Lanicrus gave chase to Liandra, avoiding the random shots from the skyships above. She was trying very hard not to panic and she was failing totally. She didn't know it, but she was charging headlong into a blind alley. Lanicrus charged after her like a jungle cat . . .

"N-nine . . ." Liandra said. She felt her fingers touch the wall, and the sight from the eyes of her fairy familiars confirmed her worst fear--she was trapped against three walls, and the only way out was through Lanicrus.

"Nowhere to run now, child," Lanicrus said, his razor sharp teeth almost grinning. "It seems a shame to kill you, but I suppose I must. It's a waste . . .the darkness I sense in you echoes my own. You could be my child."

"Not in this lifetime," a voice called from above him. Lanicrus' head snapped up in time to see Leiliel, raining feather darts down upon him. He felt them pierce his armor, but made no move to defend himself.

Leiliel landed between them, Sachiel following soon after her. Lanicrus took one of the darts out and looked at it, almost pitiably.

"Darts, Leiliel?" He sneered. "Truly, you must be desperate. You know these . . .toys . . .can't hurt me."

"I know that," Leiliel said, clenching her fists. "It isn't meant to . . . DEATHSONG!"

Leiliel began to trill, her voice going higher and higher. Lanicrus felt the darts vibrating, the crystals in the center resonating with the sound. Too late, he knew what she was doing.

"AAAAAAARGH!" Lanicrus cried, pieces of his armor blasted off by the explosions of he father darts. Leiliel wasted no time, and rolled to the side, in time for Lanicrus to see Sachiel charging up.

"REGENCY FLARE!" A burst of fire enveloped Lanicrus' face as Sachiel blasted him with all his might. Lanicrus put up his arms trying to block it, trying to concentrate.

He summoned the chaos lightning that was his to command and released it in a wide arc, striking both Sachiel and Leiliel down again. They tried to rise, but feel down, unconscious once again. Lanicrus rose to his full height and began to advance on Liandra.

"Your protectors are lost to you now," he said smugly, his lightning energy repairing his body in an instant. "I will be kind and permit you some last words."

"I've got two," Liandra said. Pull the other one, she thought. She crossed her fingers unconsciously. "The first is "Sorry, Guys.""

"And the second?"

". . .Ten. . ."

"Ten? What does that---AAARGH!" Lanicrus felt his chest split in two. He felt a fiery wheel stab deep into him, through his back. He felt the object return from whence it had came.

He swiveled his head around, only to see Darken and Phoenix--looking quite well, standing before him.

"Ah," he said, the chaos force sealing the rupture. "I was getting tired of playing with these fools."

"Lanicrus," Liandra said, her fairy familiars flying to her side.

Lanicrus' head whipped back to her, just in time to have his eyes shot out by the fairy's lasers.

"AAAAAAAARGH! You . . .BITCH!" Lanicrus screamed, striking out blindly. Liandra took off, hovering there.

"Liandra, get out of here!" Darken cried. He gestured, there was a flash of light, and his Dive Spear appeared in his hand.

Darken surveyed the scene. The two skyships were attacking something off of his field of vision, but its dark shape was almost familiar.

"Romanova, stop the ship," He said. "I'll take care of Lanicrus."

"What ship?" Romanova asked. The black shape of the Skyshadow seemed to clear. Phoenix watched it moving slowly.

"Oh, right," She said "That ship."

* * *

Kirone felt the ship shudder and stop. She sat back in her chair and punched up the console on her chair.

"Monstructor, how many time do I have to say this?" Kirone asked bitterly. "What the hell is the problem?"

"My empress," Monstructor said, trying to put the best face on it. "We have miscalculated the power drain on the ship. We are moving, but very slowly."

"That's wonderful Monstructor, truly," she said. "That means by the time we make it all the way into the sphere, those two ships will rip us to pieces because this same power drain has crippled our weapons."

"I know, Empress I--"

"Never mind what you know. Do what you're told. If you can't give me engines, then I want weapons until we can move."

"Immediately, Empress,"

* * *

Phoenix took to the skies. There was no time to mask her power--they both knew that now. She summoned her Phoenix aura, and the giant firebird enveloped her. She willed herself to rise higher and higher, past the skyships to the gigantic ship that floated before her, a huge black shape crackling with purple lightning.

She reached out, probing the power that drove it. There was something there, a consciousness, a . . .mind? And a somehow familiar one. There was no doubt--Phoenix knew this power.

The Skyshadow's prow loomed toward her. Summoning all her will, Phoenix reached out, her hands finding purchase on the forward edge of the ship. The purple lightning surged around her, dissipating as it hit the Phoenix aura. The might firebird dug its talons into the ship, crunching bulkheads like paper.

"NNNNNNNNGH!" Phoenix said, willing with all her might to hold the line against the ship. All around them, the angels watched in disbelief, because their goddess of light had at last returned to avenge her people.

* * *

"Miral to Sandalphon," Miral said, hovering over the communication crystal. She could not take her eyes of the view from the bridge. All her life, she'd heard the stories, but she never dreamed she would ever see this . . ."We have to press the attack, sir. We can force Kirone back through the gate if we press the attack now."

"Agreed, Miral," Sandalphon said. "Take a flanking position, we'll cross the T on Kirone's ship and try to stay out of the way of their weaponry."

"Understood," Miral said. "For the Goddess. Engineer, all speed. All soldiers man the weapons."

* * *

Lanicrus smiled as his blows were deflected by Darken. He attempted to press harder against Darken's spear, but found it resisted even his razor-sharp talons.

"Well," Lanicrus said. "Obviously, you've learned something. Your woman would have to save you by now otherwise."

Darken ducked under and lashed the blade of the Dive spear against Lanicrus's legs, slashing open armor and vital circuits. Lanicrus recoiled in pain, in enough time to be slashed on the chest.

"AAAARGHH!" Lanicrus said, summoning his power. There was a flash and he had healed himself once again. "Darken, you are ceasing to be entertaining."

Lanicrus whipped his tail at Darken, only to meet Darken's blade again, impossibly fast as it slashed through his tail. Lanicrus was livid. He reached out to Darken, extending his bladed fingers.

"I'm going to have you Darken," He snarled, still beckoning. "I'm going to take you, and with these hands, I'll destroy you."

"You want me?" Darken said, extending his wings. "Catch me."

Darken took off, accelerating already with practiced ease. Lanicrus extended his wings and took off after him, slower, but gaining rapidly. Darken spared him a glance behind him and headed even faster towards the Skyshadow.

That's right Lanicrus, he thought. Follow me. You've got a good reason to stay on the ground--you're not really built to fly. But I was trained to fly. I know it as well as I know how to walk. Let's see how good you are.

Darken careened and turned toward the Skyshadow, moving into a slipstream alongside it, rolling to avoid the weapons fire. He flew closer and closer to the surface of the ship, skimming the surface, too low for the Skyshadow's weapons to track him.

Lanicrus followed behind, his wings screaming with the release of energy. He unleashed bast after blast from his laser eye, but kept missing-Darken was so fast. He banked to avoid a weapons turret, accidentally slashing part of the hull with his wing before he could level off.

Darken watched this from the corner of his eye, and had an idea. He drove the blade of his Dive spear into the side of the Skyshadow. It opened like a wound, pouring out sparks and energy. Darken came about and hovered there.

Lanicrus closed the gap in seconds, just in time to see Darken breathe a stream of fire into the rupture in the hull. A wall of fire ignited in front of Lanicrus before he could fire on Darken and blinded him.

* * *

"WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!" Kirone said. She had called Monstructor up, finally wanting an explanation face to face. She stood before him, holding him by the shoulders and shaking him. "Why aren't we moving? Why can't we fire?"

"M-My Lady," Monstructor began. "If I could explain . . .We can't move because we're being stopped. A-All our power is being blocked."

"BY WHAT?" Kirone said, her hands going around Monstructor's throat. "I am TIRED of this, Monstructor, tired of you excuses, and of your incompetence. If it weren't for the rest of these Fallen being so STUPID I'd let them--"

The floor beneath them jerked audibly, and before anyone could say anything the ceiling of the bridge was ripped off by Lanicrus, who, flying blind had ricocheted off a turret, and crashed into the bridge.

Kirone whipped her cloak over her head, avoiding the shards of glass and raining debris from Lanicrus' collision. When the last of the debris had fallen she turned her rage on Lanicrus as she saw Darken keening around the sky around the bridge.

"LANICRUS!" Kirone bellowed, her throat raw. "Stop wasting time. Kill Darken and whatever else is stopping us from moving. Do it NOW!"

Lanicrus took off again, streaking back toward Darken. Kirone started to feel strong shudders underneath them. Explosions.

"Monstructor," she said, quieter this time. "What was that?"

"Overloads, my lady," Monstructor said soberly. "The ship is tearing itself apart. Whatever is preventing us from moving is too strong."

"Then we'll just have to move ourselves," Kirone said, breathing deep and trying to rationalize things. "Lanicrus, forget about Darken . . .push us through the portal."

Lanicrus, who had heard this through his mental link with Kirone, immediately obeyed. He flew around the rear of the hip, between the ferocious engines that propelled it, and sunk his claws between two of them, summoning the power of his black hole heart and pushing against the ship.

Phoenix felt the burden become that much heavier. She grit her teeth even more, summoning all her power now. With the power of a million burning galaxies, she pushed harder, causing more and more systems on the ship to explode.

Darken flew alongside her. He watched her, in total awe of the power she could channel. For so long he had only thought of her as a woman, but seeing her as the goddess she was an amazing sight.

"Phoenix," he called. "Lanicrus is pushing against you. You'll never do this by yourself!"

"RRRRRRGH . . ." Phoenix replied, focused only on the task. The ships had moved into position now and were pummeling the Skyshadow amidships. Bulkheads caved in under the stress of their weapons fire, and Kirone's forces could mount nothing more than token resistance.

Darken watched them and decided it was time to lend a hand himself. He called upon the training Phoenix had given him, and relaxed his mind, harmonizing himself with the soul energy of this world.

Yes, he thought. It is easier to use the soul power now. Bright blue energy surged around him. He concentrated, channeling the power of a billion billion souls and drawing a bead on the target.

"SOUL . . .CALIBER!" He cried, unleashing a gigantic lance of energy, it sliced through the center of the Skyshadow, causing fountains of flames to erupt, flames that burned ever higher and wider over the vast ebony ship.

* * *

"There are fires on all decks," one of the Fallen soldiers said to Kirone. The could see nothing, even the opening Lanicrus had created had been clogged with smoke from the fires.

"We haven't any time left," Monstructor said gravely. "The superstructure of the ship is too badly damaged. Any second now it will tear itself apart."

"There has to be something we can do!" Kirone demanded.

"There isn't," Monstructor said. "Between the stress of the space warp, the damage we've sustained and the stress on the engines we're lucky even to be alive at the moment."

Kirone looked around her. The bridge was a ruin, only the most loyal of the Fallen remained, the rest had been lost to cowardice or death. The instruments, the ancient technology was gone now, lost to her forever.

She clenched her fists nervously. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She wasn't supposed to lose. Not now. Not to Darken.

She could hear the superstructure of the ship groaning. Soon it would destroy itself, breaking in half and half again, perhaps, and falling to the ground below.

She walked to the center of the bridge, her cloak a bit tattered, her boots crunching glass. She looked at the bridge, at the Fallen, and then up at the black, smoke-clogged sky.

"These are my people," Kirone said. "This is my time, and this is my world! I will NOT let Darken cheat me out of my destiny!"

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Phoenix pulled upwards one last time, her aura matching her moves. The front end of the Skyshadow groaned, complained and tore off.

Tons of metal, of glass, of Fallen soldiers and other debris fell on those in the city. Liandra, Leiliel, and Sachiel were trying desperately to get the people out of the city, but she knew they would be too late, and they would lose many people, as they had already.

She concentrated, her brow furrowed and dripping with sweat. She was trying to hold the piece of the Skyshadow, to try to minimize the damage it would cause, but it was just too heavy.

She tried as hard as she could but in vain.

The Skyshadow slipped from her hands like a feather in a dream.

* * *

Lanicrus felt the entire massive back end of the ship go quiet and lurch back on him. The engines pinned him between the exhaust nozzles. He felt himself falling backward through the portal.

He tried to push against it, but couldn't get a grip, couldn't summon his power in a way to offset the weight of the ship.

Oddly enough, as he felt himself accelerate, felt the air begin to heat up the metal he was built from, all he could think of was Vertigo, and how he wished she had been by his side. He didn't know what love was, nor, was he entirely convinced she did either. But there was something . . .

He could feel something else now--Ladon's gravity had him now, pulling him into the desert wasteland.

His world went black, and he felt most of his vital systems crushed by the raw tonnage of the Skyshadow.

* * *

Darken watched as the remains of the Skyshadow toppled to the city below. His mind reeled at the thought of more lives lost, more destruction, but he forced it out of his mind. There was no time to mourn now, he thought. No time at all.

Phoenix tried to fly towards it, tried to catch it again, but failed miserably. The ship crashed into the city, pulverizing what had come before then and in its place the remains formed over the city like a black cancer.

* * *

Kirone summoned her spell the moment the Skyshadow split. Magic flowed from her, as she surrounded herself, Monstructor and every Fallen who was still on the ship with a barrier. They were protected as the ship fell, protected from the fires, the debris.

Once down, they lay in wait for the Seraphim to rush in. They would find them ready for a fight.

* * *

Phoenix fell to her knees beside the ship. She couldn't help herself, so she just let the tears come. Darken landed beside her, sheltering her with his wings and wrapping his arms around her. No words would ameliorate what had happened--there weren't any--so he just held her.

"It's all right," he whispered. "It's not your fault."

Her hands surrounded his, and for a time, they held each other.

Liandra, Leiliel and Sachiel came to where they stood. No one spoke for the longest time. Until Liandra's fairies caught sight of the storm in the sky.

"The portal," she said. "It's still open."

Darken looked up, still holding Phoenix. "And Lanicrus . . .he stopped chasing me to push against you. Even trapped, he could come through. We've got to close it."

"How?" Liandra asked.

"I don't know," Darken said, helping Phoenix to her feet. "But that's for us to do." He looked at them. His baby sister, his best friend, and his friend's lover, he realized that he might be looking at them for the last time. "Could you . . .give us some time?"

Sachiel nodded and waved Liandra and Leiliel off. Once they were gone, Darken embraced Phoenix.

"Can you do it?" Darken asked her.

"I . . .I don't know," Phoenix said. "All those people . . .dead. Because I failed."

"You can't blame yourself, Romanova," he said, kissing her forehead. "But we have to make sure they didn't die in vain. That means we've got to stop Lanicrus once and for all."

Phoenix looked into his eyes. Darken into hers. They kissed, holding each other tight.

"I love you," Darken said.

"I love you too," Phoenix replied.

Darken held her close, then looked over at Sachiel. He waved to him--a confident wave or a wave goodbye he didn't know.

Darken took wing, Phoenix summoned her aura. In less time than it takes to tell, they were gone.

Sachiel and the rest didn't say anything until they heard the sounds above them. Shadows crossed their faces as hordes of Seraphim angels poured out of the skyships, heading toward the remains of the Skyshadow.

"Let's go," Sachiel said.

* * *

Darken and Phoenix crossed the threshold just in time to see Lanicrus tear his way through the last of the wreckage.

"AAAAAARGH!" Lanicrus roared. ' The two of you! I will kill you, don't you see I'm immortal? That you cannot hope to ever defeat me? This is MY world, goddess. Feel my ultimate power!"

Lanicrus levitated above the sands of Ladon. A Dark beam of energy enveloped him and stabbed down to the core of the sphere. Dark energy flowed from Lanicrus and from Ladon, enhancing his power beyond even his original level.
"ASCENSION BLACK!" Lanicrus cried, the darkness stealing the life of the sphere and suffusing his body with it.

"Now, goddess, now Darken, now we will truly see who is the most powerful! And I will rip your souls apart!"

* * *

She was bleeding, she knew that. She looked at her hands. Her white gloves were stained a deep crimson. But at least she had hands. She was together again.

More or less.

Vertigo struggled to get to her feet, made it, and fell back down again. She braced herself against the bulkhead and tried to catch her breath and get some focus.

Lanicrus. Yes, Lanicrus was out there. He was . . .fighting someone . . .yes, Phoenix, he was fighting Phoenix. Vertigo wanted to help, wanted to kill Phoenix herself. She tried to charge her power, to fire a bolt at Phoenix, a deadly force.

Nothing happened.

Her head went light. She was feeling something, something she hadn't felt in a long time.

Powerlessness. Powerlessness and something else.

"Am. . .I. . .dying?" Vertigo asked.