Long Live The Kings (Seraphim, Arthur) (07/09/2022)

## Party Crashers- Temple of Dreams, Sleepwalker’s Wing, Multiverse [07/09/2022]

The Cherubs and Thrones all gather around with Pollyannus, eating various meals and talking with each other. Arthur Dracano and Creed both sit against Pollyannus. Arthur asks, “So you overthrew this Syndicate in your universe?” Creed nods as he sips an orange soda and answers, “Yeah. I killed the first General back in 2017. Then I thought they would dissolve after we leaked the things they did to Elysians but…as you can see, Judas had other plans. Sorry about them invading your universe. We’ll kick them out as soon as possible.”

“Nonsense. You wouldn’t have known the Syndicate would revive. And you’re doing what you can. I’m glad the heroes of my world are also helping out.”

“They are really cool aren’t they?”

“Indeed. I’ve also been meaning to ask. What is it you’re drinking?”

“Oh it’s an orange soda. Want a taste?”

“If you don’t mind.”

Creed pours Arthur a cup of the soda and hands it over. Arthur takes a sip and is taken aback. “This is amazing! It’s got a kick to it,” Arthur describes. Creed smiles and explains, “There are many other flavors of soda. It’s not good for you health wise, but so is alcohol. We drink it anyway.” Pollyannus chimes in, “I will admit. The food and drinks you all make are amazing, even to me.”

Here Lies Fate suddenly jumps up and walks up to the three. Her eye is open and filled with panic. She says, her voice breaking. “King Arthur, Dear Seraph. Something is coming. And they’re coming for you.” Arthur looks at Fate and asks, “Seer, who is coming for us?”

“...Gods. All of them are.”

The Seraphim all stop what they’re doing and stand at attention. Creed orders, “Someone get Kam somewhere safe in the temple. The rest of you, get ready.” The members salute and take their positions. Arthur and Creed both get up and stand before Pollyannus, to which they smile and say, “I admire both of your chivalrous attitudes.” They then hear a march of footsteps approach. The one in front being louder and heavier than the rest. Imperialist and the other Precocious Squadron members position in front of Creed and Arthur and ready themselves. The other thrones positioned on the sides of the temple corridor. The footsteps grow louder until they reveal their owners. A collection of humanoid beings walk into the hall, and stand at the entrance. Arthur holds his sheathe and asks, “What brings you to the Temple of Dreams?” The one in front speaks, letting his powerful voice free. “I am here on a request by an ally.”

“State your name.”

“It is unwise for you, Arthur Dracano, to speak to your superior in this way. However, I am Jove, the Pillar of Royalty and the King of Gods and Men. Before you is the might of Olympus.”

“Olympus?”

Creed interjects and explains, “Olympus is a realm where a pantheon of gods live. They rose to power after Jove killed his father, who was the former Pillar. He then took the title and rules over his universe.” Jove raises an eyebrow and comments, “You are an educated mortal I see.” Arthur looks confused and asks Creed, “How do you know of this story?” Creed responds, “It’s a mythological story in my universe. Part of the history of the continent of Europe, specifically Rome. But again, in my universe, it’s all made up. There’s only one god where I’m from, and that’s Jehv.” Arthur nods then turns back to Jove and asks, “Who is your ally? And what is your purpose for being here?” Jove answers, “I was sent here to kill both of you mortals. On behalf of the Leviathan.” Creed groans and says in an annoyed tone, “Of fucking course Levi sent you here. I bet you he promised you-”

“A place in control of the entire multiverse.”

“Yep. There it is. Hey guy, he lied to you. If he ever actually succeeds he’ll get rid of loose ends like you and your party over here.”

Another god in armor speaks up, “Watch how you speak to the King you scum.” Creed retorts, “You need to watch how much dick you can take in your mouth the way you're slurping up this guy.”

“You are only rulers because father allows you to be. He can take that away from you as fast as he gave it to you.”

“This loser didn’t give me anything. He sure as hell also didn’t give Arthur here his royalty either. Quit fucking around.”

Jove bellows, “Enough talking. I will fulfill my request, and anyone who gets in my way will meet the same fate as you and Dracano.” Creed groans again and looks at Arthur whispering, “This might get a bit messy.” Arthur grins and says back, “I enjoy a good fight.” Mercury dashes at blinding speed towards Arthur and tries to strike him before he could react, he makes contact, but hits the wrong target. In front of him, he finds Blink holding the short sword’s blade in his palm, blood dripping down his arm. Blink stares Mercury down and says, “How fucking cheap of you.” He grips the blade and then grabs Mercury by the throat. The two seemingly disappear, not being able to be tracked by how fast they were moving. Mars moves in, and Imperialist responds by moving towards him as well. The two give off a powerful aura as they make their way towards each other. Mars towers over Imperialist, yet she stares him directly in the eyes as she walks up to him. Mars comments, “Mortals usually cower at even the sight of me. You are brave, but foolish.” Imperialist quips, “Usually people this big are compensating for something. I’ll say two…centimeters. Max.” Mars grunts and pulls out his longsword and brings it down to where Imperialist is. She roundhouse kicks the sword out of his hand and follows up by sweeping Mars’s legs. He comes crashing down and is bewildered by her strength. “Impossible. This is some sort of trickery,” he says as he tries to get up. He’s stopped, however, by Imperialist putting her foot down on his chest. His eyes widen as he realizes he can’t get up. Despite the size difference between the two, Imperialist is superior in strength. Mars, not willing to give up his pride, pulls out a knife and tries to stab Imperialist in the leg. His arm is stopped by multiple red tendrils. He looks over and sees Bloodclaute hovering over in a trail of blood. She has a maniacal smile on her face as she pulls Mars’s arm down back to the ground. “What witchcraft is this?” Mars shouts as he struggles more to get up. Imperialist doesn’t explain and moves her foot up to Mars’s neck and presses down. He gags and struggles even more. He tries to grab her leg with his other hand and tries to throw her, but she doesn’t budge. Imperialist’s halo shines brighter as he continues to pull. He then realizes he’s only getting weaker as he tries. He says through bated breath, “You are…no normal mortal.” Imperialist responds, “What gave it away?” before putting all her weight on his neck, snapping it. Mars stops struggling and his arm falls to the floor.

## Royal Flush- Temple of Dreams, Sleepwalker’s Wing, Multiverse [07/09/2022]

The temple goes silent for a bit, the gods processing the death of Mars. Jove looks at his son’s corpse and grows angry. A deafening thunderclap is heard outside the temple. Jove summons a lightning bolt in his hand and says to Imperialist, “You will pay dearly for what you have done to my son.” He throws the bolt at Imperialist, which strikes her directly. She’s sent flying into the wall. Hellscream shouts as he rushes to her aid, “Bri!” Priestess is already on her way to Imperialist. Jove readies another bolt of lightning while announcing, “You’re the first mortal to take the strength of my smite and survive. For that, I’ll give you respect. But you won’t survive the next one.” He throws another bolt towards Imperialist, but it doesn’t connect. Instead, Creed rushes in and it hits his shield. It ricochets into the open ceiling, the bolt traveling into the vastness of the Multiverse. Creed looks at Jove and threatens, “I’ll give you one more chance to walk out of here with the rest of your crew alive.” Jove laughs and responds, “Mortal, I admire your fire. However that is in vain in the face of Jove. You will fall, along with your friends.” Creed dissipates his shield and declares, “Then you’ve made your choice. Hope you won’t regret it.”

Jove summons yet another bolt of lightning and hurls it at Creed. He snaps his fingers and a bolt of lightning comes from the ceiling, hitting Jove’s bolt. The connection of the two causes a shockwave pushing everyone but Jove, Creed, and Pollyannus back. Arthur gets up and looks at Creed in awe. This is the one that saved his universe, and even caused the Leviathan to retreat. He also destroyed a planet with his bare hands. And now he just matched the King of All’s most powerful attack. He snaps out of it and unsheathes his sword and stands alongside Creed. “I will fight with you, hero,” Arthur says, readying himself. Creed looks and smiles and says, “Don’t die on me, you hear? We gotta look good in front of Polly.” Pluto and Neptune stand beside Jove. Neptune declares, “Hark, mortals, you will die at the hands of the three brothers who usurped Saturn.”

Imperialist stands next to the two, fully recovered. Creed looks at her and comments, “Well that was fast.” She smiles at him and says, “Lady Millia isn’t the Aspect of Health for nothing, High One. Plus, it only took the wind outta me. Nothing I can’t handle.” Pluto comments, “The nerve of these mortals, to stand up to us and jest.” Neptune adds, “It is all they can do before their inevitable death.” Creed asks Neptune, “Hey water god. I got a question for ya.”

“I guess I shall entertain one question before I kill you.”

“What’s your favorite fish to fuck? An octopus? An agnatha? Maybe you like yourself some marine mammals and fuck a whale or two? Do you stick your dick in the blowhole?”

Pollyannus and Imperialist giggle as Creed asks. Arthur looks a bit surprised at the question. Pluto and Jove holds their faces in their hands as Neptune’s face grows red. Creed then adds, “Oh oh oh! I got it! You fuck lobsters! Huh. How do you avoid the…the claws? They’re very defensive creatures.” Neptune throws his trident directly at Creed, to which he dodges easily by moving his head. The trident sticks in the wall. Creed quips again, “I assume I got the right answer.” Neptune says in a guttural tone, “Since you like to talk so much, perhaps I’ll start by ripping your throat out.”

“Kinky.”

Neptune rushes at Creed and throws a punch at him. Imperialist gets in front and grabs his fist. Neptune looks in surprise and quickly turns resentful and says, “You’re the one that killed my nephew. A one time fluke that you’ll come to regret in the afterlife.” Creed peeks out from Imperialist’s shoulder and declares, “Oh, but you already lost the moment you touched her.” Neptune looks confused and then tries to pull his arm away. Imperialist keeps a grip and crushes his hand. Neptune shouts in pain and wrenches his hand away from her. He looks at his hand, now reduced to nothing but shattered bones and flesh. “What is this trickery?” Neptune exclaims. Imperialist looks at her hand and summons a ball of water, much to the three gods’ surprise. “Huh. Kinda cool,” Imperialist says as she moves the ball of water around her body. Neptune begins to panic as he realizes he can no longer summon water. Pluto tells Jove, “We can’t let the one with the black eye touch us. She has taken our brother’s power.” Jove nods and says, “Then I will deal with her like last time.” Jove begins to summon a bolt but is interrupted when he sees Arthur charging at them. He swings at him but is intercepted by Pluto, and pushes him back with his bident. He gets in front of Jove and threatens Arthur, “King of Heroes, choose your opponent wisely. I assure you you’ll have a quicker death by my hand.” Arthur smiles and responds, “Come at me then, King of the Dead.”

The two battle it out, with the rest of the Seraphim and gods watching them. Pluto thrusts his bident at Arthur’s chest, to which he deflects with his large sword. He then retaliates by sweeping at Pluto’s head. The blade almost connects, but is dodged at the last moment. Arthur sees the opportunity and flips his blade and brings it down on Pluto’s shoulder. The sword connects, and cleaves into Pluto. He grunts in pain and smacks the blade away with his two pronged spear. Arthur backs away, with a big smile on his face. Creed cheers, “That’s the good shit Arthur. You just hurt a god.” Pluto looks annoyed and rushes Arthur again, this time with a flurry of swings and thrusts. Arthur struggles to keep his footing and almost falls over. He then steels himself and regains his balance. He parries Pluto and advances. He remembers his training and remembers when he faced the Tyrant King to free Grail. He swings his blade with vigor and determination, every strike stronger than the last. Pluto backs away , trying to get distance between them, but it’s quickly closed by a persistent Arthur. He finally finds an opening and thrusts his blade deep into Pluto’s chest. He looks at Arthur as the life leaves his eyes and falls to his feet. Arthur pulls out the blade and says, “You fought valiantly, king.” Imperialist voluntarily washes Arthur’s sword by blasting a beam of water at it. Arthur looks at Neptune and Jove while pointing his sword at them and says, “If you don’t want any more loss. I suggest leaving.”

## Boiling Point- Temple of Dreams, Sleepwalker’s Wing, Multiverse [07/10/2022]

Another thunderous roar rings through the temple. Jove shakes in rage as electricity rises in the air. Creed quips, “Someone’s angy.” Jove shouts as it echoes through the chambers, “Not only did you filthy mortals kill my son, but my dear brother as well!"

“Hey, we’re not the ones who came in during a get together and tried to collect a bounty. You did this to yourselves.”

“I will not let this stand. You will all pay for this.”

Jove throws a thunderbolt at Arthur. Before it hits him, it’s destroyed by an electric blast from Imperialist. Creed’s wings appear from his back. They flap once and send him at supersonic speed towards Jove. With a swift kick, Creed sends Jove flying across the temple. He hits the ground, still traveling from the force of the blow. Jove gets up quickly and tries to retaliate by throwing a punch. It lands on Creed and causes the ground to shatter. Jove continues by forming a javelin made out of lightning and striking Creed with it. Jove begins to monologue, “A very cheap shot, mortal, but you can’t stand the power of a true g-” in that moment Jove feels his jaw dislocating as a fist meets it. Creed then jabs him in the stomach, causing him to kneel. In his daze, he feels his neck being grabbed and then multiple blows to his right cheek. Arthur looks on in a mix of terror and amazement. Creed continues pummeling the King of Gods until he knocks him down with one more hook. Jove twitches in immense pain and looks back up at Creed.

He kneels down to him and says, “You know. My universe’s solar system has all the planets named after your pantheon. Every planet except Earth of course. Mercury, being the closest to the sun, is also the fastest planet to orbit it.” As he says this, the corpse of Mercury is tossed next to Jove. Blink reappears and pants. His wounds and gashes begin to heal as he comments, “He was…very fast.” Jove draws his attention to the mangled body of Mercury, with his legs splintered the opposite way. Creed continues, “Venus, the second planet, is a hellscape. Mars, is the fourth planet. It’s the closest to Earth. It’s red, like dried blood, which gave it its name.” Imperialist drags Mars’s body and stacks it on top of Mercury’s. “Jupiter, is the largest planet in the solar system. It is also the fastest rotating planet. Full of noxious gasses unfit for human life. It also holds the most moons in the solar system. Saturn follows right after it. With beautiful rings. Then comes Uranus, completely on its side. It is the most bizarre of the planets. Sky blue, pretty beautiful to look at through a telescope. Then there’s Neptune. A deep blue planet with high winds. Pluto, is the smallest planet in the solar system. It is also the farthest away.”

Neptune quickly grabs his trident from the wall and tries to impale Creed in the back. The trident connects, but the blades shatter upon contact. Creed turns around to look at Neptune and says, “You shouldn’t have done that.” Blood from Mars and Mercury rise from their corpses and chain Neptune. Bloodclaute pulls Neptune to her as she looks at him with murderous intent. The blood whips tighten around Neptune's limbs and neck. “Trying to hurt darling’s no good. We’ll have to punish you for that,” Bloodclaute says with a manic tone. She tightens the grip of the blood chains more and picks up his broken trident. She uses some of the blood to create a new pike and sets it behind him. She slowly pushes him into the trident, letting the spear slowly impale him. Neptune cries out in pain as his trident is driven through him. He can feel his lungs collapsing as the blades introduce blood into his respiratory system. He coughs out blood and looks into the eyes of his murderer before the life leaves in his. He slumps against the trident as the blood whips disappear, leaving him looking like a modern art piece. Bloodclaute giggles as she kisses the now dead Neptune’s cheek, leaving a bloody lip stain.

Jove utters out weakly, “Brother…” Creed looks back at him and says, “You know, depending on what you did in your life, the Underworld might treat you well. If not…I guess you’ll find worse in the Abyss.” Creed stands up and pulls out Marko from his necklace. He aims the shotgun at Jove’s head and is about to pull the trigger until he heard the last god in the room shout, “Wait!” Creed looks over at her and asks, “Are you gonna jump in too?” She shakes her head and says, “I am Minerva. Daughter of Jove. I just want to say that I recognize your strength and prowess. I concede and would like to remove myself from the situation.” Bellona walks up to Minerva and crosses her arms. She looks up and down at her and asks, “How do I know you won’t go out to send more of your gods to come fight us?” Minerva answers, “It would just dwindle our numbers more. You already killed four of the strongest gods in Olympus. I would ask that you forgive us in believing in the Leviathan, as I insisted this was a suicide quest from the start. However, the pride of my father and uncles clouded their judgment. I realized as the Dragon was speaking that he was simply thinning out the Pillars so he’ll have less resistance.” Bellona comments, “You really are the Goddess of Wisdom huh.”

“I will leave here and let the rest of Olympus know of what transpired here, and I will take the place as Pillar of our Wing.”

“What do you think, C?”

Creed shoots Jove in the head, putting him out of his misery and makes Marko disappear and answers, “Sure. I don’t see why not. I don’t want more blood on Polly’s floor either.” Minerva curtsies and asks, “May I ask your name and title, champion of Pollyannus?”

“My name is Creed. I’m the Seraph of Hazor, Jehovah Jirah’s Angel of Death, and Pollyannus’s Aspect of Vengeance.”

“I wish it was a different situation we could have met, Creed. I assure you I want to be allies with you and your group.”

Bellona analyzes Minerva more and says to Creed, “She seems genuine. She gets a pass from me.” He looks at Bellona and then back at Minerva and declares, “Then whatever is left of your pantheon can be an ally of the Seraphim. Uh do you want…their bodies?”

Minerva bows her head and answers, “I would. As proof of their deaths.”

“Alright, I’ll help you get them out of here. Let’s hope we meet in this temple again on better terms.”

“I assure you.

We will.”

## Aftermath- Temple of Dreams, Sleepwalker’s Wing, Multiverse [07/11/2022]

The halls become clean again, the Seraphim continue what they were doing. Arthur and Creed gush over each other about how they did. “You were outstanding, Creed!” Arthur says as he drinks orange soda with him. Creed responds, “Nah but the way you beat Pluto? Crazy. You showed him who’s the real king.”

“You took the full brunt of Jupiter’s wrath, twice!”

“I won’t lie. I kinda felt that one. It was like a gentle push for me, but I felt it.”

Pollyannus adds in, “You won against a Pillar of Reality. That’s not something to be taken lightly. You two are truly extraordinary.” Arthur blushes and Creed chuckles to himself. Arthur then asks, “But how did you become so powerful? I mean, Jupiter was a Pillar. You and I are Ones Below.”

Pollyannus explains, “Creed is the Aspect of Vengeance for a reason. He gains power when he seeks revenge for something that has happened to him, or someone else. This caused him to destroy Terrus of VYLE-666 with just his bare hands. He saw the pain of the Terrus people and wished revenge on the queen. This was a similar occurrence. Once Jupiter had hurt Imperialist, he had lost.”

“I understand now. Is that…why you don’t do missions yourself anymore?” Creed takes a sip from his cup and nods. Arthur nods in response and comments, “Well, you were heroic today. You protected your people, and you protected me. I am in your debt.” Creed scoffs playfully and responds, “Oh come on. You pulled your weight just fine. You may not have powers like the rest of us but you’re plenty useful. Your swordsmanship is to die for. You should teach me sometime.”

“Of course, I’d love to spar with you.”

“It’s a date then.”