The End - Chapter 2 - The Other Side

"We've had sightings of it all across Iraq, and from its trajectory, it seems to be heading for the ocean."  The professor scratched his chin while he contemplated the path, and the inability for any modern weapon to do any damage to him.

"But why?  What is out in the ocean that it could want?"  The intern shrugged.

"I've tried asking for information from the university, but all of their resources have been redirected." The professor turned towards her.

"What could be more important then an ancient being that's been locked away for thousands of years, and is still alive?"  He asked incredulously.

"Didn't you hear?  A new planet just appeared in our solar system."  he frowned.

"A new planet?  Where?"  She turned on the television.  It was the director of NASA.





"We have no idea why we didn't see it before, how long its been there, and the like.  It is larger then our moon, in the same orbital path as Earth, but at the opposite side of the sun, and always out of sight of Earth."  Hands went up and a question was shouted out.

"Can it sustain life?"  The director shrugged.

"We know next to nothing about it other then its size.  When its approached by our probes, the probes lose power, and go offline until the planet has passed it.  There is only one concrete thing we know about this planet.  There is a dome on its surface, and our technology can do nothing to either peer through it, or get an accurate reading of what its made of."  He cleared his throat.  "This planet is potentially a life sustaining planet, and something is preventing us from even getting near it."

"You mean some kind of intelligence?"  The question was thrown out, but not considered seriously until the director answered.

"We do not know."




"An ancient being, who can not be killed, wakes up and walks towards the ocean, and a planet appears out of nowhere, which we can not see, or get close to.  What the hell is going on?"  The professor asked irritably.  His intern spoke up.

"If you were going to destroy the world, but wanted to save some people where would you put them that would be safe?"  The professor's mouth fell open.

"You mean that planet is like Noah's Ark?"  She shrugged.

"I don't know, but does that mean we weren't chosen to be there, or its not yet time?"  The professor sat down heavily in his chair.

"I think that I might need to take a little time off, and contemplate my life's choices."  He looked up at her, and smiled sadly.  "I suggest that you do the same."




The Destroyer walked through the first human city its been near in centuries, but knew things had not changed.  That is the primary reason it woke up.  It began to growl in a low tone as some would be thieves sized it up, but what caught its attention was the young girl on the steps of a church.

The shadows that flowed through her young mind were evil, and made the being choke at how vile the images were, yet it also paused.  The purity of the girl's heart was still intact.  She did not hate, but was filled with fear, and a desire to fade into the dust.  The Destroyer approached her.

"Mister?  Are you lost?"  Finally, he could see her clearly.    She was pure.  He smiled.

"No, child.  I am here for you.  Would you like to go somewhere safe, where good people live? Where there is plenty to eat, no money needed, and everything is provided, so you don't have to pay anyone?"  Her eyes opened wide, and she searched his face for the wicked intent she was used to.

"Honest, mister?"  He nodded.  "Please."  She whispered, and said nothing more.  She didn't need to.  He could hear the sadness that filled the air.

"Just close your eyes.  A mother and father waits for you.  On the other side of the sun."  He put his hand over her eyes, and she could see a warm place form inside her mind.  There were smiling faces, and gentle eyes.  She began to cry, and became afraid when she heard the evil voice behind her.  "Don't be afraid.  Go.  He won't touch you again."  She reached out and touched his hand with her own.

"What are you doing to her!"  The priest screamed in outrage.  As soon as she touched his hand, her form wavered, became dust, was swept up into the light, and away from the evil hands that hurt her.  The Destroyer looked at him and straightened up to his full eight feet in height.

"Sending her far from here.  And you.  Now, face the Throne, evil doer.  Face Judgement."  The Destroyer's eyes began to burn brightly with a flame that was sent from high above to cleanse the evil stains beneath.

"No!  I'm a man of god!"  He ran back into the church and closed the doors.

"This evil place will no longer protect you.  Judgement is at hand, evil one."  The doors were shattered as he touched them, replaced with gates made of flame.  White hot flames ran around the perimeter of the church, and sealed everyone inside.

"All who remain here share in your crimes.  From the greatest, to the least.  From child who ignored the girl's tears, to the other ministers and nuns who added to it.  None shall escape Judgement!"

The few that attempted to stop the flames were incinerated as soon as they touched the church.  The rest watched, and wondered what could their god be thinking to allow this to happen.

No one thought to look for the child that played on the stone steps every day, and asked for someone to help her, though no one listened.  They all turned their backs on her plight.  For their crimes, the flames continued to spread until the entire neighborhood was consumed.

A tragedy in the eyes of those who watched the devastation from the comforts of their homes, but justice in the eyes of those who watched from above.

Though the stain was washed away, the level of sin in humans was so great, it flowed back in like the tide.  This was only a first step.  All for a child.





"Hello."  The girl looked up as two people approached her.  A middle aged man and woman, both with smiles of welcome.

"How did I get here?"  She asked innocently.  They smiled.

"Did you meet him?  The one who saved you from the nightmares?"  The girl smiled.

"He was nice.  He showed me a place that was warm, and safe.  Am I there?"  The woman smiled, knelt down, and held out her arms.  The girl rushed into them and felt like she was folded up in a warm blanket.  It was an experience she never before felt, and it made her sad, and happy at the same time.

"Come on.  We were sent here ahead of the others who would come.  He said to make a home, eat, and live, but live right."  She smiled softly.  "I never did understand what he meant, but I assume he meant to not live as those who hurt us did."  The man smiled brightly and held up a hand that looked like it was a bit withered.

"My hand is slowly being fixed, so I know we'll be healthy.  He also told me to enjoy life, but remember to love my neighbor.  If I remember what my parents taught me all those years ago, the story of the good Samaritan showed us who our neighbors were.  Everyone.  No hatred, no one greater then the other, and give help when someone needs it."  The girl smiled.

"He told me not to worry about money.  There would be enough provided for us, so who would we pay?  If God gives us everything, why would we use money, right?"  The woman smiled and hugged her.

"Good girl.  Maybe this is the way its supposed to be.  We learn from each other, and take care of each other.  I bet you're hungry, right?"  The girl smiled wide.

"He didn't lie.  It is a safe place, right?  No one will hurt me when I close my eyes?"  The woman hugged her again, and let her own tears fall.

"Not here, child, and never again.  Those people will never live here.  On the other side of the sun."

The End - Chapter One - The Destroyer

"Professor, are you sure we should be here?"  The archaeologist looked back at his intern in disgust.

"Do you fear the dust?  Perhaps the killer cobwebs?"  She shook her head.

"This place has been undisturbed for thousands of years.  You said it yourself.  Why would the Persians hide something like this in Babylon?  It doesn't make sense."  He started to smile.

"Your mind is quick to peer into the questions, but the answers are down here.  Not up there, written on a wall for us to discover.  The Persians didn't put the information even in their own tongue.  It was written in an even older dialect."  She frowned.

"It was similar to Egyptian, and other similar scripts, but the only other older language I can think of, with a known written language, was Chaldean.  Ur was one of the oldest human cities."  He smiled again.

"True, but if you check outside of secular history, the oldest intact set of writings tells us that Babylon was the first human city after the Great Flood.  Whether you believe those writers or not, Nimrod first built Babylon in an attempt to make a great name for himself.  The ancient tower of Babylon, now just rubble, sits on top of this site.  They built on top of something...very ancient."  She frowned.

"What did they build upon?"  She watched as he turned away from her, but she noticed how the beam of his powerful lantern seemed to waver, as though he could not keep his hands still.

"A prison for the most ancient of horrors.  The Destroyer that was to be released at the Apocalypse."





She shivered, though she knew the air was warm.  There was a heaviness in the air, almost as if something didn't want them there.

"Sir, shouldn't we camp for the night?  Its nearly nine in evening."  He shook his head.

"There is no need.  The entire area is completely intact, and the ground has not shifted in the many centuries these chambers have existed.  Besides...."  he smiled again, and turned towards her.  "We are at the main chamber."  She looked around and moved her own light to see what he did.  Her mouth fell open.

"Its an underground pyramid?"  He chuckled.

"Ziggurat.  Its similar, but was square, and could easily be confused with a temple, or early palace.  Look at the solid stone buttresses that extend out from the sides, and the one piece pillars that hold the massive stone slab above our heads."  She moved the beam to see what he pointed out, while his own stayed straight ahead, fixed on his goal.  A single massive door.

"Holy....do you think its rigged to collapse if its opened?"  The professor stopped, and thought for a moment.

"I don't think so.  This entire elaborate set up seems to be meant to keep people away from this chamber."  He pointed to the door.  "If you'll notice, there isn't any kind of lock, or trap near the door.  We may need to translate the writing on the door posts, but I think this wasn't to keep something in, but to keep others out."  She frowned.

"Why would they want people to stay away from here if it isn't meant to keep the Destroyer in a prison cell?"

"Well, if there was a being who would be responsible for destroying the entire world, could any room made of stone keep it inside?  It might not be meant to keep it in, but keep us out."  The professor had no idea how correct he was.




"What is it?"  Nimrod asked his advisers.

"We are not sure, your Highness.  It could be a messenger from God, or a god on its own.  We have attempted to kill it, but...."  Nimrod turned on them angrily.

"Well?  Spit it out!"

"Nothing works, sire! Spears bounce off!  Boulders bounce off! Arrows bounce off!  We can not move him, and we can not hurt him."  Nimrod stomped around his throne room.

"Then what do I do with it!  Its in the middle of my city!"

"We could always build around it."  Someone suggested.  Nimrod turned, then began to smile.

"Dig under it, place a stone slab under its feet, and see if we can lower it, or if its going to be right in that place forever."

It took several days, but when they lowered the slab, the massive being went down with it.  Then they all vomited violently.  From the greatest, to the smallest, all were violently ill at the exact same time.  Then the being spoke.

"Do not disturb the Destroyer or else be destroyed."  Nimrod shivered.

"Lower him slower, and build a Great Ziggurat around it.  Make sure no one disturbs it.  Ever."





"The writing is clearly early Babylonian, and warns those who make it this far to not disturb it."  The intern swallowed a lump that suddenly formed in her throat.

"Um....sir?"  He turned towards her irritably.

"What is it?  Can't you see.....oh shit."  The great stone door had a line begin in the middle of the stone, then flow out in a spider's web over the surface.  Once it reached the edges, the stone became sand, and flowed out like a river that burst its dam.  Both were swept off their feet, pushed to the edge of the path, and half buried by the tumult.

"Professor!"  she called out, then grew silent.  She watched fearfully as an incredibly large figure slowly stepped out of the stone cell, walked through the darkness and into the light of the lantern.  She then heard the professor speak in a hushed, terrified, but excited tone.

"The Destroyer!  Its.....real!"

Sentinel - Chapter 1 - Awakening

"Why are you going back to the home system?  That place has been reduced to nothing but destroyed planets and rubble!"  Ta'rak nodded.

"Yeah, but I'd like to see if some of that rubble has materials we can use.  Those soils may be dead, and the planets swirling debris fields, but the minerals are still there."  The old man sighed.

"True, but no one has gone back since the invasion.  When we discovered FTL, and stopped using the portals, those giants went back to sleep, and we managed to grow back into the universe again.  We even have enough firepower to blow their heads off, but it takes an armada to do so.  What if you find one still active, and not sleeping?"  Ta'rak smiled.

"Then no one will miss me, old man.  Take care.  Maybe we'll meet again some day."  He was sure they wouldn't.  That one reason good enough to return to the Terran system was so dangerous, he would have been executed just for coming up with the idea.

He found the location of a decapitated giant, one of the Elder race whose eyes were used as the portals through gas giants.  Hideously monstrous giants that walked through space like humans walk across the street.

It was originally thought that a fiendishly clever, and monstrously evil member of their race figured out that the eyes of his brethren could be used as telescopes into other systems.  He went on a slaughter spree, killed massive amounts of his kin in order to seed the galaxy with the machines human's called portals.  That was the hypothesis.  Later, after much running, and discovery of ancient ships, abandoned cities, and destroyed agricultural hub systems, they found out the truth.

Those giants were in fact guardians of the solar systems.  They would stay at the exterior, eat meteors that would threaten the interior of the system, and keep watch.  One of the first races to find them was an extremely violent species with advanced military capabilities.  They killed one sentinel for fun, and figured out that their eyes could be used to look through gas giants.  They then developed the portal system.  The more they killed within the galaxy, the angrier the giants became.

Eventually, the giants gathered in groups of hundreds and began to slaughter that long extinct species.  Every species that attempted to use the portals afterward woke up that hatred.  Even humanity had woken their ire.  Once humanity discovered FTL, they were able to outrun the giants, and hide long enough for them to go back to their duties.  After many decades of hiding, they began to expand, being careful not to wake the giants up again.

For now, the monsters sleep, but will one day wake up again.  The galaxy isn't ready to deal with their anger yet.  Ta'rak, however, is of another opinion.  What if they can learn enough from one of the corpses and finally defeat them, or force them to stop?





"Taking into account the slow stellar drift, the possible impact of having your head removed, or having your eyes ripped out and then decapitated, any possible corpses should be outside of Pluto's orbit, or that ice planet.  And that's if they were killed where they stood watch.  The debris field is quite thin out there, so it shouldn't be that hard to spot."  He scratched his chin, and thought about the problem.

"However,"  He continued to log his report, just in case something else found out about what he was doing, or something went wrong.  "The outer orbital planes are not going to be easy to manually scan.  Active scans will alert possible trouble, so I'll just have to travel that area, and use short range sensors."  He shivered.  "I'm almost afraid to find one.  An intact giant corpse the size of one of the tallest mountains on Earth, whose skin is tougher then our strongest steels.  But this is why I'm out here.  Better get started."

The FTL drive took him through the dark spaces between solar systems, and after several days, he found the area he wanted to start in.  But fate is fickle, and annoyingly patient.




"Two years!  I've searched the outer system for two years, and all I had to do was turn the ship around on the beginning of the search!  It was right there!"  Ta'rak lamented the lost time and capital, but then did some close range scans, and relaxed.  "It absorbs radiation, and solar energy.  No wonder I couldn't detect it.  This far out, without access to the sun, the body would have no stores of energy remaining within it."  He did a thorough search of the area around the body, and eventually found the hollowed out husk of the skull.

"Brain tissues removed.  Eyes gone.  Nasal passages are openings, with no protrusion.  Mouth is a multiple hinged mechanism that opens in four directions, unlike the human mouth which only has one.  Facial tissue shows...."  He moved the small cargo ship closer.  He needed the space for supplies, power and fuel requirements.  "two jagged cone shaped teeth in each quarter of the jaw.  "The brain tissues, including the spinal stem have been ripped away, so I might be able to enter the throat of the skull and get a better look later."  He maneuvered the ship around the head, and went towards the neck region of the body.

"The head was cleanly sliced off with some sort of tool, probably a high powered laser, or powered blade to give physical form to the carnage.  The giant is almost completely intact, so it must have been one of the first."  He approached the neck and smiled a bit.

"The neck's diameter is larger then the footprint of my entire ship.  I should be able to land on it, and do a few tests with its spinal tissues."  He smiled wider.  This was going better then he expected.





Ta'rak quickly closed the switch and looked at his nearly drained energy reserves.  He mentally cursed.

"Personal Log - Like human nerves, it needs energy to move, but like electrical circuits, it will use as much energy as needed to do the work it was made to do.  My ship does not have enough power."  He sighed.  "It will take nearly a week to fully recharge my systems.  If I try this again, the body should be moved closer to the sun, so that it can absorb ambient radiation.  And since I wouldn't want to do that again, I'll have to maneuver the head into position in front of the body, then tow the entire corpse into Jupiter's former orbit.  There is enough debris there to effectively hide my ship and the corpse from anyone's prying eyes."  He leaned back in his pilot's chair and closed his eyes.

"What could go wrong?  Everything from waking the giants en mass, or bringing this giant back to life.  While unlikely that it would come to life, the other possibility is still frightening on its own.  I'll collate all data into a probe and program the ship to send the data automatically upon attack, or destruction of the ship."




"Personal Log - That took longer then expected.  The sheer mass of the giant is almost a quarter of the now destroyed moon of earth.  It took several hours of sustained thrust to break the inertia, and more to break its current orbit.  Once broken free of its place, it was relatively easy to maintain course.  Now, I just need to move it into the debris field, in full view of the sun for it to absorb ambient radiation, and solar radiation.  I don't know why they didn't destroy the sun, but all planets, including Mercury and Venus, are nothing but debris.  That question isn't mine to answer.  My questions all concern this giant, its life, and its death.  I want to know everything."  He shivered.

"I also want to know why I'm having nightmares of its death.  End log."  He sat back in his chair, closed his eyes, but then he opened them with a start.  Another image of the death of the giant.





"Personal Log - Its taken a few months, but the giant is now in place.  I've set up a dome around my ship, and landed it on the neck.  I can now make sustained exterior jaunts without an EVA suit.  The nightmares have changed since I've started to embark on these suitless walks.  Now, I feel the weight of responsibility in the dreams.  Feelings of a job made incomplete, and betrayal.  I've had to return to a human controlled system to get supplies a few times, and now I've set up massive battery and capacitor banks to store up energy so I can try to make the body move again.  Tomorrow morning, I will try again."




"It moved!  One of its six legs moved!  It completely drained all the power I had stored, but it did move!  When I measured the amount of power before it was consumed, and after, the amount it took to move the leg was enough to run a battleship for a day!  No wonder the giants are so powerful!  It requires a massive amount of power just to move, so they must have enormous energy storage capabilities!"  His excitement was hard to contain, as was his admiration for the massive beings.

That was probably why the dreams began to take on a more personal feel.  Not like he was reliving the giant's life, but reliving his own.




"Report!"  He fired out at the assembled personnel.  Everyone looked shaky, and uncertain.

"The Net is reporting activity, sir!  For the first time in decades, we have reports of activity from the net!"  The Commander thumped his fist onto the table, and got everyone's attention.  There was far too much noise in the room, and he wanted it quiet.

"What kind of activity?  I'm not going to ask again.  Report!"  The Intelligence staffer swallowed a lump.  This Commander was a hard ass, and would get his pound of flesh if he didn't do as he was told.

"The Forces set up multiple listen and watch stations throughout the galaxy, mostly concentrated on hot spots of Sentinel activity.  There hasn't been any movement from those beings in decades, not since the time they stopped pursuing us, and resettled into their former positions."  The commander waved that away.

"That is history.  I'm talking about today."

"Which is what I'm reporting on, sir.  The Net of sensors is reporting movement from the Sentinels."  The commander narrowed his eyes.

"What kind of movement?"

"All Sentinels under surveillance have opened their eyes."  They watched as the Commander fell into his chair and closed his eyes.

"Shit." They day they have all prepared for was upon them, and they knew they had no chance in hell of success.

Atlas, A Titan - A Monster Among Men

She had wanted to ease her father into the world of men, but the world had other plans.  She brought him to the city, and watched his face beam with awe at the way men built in today's world.  Mighty cranes loomed overhead, while workers left the job site of a new skyscraper being built.

"I never could have imagined men would learn to use metal in such ways!  And in such vast quantities!  They are indeed clever beasts."  Then he grew somber, and she wondered what caused her father to think darkly.  Then he told her.  "But myself and the others could never have imagined the Topheths of the old world either."  She frowned.

"Topheths, father?"  He shook his head.

"Dark places of worship where those of so called 'noble' blood sacrificed living children to bless their streets, the foundations of houses, and the outside protective walls.  They burned them alive, most often the children of slaves, until the blessings they sought were not provided.  Then they burned their own children.  Dark and evil are the hearts of men, child.  Always be wary of them.  Even females.  They too were at those ceremonies willingly."  She sighed sadly.

"Things have not changed much then, have they?  I thought women were not as they once were, but it seems I was wrong."  Atlas nodded.

"They just worship different gods, daughter."  He turned and looked at her.  "I can not keep calling you that!  What is your name, child?"  She smiled.

"I am far from a child, father, but I am still known by the name my mother gave to me, just shortened.  Hannariikka, Rikki to those who know me in this time."  He smiled wide.

"That has your mother's fingers all over it.  The name of her mother and her own made into one.  The first child, if male, took his father's name along with his great father's name.  The girl took her mother and great mother's name."  He frowned as he watched an unkempt man beg at the doorway to a bar.  "Beggars still exist with all these riches all around?"  She nodded.

"Times have not changed, father.  Some work, some don't.  Some work very hard, and others not at all.  Look at his hands."  He frowned.

"His knuckles are twisted."

"He has a disease that prevents him from using his own strength to work.  Probably had a bad turn one day, and things went to hell for him.  We could help him, but there are tens of thousands of people with similar stories in every city of the world.  We can't help them all."  Her father nodded.

"I helped none of them.  Their families abandoned them, and that was on them, not on me.  I would throw them a coin or two when I had it, but other then that, I could do nothing for them."  She realized that her father's version of help was quite a bit different then society's version of the word.

As they walked towards the door, the old beggar turned towards them, and her father stopped.  There was something about the man that made him take a second look, so she did as well.

"Sir, do you have a few dollars for food?"  Her father blinked.

"What happened to you, old man?"  He asked softly, and she saw something she thought she would never see in this hard city.  Tears.  Tears slowly rolled down the old man's face.  "What is wrong?"  The old man lifted his hands.

"Can't work anymore.  No use to anyone."  Her father nodded.

"I see.  Let me see your hands please."  He held them out, and Atlas looked at them.  "They were broken.  Who did this to you?"  The man looked left and right out of fear.  "No one will touch you while I stand here."  He lowered his eyes.

"I had a debt to a collector.  I was working hard to pay it back, but got sick.  This is what they did to me.  Took everything.  My family.  My hands.  My ability to work.  Now I beg for enough to eat, but the winter fast approaches.  In this city, a man with no roof over his head is as good as dead."  Her father thought about his words to his daughter just a moment ago, and shook his head.

"What kind of work did you do?"

"I worked with masonry."  Atlas began to smile.  "Stone in particular.  I loved the stone.  You could shape it, chip it, break it along a line to make blocks, or use it for a foundation stronger then concrete.  Stone is a beautiful thing."  He started to laugh lightly.

"That it is.  I'm something of a mason myself."  She began to smile in response to his small joke when he turned towards her.  "Is there a place he can exchange this for coin?"  He held out a coin made of gold, and her eyes went wide.

"Father, is that.....Not in this city."  She took out a clip and fumbled with some bills.  "Here, give him this instead.  That coin will fetch a large amount, but it will mark him for questions he can't answer."  He nodded slightly, and put the coin in her hand.  She knew what that meant.  It was fair exchange.

"This is for a fellow mason. Make sure no one sees you with it."  The man shrank back in fear, but the fear was not of Atlas.  It was of some patrons who came out of the bar.  He looked back to his daughter and returned the money.  "Take the mason out of here.  I'll handle the consequences."  Then he smiled, and one just for her.  "Don't worry.  I can find you anywhere now that I know you live."  The consequences.  She sighed and put her arm about the old man.

"Do not worry, or fear." She said in the old man's ear, though the fear grew.

"They broke my hands for a few dollars, and they'll kill him for less!  They saw much more then that in his hand!"  She smiled.

"But now they have to deal with the consequences of angering my father.  Come.  I have friends all over this city, and we don't need to be here when the heads start to roll."  She shivered.  The look in her father's eyes told her that there would indeed be a few heads no longer attached to their bodies before the night ended.

One thing people need to learn is never to stand in the way of a Titan.  They can't resist the tide.  All that will happen is they will be swept away.




A small gang filed out of the bar, with a large man leading the way.  It was obvious to Atlas that this was their enforcer, but he had no fear of men, or their weapons.

"Hey, the boss said that no one was to help that beggar until he paid his bills!"  Atlas grinned, and for some reason, the enforcer felt a chill go down his spine.  Not only was Atlas taller then him, but his frame hid far more muscle, and power.  The enforcer could feel something in the air, and as he looked at his comrades beside him, he could tell that they could feel it too.

"I know not your 'boss'.  He is not my lord, or patron.  Leave peacefully or..."  The enforcer swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Or what?"  He asked quietly.  Atlas grinned again.

"Or die."





The archaeologist looked out the window and shivered.

"The skies have been wracked with lightning these last few days, but there is no disturbance to cause it."  His patron, Riikki smiled softly from her chair.

"Not true.  My father is out there."  She looked at the mason as he gingerly bit into some fresh bread.  His fingers could barely grasp the bread for the pain in his hands.  "When did they break your hands?"  the old man looked cautiously at her.

"Three months ago, I think?  It didn't take long for the vultures to swoop in when they knew the Collector was not pleased with me.  He offers a sort of protection for those who pay their debts, until their debt is paid.  When its paid, anyone else who you owe will come to collect, but wait patiently while his debt is being paid off."  She frowned.

"He's got a title?"  He nodded.  "I take it he has more men then we saw?"  He nodded again.  "How many?"

"Three times that many.  He pays them well, and takes care of his friends, but is a vicious enemy.  That bar is his hangout."  That was when a tremendous flare of lightning struck deep into the city.  She smiled.

"I am going to assume something here, but I believe he won't be hanging out there anymore.  If he's lucky, he's dead.  If he's unlucky, father will find him."  Then two more bolts followed the first, each more powerful then the last.  "It seems like Atlas is angry."




The enforcer stood there dumbfounded.  When he didn't move out of the way, a massive hand grabbed the first of his men and crushed his head like it was only a grape.

"Don't just stand there!  Weapons!"  His boss called out.  The enforcer quickly obeyed, but even as his baton smashed into the face of the man who faced him, he knew that it wouldn't be enough.  Sure enough, he was correct.  The man didn't budge.  He didn't flinch. And he didn't grunt in pain.  He looked at the baton and saw the damage.  To the baton.

"Fuck me."  He said quietly as that massive hand reached out for him.




"I don't know what kind of monster you are, but you are not bulletproof!"  The gangster took out his pistol and aimed it straight for the largest target he's ever faced.  It was such a clean shot, he couldn't help but smile as he squeezed the trigger.  The bullet would hit him square in the chest, impact and destroy his heart.  No man could stand after a shot like that.

His eyes went wide as the man mountain moved towards him.  No blood.  No bullet wound.

"Not possible."  He said softly, then shouted at him.  "Not possible!"  He unloaded the gun at the advancing monster, and realized that the person he faced was indeed a monster.  He had only one chance.  For the first time in nearly a decade, the Collector had to run for his life.  Behind him, he heard one of the most frightening things in his life.  A voice that spoke from the abyss itself.

"You can never run fast enough to get away from me!"  He turned back for only the briefest of seconds and saw inhuman eyes flash brightly.

"A demon!  I've pissed off a demon!"  He ran out the back door, latched it with a steel bar, and ran through the back alley.  Its been years since he's needed to use this way to escape, so he was surprised to find the alley bricked up.

"No."  He grew angry.  "No fucking way!"  He's made the one mistake someone in his position can never afford to make.

He grew complacent.

"No where left to run, little bug!  You should have left the old mason alone, and I would not have interfered in your business!  But now.....you've interfered with mine!"  The monster approached, and to his frightened eyes, the beast grew taller, and turned to living stone.

"Time to feel the judgement of a Titan, little bug!  Time to burn!"  As the stone monster laughed, the heavens opened up, and brought down enough energy to fry his brain and body to a crisp.  Atlas continued to laugh, and let two more lightning bolts strike, just to add insult to injury.

"Death is the only price for sin.  Now let the rains of heaven wash away your stench forever."  Turning away, and becoming a man once more, Atlas reveled in the power of the rain to wash away the stains of blood upon his hands.

He walked towards the beacon that belonged to his daughter, a wide smile on his lips.

"You've been awake all along, daughter, but the rest of our family still sleeps.  Its time to wake them up."  He was a Titan, and those with the power were the ones who decided what was a sin, and what was not.

The day of the gods was long since over, but the Dawn of the Titans was at hand.