Chapter 14: Final Battle

THEYYYY GATHERRRRR…. WEEEE SHALLLL FEEEEDDD TOOONIGHTTTT… THEY WON’T KILLLLLL USSSS….GOOD CAN’TTT LIVE WITHOUTTT EVILLLL… TRAP US, THEYYY SHALLL TRYYY…. EVILLL WILLLLL WINNNN THISSSSS TIME….

The private stood and looked at the assembled Gods and Goddesses. Many, many had arrived in the last hour. Some that he thought he knew. And others that… Well, they looked more like demons than Gods. Most sat quietly, honing weapons and staring at the center of the field, where the monster had gone to ground. Some wandered around and re-ignited eons-old friendships. Some, one he was sure was Crom, sat off by themselves, patiently waiting. A giant, flying reptile floated overhead, seeming to look everywhere at once. A flock of doves had gathered and when they left, a Japanese god was standing there. A giant black bear, easily larger than one of the large military vehicles, had lumbered out of the forest and sat next to Jesus of Nazareth, as if in conversation. Atum-Re had been staring at the sun for at least two hours and beads of sweat had broken out on his brow. The private was sure that he was still trying to prevent the sun from going down, even though his army-issue watch showed the time to be after 10:30 at night.

“I bet at the witching hour, all hell breaks loose.”

“I see that you got over your shock.”

“I’m still kinda numb”, the reporter responded. “To know… Know without a doubt that the deity that you’ve been worshipping… Is real! It’s almost more than I can take. Then…”

“I know what you’re talking about, now! Seeing Jesus shake hands with… HIM!”

“I still get goose bumps when I think of it. I can’t even believe that he’s actually real. The Devil! The damn devil is REAL! And Jesus shook hands with him and welcomed him here. ‘Hail, Lucifer’ he said. I donno. Just makes your whole world go upside down.”

“Why’d you try and cross yourself in front of him? I don’t think he could have got your soul with Jesus standing right there.”

“Habit, I guess. It almost shocked me out of my boots. First, smelling the sulfur, then seeing the ground catch fire, then seeing… Him rise up out of the ground! I thought that damn monster had come back.”

“I heard you tell him that ‘no matter how hard he works, he won’t get your soul.”

“Did you hear what he said back?”

“No. I was still in shock myself, I guess.”

“He said… He said… That he doesn’t have to work at all… Too many souls come to him without him lifting a finger. He said that Hell’s almost full… I don’t know about you, but I think… That Revelation is at hand.”

“I think so, too. If not Revelations or Ragnarok, this is going to still be pretty nasty.”

“I haven’t even had time to say goodbye to my wife or daughter…”

“I’m sure that they’ll be ok. Unless the whole world is destroyed. And I can’t see that happening.”

“God, I hope not.” The reporter slipped off the bumper of the hum-vee and landed on his knees, hands clasped in front of him, deep in prayer.

Jesus’ head whipped around, and he stood and he walked over to the now sobbing man. “My brother, why do you cry?”

“Jesus… I still can’t believe it’s you… It’s just that I never got to say good-bye to Alise and… and… and Laura.” Sobs overcame the reporter and he almost fell to the ground. Jesus got down on one knee and took the reporters hands in his and put his forehead against the man’s head.

“Shhhh…. Shhhh…. I’m here. Everything will be ok… Shhhh…. James Mitchell Ellison, I want you to think of your wife and daughter. Think of the love you have for them and the love they have for you. Tell them at even if the worst happens, you will go to the Kingdom of our Lord. Tell them to have faith in you and me and our Lord and we will spent all time together.”

“I… I… I… Thank you, Jesus! Thank you so much! They heard me! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Faith makes all things possible, my brother.”

“Should I also have faith that the you’ll beat the monster?”

Jesus looked thoughtful for a second, then said “I’m… not sure… if even I have enough faith for that…”

It waited in the place that wasn’t a place for the right time to come. It knew that the ‘gods’ wouldn’t kill it no matter what. For if the evil was to end, then the good would perish as well. Everything must balance…

The reporter put the Sphinx kit in a bag and placed it in the back seat of the hum-vee. The he got out and shook the private’s hand. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”

“Yes. I’m sure. I’m pretty sure that a bunch of us will die tonight… But, I don’t think there can be a greater honor than to die in combat. I think that’s the reason I joined the army so long ago…”

“Well, my honor says that I have to try and get home to protect my wife and daughter.”

“I understand. There is great honor in family. And I’m sure your wife will love the new kitten.”

“I donno. What if the thing grows to be 2000 feet long? What’ll we feed it?” The both laughed nervously, having become fast friends these past few hours. The private put his hand on the reporter’s shoulder and their eyes met. They shook hands, firmly. Then broke the handshake and hugged each other tight. “You take care of yourself.”

“I will. I’ll give that thing a knock for you.”

“Do it. If you win… I mean, when you beat that thing… Try and look me up. Please.”

“I will. I promise you. You’d probably better get out of here. It’s only five minutes ‘til midnight.”

“I’m going. Take care.”

“Get out of here, scribe!”, laughs, “You only want me to look you up so you can scoop the other newshounds.”

The reporter leaned out of the hum-vee and laughed, as a tear rolled down his cheek. “That’s right, you bastard. And remember, you promised me you’d look me up”, he said as he slowly drove away.

“Thy friend has had his eyes opened this day.”

“I know, Lord Odin. I think we all have. At least I certainly have.”

“My son, soon it will be time for you to play a part in the grand struggle ahead. Stand by Mjollnir and be ready.”

“But Odin! I still can’t lift it.” So saying, the private reached down and tugged at the inert weapon. It remained fast, as if attached to the ground. See?”

“Thou still aren’t worthy.”

“But Odin… Lord Odin… But…” The private was addressing Odin’s back as the Norse god walked over to stand with Atum-Re. “I’ll be damned. He tells me that I’m to play a part, but he doesn’t tell me what…”

“You can be damned, if you want.”

“What the hell?”

“Exactly.”

“Satan? Get the hell away from me! I’ll find a way to pick up that hammer and stick it in that spot under your forked tail if you don’t leave me alone.”

“Brother, leave the man be. He is the chosen of Odin”, said Jesus.

“You never let me have any fun, brother.”

“You should be saving your energies for the battle; it’s to begin soon.”

“This battle will prove different for the beast, for all the gods are united, this time.”

“Yes, Brother. This shall be the last battle.”

At one minute before midnight, the pit began to glow with a silver, almost magical, light. Everyone took an involuntary step back. The weapons of the gods began to glow in response as they prepared to loosen their energies. Atum-Re had let the sun go down with a snap at 11:50 and the darkness had taken a second to get used to, even for Devine eyes. The sasquatchs had built bonfires all around the pit. After Satan had arrived, he’d amused himself by helping them light the fires. Now he was standing in the middle of the biggest fire, holding a trident that glowed like molten steel. The dragons wheeled overhead, their screeches cracking the cool Pennsylvania night. Jesus stood in front of a pile of stones that he had gathered, the closest one to the pit. Against the wishes of the rest of the Devine, he asked to try peace one more time. Most scoffed at him, but accepted his request, hoping against hope that it would work. The sasquatchs had shaped themselves into a wedge-shape in front of Buddha, who had reformed the Sword of Light. Seth stood on guard, his scimitar at the ready, Atum-Re stood behind, holding a wicked looking scythe. The Wiccans looked to their Goddess and saw nothing but resolve on her face. In turn, they held their weapons higher, determined to protect he at any cost.  Hachiman stood at rest, his sword cradled in his arms. Crom stood in the back and towered massively over the rest, holding a monstrous war-hammer with a spike on one end. The Great Spirit kept looking from the pit to the west and back to the pit again, obviously expecting someone.

“Come on! Come on, car! We’re almost there! You can make it”, Peter pleaded with the car as it slowly crept to the top of a hill. The car jerked and sputtered, but made it to the top of the hill and started down the far side. “Whew… I didn’t think we were going to make it, huh, uncle?”

“Peter. We AREN’T going to make it. By my reckoning, were still five miles from that whatever and it’s one minute to midnight. Stop the car. We can’t do it.”

The car was chugging to get up the opposite side of the hill, blackish-blue smoke pushing out the exhaust. “C’mon car!” The car made the crest of the hill and let out a loud bang as the engine gave up the battle. Peter shifted into neutral and coasted down the hill and as far up the far side as possible. Putting on the brakes, Peter pulled the car over to the side of the road. Peter got out and started walking, holding the golden bow and arrow in his hands. After about ten steps, he realized that Standing Wolf wasn’t with him and turned around.

“Uncle? Uncle! Please come with me! I need you, uncle.”

Standing Wolf opened the car door and stood behind it. No, Peter. I’ve went as far as I’m going to go. This old body can’t take any more. You have it within you to do what you have to do, Peter. Now, go!”

“But, uncle!”

“GO!”

Peter turned his back and started jogging down the road, toward the glow his eyes could discern as not to far away. “Two miles at most. Hopefully I’ll make it in time”, he thought. Standing Wolf sat back in the broken down car and put his head down on the dash, praying that the Great Spirit would watch out for Peter.

The private heard the watch in his pocket start to chime midnight. He’d taken it off when Odin had given him the runes and the muscles in his body had expanded. “Don’t want to lose a good watch”, he thought. As the watch rang it’s sixth chime, the hole exploded and IT was there. Right in front of them. “If I live through this, I’ll have to reset my watch”, he thought.

"Youuuu willll dieeee, tonightttt! Return toooo yourrrr worlllldssss, orrrr weee’lllll destroyyy youuuuu!"

“Brother, we wish you peace”, Jesus announced in an almost timid voice. “Please, return to thy home and leave Heaven’s chosen world alone.”

“Weee’lllll feast onnn youuu firsttt, foooolllll!”  

Tentacles shot off the beast’s shoulder’s and impaled Jesus through both arms. The sudden attack took everyone off guard. They had figured that the Elder God would at least talk for a second. Horus had leaped forward and was hacking at the tentacles with his scimitar. Odin and Lucifer both hurled their weapons at the beast, impaling it in the areas where the tentacles had originated.

The Goddess ran over to Jesus and kneeled next to him. “Brother, I don’t want to make a habit of this”, she said placing her hands on his shoulders, starting the healing. The Wiccans cut at the severed tentacles that flopped on the ground.

“Help me…. Help me…”

“I am, just rest for a second. I have to conserve my energy for the battle.”

“No, help me to my feet.” In the background, Lucifer sent a great gout of hellfire against the beast. The private jumped behind a tank just in time to keep from being incinerated. “Who’s side is he on, anyway” the private wondered.

“What? You’re hurt severely. Just rest”, the Goddess protested.

“NO! GET ME TO MY FEET! NOW!”

The Goddess saw the resolve in Jesus’ eyes and got one arm under him and lifted him to his feet. Jesus let out a scream and almost convulsed, but stood upright. Slowly, he lifted his arms, ignoring the massive pain, lifting his right hand up near his mouth and his left higher and further out.  The dragons wheeled in the sky and beams like lasers shot out of their eyes, raking down the side of the beast.

A golden horn slowly formed out of thin air into Jesus’ hands. With a look of utter determination, he placed his lips to the horn and blew a single note. Everyone, even the Elder God, stopped as the noise resounded across the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. “What the hell?” asked the private, to no one in particular.

“Not Hell”, Lucifer answered with awe in his voice. “He’s summoned the Host!”

“Nay. He’s called the Valliant from Valhalla.”

“No. He’s awakening the eternal graveyard”, clacked a being that resembled a skeleton more than a god.

Back at the dead car, Standing Wolf heard the horn sound and a smile crossed his face. Slowly his eyes closed and his last breath escaped his still lips, which almost formed a smile of relief.

“He’ssss callllleddd aaa feeessstt forrrr usssss. Newwww goddddssss arrrre toooo simmmple; Weee wannnttteddd thissss tooo happennnnnn!”

The private looked up at the sky and noticed that the clouds were glowing. Glowing! And beings could be seen gathering in the sky like storm clouds, before a downpour.

“Nowww youuuu cannnn alllllll dieeeee!” The Elder god shot out tentacles that speared almost all the gods present, through upraised shields and past hastily lifted weapons. And these tentacles couldn’t be severed, either. The gods that were still alive tried vainly to free themselves, while the elder god started getting larger.

The private stood spellbound as Odin fought against a tentacle in his thigh and another through his shoulder. All the flying creatures had been pulled out of the night sky and lay withering on the ground.  Crom fought his way up to one knee and lifted his war hammer high, then brought it down with a resounding crash on the back of the enlarging elder god. This drove the beast into the ground, but also pulled anyone still standing off their feet from the attached tentacles. The beast climbed back out of the hole and speared Crom in both eyes. Crom screamed and dropped his hammer, trying to free himself.  Hachiman, covered in blood, jumped into the air and transformed into an enormous dove, then dropped at the creature, raking it across the back with his claws; the beast dropped away from the attack, and sent out more tentacles at the dove, almost pulling the wings off. Hachiman screamed as he crashed into the ground. Lucifer managed to free himself and with a leap, he plunged his trident into one of the beast’s multi-faceted eyes. The beast screamed soundlessly, then used his open mouth to swallow Lucifer whole. After a second, the trident melted and there was nothing to show that it had caused any damage. Buddha used the Sword of Light to free himself and turned to free one of the last surviving sasquatches. As he neared the injured forestwalker, a large tentacle, more a gathering of smaller tentacles, plowed through the middle of his back. Buddha dropped to the ground and shriveled into dust, half black and half white.

“Fall back! The beast has played us for fools!” the Goddess yelled. Her faithful had been killed in the initial assault along with most of the sasquatches and any gods who were too close to the pit. The Goddess had tried dragging Jesus’ body back, but soon gave up, her attention taken up with staying alive and protecting herself. The Host of Heaven had landed and encircled the battlefield, but were still a mile away. The private had rolled behind a burnt out halftrack where he watched in horror as gods were dragged to their death in the center of the battlefield. Their death-screams threatened to drive him insane. He turned to see the Goddess helping a limping Odin away to a small hill and guessed that they were going to take command of the newly arrived celestial army.

Peter crested a different hill and stared at the carnage that lay before him. He turned and looked behind him and saw an army that encircled him and the battlefield, stretching off in both directions, until it disappeared from sight. But, he could tell that the battle would be over before the new army had a chance to arrive. He looked back, and thanks to the enhanced eyesight that the Great Spirit had provided him, looked again at the battle. Most of the fighting had ceased, but ropes seemed to be dragging bodies into a central mass that hurt to look at directly. Peter shaded his eyes and stared at the thing in the center, then dropped to his knees in shock. The elder beast had grown to over 100 feet tall and dwarfed the nearest trees. Every now and then a rope shot out at a twitching target lying on the ground and a faint, faint scream could be heard. Peter started sobbing, looking at all the death and destruction. He threw himself on the ground, not hearing the sound of the golden bow and arrow as they clattered away into the dark.

“Get up. …I said, Get up!”

“Standing Wolf? How’d you get here? Did you see what that… Thing… Has done? We’re all going to die…”

“I said get UP!” Peter’s body tumbled over in the darkness and he let out a yell as he rolled over a sharp stone in the ground.

“I don’t care if I’m going to die; you can’t do that to me, old man. I’m going to kick… Where’d ya go?”

“Peter, you have a duty…”

“Where are you Standing Wolf? How’d you get here? I thought you were going to die back there.”

A shade shimmered in front of Peter and transformed into an image of Standing Wolf. “I’ve already died. You have a duty to perform.”

“NO! Not you too! We’re all going to die.” Peter fell to the ground, sobbing again.

“I said, get up!” Again Peter was shoved across the ground. Get up and look to the battle.”

“I don’t want to. They’re all dead. Even the gods are dead. Then, that thing is going to kill all of us.” He broke down in sobs again.

Peter felt his head jerked back by his long, black hair. He was levered to his feet by his hair, and then a slap turned his head to face the battlefield. Peter blinked to clear his eyes, then stared sharper at what he saw. The form of the Great Spirit was on both hind legs scraping the side of the beast with his claws. Tentacles shot out on both sides of the Great Spirit, stretching wide, then curling round to encircle the great-bear form. The Great Spirit threw his head back and roared as his fur began to smoke. Even from the distance, Peter could see the look of defiance in his eyes as he struggled vainly to free himself. It was a hopeless struggle, and the Great Spirit knew it. With a last glance at the beast, the Great Spirit turned and looked at Peter. Directly into his eyes. Then the smoke from the burning fur obscured his vision and Peter’s night-sight began to fade. He knew that the Great Spirit was no more.

“The Great Spirit will be avenged, Peter growled. Without his looking, the golden bow and arrow jumped off the ground into his open palm. Peter took off at a sprint, the wind of his run wiping the tears from his eyes.

“The beast has won the day.”

“Not while mine heart still beats!”, Odin addressed the speaker. Both were covered in blood. “We shall lead the hordes of Valhalla against the beast. Truly Ragnarok has come to pass.”

“But that thing has killed everyone. Even my father would be powerless against it.”

Odin narrowed his eyes and looked at the speaker closer. “Lucifer? I saw thee eaten. How came you here?”

“I burned the beast a new asshole. That thing didn’t even notice I was there. We’re all going to die this day.”

“Aye”

“In that case, let’s get to it…”

“Hold!”

“What?”

“I said hold. Look you there.” Lucifer looked where Odin indicated and saw Peter running at the beast. “That will be the salvation, there.”

“You really think that one mortal man is going to win the day, where all the gods have failed?

“Aye. And I intend to aid him with all my strength.”

“But, you’ll die!”

“Better to die trying, than to die watching.” And with that Odin was off, hobbling back toward the creature. Lucifer looked at the Norse father and shook his head. Then emotions played across his face.

“To HELL with it!”, Lucifer yelled, as wings unfurled from his back and he lifted off into the night sky.

The private looked around in fear. He had seen gods killed. He had been splattered in their blood. Had rejected them as they reached out to him as they were dragged to their death. He wanted to help, but he was paralyzed with fear.

Peter got to within 200 yards of the beast and slowed to a stop. He could take a shot with the bow from here, but he had to make the shot count. Somehow, he knew it wasn’t the right time. From the corner of his eye, he saw the private huddled behind the military vehicle and a wave of concern washed over him. The man was obviously scared to death. Peter started walking, trying to move around to the front (he thought) of the beast. It resembled a large ball of yarn sitting in a smoking crater. A ball of yarn that smelled like a cesspool and hurt the eyes to look at. His path took him in front of the mouth of the beast. He could see the bodies of gods being dragged to the maw, which was a jagged crack with tentacles constantly shooting out in search of new prey. Somehow the tentacles hadn’t found him yet, but they were getting closer, the nearer he got to the front of the beast. Then a mass of tentacles came shooting out, directly at him. His last thought as he cringed and turned his head was that he never got a chance to get a shot off. A pause. He was still alive. “What…?”

“I’ll watch thy back. Pray make thy shot count!” Odin said, holding the tentacles pinned to the ground with the point of his spear. Peter nodded, surprised at still being alive, and started jogging to a point directly in front of the beast. He heard a scream as Odin fell, but didn’t turn around. He got to the place that felt right and planted his feet. Lifting the golden bow, he fit the shaft to the string and drew to his chin, his outstretched arm quivering under the strain. More tentacles shot out at him, only to be washed away in Hellfire. The tentacles seemed to climb the Hellfire, as if chasing the person responsible. If Peter heard Lucifer say, “Oh, shit!” he took no notice.

Peter held the bow steady for a second; then whispered, "This is for Standing Wolf". With a sharp snap, the arrow left the bow with such speed, the arrow seemed to vanish. The bow snapped in half and fell from Peter’s outstretched hand. Peter saw the shaft appear in the beast, right between the multi-faceted eyes, the exact spot he had been aiming for. The beast let out a scream and the ground shook.  

“You’vvvve managedddd toooo hurrrtttt usssss, huuuumannnn. Buttttt, youuuuu haven’ttttt killlllled ussss! The beast rose up out of the ground, now a ball on four massive legs. With ponderous steps it brought it’s mouth closer to Peter, intending on eating him whole in punishment for the injury. Peter stood still, in shock, wondering why the Great Spirit had bothered to include him in this ‘war of the gods’. A look of determination crossed his face and he drew his hunting knife and held it over his head.

The private watched the Indian boy fire the golden arrow. He saw the arrow hit the beast and hurt it. Then he saw the beast lift off the ground and start to walk over towards the boy. After all that he had seen today, this was the last straw. The thing could kill all the gods it wanted to. It could kill foolish army troops. It could slaughter Devine and Hellborn. But, it wasn’t going to kill a boy. The private jumped to his feet and ran over to the trap. He threw the tarp back with a snap and looked at the hammer resting there. He got down on one knee and wrapped his fingers around the shaft. With a look of determination, he straightened his legs, and brought the hammer off the ground. With a battle roar that would have done Crom proud, he turned and ran towards the Indian boy. The beast never noticed him, intent on the human that had wounded it. The private ran up behind the boy and when he got next to Peter, he threw the hammer with every erg of energy in his body. His body immediately flopped to the ground, spent.

Peter watched as the hammer sailed up to the same spot as his golden arrow. The hammer hit the arrow on the notch at the end and the hammer pushed the arrow into the center of the immensity of the beast. The elder god took two more steps, then stopped. Slowly it settled back to the ground. Then, like a balloon with a leak in it, the beast began to loose its shape. It slowly melted.  Peter noticed that the sun was coming up. Then he fainted, a victim to the stresses of trying to comprehend everything that had happened that night.

Concluded in War of the Blood Gods #14

We hope you enjoyed this brand new original fiction series by Grim, writer of Cosmic Powers Unlimited's Drunk Thanos fan fiction stories.  Please send Grim your feedback at cpufeedback@yahoo.com and if you have an original story, e-mail cpufeedback@yahoo.com about having it published in our new Beyond Reality imprint at Cosmic Powers Unlimited.

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