The rain pelted the streets as the car sped along the copacabana, the beach that was famous all over the world was deserted during this long and intense thunderstorm. Brazilian news called it the "Storm of the century" parts of the squatter towns had had to be evacuated as floods and avalanches threatened the inhabitants. In the midst of the darkness, rain and lightning, the people of Rio were helping each other, it was a spark in the pitch black night that seemed to cover Rio 24 hours a day these days.

Ecks peered out the window of the car as he drove it through the pouring rain. He sighed and flipped on the radio and turned to a satellite station broadcasting news from the US.

"...Authorises in Greenville, South Carolina are still baffled at the seeming massacre they uncovered while investigating a complaint from a man regarding disturbances caused by his neighbours. As police arrived at the scene the street and neighbourhood was calm. It wasn't untilthey investigated further that they came upon a scene that as one policeman at the scene said will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Karen Coacheé has more on this breaking news story."

Ecks sighed, more bullshit and more misery.

"Thank you Matt! I am standing outside the house on 215 Willow Street where one of the most disturbing crimes of the year has taken place. I have spoken to police officials and while they are reluctant to speak on the matter they confirmed that they have found a number of people, rumoured to be 6 dead in the house. Even more disturbing is the rumour that states that in the dead had been whipped, lashes before death and that someone had scribbled the words "Forgive us!" and "Save us!" on the wall in what according to the source of this rumour is the blood of the dead. Police refuse to comm...*click*"

A pale hand reached out and turned the radio off. Ecks looked at the man who had switched the radio off. The man's pale face seemed calm but had hints of tension written around the eyes. The pale man shook his head.

"Flagelants."

"What?" Ecks asked.

"Flagelants...you know, we read about them and the role they thought the fulfilled in the middle ages."

"Yeah I know but how do you..."

"The lashings, the words on the wall...those poor saps tried to save us all and died because of it."

"Jas, I don't know if..."

He paused.

"Well, we're here..."

Dante nodded and opened the door to the car.

"This may take awhile..." he said before opening the door and walking out.

"Don't worry...I can wait!" Ecks yelled with sarcasm as thick as the ice on the polar caps in his voice.

*****

Selenia caressed her large stomach and watched the rain pour down outside. As she stood there by the window of the hotel suite she and Jason had been set up with by the TCW, she watched Rio get pelted by a downpour that was beyond compare, it wasn't that it was raining...it looked as if someone had been pouring a huge bucket of water over the city. She sighed and walked back to the sofa, she had been worried the last few weeks, even though she had expected her pregnancy to last longer then normally, it had almost been 11 months now. She sat down and let out a quick laugh at the thought of her being an elephant. She sighed again. She longed for this child so much that she couldn't put it into words, her human life had been taken away by a Nazi-firing squad, and then she had gone to hell...she skipped the nasty bits and thought about the first time she felt the mind of Jason. His mind had been filled with the longing to be something big and important, something huge and famous...but that longing had only been superficial, what he had wanted and what had made her fall in love with him was the real man behind the angst and the superficial longings. He wanted to belong and to be there for someone in the way his father had never been there for him.

She looked at the rain again and wished that their child would be born soon, she wanted to feel whole and despite her annoyed and angry tirades at Jason the last months, she loved him deeply and wanted this child for him too.

The door to the living room opened and Tilpin, the werewolf healer walked in. She was taller then even Jay Ecks but still had a strange and peaceful femininity to her, in the time she had spent with Selenia and Jason Dante she had changed a bit, she was still a bit withdrawn and shy but she had taken a very small step out of her shell. Selenia greeted her nurse and friend with a "hi" and a smile and got up to greet her. As she did she double over in pain.

Tilpin rushed to her and as the healer reached Selenia, the pregnant woman seemed to feel better again.

"Just a false start." Selenia said with a smile. "I told her to wait until her father comes home."

"Her?" Tilpin asked.

"I call the child that, I guess it makes me feel more at home...Jason calls her him, that's his way of dealing with..."

She doubled over again.

"Oh my go...Call Jason!"

*****

He sat slumped in a chair at the far end of the bar. His face seemed to hang a scant inch over the top of the table and from his mouth a line of drool connected him to the bar-room table as he slept. He had walked for hours, maybe even a full day before he had found civilization again, he had felt al right until be had crossed the border to Brazil, as he did the pain had returned...ever since all pain filled, mind-numbing days had been spent with cheap Whisky by his side, at first it had helped, later on it had only made him feel even more miserable.

So he switched to Tequila.

At the moment it had whisked him away to a shallow sleep, but at the moment he took that over the pain any day. As he managed to wake him self up by snoring he found his pain to be gone...and his hands cuffed to the chair he sat in.

"Wh...what is this?" He said as he tugged at the chains that tied him to the chair.

"A precaution...You are all too dangerous to be left free, Spike."

Spike stared at the man in front of him and slowly his drunk brain registered the pale, white of the man across the table's hair. As it did, he tried to jump back but found himself restrain to the chair.

"Panic?" The white haired man asked.

"I...I meant to go look for you but you...you said..."

"Me? I said nothing to you, Spike."

At this point, Spike's demonic heritage had burned through the alcohol and his eyes and his brain had begun to see things for what they were.

"Dante?"

"Who the hell did you think it was?"

"Noone." Spike replied a little too quickly.

As he did a large hand grabbed him by his hair and smashed his face against the table.

"Uargrrrglh..." Spike said as he lifted his face and bleeding nose off of the table.

"Jay! For fuck's sake! I told you not to hurt him!"

Ecks said nothing he just let out a annoyed grumble.

"Spike, the person who sent you to Nasca, and yes I know someone sent you there because you're an urban kid, guys like you...or me for that matter would last ten minutes in the "wild", I also suspoect that that someone has something that belongs to..."

Dante let the his sentence take a break as he decided between telling Spike that what his employer had stolen belonged to him or to Freya, in the end he cut top the chase and decided to keep Freya out of it for the time being.

"...me, something that is more important then valuable, something that he or she could do a lot of damage if they used it."

For the first time since he got back from the valley, Spike laughed.

"You think I know the who bloke who sent me there was? Listen, he told me that he could give me what I need to be rid of this pain...and I believed him...That didn't mean that I know who the guy is...all I know is what he wanted."

"And what was that?"

"Your head on a platter..."

"What?!" Ecks said while grabbing Spike's head again.

"Jay! No! Why did he want my head?"

"'cause 'e 'ates ya...matey...brother..."

"Right..."

"I guess that narrows the list down ta', Oh I dunno several thousand dunnit, Dante?"

Dante laughed.

"Yeah, just the world minus maybe 15 people..."

"You 'aven't been a good bloke, 'ave ya?"

Dante got up from his seat.

"These days, I try to be one...where were you supposed to give him the head...and when?"

Spike sat up and as his face grew serious, the cockney accent got a little less pronounced.

"What do I get if I tell you?"

"What you need to get rid of the pain you feel."

"Now?"

"No, when I've taken what the man stole back."

"Fine by me...He told me to meet him by the Christ the redeemer statue in Rio, at 10 Pm on a Sunday."

"Which Sunday?"

"Any Sunday."

*****

The doctor and the nurses ran around like mad, they checked blood pressures, gave her water and generally asked her how she was in broken English. Selenia looked at them as if she was in a different world, the people around her were moving at a pace that was it seemed faster then light, while she seemed to exist within a tranquil land that was only interrupted by the pain of her baby trying to find it's way into this world. She grabbed a nurse.

"Have you gotten through to Jason yet?"
"Your husband?"

"Yes."

"No, not yet Mrs. Dante..."

Selenia nodded, Jason was going to miss this...and he had promised...promised her and promised their child that he would be there.

*****

Dante and Ecks left the bar and Spike behind, as they got into the car they both looked worn, tired and angry. Dante sat down and sighed.

"Where to now?" Ecks asked.

"Home...no point in going to meet that guy in the pouring rain."

Ecks only replied with a sour "hmph". As the car sped off, Dante's phone began to ring. Surprised and a tad worried he picked it up.

"Hello...What? When? Has she? Thank God...No...no I'm coming...just tell her to hang on...no forget that, we're coming!"

"What?" Ecks asked.

"Selenia...hospital...quick...there...get!"

"What?"

"Selenia...hospital...quick...there...NOW!"

"Oh, ok!"

Ecks spun the car around and sped off towards Rio de Janeiro Hóspitala Generalo.

*****

The pain was unbearable now, she felt both the urge to hold on, to give Jason the chance to be there and the urge to have it all be over with. Through gritted teeth she asked the nurse again.

"Have...you got hold...uraaargh...of Jason?"

"One of your friends got hold of him, he should be here any..."

Just as the nurse spoke a tall, pale man rushed into the room while getting out of a wet coat and into the garb the nursed had managed to give in as he sped by them.

"Jason!"

Dante rushed up to Selenia.

"It's alright, love...I'm here now, sorry it took so long."

Selenia smiled through the pain.

"I told her to wait."

Dante said nothing, he just gave her a smile in return.

The next half an hour was torture for both the soon to be mother and father, the child struggle to find it's way out of it's mother's womb and caused a great deal of pain while it did so. Then slowly something happened.

It's an odd thing to call it a miracle when it happens many times over every day, but maybe that is the miracle, every time a life is helped into this world the world changes and is filled with new chances and opportunities, every parent gives the gift of potential greatness to the world, every child is hope in human form. No matter how everyday it is, it will never be mundane or no big deal, a birth is always a big deal, a birth is renewal and continuation.

With a final scream, Selenia helped her child into the world, as Selenia Dante lay there panting and sore from the birth, the doctor and nurses checked the baby. As the parents waited feeling both worn out from their ordeal and from a still lingering worry that their heritage would have damaged their child. At worst they had created a monster, or the child was stillborn...but the sound of a hand hitting skin and a loud cry later and the fears were relived, as the doctor handed the newborn to the mother, Selenia held her child and looked like she was never going to let go.

As the doctor saw Dante stand there with tears of pure joy streaming down his face and looking like he didn't fit in, he took the albino's hand and shook it.

"Congratulations, Sir...that is a beautiful..."

"Girl." Dante said.

"How did you know?"

"I didn't, but I trust her mother."

The doctor smiled and left the two parents to enjoy their feeling of jubilation in peace.

Selenia looked up at her husband and smiled.

"She is beautiful, isn't she?"

Dante said nothing, he just nodded had he said something he would have begun to cry. He leant down and caressed the cheek of his daughter and his already mile wide grin grew wider.

"What should we call her?" Selenia asked.

"Meagan..."

"Yes..." Selenia replied enthused with the name.

"Meagan Seline."
Selenia smiled as her husband leant down and again to kiss his wife and join the hug.

All in all this night had turned out al right.


***Hours later***

Dante stood by the window of the hospital room, in his arms he held his daughter. She had only been in this world for a few hours, but he already found himself more at peace then he had been before she was born. The birth had gone as normal and Meagan looked like any other child, a little paler maybe and with hair the colour of her father's but she looked like any child. As her father held her in his arms she slept on, tired from the journey from her mother's womb to the world. Dante rocked his little girl without even thinking about it.

"So, things turned out ok?"

Dante didn't need to turn around, the combination of British idiom and female voice could only belong to one person.

"Yeah, Freya it did..."

"I'm glad Tilpin got hold of me, she was almost frantic when she found me."

Dante laughed.

"I can imagine that...thanks for calling me Freya..."

"No problem."

Dante shook his head, what he had to say next wasn't going to be easy but he bit down and struggled on.

"I know I've been an asshole the last months, a real pain in the ass...It's just that...I can't defend it of explain it...I just have been an asshole to you..."

Freya grinned.

"Yeah, you have... A real a-class asshole."

"It's just that I don't know why...I mean I like you...I've seen you as a friend ever since the time was faced Naberus...I don't know why I have been such a bastard to you."

"Stress, I think...you've been stinking of that the last few months."

"Maybe..."

Then Dante grinned.

"What do I smell of now?"

"Pride...a little, she is quite overpowering in the scents department." Freya said and pointed to Dante's daughter.
"Yeah, she is isn't she?"

"What are you going to call her?"

"Meagan Seline Dante"

"Nice name..."

"You don't sound convinced...I think my wife would have been offended if I called her Freya..."

Freya laughed.

"I'm just not really used to normal human names I guess...You do seem calmer and cooler though."

"Yeah, I feel calmer too." He caressed his girl's cheek. "I guess I can thank this little one for that."

Freya smiled.

"So what's next?"

"Well, I'll take part in Road to Glory I guess, and take my paternity leave after that."

"Leave? But what if you win?"

Dante shurgged as he began walking towards the bed his wife occupied.

"Selenia is going to be back soon, better get Meagan back into beg."

"You didn't answer the question."

"I guess they just have to wait for me getting my shot until after I'm back if I win..."

"You sound like you don't think you will win."

"I'm not sure I WANT to win...I have a daughter to raise and a wife to take care of, the fans seem a bit sick of me anyway."

"There is more to this then that, Jason..."

"I know...Before you came in I promised my daughter something, I promised her that I would make the world safe for her again, I promised her that as long as her dad is alive, the world won't end because he won't let it...I may take a break from wrestling, Freya but the war won't give me any breaks...and from now on, I have even more to fight for."

"Yes, you have a family to protect now."

"Yeah, I do."

As Dante and Freya looked out the window of the hospital, the dawn broke over Rio de Janeiro, for the first time in moths, the sun spread it's rays over the stricken city. Below them the people of Rio awoke to find new hope and light, it was as if on this day the Gods decided to shine a light on Rio and on a very special newborn girl.

Dante put his daughter in bed and looked at Freya.

"You want to know where we go on from here? Not with RtG or and TCW shit?"

"Yes."

Dante smiled.

"From here...we go to war!"

Darkness stopped and stood next to Lir who was casually leaning against the open door to Freya's locker room. As usual, the interior was a mess; clothes strewn everywhere, except for the table where the Bleeder Title was propped up. Darkness gave it a brief glance before stepping past the werewolf into the room.

Freya was kneeling on the floor, hunched over her bag, replacing clothes. As he took another sip of his canned drink, Freya paused momentarily. "Tilpin owes me five bucks," she said, continuing with her packing after a moment.

Darkness swallowed his mouthful. "How come?"

"I bet you wouldn't stick with just water if I asked you to. She seemed to think that if she asked it, you'd think she was a nag, but if I asked, as your tag partner, as your friend, you might actually pay attention."

"See, I think you're both nags," he replied nonchalantly.

She move to retrieve some clothes thrown in a corner. "Would it really have hurt to get water instead?"

Darkness put the can down in front of the Bleeder Title. "The machine didn't have water."

Freya turned and looked at Darkness, the can, and back at Darkness. "Fantastic."

"Now what?"

"Nothing. Just now you know Tilpin was the one who wanted you to drink water, you've put the can down."

Darkness crossed his arms across his chest. "I am able to make my own decisions."

"Hey, that's what I said." She scooped up some more clothes to put in the bag. "I said ‘he's big enough and ugly enough to fuck up his body however he sees fit'."

"If you didn't expect me to listen to you, why are you so annoyed?" There was an edge to his voice.

"Because maybe after all we've been through, after all this time, maybe I hoped Tilpin was right; that you might respect me enough to take my advice. I've been to Hell for you, fought The Apocalypse to save your sorry arse and when I make a simple request that you only drink water to let your body heal, what do you do?"

"It's just a coke..."

"Bullshit." Freya put her fists on her hips. "You didn't learn a thing from what happened in Nazca! After all we went through to rescue you, nothing's changed! You don't listen to anyone but yourself!" She punctuated this with a finger jabbed in his chest.

"It's just..."

She slung her bag onto her shoulder. "You know, I thought things were going well, and if you didn't fuck things up in this Road to Glory like last year, we might even be able to talk Dante into starting up the stable again and maybe make some sense of this fucking tattoo you made me get!" She pointed at the black queen on her shoulder. "Now I just hope I don't get busted open during this match and lose my belt and my job!" As if remembering it for the first time, she picked up the Bleeder Title and stormed out of the room, but not before shooting the can a hateful stare.

Darkness gave the rest of The Children a bewildered look. "It's just a coke!"

**

"Cute kid, huh?"

Freya lifted her head from the cafeteria table as Jay Ecks sat down opposite her. "You're not getting broody are you?"

"Hey, I need a girlfriend first."

She didn't return his grin.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just feeling tired."

"Here." He slid a pot of luminous Jell-O across the table. Freya took it and stabbed a spoon into the wobbling mass.

"Why don't you go back to your hotel, get some sleep?"

"Because I checked out this morning, missed my connection to Lima because of the excitement and can't find anywhere to stay."

"Can't you crash with the other werewolves?"

Freya pulled a face. "I could but I had a row with Darkness, so I'm staying out of his way."

"Shall I get you a cup of coffee then?" The huge man gave her a sympathetic smile before getting up. Freya watched him walk away before sighing and resting her chin on her hand.

**

The air hostess stood at the end of the boarding tunnel, greeting her passengers and directing them to their seats. As she smiled on one family, she could feel the floor shake. From around the corner, a mighty behemoth appeared. She stared, mouth open, as Cage approached.

"Can I help you?" he growled.

"Tickets... Can I see your tickets please?" she stammered.

"Here." A small woman appeared from behind the giant, tickets in hand.

The stewardess took the tickets, trying not to look at either of the strange passengers. "Uh...sir, your seat is just here, and yours, miss, is up and on the left."

"No," Cage rumbled.

"No?"

"We're sitting together."

"I'm afraid, uh...sir, that isn't possible. You've got an exit seat because of your...special circumstances. This flight was fully booked, so your...companion...had to have the last seat available. Next time, you might want to arrive earlier and..."

"We won't be returning this way," Cage replied gruffly before ushering Elsie onto the plane. "You did this on purpose," he hissed at her.

"You tell me that every time we get on a plane. What could I get up to up in the sky?"

"And you ask that every time, and you always manage it anyway."

Cage squeezed himself into his seat, grimacing at the person next to him. Elsie wandered down the plane to the last empty seat. It looked like everyone had been waiting on herself and Cage. She buckled herself in and got out her laptop.

"I don't think you can use that yet."

She looked up at the man on the other side of the aisle. She gave a small smile of recognition at Pat WoW, then shut her laptop.

"Off to win the Road to Glory then?" he asked.

Elsie gave a short laugh. "No, I'm going to find Jason Dante actually, so I can kill him like he did my mother. Hey, in-flight magazine!" With a contended smile, she leafed through the glossy pages, ignoring Pat's stunned look.

Dante's eyes almost closed, no matter how improved his ability to stave off sleep deprivation was, he felt as if he was at or at least near his limit now. Meagan was a kind and mostly quiet child but now and then she felt like tormenting her parents with outright screams of imagined torment that made both Jason and Selenia fly out of bed in a state of near panic. The last few days or maybe weeks, Dante was at the point not so sure about this, had been rough. The trip to Lima, Peru was something he felt a great deal of trepidation for. Taking his girl on an air plane...especially given her abilities was intimidating. He grinned, just as intimidating as the babytalk some people no doubt would engage in.

Dante had decided that he refused to talk baby talk with his daughter, he didn't want t teach her a language that only people who have been the victim of lobotomies of a style that went out with the 19th Century understands.

He had volunteered to "babysit" Meagan while her mother, his wife got some well deserved sleep. Of course concern about Selenia's well being and alertness wasn't his only reason, they had recently discovered that the girl possessed a powerful psychic power, power she was clearly not mature enough to use yet, despite this she had reached out a few times already and either her mother or her father had had to sever the connection, in nine cases out of ten things seems to have gone al right, Meagan it seemed had knocked one of the contacts out flat before Jason could severe the tie.

Dante exhaled forcefully a she felt himself jolt back from sleep.

"Christ, I must really be tired..."

He looked down on his daughter and saw only a pair of closed eyes and heard her breathing slowly and in a very relaxed fashion. He smiled as he watched his daughter sleep, gradually he felt the tension he felt for what he knew he needed to do. The sound of naked feet on the floor drew his attention away from his daughter and his plight.

"Hi."

"Hi." Selenia answered.

The two spouses shared a kiss before Dante handed his wife their sleeping child. Selenia rubbed her eyes.

"Has she been good?"

"Yeah, as good as her mother."

Selenia smiled in reply. Then her face grew serious.

"Do you really have to go?"

"Yeah, I do...I have to find out why Novamori wants me dead. A few months ago I just thought he was a normal business man who stole my company, but this...it seems so much more personal now, he seems genuinely obsessed with me. I have to go and I have to find out what he wants."

Selenia nodded.

"And Spike?"

"Spike...I'll give him what he needs to function."

Again Selenia nodded.

"And Selenia...If I'm not back by this time tomorrow, go back to the mansion in Chicago...make sure that Ecks accompanies you there, he can help you and keep you safe."

"Jason, Don't talk like that...you'll be back and we'll board the plane for Peru tomorrow."

"I hope so."

Selenia kissed her husband as he got up from his seat. He walked over to his suitcase and pulled out a long black coat, a pair of hiking boots and last but not least a gun in it's holster. He put the holster on and drew the gun. Even in the darkness of the hotel room it seemed to shine, he pulled out the clip and examined it, then he rammed it back into the gun. Dante was ready, Storm caller he felt was ready...and now, the eye of God was ready. He swung the coat on and again kissed Selenia and his daughter before he left.

"See you later then...Dante said trying to sound positive.

He failed.

*****

Spike was on the 11th or maybe the 12th Tequilla by now, he did try very hard to get drunk but only succeeded partially. He downed his 12th or maybe his 13th when a polite, female voice addressed him.

"I assume you're Spike."

"Maybe." he slurred in response.

The female sighed and sat down across from him.

"I was told that you were Spike..."

"By who?"

"What?"

"Who tol' ya dat?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Who told you, that I was supposed to be Spike?!" He said in a drunken slur while doing his best to repress his accent.

"He did..." the female said and pointed to a person that Spike only saw as a blurry silhouette, a LARGE blurry silhouette.

"Shit!" Spike spat out, all of his intoxication suddenly all gone.

A large and grey hand pushed him back into his seat.

"So, again...are you Spike?"

"Yeah, I have the misfortune to be Spike."

"Good, now we are getting somewhere. Now where is Jason Dante?"

"Who?"

"Cage?" the female asked. "Break his arms next time he plays dumb."

"Now, again...where is Jason Dante."

"I have no idea."

"Cage?"

"No! No, wait! I really have no idea where he is..."

A cruel smile spread on the female's face.

"We'll see about that."

Without a further word she pressedher hands against his temples and as her skin made contact with Spike's the Englishman's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He was assailed by visions of purest horror, he saw and felt the terror of having a mother murdered, the pain of growing up an orphan, hating ones father and being a young child obsessed with revenge. Slowly as the torment progressed Spike found no retreat but the worst way out, he let his defences down and lost his mind. He took in the chaos of emotions and felt his grip on sanity slip. With a howl he ripped himself from Elsie's grip.

The girl stared at him in horror, no one had managed to escape her treatment, and even worse, Spiek seemed to be laughing, giggling at some unheard joke. Between bouts of howling laughter, the Brit looked at Elsie and Cage with the eyes of a mad man.

"Ya' know? I dunno why I dinnet 'elp ya...ya 'elped me...I can't tell ya where Dante is now...but..." he grins manically. "..I can tells ya where 'e'll be in a few hours..."

"You can?"

"Yeah, ah sure can...after all, 'tis Sunday inna few 'ours, innit?"

After this he got up slowly and with great trouble before he staggered out of the bar laughing at a joke that only Spike Mallory could hear or understand.

*****

A few Hours later

The rain had begun again, it poured from a wounded sky like blood from a fresh wound. The cold, not a common guest in Rio De Janeiro began to creep into my bones. As I approached the small square at the feet of the Christ the redeemer statue each step felt like it brought more wetness into my shoes, more water into my clothes and more rain onto my skin. I paused and looked up at a symbol of hope that now stands hidden in pouring rain and the Darkness of the early Sunday morning.

I tried to dispel the coldness by moving my legs and thinking of my wife and child back home. It failed and I felt wetter and colder then before. As I stood there looking up at a weeping redeemer, I felt a presence , a presence I had felt before but couldn't put a name and a face behind. I turned around and saw a man wearing a raincoat with a hood standing a few feet away from me. He looked up and as he asked "Spike?" I saw a flash of white hair beneath the hood. I grinned.

"No...Not Spike..." I replied letting cruel intentions spice my voice.

"D...Dante?!"

The voice, the Italian accent confirmed it. Sadly I can't enjoy having surprised my enemy...Tomas Novamori, the hero of the Vatican, the poster boy for the religious right, the normal, orphaned catholic boy...was a demon!

*****

A few miles away, Selenia got a flash from her husband, and so did her daughter. As Meagan tried to scream her lungs apart, Selenia grabbed a cellphone, she needed to get hold of Jay...Jason was or seemed to be in deep trouble. As she dialled the number she felt two shadows in her mind, as she heard the tone of the phone ringing, she saw the silhouettes of the shadows, shades of two people who were miles away from her at the moment. As she heard Jay's voice answering the phone she saw the figures...Cage...and Elsie Canada!

As the horror of the situation dawned on her and the nature of the threat her husband faces became clear she could faintly hear Jay Ecks trying to get her attention.

"Selenia? Selenia? What the hell? What's happened? HELLO?!"

*****

For weeks I had dreamed of this, for weeks I had indulged the fantasy of the vindictive, Tomas Novamori, the man who stole my life's work, Tomas Novamori, the man who let his view of God ruins my hopes of helping people...but the man of God is like me? A demon? A semi-human?

What the hell was this? Lucifer's idea of a sick joke maybe? I took a step towards Novamori with one hand on the eye of God. Suddenly I realised that we are not alone, a large ham sized fist swung at my head, the pain of the impact made my vision blurry. I felt my knees buckle, as I drifted towards oblivion's open arms I sawNovamori's face...he looked surprised.

As Dante fell to his knees, something inside him rebelled, he got up and in spite of the pain, in spite of the agony he turned to the source of pain and saw the calm but hostile face of Cage and the cruel grin of Elsie Canada. Through gritted teeth he spat.

"Didn't I get rid of you two already?"

Jay and Freya stood in the checking-in queue exchanging jokes in low voices.

"Freya Green?"

She turned and found a man with white hair walking quickly towards her. He looked familiar but she didn't know where from. She furrowed her brow.

"I'm sorry, I'm terrible with names..." she waited for him to introduce himself.

"Pat WoW." Jay filled in the gap.

Pat nodded. "You're friends with Jason Dante, right?"

Freya nodded. A loud ringing started in Jay's pocket. He excused himself to deal with it.

"I think he might be in trouble. I was sitting with that girl with the goggles...uh...Elsie?...on my connecting flight here, and she said..."

"We need to go," Jay interrupted as he returned. His face was serious.

"Hold on, Pat here was just telling me that Jason might be in trouble," Freya told him irritably.

"I know. I just got a phone call about it. It's Elsie and Cage."

"Oh."

"Told you," Pat said.

Freya and Jay exchanged a quick nod before turning their backs on Pat and heading out of the airport to find a taxi to take them back into Rio's downtown.

"Hey!"

They turned around to look at Pat.

"You guys need any help?"

"No." Freya glared at Jay as he opened his mouth. She gave his arm a slap and started to pull him away.

Pat stood on his own in the airport. "Thank Christ for that." He shrugged his shoulders and joined the line to check in.

**

Dante thudded onto hard concrete again. He spat out a bloody glob before slowly heaving himself to his feet. The Eye of God lay in a puddle and he staggered over to retrieve it but was knocked down again by a flying kick from Elsie. Dante looked up and saw Novamori standing and watching. Feet planted themselves on either side of his body and then there was pressure as Elsie sat on his back. He tried to throw her off, but Elsie's hands slapped to the sides of his head. His world started to go dark and he tried to throw up mental barriers, remembering too late the tiny presence of his daughter in his mind...

There was a startled yelp and the weight lifted off his back. The fog in his mind lifted at the same moment. He opened his eyes to see a pair of sneakers in front of his face.

"I thought you'd have started being a little more careful now you're a family man."

Dante got to his feet, steadying himself on Freya's arm. He wiped a trickle of blood from his nose and looked down at the bright crimson against his pale fingers.

"Thanks."

"You might need this too." She handed him his gun. He noticed it looked too large for her small hands and that her fingers were red and blistered where she had held it.

There was a grunt and a thud and then an Ecks, landing not far from where they were standing. They looked up just in time to see Cage bearing down on them. Before they could react, the behemoth crashed into them with a double clothesline, burying them beneath his vast bulk.

He looked down at his victims, then was stunned to find a biting, snarling wolf in one arm. The momentary pause was all Dante needed to get free. There was a roar and Cage stood up, cradling a bloodied hand. He picked up the wolf in one massive hand and didn't loose his grip as Freya returned to her humanoid form with a grotesque popping of bone and flesh. She scratched at the huge grey hand holding her five feet from the ground.

Jack Ecks, forgotten up ‘till that moment, burst into action, tackling Cage from behind, forcing him to drop Freya who tumbled down to her knees, gasping.

Dante turned to Elsie, still on the ground where Freya had unceremoniously dumped her and raised his gun. "I don't have time for this! Leave."

"No! You killed..." A shot by her feet, blowing out a clod of earth the size of her fist made her stop.

"I will make you understand what happened, but not now." There was movement behind him and he glanced over his shoulder. Cage had moved, but Freya had intercepted. She had drawn her knives now.

"I won't rest until you've paid for what you've done. I'll have my revenge, Jason Dante" Elsie spat.

"I know. But not today."

Elsie let out a low hiss as Dante walked past her, leaving Duo to his allies. He walked towards the statue of Christ the Redeemer, holding court over the battle and locked eyes with the hooded figure at its feet.

"Now to deal with you..." he growled.

Brushing off the mud as she climbs to her feet, Elsie looks up at her gargantuan protector.

"What do you say, Cage?"

The big man surveyed the scene, taking in the larger-than-average frame of Jay Ecks, the knife-weilding Freya Green, and the distracted-but-still-gun-toting Jason Dante.

"I say... I think we've wasted enough time on these clowns, and besides, everything should be done by now. So why don't you get us outta here?"

Ecks and Freya exchange a glance before turning their attention back to Duo.

"'Everything should be done'? What're you two on--"

Cutting her off, Jay grabs Freya, dragging her to the ground, a flaming chunk of stone barely missing their heads. The two of them quickly roll out of the way, dodging another, larger fireball.


* * *


As the intense images of Cage and Elsie began to fade from her mind, Selenia realised they must be doing the same for her daughter. The tears are drying up and the screaming has all but stopped.

The images, however, are merely replaced by newer, more intense visions. Two young men, out-numbered and over-powered, nearly torn apart by some dark force...


* * *


Leaning up to search for more flaming debris, Freya gasps, noticing the large, flaming hand that has crashed into the ground nearby. As slabs of flaming soapstone come crashing down, the trees surrounding the crumbling statue quickly ignite, and large flames engulf the scene.

Ducking beneath a crumbled barricade, Ecks pulls Freya towards him.

"Jay, what the hell is -- Watch out!!"


* * *


Not a diversion in the strictest sense, but Freya and Ecks had been lured to Dante's side for a reason. Elsie wanted them there not only for her own reasons, but the reasons of another... And, as is usually the case, the only one who knows this is also the only one not there, the only one unable to contact the others.

Selenia paces back and forth, rocking Meagan in her arms. Despite the images crashing about in her own head, her newborn daughter was completely calm this time. At least this is some small relief as Selenia tries to decide how she can get help to these two boys, whoever they are...


* * *


Freya and Ecks dive out of the way just as another hunk of statue destroys the area they'd previously occupied. Gazing at their surroundings, they spot Elsie and Cage moving quickly into the flaming forrest that surrounds them.


* * *

Staring at the night's rain through the window, Selenia sighs loudly. She's completely against what she's about to do, but can see no other choice. No other option has presented itself and, though she has no idea how this thought even entered her mind, she knows she has to act quickly.

Placing her daughter in her crib, Selenia closes her eyes. Reaching out, she searches her mind for the memories left behind by Elsie... Searching for some hint of her father...

Smiling down at her daughter, she rubs her hair.

"Now, this is going to be our little secret... Your daddy wouldn't be too happy with me if he knew what I had to do tonight."


* * *


Near the base of the statue, Jason Dante and Tomas Novamori are engaged in an intense physical battle. As Dante recovers from a hard punch, Novamori smashes a large stone into Dante's head, sending him reeling backward into the surrounding debris. Novamori dives out of the way as the statues remaining hand falls through the air, heading directly for the fallen Jason Dante. Freya futilely dives forward, calling out to him.

"Dante!!"


* * *


In the darkness high above Chicago, a man lies awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling, concentrating on the thoughts that woke him. Quickly he rises, wrapping himself in a sheet.

Pushing open a large cupboard door, he slams his hand down onto the button of a phone. It dials out and begins ringing.

"Do you have ANY idea what time it is??"


* * *



As Freya hits the ground, Jason Dante is still standing next to Tomas Novamori at the base of the statue, which is also still intact. Gone are the flames and debris that previously surrounded them.

Freya growls to herself, coming to the realisation of what has just occurred. Jay Ecks shares a similar look on his face.


* * *


As rain rushes through the streets of Oswego, it lands in a doorway, the wooden door having been tossed to the ground in the entryway.

Inside, the wind masks the screams of Jake Wow, as he lies on the floor. In his haste to escape his attackers, he stumbled into the kitchen chair, leaving him even more vulnerable.

As the figures approach, he is overcome with thoughts of his family, especially his brother, and he wishes for nothing more than the chance to say

"Goodbye, motherfuckers!"

The figures begin falling to the floor, holes ripped into their bodies as bullets fly across the room. Jake keeps himself low, avoiding the gunfire, watching as his attackers are torn to shreds.

A large hand slides into sight. Uneasy, Jake takes it and is pulled to his feet by the Big Bamlicious.

"Bro, you better head outside... We're gonna have to torch these m'fuckers."

Outside the airport, Jake's brother does not fare as well. As the rain hits the fallen Pat Wow, it washes his blood into the gutter, cleaning the large gash across his stomach.


* * *


As Dante and his nemesis are face-to-face at the statue, Freya and Ecks ponder their next move, still groggy from Elsie's mindfuck. A vision of the small girl still remains in their heads, her voice echoing throughout:

You're all going to burn..."

The rain matted his hair to his scalp, the wetness poured off his head and ran down into his eyes, and despite the intruding down pouring his eyes only saw Novamori in front of him. Slowly as Elise's voice echoed out of their heads he looked at Novamori and with rage barely repressed in his voice he began to

"You have no idea how much I have been longing for this..." Dante began. "You stole my company, my life's work and made me an outcast in a business I helped to build, you enforced you own outdated ideals as rules in MY company. I built Dante Meditech to be a salvation for humanity, not a bastion of religion gone wrong!"

Novamori said nothing.

"You stole my chance to give my family security!" Dante screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Family?!" Novamori spat. "You call the demonic whore and your Satan spawned brat a family?"

Dante had no reply to this, anger clouded his mind and made him lash out at Novamori with a deep base growl on his lips. He balled up his fist and swung it in a wide and low arc, as he felt his fist connect with Novamori's gut he felt elation and the rush of having vented his anger by attacking fill his mind.

As Novamori dropped to his feet, Dante stood above the company stealing bastard with an enraged, malicious look on his face. Dante bent down and pulled Novamori to his feet and put the barrel of the Eye of god under Novamori's chin.

"What the fuck do you know about my family?"

Novamori grinned as if the pain Dante had dealt him was nothing more then a gust of air against his skin.

"I know that they are affronts to the Lord my master, I know that the wrench you call your wife..."

Novamori spat as he said the word wife to underline his point.

"...is one of the whores of the great enemy. I know that you first-born hell spawn of a daughter is a demoness just waiting to lure innocent true believers into the abyss."

Dante couldn't reply in any other way then to grin at the deluded Novamori.

"Do you think I'm blind, Novamori? The moment you got here I understood what you are...you are as much a demon as I am!"

Novamori's reply was as unexpected as it is sharp. Dante's right leg gave out on him as he felt a sharp, stinging pain in it. He dropped Novamori and looked down and saw his trousers slowly being eaten away by his acidic blood. Dante grunted and focused his energy to heal the wound.

"Too bad I didn't coat this baby in blessed sliver!" Novamori says while swinging his weapon a finely crafted rapier an inch from Dante's face.

"Drop the act Novamori, you couldn't touch silver!"

Novamori again tried to use his weapon to attack Dante but as the Italian demon's blade approached Dante's face the clang of metal on metal rang out, Dante had summoned Stormcaller. With his leg healed again, Dante feels slightly light-headed and his head feels a bit numb. As he gets to his feet, a swishing sound alerts him to another attack by Novamori. Dante parries the attack and lashes out at Novamori but misses the white haired Italian by the fraction of an inch. Novamori takes the classic fencer's position and Dante holds his sword the way an Crusader held it, in both hands. The two men stand a few meters apart, with the Redeemer almost looking like a referee. The men wait for a sign of weakness and a sign that the other man lowers his guard.

Without warning, Novamori attacks he tries to impale Dante but the Stormcaller is constantly there to foil his attempts at killing the albino. Under the barrage of constant attacks, Novamori forces Dante back to the edge of the platform at the feet of the Christ statue, the rapier darts back and forward like a wasps stinger, here and there he draws blood from wounds that heal into scars, scars that disappear seconds after the wounds opened. Dante manages to turn the fight around and he wide swings with the sword began driving Novamori back towards the statue of Christ.

Even though Dante currently had the upper hand, his attacks were clumsy and uncoordinated, Novamori stuck in a sting here and there. As they approached the marble statue, Novamori's attack cut a gash in Dante's face. The cut ran perpendicular to the old scar Darkness had left on his face. Dante put his had to the wound, and before it healed and the scar formed, it unlocked something in him.
To Dante the scar Darkness had given him was a badge of honour, it was a sign that he had changed his ways and had found his path...Novamori had defined it, rage...hot, unholy, righteous rage filled Dante and he felt his tired limbs grow strong, he felt his light headedness disappear. Novamori stared at Dante in horror as the albino's eyes caught fire, slowly Dante took hold of Stormcaller and took a pose that was taken from swordsman's text book. Then as Novamori stared at him he threw out a challenge.

"Have at you!"

Driven by fear and by anger, Novamori attack. He swings his rapier at Dante but only meets Stormcaller's mind forged steel. Every attack is deflected deftly by Dante, and slowly the albino uses the constant attacks by his opponent to turn the tide. As Novamori tires, Dante begins to assert himself. The attacks from the Earthborn one has more bite now as he forms them into combinations, Novamori is astounded and horrified as Dante begins to use feints and forces him on the defensive, As Dante begins a series of attacks designed to end in a final fatal blow, Novamori seizes the opportunity and goes low and sweeps Dante's legs from under him. Dante drops his sword and as he tries to get up he feels the point of Novamori's blade on his throat.

"I wondered when you father's skill was going to start to show...Lucifer would be so disappointed to see his son lose and die to a simple leg sweep. To be honest, Jason...I can't decide if I'm going to stab you to death or simply send you to HELL!"

With a laugh, Novamori puts his hand in his pocket and when he pulls it out again, the ring finger bears the Promethean ring on it.

"I'm sure you know how this ring works and I think you will love hell as it falls to pieces!"

As the ring approaches his face Dante the fires in Dante's eyes light up again and with a wild kick he pushes Novamori back. As the Italian gets back up he can only watch as Dante surges towards him with Stormcaller drawn. Meekly, Novamori raises his sword to block the attack but as Dante swings the sword downwards, he funnels the fire in his mind, his body and in his blood out into Stormcaller as the weapon impacts Novamori's rapier the broadsword is aflame with hellfire. With an almost arrogant hiss Storm caller melts it's way through the smaller blade. Novamori's world seems to freeze for a split second. A sharp pain shoots through Tomas Novamori's right arm As Dante's sword hits the ground Novamori screams out in horrible pain. He cradles his right arm and staggers to his feet. He locks eyes with Dante and for the first time since they came to the top of the Sugar-loaf mountain, Dante's face is cracked by a wild grin. Novamori turns his eye to the place where his ring clad hand used to be. The stump seems only on increase the pain and the horror.

*****

Freya and Jay has been watching the battle waged before the statue of Christ and they are both in awe at the battle fought by Dante. As they stare at the defeated Novamori Elsie creeps up on them...with a triumphant yell she puts her hands on Freya's head. The werewolf drops to her knees and her eyes almost pops out of her head as the horrors of Elsie Canada's mind assails her.

It takes Jay Ecks only a few seconds to react, but when he does he grabs the attacking Elsie and lifts her off the ground. This girl made his life hell a few months back, she almost made him betray his best friend, now he intend to take it out on her. The former linebacker hold the screaming Elsie above his head and hurls her down the stairs. Before she hits the staircase, Cage is there and catches her. Defeated the two the world knows as Duo flee the scene. As they run, Jay Ecks bows down beside the still shell shocked Freya.

"Are you ok?"

"N..No..." Freya stutters.

Freya Green has fought beasts that would make tough men become drooling imbeciles, creatures so powerful that they make Gods seem human but this girl has shook her to her foundations.

"Can I help you?"

"No...I...I think I have to fix this myself."

"Ok..."

Ecks looks up and sees Dante standing with Stormcaller pointed at Novamori's thoat.

*****

"Get up!"

Dante's vice is like a whip across Novamori's back. Shivering he staggers to his feet.

"I'm going to give you more of a chance them you ever gave me...I'm going to spare you, I'll let you live to go to your master, whoever he is and I'll let you carry a message to him...I took your hand tonight, the next time I claim your head. Now run you gutless coward!"

Novamori bends down to pick up his severed hand.

"You don't need that." Dante remarks.

Novamori hesitates but tries again to get his hand but this time Dante points the sword at the Italian and finally Novamori gets the point and runs away.

Dante lets his guard down and as he drops the sword, Stormcaller disappears back into his mind. Ecks walks up to his friend as the albino bends down to pick the ring up. Dante looks at his old friend and then at Freya.

"Is she ok?"

"Yes and no, Elsie got to her...and you and I both know what kind of effect that has on people."

"Yeah."

"She said that she had to take care of it herself..."

"She is a tough chick...She be ok."

"Yeah...but I..."

"Jay, bro...she is a werewolf, and a friend...besides Darkness might mind."

Ecks' face turned red.

"Eh...I...ah...err...I didn't mean...I don't think of her like that...she's a friend...that's all."

Dante patted Ecks on the large man's shoulder.

"Don't worry, bud...I told you you'd find someone sooner or later...you will..."

Ecks seems a bit uncomfortable by the whole thing and changes the subject.

"Did you get the ring?"

"What ring? Oh that one...yeah."

"It's Freya's you know."

"Yeah..." Dante said. "She is a bit hurt as you said...I'll give it to her later."

Ecks nodded but didn't look convinced.

The two friends walked over to the still a bit disturbed Freya and helped her up. As the rain slowly stopped and the sun began to raise the three friends left the Sugar loaf mountain behind.


*****

Tomas Novamori shook the stump and grimaced at the pain that shot up his arm. Dante had really done a good job on him, he had planned something like this...he hadn't expected Dante to be irate enough to channel hellfire through that sword of his and cauterise the wounds. He looked into the mirror and shuddered. He had grown old. The white hair made him look as if he was a few years from retirement. He ran his hands across his chin.

"This won't do...time to get a newer model."

Novamori sat down at his desk and concentrated, just in front of his desk a shape began to take shape. The shape was a body, taller, a bit stronger and most importantly younger the the current one.

Novamori smiled as he felt his mind glide out of the old body and for a brief moment too the shape the demon had been used too, it spent a few seconds in this old, familiar form and sighed as it slid into the new, more robust and younger body.

As the body of Tomas Novamori slumped to the desk and slowly began to turn to dust, the new proxy body flexed it's young muscles and moved the face to get the muscles working. He needed a name...He thought about it for a few seconds and then settled on Lucian Novamori...the nephew and heir of the unfortunately deceased, Tomas Novamori. As he saw the old ruined body turn to dust he felt nothing, bodies came and went but his essence was constant.

As Lucian walked over to the desk and dusted away his "uncle" with his feet he began to ponder the plan that had lead him to this point, Dante thought he had won by severing his hand...and that was painful, but ultimately it was necessary to further the plan he had drawn up. He had separated Freya from the Promethean ring and put it into the hands of Dante, and with that action he had driven a wedge into the opposition Lucian Novamori knew that the traitor Bleeder had put the Promethean ring into Freya's hands for a reason...now he had put the ring into Dante's hands...and he would watch as the ring drove Dante and his she-wolf friend apart.

Novamori sat down and laughed as the plan he had created slowly came to life...Dante would yield to his authority in the end...and then...then he would be victorious.

He flexed his right hand and smiled again.

"In the end, Jason Dante...in the end you WILL be mine!"

Jake follows Big Bamlicious through the woods. Still wanting to know what the hell is happing. Why now? Why the sudden attack and why now for Big Bamlicious to appear? So many questions but he was on the run; they would all have to wait. Thoughts ran through his head, where was his girlfriend Michelle? Was she shot? She almost had to be. He didn't see her escape. All these awful thoughts ran through his head. His thoughts where running what about his sister Jessica, Dean and there daughter Michelle? They could also be under attack. And his brother Pat, if anything it had to involve him. As much as the two brothers had problems, he didn't want Pat to die. It was his own brother. He tried to keep up with the massive size of Big Bamlicious.

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

However Jake's brother Pat WoW wasn't so luck. He lied in a near by ally. With a giant slash across his chest as the blood ran into the gutter. Pat was losing consciousness fast. He tried to keep his eyes opening. He started to think "Is this how it's going to end for me?" Pat was spitting up all kinds of blood as he laid there raining sprinkling down on him. Pat thought of his family through all the pain. His son who just turned 4. Just now wishing he would have flown out to go home to spend it with his son. What would his life be without Pat around? Pat bleed as he let out a long scream of pain and anger. Before both of his eyes shut. As Pat lost consciousness. His body laid in the ally as he bleeds, helpless.

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

At the local arena Valerie Stern sits in her office and looks at a list of talent and see's that Pat WoW never checked into the hotel. She asked herself why this might be. She knew that he and Pat never saw quite eye to eye. But she knew Pat WoW brought in money as little as it might be and that it was good for business. Two of her associates stepped into the room.

"So any word on his where abouts?"

"No word from anyone on his where abouts Ms. Stern."

Stern knew it was not like Pat to no show an event without a reason.

"Keep searching."

The two associates exited Sterns office as she went back to doing her paperwork.

************************************************************************
Jake trys to catch his breath as he stops in the woods.

"Listen Bam I need some answers? Why are you here? What the hell is going on!?"

Bam just looked at Jake for a quick second before running again. Jake didn't know if he could trust Bam. But at this point he didn't have much of a choice.