't judge you any differently from anyone else, but you have a husband and a daughter who deeply love you. Surely there's some contentment to find in that life."

"I suppose so, it's just hard, you know?" She said shamefully. Thrymos kept his hands far away from her. He nodded. "I've been chasing my past, I guess it caught up to me."

"I guess so," Thrymos said as the rain subsided slightly. "Would you let me walk you home?"

"My, aren't you a gentleman." She said. She took his hand and they stood up, walking down the streets to her home.

"Be safe, Maureen," he said. "You have a good one."

"Thank you sir," she said.

"Just doing what's right, ma'am," he said as he walked away.

...

Annie was deeply confused, looking back and forth, looking for answers. "What the fuck was that?"

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.

"This guy, he acts all mean and tough, the moment someone shows some empathy, suddenly he's Mister Rogers?"

Tyrion looked over at Bruce in confusion, who shook his head. "Nice guy, don't worry about it," he said. Tyrion shrugged.

"I don't understand him at all. What's his angle?" 

Chapter Text

Part 1: Thrymos vs Tywin Lannister

Tywin Lannister drug the dwarf, Tyrion, by the back of the neck across the streets and into the barracks. Two weeks earlier, Tyrion and Jamie were riding on the road when a girl was fleeing from two would be rapists. Jamie ran them off and Tyrion helped the girl, clothing her with his Burgundy cloak. Later that night the two decided to get married, bribing a drunk septon and hiding the marriage from Tywin. But now Tywin was determined to punish this idiotic marriage. No son of his would be married to a common street whore. Tywin kicked open the door and threw Tyrion into the barracks and entered behind him.

The room was dark, unnaturally dark. Even a lamp did nothing to illuminate the abyssal blackness in the room. From the dark, Thrymos entered, appearing from the wall and walked forward, the darkness folding around him and its firmament wrapped around his legs, the abyss seemingly spawning from his back.

"Hello, Tywin" he said "Tyrion."

"What is going on here?" he asked. "Where are my guards?"

"Why?" Thrymos asked "Surely Robert hasn't destroyed the kingdom?"

Tywin was silent.

"Ah, I see," he said, feigning ignorance. "Well I can certainly answer your question, but I think the better one might be 'why is she here?'" He held his arm out towards the wall and from it the naked body of Tysha arose. She had some minor cuts but nothing too severe, but the most noticeable detail was the bloodstained severed arm that clung to her ankle.

"Tysha!" Tyrion yelled. "What have you done to her?"

"Me?" Thrymos asked. "You might turn half to your left and ask your father that same question."

Tywin sneered at Thrymos as he leaned back, shadows forming a chair underneath him as he let her go and she ran to Tyrion.

"You stain our family name; you are no son of mine." he said to Tyrion. "You would have a common street whore as your bride? I will not have it."

"What..." Tyrion said bleakly, tears forming in his eyes. "What were you going to do?"

"Yes, Tywin, what were you going to do? Hm?" Thrymos asked.

"I was going to put her, and you in your place," Tywin said. "My guards were to show you what its like to know a woman without love."

Tyrion fell to his knees, tears of anguish and sadness leaking from his face. Tywin kicked the dwarf aside. He turned to face Thrymos. He sneered with disgust.

"I can't help but notice that my question has thus gone unanswered," he said "Where are my guards?"

"A question that you do not want answered, but alas I shall answer it anyways," he said. "Where are your guards?"

Thrymos raised his arms and a sick, twisted grin crudely stretched across his face. His eyes widened and bloody tears leaked from his eyes as the shadowy abyss, that was in truth his cape, snapped back and revealed the horror. Bodies of guards, disemboweled, decapitated, and all-together desecrated lined the floors, walls and even the ceiling. The room was coated so thoroughly in blood that the original colors could only be guessed at. The room suddenly stank with the smell of putrid death. Tywin shuddered and Tyrion and Tysha vomited. Thrymos cocked his head to the side.

"They're everywhere!" He said, with maniacal glee.

Tywin rushed for a sword and Thrymos took his rotary hilt and summoned Lucifer's sword of Pride. The two clashed blades for a mere second as Thrymos flicked his wrist and deflected the blade he swiftly swung it halfway into Tywins neck. He drug the blade down and Tywin dropped unceremoniously on the ground. Thrymos wiped the blade and discarded the blade. He walked out of the room.

Apollo and Artemis walked in and took the two from the room. They escorted them to Olympus, and Tysha opted not to leave the room they were put in, Tyrion walked into the large observation room and saw the young boy in the corner.

Part 2: Thrymos' Trial

Thrymos was swiftly "captured" by the guards. Thrymos was escorted into a prison. He sat for a while, meditating in his own thoughts. They eventually brought him into the hall of Casterly Rock. He was pushed into the room and sat in a chair. A high pulpit stood in front of him, and a young blonde haired woman walked into the room. Her hair was long and flowing. Wrapped in  tight bows and loose curls. She sat at the pulpit as an equally young and blonde haired man stood next to her. Other members of the court filtered in. An old and weak man walked in, as did a man, pale and bald as a stone. They sat in chairs next to the woman. The old man cleared his throat.

"We are gathered here today to try this man for the murder of Tywin Lannister," he said. "If found guilty by myself Maester Pycelle, Cersei Lannister, and Lord Verys, he will be executed, lets begin."

The woman sneered at Thrymos, and he smiled devilishly.

"Did you kill my father?" she asked.

"Of course not," Thrymos said. "He killed himself."

The entire audience gasped and the woman was visibly upset.

"You little-" Cersei began.

"Now, Lady Lannister, he's made a claim," Verys said. "Mr...what was your name?"

"Call me Thrymos," he said.

"Very well," Verys said. "Mr. Thrymos, what is your evidence for this claim?"

Thrymos threw his blade down on the floor, the blade clattered and spun slightly before stopping. Tywin's blood still covering the blade. The audience gasped as Meryn Trant walked forward and picked the blade up.

"That proves nothing," Cersei said. "If anything it confirms your guilt. Your sword covered in my father's blood. And how exactly would you explain away the bodies in those barracks?"

"My lady makes a strong point," Pycelle said.

"I demand a trial by combat to prove my innocence," he said. The audience was silent and Cersei's lips crunched and her breathing became heavier.

"No," she said. "I find you guilty and you will be executed. Ser Meryn!"

Ser Meryn raised his sword, Thrymos leaned his head back, exposing his neck. Meryn swung down and his sword shattered over Thrymos' neck, Thrymos' crimson eyes burned with hatred. Meryn stepped back.

"You don't seem to understand," Thrymos said. "The trial is not for me."

"You don't seem to understand," Cersei said. "That you'll be facing Ser Gregor Clegane, and he does not let people die peacefully."

"The Mountain Who Rides?" Thrymos asked. "Perfect."

Two weeks passed, awaiting Gregor's return to Casterly Rock, and Thrymos was held in a dungeon. He spent his time killing the occasional rats and mice that passed through the dungeons. A day before the trial he awoke to the massive door opening and Lord Verys stepping into the cell, torch in hand. He waved a cobweb away and looked down at Thrymos. He kneeled down and studied the man. He cocked his head, as if a new position would give him new insight. For now he met Thrymos' gaze.

"Hello, Thrymos," he said.

"Lord Verys wasn't it?" he asked.

"Yes," he said. "I have to say, you've caused quite a stir in the town. People don't leave their homes at night, children are told you'll eat them if they are bad."

"Not the first time, won't be the last."

"What are you?" he asked. "You're not human, that much is plain to see."

"I'm a god," he said. "Or rather I was."

"You were? Fascinating," he said. "Former God or not, you do realize fighting Gregor Clegane is suicide don't you?"

"For any normal man, yes it would be," he said, flexing his hand and lighting a small fire. "But I am not any ordinary man."

"If you say so," he said, grabbing his smooth face. "I hope you win, if not else but to see that beast fall. I do wish to tell you, he is not to be trifled with. Just recently he killed his horse and attempted to kill a man after a lost bout of jousting."

"A man who can't control his emotions?" Thrymos asked, "How has no one killed him yet?"

"Those who could, are not here," he said. "That list in itself is thin, and the list of who would is thinner. Jamie Lannister, Robert Baratheon, maybe that Oberyn from the Tyrells, but none else."

"Add me to the list," Thrymos jested.

"I will," Verys chuckled. "You know it is rather refreshing to have an honest conversation for once, and not constantly have to speak in entendre."

"I imagine," he said.

"I do wish to know, before I go, did you kill Tywin?" he asked.

"I did," he said.

"Might I ask why?" Verys asked.

"I'm trying to regain my godhood," he said. "But the real reason is because I wanted to."

"I see," Verys said. "This has been an enlightening conversation, but it is time for me to go. I wish you the best of luck, Thrymos."

Verys left the room. Thrymos sat in his firmament of darkness, enveloped entirely by the shadow.

Part 3: Trial by Combat

Another week passed and Gregor Clegane arrived in Casterly Rock. They readied the arena, and Thrymos was shipped in chains to the opposite entrance. Gregor stood in the ring, claymore in hand. His armor was plain gray. He paced in the ring, a growing rage inside of him. Thrymos was brought out, and the chains were unlocked. They fell unceremoniously to the ground. Thrymos stretched and an audible crack was heard. He leaned back over, and rejected a sword offered to him. Cersei looked over the pit the two fighters stood in and sneered at Thrymos.

"Let the trial begin!" A man yelled and a bell rang. Gregor was immediately over top of Thrymos, sword raised above his head. Thrymos was surprised at the incredible speed of the man. Thrymos half turned and the sword landed in the ground. Thrymos slammed his elbow into Gregors helmet and knocked it off. Thrymos spun and kicked Gregor in the hips. Gregor buckled and Thrymos flipped and kicked Gregor under the jaw. Gregor stumbled back and swung violently and wildly, like a badger caught in a trap. Thrymos deflected the attacks with his armored hands. Gregor swung his sword upwards, Thrymos leaned back and dodged the attack, Gregor flicked his wrists and the sword whipped around and drug a line in Thrymos' face, just over his eye, blood spurting from the wound. Gregor swung down and felt his sword his metal.

Thrymos caught the sword between two fingers, he smiled and pinched the blade and it shattered into tiny pieces. Gregor recoiled and Thrymos kicked the hilt from his hand. He smiled and started stripping his armor off. The gauntlets fell to the ground, the pauldrons, the breastplate, and the cloak. He wrapped the cloak around himself and shot towards Gregor, slamming him into the wall. Thrymos punched Gregor, his bare fists crushing armor, and kicked him out of the hole. Gregor fell and Thrymos spun like a maelstrom and grabbed Gregor by the broken breastplate and slung him into the wall.

"This is the great 'Mountain who rides?'" he said. "You're so weak."

Thrymos was visibly angry, and sparks of orange fire began immolating Thrymos' body. He seemed not to notice and grabbed Gregor.

"I was promised that this man would give me a good fight," he said. "You're immensely disappointing."

He began striking Gregor in the face, over and over punches rained down.

"What?" he asked. "All those women you've raped weakened you? Every weak man soften your soul? You're a waste of my time."

Gregor swung in vain as a punch crushed his nose and blood spurted from all directions. He kicked Gregor backwards. His fist glowed bright with frightful flames as he struck Gregor.

"What was it all for?" Thrymos yelled. "All of those women! Those children! You can cave their skulls in and rape their corpses but you cant even land a decent cut unless I give it to you?"

He grabbed Gregor and strained. Fire shot from his legs, and they flew upward violently. "All those people you've harmed, and you couldn't do anything but a small scratch?! Burn now..."

Thrymos yelled and summoned the hottest fire he could manage, it surrounding him like a tornado

"This is for Layna! Prominence Burn!" Thrymos yelled as a great ball of fire enveloped Gregor, burning him straight to ash. Thrymos continued burning like a myopic sun in the sky until he burnt himself out. He fell, an ashen man, until he reached the floor, and he flipped, landing crouched on the ground. A single red iris shone out and gazed at the crowd watching him. He rose from the ground and his body contorted into an odd dance. As if being pulled by strings of a great puppet master he moved in inhuman ways, and in ways that shouldn't have been possible. He slinked slowly towards Cersei Lannister and his cape planted firmly in the dirt sending him airbound. Spires of cloth pierced the soft brain matter of several guards rushing towards Cersei. A tendril wrapped around her throat and squeezed. Cersei kicked and struggled and clawed until Thrymos had his fill and separated her body from her head. The corpse fell to the floor. He threw the head on top and left.

He reached his room and began to brood again. Artemis brought Tyrion up to the lounge where Paul was sitting, snacking away on some pundi rice. Tyrion asked for bacon, blackened, and he crept towards the boy. Paul turned and saw the dwarf.

"Ah, a new visitor," he said.

...

"Wait, why?" Annie asked.

"Why what?" Paul responded.

"I understood why he killed your father," she said, pointing at Tyrion. "And by extension The Mountain, but why your sister?"

"From my understanding," Tyrion began. "He exacts vengeance on those who've been denied justice. He inclines towards those who've been raped in one form or another."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well," Bruce said. "The Comedian certainly tried to rape Silk Sable at first, then they had consensual sex at a later case,  but I'm guessing that was enough for him to catch on."

"The Comedian?"

"The old man, and let me speak," he said. "I'm not done yet."

"How does this relate to Cersei?" Annie asked.

"My guess is that my sister escaped justice somehow," Tyrion said. "It's possible she won the Game of Thrones."

"I doubt that," Bruce said. "Cersei is too arrogant to win the Iron Throne."

"Perhaps," Paul said. "But maybe she didn't win the Game of Thrones. Maybe the story ended when Thrymos invaded? Anyway, now that we're past my territory, I'll let the others guide you through the next fights."

"It was raining that night, and Joker was about to shoot Barbara," Bruce began.

Chapter Text

Gregor Clegane stormed out of the arena in a furious rage. He walked angrily, stripping his armor crudely, a few of his men including one Chiswyck followed him. They ended up at an alehouse on the golden road. He sat at a table, stewing in his embarrassing defeat. The man who deseated him was Loras Tyrell, a man nearly two heads shorter and a hundred pounds lighter than Gregor. The prince of flowers' had specifically chosen a mare in season due to the mountain's proclivity for having hotheaded Studs, much like the nature of Ser Gregor Clegane himself. He brewed in his embarrassment, as the barkeeper kept yapping like a dog into his ear. The Mountain hardly tried to calm himself. The alekeepers daughter, Layna, served their drinks, having to keep slapping away the hands of men who were grabbing at her soft thighs. Gregor watched her, she disappeared into the back, preparing the food for the men.

"That girl," he said. His voice was rough on the ears, like chain being pulled against a spiked morningstar. "Bring her to me."

The father reluctantly did as he was told. They hadn't even noticed the flowing black cloth of the man sitting in the corner of the room. He watched the burly man with baited breath, ready to strike. The father returned with his daughter a while later.

"So, this is the whore you're so concerned for?" Gregor asks. The father, with what little courage he had, raised up his voice.

"My Layna's no whore," he said. The gall of the man infuriated the mountain to his core and he roughly tossed a silver coin at the man.

"She is now," he said, he reached over and tried to rip the dress right off the girl, when a cold and chilling whistle broke the air. Though the winter had yet to come, the man's breath smoked from his mouth as if it were freezing. It sent a chill through everyone in the room. Even Gregor shivered at the sounds that pierced straight through his body, and he released Layna. Thrymos took a swig of ale, and put five gold pieces on the table. The Mountain walked over and leaned over the table. 

"Well, well, if it isn't 'The Mountain Who Rides?'" Thrymos said chuckling. "In the flesh."

"You know me?" He asked, not expecting a response. Thrymos shifted in his seat, putting his boots on the table. Gregor saw he was armored, and was amazed at the flexibility of it.

"Funny," Thrymos said. "I thought you'd be taller, but you're definitely the one. Ser Gregor Clegane, hm? I suppose it has a good ring to it. Hell, I'd love to be knighted, for being little more than a dog for Tywin Lannister."

"And what do you know of Tywin Lannister?" Gregor Clegane said. Thrymos laughed to himself and threw Tywin's decapitated head on the table. Gregor jolted back in shock. Thrymos sat smirking.

"He sounded like a goose when his head left his body," Thrymos laughed and made a gooselike sound, Gregor's rage boiled over and he grabbed the table and tossed it. "Aw now look, you made me lose my lunch."

"You have greater concerns than just food, boy," he said. "How you killed Tywin, I'll never know. But you won't leave this alehouse alive."

"Won't I?" Thrymos said. Gregor grabbed Thrymos by the throat, but a black tendril of cape wrapped around his wrist and pulled his hand off of it. Gregor was forced back and Thrymos kicked him hard under the ribs and he buckled under the weight of himself. He fell to the floor. Thrymos walked over to the boy in the cellar and drug him up, he wiped his clothes off, removing some dust from them. He walked over and picked Layna up and set her down gently in a booth nearby.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She shook her head, on the verge of tears. Thrymos had to wipe his own away before covering her with a blanket he had prepared. Her dress was not torn, but the blanket was warm and comforted her gently. He put it on quickly and withdrew his hands quickly, keeping his distance. Gregor stirred and Thrymos turned his attention to her brother. He scruffled the boy's hair. "And you?"

"I'm not alright," he admitted. "To think a knight would rape a woman, a child in broad daylight? He is no knight."

"I agree," Thrymos said nodding. "Unfortunately, no one has stopped him yet, have they?"

"No," the boy said. "They haven't"

"I could help you change that, boy," Thrymos said. "What is your name?"

"Kober," he said. Thrymos patted him on the shoulder.

"Well Kober," Thrymos said. "That's a fitting name, 'Kober the Mountain Slayer', has a good ring to it, doesn't it?"

"W-what?"

Thrymos: "Scales and exoskeletons, why, they pale in comparison, to a body that is covered up by skin, we get rid of those antennae, give you hair, and clothes and then I, add two eyes and a nose and my boy, that is only, the beginning..."

Kober only half understood the man, but felt drawn to his words. He watched the man intently. Thrymos grabbed him by the shoulder and led him to the bent over body of the Mountain Gregor Clegane. 

"He's not as tall when he's on the ground now is he?" Thrymos asked. The boy seemingly pondered his words.

Thrymos: "Hmm... what do you say *you* become a Starship Ranger?"

Kober's brows furrowed in confusion. The words he said were not the ones he heard. It was as if they spoke another language entirely. While the sounds he said were indeed "Starship Ranger" the boy heard, Kingsguard. He looked at Thrymos with cynical but almost hopeful eyes.

Kober: "Me?"

Thrymos wrapped his arm around the boy, his face next to the boys'. He shook him gently.

Thrymos: "Now listen to me, my confused little friend. We are friends, after all. I used to have my fair share of doubts and fears and well, they quite literally almost ate me alive. But no! I took charge! I pushed it to the limit! So you gotta be strong. Be tough! To coin a phrase, 'be a man' Ahahaha!"

He grabbed Kober tighter and lead him around the bar, sneering at the men who followed Gregor. Chiswyck stood up and pulled a knife out but Thrymos grabbed his head and succinctly crushed it. His eyeballs shot out of their sockets and rolled against the floor. His brain sprayed out of the mans' crushed skull. He flopped onto the ground, blood pooled under his head. Thrymos swiped his hands and threw the brain and hair off his hand and it squelched against the wall and slid down the wall, leaving a bloody red streak.

Thrymos: "You gotta Kick it Up a Notch, if you're ever gonna reach your goal, you can't sit around and watch, your destiny is in your control."

Thrymos playfully punched the boy in the chest. His cape slammed the doors to the room and the windows shut and another man stood and swung at the two. The cape tightened around Kober and gently carried the boy, evading the attack. Thrymos pulled his fist back and punched a hole straight through the man. The man twitched his upper body, two vertebrae flew out of the fist. Blood leaked from his mouth, Thrymos twisted, lifting the man over his head and slamming him, headfirst into the ground, and the man folded with a crunch. Thrymos pulled his arm out and walked back over to Kober.

Thrymos: "Go ahead and kick it up a notch, if your life is at a level too low, there's no attempt that you can botch, then all you gotta do is just give it a go, but then again what do I know?"

Thrymos spun the boy around with the cape and held his hand up.

Thrymos: "What I see right there, is a prisoner, who's sitting on top of the keys, so kick it up a notch, if you ever wanna be free."

Thrymos put his hands together in a penitent stance, as some macabre bishop preaching to a vain congregation. A few other men stood and were quickly dealt with, Gregor crawled over to a table and stood, resting against a chair.

Kober: "Wow. A real Starship Ranger. That would be the coolest thing in the whole world!"

Kober's eyes lit up and found a new vigor in his body.

Thrymos: "It would, wouldn't it? A bug in a human body. You could be the link between our race and theirs."

The words sounded like the ravings of a mad king, much like Aerys in his last days, but Kober, the alekeeper, and even Layna seemingly understood his words. The men who died did as well, before their lives were snuffed out like a candle.

Kober: "Well, do I even have what it takes-"

Thrymos: "Shh..."

From behind Thrymos, the nine muses descended and began whispering, playing their instruments in public. Again, Gregor and the still living men saw nothing, but Kober was fascinated by the looks of the angels that had descended upon them. A man stood and his life was snuffed quickly by a tether of cape slitting his neck to the bone. He gurgled, sputtered, and coughed and fell to the ground, dead. 

The Muses: "All you gotta do is, kick it up a notch, to dig yourself outta this hole, you wanna have the things they got? Then you gotta give that dice a roll."

They whispered into the boys' ears. His eyes showed contemplation as he processed what they were saying. Calliope, one of the muses leaned down further and rested her chest against his back. She grazed her hands against his head.

Calliope: "Kid, kick it up a notch, what's the point of less when there is more?"

He melted into her as Melpomene and Clio leaned over to the other sides of him.

Melpomene: "Have a cigar."

She showed a golden cup, worth more than the alehouse itself. Clio held up a string of obsidian-black pearls.

Clio: "A glass of scotch, when opportunity knocks at your door, you let him in and then ya..."

The Muses: "Settle the score."

Thrymos: "Life is short so, before it's over, take a chance to think it through, you'd better kick it up a notch, it's the human thing to do!"

Thrymos handed him a sword of Valyrian steel, a fine weapon, diamonds encrusted into the hilt, a keen blade that shone in the light. He held it in his hands. 

Thrymos: "It's a big big universe, so many dimensions, and unanswered questions, not to mention, life, what an invention, life. There's no choice involved in what you are given, one mind, one voice, one body to live in, but...You wanna be a starship ranger, or is that a dream that you forgot? You wanna be a starship ranger, well this might be your one and only shot! So here's the choice, Bug. You could go on leading your meaningless existence or you could take everything you've ever wanted. All I ask in return is that you befriend the humans and bring them to me. Well, Bug? Whaddaya say?"

Kober thought for a minute, the actions of his consequences pervading his mind. He held the sword tighter in his hand.

Kober: "I... I...I think I'll kick it up a notch, I don't care about the queen or the hive!"

Thrymos celebrated silently with the rest of the muses. 

Thrymos: "That's the spirit! Kick 'em all straight in the crotch! How about that?"

Both: "Who are they to deprive us of wanting to-"

Thrymos: "Kick it up a notch, Never give yourself a reason to doubt."

Kober: "I'm gonna be a Starship Ranger!"

Thrymos: "You gotta strike while the iron is hot, cause that's what living's all about."

Kober: "I'm gonna be a Starship Ranger!"

Thrymos: "My dear Bug, it's time the..."

Kober: "I'm gonna be a Starship Ranger!"

Thrymos: "Lights went, Out!"

The Muses: "I know we're suckers but that guys a sucker."

Thrymos: "Yes, yes... what a dumbass! Break out the good china, boys. Tonight we dine again!"

Thrymos covered himself in oil and held a candle to the cloth and lit himself aflame, like a demon and walked forward, scorching the floor beneath him. 

Thrymos: "Kick it up a notch, oh, my plan is all about to unfold, let's put a twist into this plot, bug, go forth, do everything that I've told ya."

Thrymos thrust the boy forward, he stabbed the Mountain in the stomach, Gregor doubled over and fell to the ground. Thrymos thrust the boy aside and walked forward menacingly.

Thrymos and The Muses: "When we, kick it up a notch."

The Muses: "It's blood for us!"

Thrymos: "And brains for me! I'm gonna let this little snot, be everything he's wanted to be, but only because I know he'll actually..."

Thrymos rolled his arms and the flames covered more of his body. His cape grabbed Kober, Layna, and the alekeeper and took them outside the bar. 

Thrymos: "Feed my hunger for flesh, I want it warm and fresh."

Thrymos danced and slammed his feet into the floor and a small wave of fire emitted from them.

Thrymos and The Muses: "Oh, Pincer, you're in for a treat!"

Thrymos: "Let's kick it up a notch."

He summoned more fire and the fire rose through the bar, swallowing the barrels of ale; the sweet liquid inside boiled over. 

The Muses: "Kick it up a notch."

Thrymos: "So at last, I'll have, Human Meat! Hahahahahaha!"

The bar was swallowed by fire, thick black smoke rose above into the clouds, fire licked the air, flickers leaving and dissipating in the air, Thrymos left the charred alehouse, the father on his knees mourning the loss of his livlihood. Thrymos threw a pouch of gold, approximately three million dollars in gold, at the father's feet. He leaned down, face bitter and angry.

"The next time something like this happens, you defend your daughter, you understand?" Thrymos asked, voice full of spite and anger. "Or it will be you I come after next."

Thrymos walked away.

Chapter Text

Barbara Gordon sat at a table in the middle of her dimly lit room. The natural light of the sunset was about to give way to deep dark night. She was mentally preparing herself for the night ahead, another long night as Batgirl. She looked at her watch, it read 6:30. She had an hour and a half before she had to start her patrols. To say she enjoyed what she did wasn't an accurate summation, but to say she hated it wouldn't be true either. She enjoyed putting criminals away, to serve justice, but to harm people, to physically hurt someone didn't sit right with her. She would've become a cop but her father, the commissioner, Jim Gordon wouldn't let her. After getting in touch with Batman through her father, she had managed to convince him to bring her into the fold. He had already brought two robins into his care.

Unbeknownst to Barbara, a shadow had entered her room. Thrymos hid in the darkness and the blackness of the room. His metal boots were silent against the carpet of her room. Despite his weight, he moved silently, evading her deft ears. He scanned the room with his blood red eyes. A knock on the door was heard. Thrymos knew his time was near. Barbara stood up to answer and as she neared the door it burst open. A man in a vacationer's outfit had opened the door, his face was ghost white. His thick red lips pulled into a twisted smile, his yellowing teeth showing. Barbara knew who it was and tried to retreat for a gun. The Joker pulled the trigger, but instead of hitting her, he hit a shadow. Thrymos looked, in the dark, like some aimless, yet cohesive form. One black shadow, with only the evil in his eyes shining out. The Joker laughed to himself and shot more into Thrymos.

"Well Batsy! Seems you're more capable than I thought!" He reloaded his revolver and shot more. He waved his hand and sent two of his men into the room. They rushed in with bats and swung at Thrymos. Thrymos raised his hand and swung lightly. Blood splattered against the wall, they gripped at their necks, blood rushing through their fingers. They turned and ran toward Joker, falling on the ground in front of him. The Joker's smile faded and turned to horror as the creeping feeling he'd had since opening the door finally consumed him. "You're not Batman."

Thrymos walked forward, slinging the blood off his gauntlet. He walked slowly towards the Joker who turned and ran. Thrymos sped up and chased him down the hall. They reached the roof as Joker shot a grappling hook to a nearby building and zipped away. Thrymos spawned fire around his feet and shot up, chasing The Joker. Joker had zipped to the top of the building. Thrymos' fire sputtered out halfway up the building. He slammed his hands into the side of the building and started clawing his way up. Glass shattered as he ran up the building. He threw himself over the side of the building and ran at Joker, who paused to catch his breath. Joker shot his hook and zipped away.

"Bruce! Dammit, pick up!" Barbara said as she dialed Batman. He picked up the phone as he drove around the city in the Batmobile.

"Barbara? You're not supposed to be out for another hour," he said.

"Bruce, its Joker, he nearly killed me."

"What happened?"

"I'll explain later, you have to save him."

"What's going on?"

"A...man, I think, he saved me from getting shot but I think he's going to kill him."

"Understood. Where are they?"

"From what I'm seeing, you won't miss them."

Bruce raced down the street and saw the dust and smoke from their chase. He drove in front of their next position and shot out of his car. He glided up to their position, and began chasing the chaser. Thrymos looked back and realized who was following him. He pulled a small knife out of his pocket and threw it at Joker's hook, destroying it. The joker fell on top of a roof, and the two dark men followed. Batman sent a signal to Dick and Jason. Barbara suited up and headed to their position. Batman shifted inbetween Joker and Thrymos. Thrymos sighed heavily.

"I don't want to hurt you, please. Just move," Thrymos said.

"I can't allow you to do that," Batman said. The two shadows stood opposite on the rain kissed roof of the skyscraper. Thrymos was only an inch taller, but felt massive and imposing, a profile that would dwarf even Bane himself. Batman, regardless, raised his hands, ready for a fight. Thrymos sighed and met his stance. Their capes flapped hard in the rushing wind. Batman stepped forward, deflecting Thrymos' jab and striking him in the side of his chestplate. Thrymos barely faltered and readied another strike. Batman stepped back, slipping the cross, and returned with a devastating uppercut. Thrymos' head snapped back. He held his jaw, blood ran out of his mouth and down his fingers. Thrymos wiped his face and spat.

The Joker tried to slip away, Thrymos saw him out of the corner of his eye and threw a bola, wrapping around his legs, and shocking Joker, knocking him out. Batman kicked into Thrymos' knee, and Thrymos fell to the floor. Batman rolled over Thrymos' back and wrapped his arms around Thrymos' neck and began to squeeze. Thrymos pulled Batman's hand off and threw Batman off of him. Batman could tell Thrymos was heavily pulling his punches. He sensed a hidden power underneath. Batman tossed smoke on the ground, reaching for Joker. Thrymos raised his hand to block the smoke. Batman ran and grabbed Joker. Thrymos zipped over and pushed Batman off. Thrymos reached down for Joker, and a foot collided with the side of his face. An athletic and lean man had zipped over the side of the building, his chest held a bird-like symbol. He wielded two batons, tipped with electric studs.

"Who's this guy?" he asked.

"I don't know," Batman said. "But he's trying to kill Joker. We have to stop him, Nightwing."

"Understood," Nightwing said as he rushed forward. Thrymos pulled his large knives from behind his back and blocked the strikes from the batons. Nightwing noticed his seeming hesitation to attack, and rushed forward faster. Thrymos flipped over Nightwing and stood over Joker, defending from both sides. Batman and Nightwing rushed in at the same time, Batman flying above, diving like a falcon, and Nightwing rushing in from below. Thrymos' knee buckled, and his head snapped back. The two's attacks landing their mark. Thrymos wiped blood off his lip and quickly dipped and thrust Joker off the roof. He was picked up by Barbara as she swung by and she placed him nearby on a roof. She made sure he was tied securely and zipped over to the roof. Thrymos saw her flash by in the corner of his eye. He sheathed his knives. They rushed forward and Thrymos struck Batman in his chest, right in the thickest part of his armor. Batman flew back and crashed into the rooftop entrance. Thrymos grabbed Nightwing by the leg and tossed him into Batman. Barbara attacked, and Thrymos pushed her away lightly. The four stood panting on the roof. Batman and Nightwing stood slowly. Barbara moved around to her allies. It began raining harder. Cool drops of water splattering against the roof. Light metal pangs rang out as it hit Thrymos' black armor.

"Please leave, I don't want to hurt you, any of you," Thrymos said. "Just let me kill him, and I'll leave."

"We can't allow you to do that," Batman said.

"I don't think you understand me," Thrymos said. "I'm going to kill him. I really don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to."

"What were you doing in my room? How did you know he was going to show up?" Barbara asked. Thrymos sighed and shook his head.

"It's a long story," Thrymos said. "But I can tell you what he was going to do."

"What are you talking about?" Nightwing said.

"This was yet another game, Batman," Thrymos said. "He wanted to prove that he's not so different than the average person. And to do that, he was going to rape you, Barbara."

"W-what?" She asked, her eyes widening in shock. Her hands started to shake. "My name...my..."

"He was going to...I..." Nightwing stuttered. At a complete loss for words. Batman stood stoically and seemingly unphased from the revalation.

"Oh yes, Barbara. He was going to rape you, take photos of what he did, force your father to watch it, and theoretically break his mind. His gunshot was going to paralyze you, you would never walk again. And yet...he still wouldn't take the initiative. Bruce, he's irredeemable. He needs to die," Thrymos said. Batman's eyes widened slightly at the mention of his name. His scowl deepened. Barbara was wide eyed, her eyes darting between the dark men. "I know you want to kill him, Bruce. You want him to die, so why do you keep saving him? If you don't want to kill him that's fine. But if he falls from a building, why do you save him?"

"Because everyone deserves a second chance," he said. "Yes, I want to kill him, but that's not my choice. I cannot be Judge, Jury, and Executioner. My biases will control me. I'll start mindlessly killing anyone who stands in my way."

"And how many chances is he up to now? 50? 60? Why are you in my way? I'm not threatening you! You don't have to kill him, I just want him dead, leave me alone and let me do my work."

"I have to save anyone who cannot save themselves," Batman said. He raised his fists, ready to fight. Thrymos sighed and shot forward, ignoring the Batfamily and heading straight for Joker, knife raised, and ready. Batman and Barbara quickly zipped over to the building and barely struck Thrymos' arm, which directed the blade away from Joker's skull, slashing his cheek. Thrymos swore and kicked at the group. Thrymos frustration gave way to anger, and he slashed Batman's side. Batman buckled and fell back. Nightwing walked along Batman's line and flipped, kicking Thrymos in the head. Thrymos grabbed Nightwing's leg and slammed him down into the building, breaking his arm. Nightwing yelled out in pain as Thrymos tossed him aside. Barbara jumped and wrapped a grappling line around his leg and pulled, Thrymos lurched forward, kneeling down. Batman shot his grappling hook past his head and anchored on the edge of the roof. He leapt and allowed his gun to propel him forward, he kicked Thrymos directly in the face. Thrymos' head snapped back, and he swore. He rolled backwards and steadied himself.

Thrymos grabbed Joker and shot fire from his legs, flying up. Batman and Barbara grappled to him, flying with him. Thrymos' fire sputtered out, and he rolled in the air, Joker facing the ground. Thrymos yelled and Batman and Barbara caught him, striking him hard, kicking and punching, but Thrymos' hands remained on Joker's body. He rocketed down, and slammed Joker through the roof of the building. Batman and Barbara's grip faltered and they fell off. Thrymos slammed Joker through floor after floor of the tall building. Joker's arms below the elbow were ripped off by the force of being slammed through the floor. A few floors later, his legs below the knees went with them. Only when Thrymos had slammed the bloodied torso, the purple color of the suit completely drowned in crimson, into the foundation of the building, cracking the ground beneath him, did he finally stop falling. The building shook and collapsed on top of Thrymos. Batman, Barbara, and Dick barely escaped the fallout. They zipped to a nearby building. The rubble shifted. Thrymos rose from the rubble slowly and walked away from the building. He marched himself away, and the three vigilantes stared at the devil who walked out of hell. Apollo rode down in a chariot, and Artemis picked them up, bringing them to the arena. Thrymos walked away. Apollo deposited Batman and Barbara, sending Nightwing to the infirmary for his arm. Batman and Barbara walked through the halls.

...

"Barbara and I walked through the halls for a while, no one explained what was happening, Apollo just dropped us off and sent us on our way. So we just walked until we found something interesting," Bruce said. Starlight nodded slightly.

"And you chose this room?" Annie asked.

"It...was the only room that had an English sign," Bruce said.

"Where's Barbara?" she asked.

"She's checking on Nightwing, Thrymos broke his arm something awful," Bruce said. Starlight shook her head. Tyrion leaned back in his chair, looking around. Paul coughed into his hand.

"Now what?" she asked.

"I guess now, we watch," Tyrion said. "I am curious how he'll do. Apparently no one has ever survived this gauntlet, most don't get past the first round."

"He's on the...sixth?" Annie asked. Bruce and Tyrion nodded. Paul cracked his knuckles. Barbara and Nightwing walked back into the room, his arm seemingly healed. Bruce turned his head.

"You okay?" Bruce asked. Dick nodded his head.

"Yeah," he said. "The doctors here are exceptional."

Him and Barbara sat down at another table in the room. The group of watchers looked out the window and watched curiously for the next battle.