"He fell silent. For several moments they all did, and the quiet had the feel of a deliberate thing. Then Eddie said, "All right, we're back together again. What the hell do we do next?"
― Stephen King, The Dark Tower
"A predator, huh?" Hercules smiled, meaty fists held before him like shields. "What a coincidence… I made my fame by killing savage beasts across the lands!"
He stepped forward into a punch. His blow compressed the air into a beam, a spear made from matter accelerated beyond limit. It washed over Ven, force drawn in like water on a hot day. Hercules frowned, a combo of pouches that cannoned, ineffective, onto Ven's body.
"The appetiser is nice, but I'd rather we move on to the main course," Ven condensed the mist around them, a rain that coated Hercules black. "Someone like you is a bad match against me, mindless force is nothing but my food…"
Thunderclaps rose from within the sludge. Each blow bulged the shadows out, but more fell to close the gap. Strands of gold began to flow faster, ripped free from the embattled god. They tasted of dominance and pride, a tang that fueled Ven's own arrogance.
"No wonder you're such an asshole…" This energy was so corrupted, twisted by its own nature. "You've got nothing inside you but wrath and desperate need to prove yourself."
Ven's aura compressed until it held only the enraged god, trapped in its folds. More and more light spilled forth, until a bright, orange lump rose to the surface. It resisted the pull, held to Hercules by countless threads of gold.
"A core… " Ven tightened his grip and heaved. "No… something else."
This thing was connected to Hercules, but it wasn't a part of him. It fed a trickle of energy to the man, a power that Ven had tasted before. Concentrated cosmic force, denser than the ocean between the worlds.
"Where did you get this from…" Ven opened a space for Hercules' head. "Talk, and I might let you live."
"It doesn't matter," Hercules grinned, madness in his eyes as he strained against his bonds. "Even if I fall, you'll never survive what's coming!"
"Oh?" Ven pulled harder, until thick bands of gold peeled from the entombed god. "And what's coming?"
"The Pantheons are just the opening pieces, the first to be moved onto the board," Hercules barked, his hair shifted to a dull grey. "Once the Concepts get involved, none of your freakish abilities will matter!"
Ven submerged the man in shadow and tapped his foot. The strange orange star was almost free. Once he tasted it, he would know for sure. A flick of his wrist brought Hercules up for air once more.
"I've seen a Concept banished from this world," Ven shrugged. "He didn't seem that much stronger than you are, maybe weaker…"
"Bwahahaha!" Hercules tilled his head back with mirth. "That would have been an avatar, meaningless when compared to the real thing. The barrier around this world has begun to falter, soon enough some of them will be able to get in."
Ven buried Hercules and stared into the sky. The dome that covered the world was still invisible, but his aura touched its edges. If it fell, from what he knew, all would be lost. This world he called home and the friends who graced its surface would burn.
"We'll see, when the time comes…" Ven yanked with all his might, the orange orb ripped into his grasp. "Now…"
He popped the morsel into his mouth, head tilted as he compared the taste to his memory. Within his heart a giant shifted. It stopped its endless dash toward his system's star, nose raised to the air like a hound.
"It's the same…" Ven ground his teeth and pulled Hercules free of his prison. "Where did you get that orange fragment!"
The man's muscle bound frame was reduced to a skeleton of flesh. His gold-brown hair had long turned silver, thinned to the point of baldness. Hercules raised his head, a toothless grin on his face.
"You can ask the one who gave it to me, right before he pulls out your heart…"
"I can… interrogate him, if you like?" Cain edged up from the sidelines, a look of caution on his face as he eyed his apprentice. "But he doesn't have much time left."
"What magic is this," The Dragon God swirled her fingers through Ven's aura. "You've sealed off this place, it's like the laws just fall into a void…"
"It's just my aura," Ven shrugged as he pulled Hercules forward and gripped his throat. "We won't be interrogating him, I made a promise, after all."
"What do you…" Hercules flinched.
Ven waved a hand and summoned a table from his pouch. It came complete with a portable stove and a variety of spices and sauce. He slammed his prisoner onto the wooden surface, his other hand busy with the oven.
"I told you, first I'll drain you dry," Ven put a soup pot on, eyes on his selection of knives. "Then, I'll eat you alive…"
*************************************************************
"What are we going to do, Fenrir," Lyra faced the wall of mist that surrounded Avalon. "Without Master Arthur…"
"Without him, what?" Fen growled under her skin. "We shall continue on, grow stronger and honour his memory by devouring his murderer."
"I don't know if Master Arthur would have preached for vengeance," Speaker Ant rubbed Lyra's back with his antenna. "But Fenrir is right. Grow strong and thrive, nothing else can be done."
"I think I like the idea of vengeance…" Lyra tightened her hands to fists. "People have always taken from me, and they've never paid the price," Pain flashed under her skin, rooted in her heart. "I want to be the one to avenge Master, even if he wouldn't approve."
"Then it is agreed," Fen loomed behind Lyra's eyes. "The hunt begins… let our prey cower as they hide in the dark!"
"The colony stands with its friends," Speaker stood to his full height. "We will do all we can to help. I would suggest we expedite the opening of the labyrinth, its resource will be essential to your growth."
"Alright, we do it together," Lyra reached out and shook Speaker's front leg. "Master's killer won't know what hit them!"
************************************************************
"Achoo!"
Sun Wukong rubbed his nose. He'd sneezed a dozen times over the last minute, someone must be talking about him!
"Whoever you are, I can't wait to meet you!"