by J. J. Egosi
“She’s right. Ursula may be manageable, but Alexa’s insane. You don’t want to get mixed up with her any longer,” said Julianna.
“I don’t care about any of that. Ursula’s my friend. Let me go!” Michael refuted, attempting to break the hold they had on him.
“You, a friend of Ursula’s? What a laugh!” Alexa scoffed at the very notion before kicking Ursula in the stomach. “People like her don’t deserve friends, they only deserve pain!”
“Is that really what you think?” A blinding light emitted around Michael like a growing aura. It shone with such force; everyone nearly fell over.
Alexa shielded her eyes as the battlefield plunged into his relentless rays of light.
The light dimmed to reveal Michael in his archangel form. He stood with resentment burning fiercely in his eyes.
“That’s enough, Alexa. Your fight is with me, now.”
Alexa looked at him and grinned. “Well, I made a promise. And I always keep my word.”
“Good. And if I win, you are to never lay a hand on Ursula again,” Michael demanded.
Alexa snickered. “Well, when I win, I will make you my slave, as well. Fuck my previous talks of using you to bait out the Legion of Morningstar’s leader. I want you to suffer at my own hands!”
“Take her, Michael!” Isabella exclaimed.
“Show this dimension jumping bitch you mean business,” Julianna added.
“You don’t have to tell me twice. If you could, though, I’d like you to take Ursula somewhere safe. Things are about to get ugly here.” he said.
Julianna and Isabella smiled proudly as they did as he said, carrying her off to the sideline. Michael and Alexa now looked across from each other, matching each other’s menacing glares, and foreboding auras sweeping the battlefield.
“So, how should we decide who makes the first move?”
“It matters not,” Alexa replied, “I will win, either way. Don’t forget I have our two remaining titans.”
Michael gritted his teeth. “I haven’t.”
“Good.” Alexa smiled. “If you’d like, however, you can make the first move. After all, a dirty angel with amnesia could use the head start.”
“You’ll live to regret those words!” Michael burst forward, charging towards her with his scepter drawn. The ground sparked with heavy voltage.
Alexa grinned, just before grabbing the tip of the scepter, stopping him in place. “Do you honestly expect to defeat me with this little toy? This thing may work against familiars and other weak specimens, but I’m of a whole other breed.” Alexa snatched the scepter out of his hand and hurled it into the dirt.
Michael saw his reflection in his scepter sticking out of the ground beside him. He then diverted his attention back to Alexa but was too late. She hit him with a weapon of her own.
Her assault knocked the wind clean out of him. He gasped for breath while his ears rang with each painstaking moment he took to rise. Michael immediately noticed the colossal bronze mallet in her hold as the sunshine reflected off it.
“Impressed? This hammer of mine is an unholy relic,” Alexa said.
“You mean you own two titans and an unholy relic?”
Michael’s eyes widened. He doubted if he had the might it would take to turn this fight around, but he would not let up. He could neither allow her to see the doubt nor give her the advantage. Not now, not ever.
“That may be true for now, but when this is over, I’ll have four titans. Goodbye!” Alexa shouted, slamming the head of her weapon onto an already struggling Michael, sending him back to the ground.
“Michael, no!” Ursula pleaded.
She and Michael’s friends looked away. They couldn’t bear the sight of his body being crushed by the weight of Alexa’s hammer.
“It’s over, Michael. I win,” Alexa declared with a triumphant grin.
Suddenly, the hammer jerked in her hands. It rose from the ground. Ursula and Michael’s friends smiled in shock and relief as Michael pushed his way out from under the hammer.
“You still dare to defy me?” asked Alexa.
“Not everyone lives to serve you. That’s called free will and everyone has the right to it, whether you like it or not.” With one last thrust, Michael hurled Alexa’s hammer out of her hands and high into the sky.
“My unholy relic!” It landed over a dozen feet away—far too much a distance for her reach before he could strike.
“You insolent angel swine.” Alexa struck a punch at Michael. Before it could land, he caught it. Alexa looked in his eyes, stunned and nervous, as her second attack came to a halt.
“The tides are changing, Alexa. I suggest you forfeit now and leave before I really hurt you,” said Michael.
This man is so much more intense than I thought he’d be. Could he have already regained his powers? It feels like he’s holding back. Alexa thought, shaking as she looked into his cold blue eyes.
Meanwhile, everyone else stood on the sidelines, watching intensely as the battle unfolded. Isabella had just put the finishing touches of her healing magic on Ursula. She now stood upright and watched with a confident smile.
“Thanks, Isabella,” Ursula said.
“Anytime,” she replied.
Julianna kept her attention on the battle before them. “Ursula, give me your honest opinion. What do you think Michael’s chances are of winning?”
Isabella kept her eyes on Ursula, hoping for good news.
“Not good, I’m afraid. Alexa’s completely undefeated. Not to mention, she hates angels, so we can expect her to go at him even more aggressively than she normally would.”
“Figures as much since she’s a demon.” Julianna scowled.
“Our aligning with him should be enough to show we can trust him. Why is she going so far for control?” Isabella asked.
“She’s not one to take ‘no’ for an answer. I don’t think she’s ever not gotten what she wanted,” Ursula replied.
Julianna gulped. “In that case, I hope Michael has some sort of surprise to tip the outcome in his favor.”
“Well, Michael’s the archangel. Demons and angels may be enemies in most stories and tales, but I, for one, believe in him,” said Julianna.
“That’s right. As long as we’re here to support him, he can’t lose!” Isabella added.
Their confidence painted a stunned look on Ursula’s face. She smiled. “He must mean a lot to you guys.”
“He does,” Isabella began. “That man is my world. We grew up together in the same house. I just wish I hadn’t treated him how I did all those years, though. We lost so much time that we could have spent growing our love together. To make up for this, I have dedicated my life to prove to him that I am worthy of his love.”
Ursula stared at her in silence before turning towards Alexa. “So, you hurt him, but you still love him?”
She watched as she continued to combat Michael ruthlessly. Wondering if her movement carried any of the same compassion.
“I do. With all my heart.” Isabella said, smiling.
A smile formed across Ursula’s face, mesmerized by Isabella’s words and the motions of the battlefield.
“Michael holds great significance to me, as well,” Julianna said. “I’ve never met a man so well-mannered to women before. As you’ve seen for yourself, when he cares about you, he’ll spare no time showing it. Good men are tough to come by. A great man like him, well, you just don’t let someone like that go.”
Ursula’s eyes widened. She looked over at Michael with a firm nod and a smile, determined to make him see her the same way the others see him.
Meanwhile, the battle between Michael and Alexa raged on. They exchanged bloody, bone-crunching blows, and devastating displays of supernatural power.
“Just how much longer do you plan on keeping up this charade?” Alexa said as she sent dark bursts of magic energy his way.
He deflected the energy with his arm and returned a confident look at her. “As long as
it takes to prove to you that your way will never succeed.”
He manifested his sword from his hand. The iron gleam took Alexa by surprise. The voltage seeped from the blade’s edge and fired towards her like a lightning strike piercing the darkness.
Alexa swiftly dodged it and frowned.
“I’ll admit, I didn’t expect that sword. Perhaps you haven’t completely lost your touch.” Alexa began. “Even so, who do you think you are telling me what the right way is? I’m the richest and most powerful woman to ever grace the sixth dimension. My power and influence are absolute. There is only one way: my way.”
Michael sneered at her words, recalling his conversation with Lucifer in their dream. His heart thundered just as it did then.
“You talk about wealth and power, but where has that gotten you?”
“Excuse me?” Alexa demanded.
“I’d imagine someone with your influence sending out her servants to collect the titan ring in your stead,” Michael stated.
“You think I’d ever trust someone with such a critical task? And let the ring fall in the hands of inferior soldiers?” Alexa refuted.
“As a matter of fact, I don’t,” Michael replied. “Because I think the only person you trust is Ursula. And since she’s left you behind, that means you’re”—
“Shut the fuck up!” Alexa’s eyes flared with malice. Her blackened aura spread around like ink shattering the air.
The hair on Michael’s neck stood upright. “It means you’re all alone. Just as I was.”
“Like hell I am,” Alexa shouted. “I have everything I need.”
“To her point, she does still possess two titans,” Isabella began.
“And if Michael continues to provoke her, he’ll find himself face to face against one or both very soon.”
I can’t let her become absorbed in her tyranny, Michael thought, or she’ll end up like Lucifer.
“I think it’s time I teach the archangel a lesson for speaking out against the queen.” Alexa unfurled sharp talons from each of her fingertips. They sliced through the air, dripping down dark magical energy across the grass.
And I can’t let her do this alone. Because then, she’ll end up like me. Michael thought as the memories of solitude and vilification still tore at him.
Alexa unfurled her wings, beating them against her shadows. She spread out her sharp talons and rushed towards Michael, prepared to let her fury erupt.
“You’re wrong!” Michael blocked the wall of shadows she formed by slicing through with his blade. The intensity sent her flying and landing on her back.
“You disgusting brute! What sort of attack breaks through my shadows like that?” Alexa grunted as she slowly picked herself.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d stop insulting me,” Michael replied. “Your bad attitude may get you wealth and power, but there is more to life than that. Take it from someone who’s never had either of those things.”
Alexa coughed and panted when she stood back up. She rounded a look at the mutiny and resentment in everyone’s eyes. Her face reddened. “I’ve had enough of you. All of you. If I hear one more word from you or the others about friendship and believing yourself, I’m going to fucking lose it!”
“Then, by all means, lose it,” Michael coldly replied.
Alexa’s eyes narrowed as he touched the last of her nerves. “I’ll mark your grave with those words.” Familiar outworldly energy shrouded the battlefield—the same one the titan of the second dimension carried.
Michael’s heart raced as darkness surrounded him. He looked around at the terrified gazes to his left and over at her.
“Everyone’s afraid now.” He began. “And that’s your doing. Do you still wish to continue?”
“You’re mistaken, Michael. I’m ending this. Right here and now,” she said as a purple ring appeared around her finger.
“I see.” Michael tightened his grip on his sword. “I suppose we both are.”
Suddenly, the clouds in the sky opened, revealing the same pitch-black whirlpool of thunderous darkness that came with the second dimension titan. Lightning filled the air above, as Michael watched, horrified by the call of the beast from the sky.
“Mighty bird that hunts the dead. May you grace our killing grounds and rob my foe of all its life. Come forth! Tiamat, titan of the first dimension!”
With the conclusion of her chant, the sky responded with claps of lightning. A blue humanoid vulture broke through the writhing clouds, descending from the blackened heavens. The beast’s wings spanned across the skies, sending gusts roaring past with every flap. A terrified Julianna backed off slowly as she watched. Isabella froze while her heart did all the running. Ursula swallowed heavy breaths to calm her jitters.
“Holy shit, that’s an enormous bird!” Michael said, stunned, as it landed before them and trembled the ground in its wake.
“Yes, my dimension titan is here, at last!” said Alexa.
The beast stood tall, with massive feathered wings, two arms, and two legs. It cawed to the heavens, shaking the weeping sky into a lightning-induced rage.
Michael gazed into its soulless eyes, mesmerized by its energy. “What an incredible beast!”
Alexa grinned. “Just wait and see what it can do!” The beast soared into the air, circling the battlefield.
“What’s it doing?” Michael asked.
He found himself quickly mesmerized by its sweeping motions—like the hands of a clock moving around the face without ever missing a second.
“In prehistoric times, the world was covered in nothing, but ferocious beasts,” Alexa began. “To survive, you had to be strong. You had to be vigilant and do whatever was necessary to survive. There was no use for weak emotions, as those pitiful humans weren’t around yet to plague our world with such things. No, if you wanted to survive, you simply had to be the best at everything you did. And as I speak, Tiamat is preparing to prove its top slot on the food chain by delivering a strike upon you.”
“We’ll just see about that.” Michael raised his sword high, ready to combat the impact of the titan.
“While vultures usually only attack the dead, it can make an exception for a dead man walking.”
“How very charming. And you wonder why I wanted to break Ursula away from you.” Michael sneered.
“Revel in that petty victory.” Alexa looked up at her titan with a smile. “You’re the one who’s on the chopping block. And by the looks of it, Tiamat’s about to feed!”
The vulture soared high into the air. Everyone’s hearts trembled in fear as they watched the beast look directly down at Michael with hollow black eyes, like the night, before flying down at a speed beyond sound.
“Oh, no!” he said, in disbelief of its pace and ferocity.
“Oh, yes! Now go, my servant. Feed on this weak excuse for an angel,” Alexa called.
Before the titan could strike, Michael stopped it in its tracks, forcing all the light energy that he could onto it from his sword by jabbing the blade between its teeth.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Alexa asked, flustered at the sight of her servant attempting to gnaw through the lightning coursing through Michael’s blade. Its teeth could not break through the blockade.
“Stopping your titan’s assault,” said Michael.
“You now dare to challenge the might of a dimension titan with that weak magic of yours?” Alexa responded.
“Say what you want about my magic, but so long as my friends stand by me, I’ll never give up. Not on me and not on them,” said Michael.
Julianna and Isabella cheered in support of his resistance. Ursula soon joined them before turning away at Alexa’s scornful glare.
“You cannot stop my dimension titan, Michael. Forfeit or I will use it to crush you!” Alexa shouted with as much vitriol as she could express.
“We’ll just see about that.” Michael ran his sword deep through the beast’s gullet. The lightning pulsating from the blade filled its m
outh.
Alexa watched with disbelief as the once-mighty titan faltered. Its movements slowed, and the lightning took hold.
My servant, too? Her eyes widened. She remembered many tireless nights reading all the spell books she could get a hold of, each regarding the history of the archangel. Everything I’ve ever come to know about him is false. His power is just as it was all those years ago. He’s a monster.
“You can do it, Michael!” Julianna shouted.
“Send that giant vulture back to the first dimension where it came from,” Isabella exclaimed.
Michael smiled, feeling the last of the bird’s fight give in to the ruthless of lightning in his sword.
“Gladly.”
With a tightening and one swing, he knocked the titan high into the sky. His friends watched as it slowly fell in a fit of electrocution before he cast it into the ground. Alexa’s eyes widened from shock as a gaping crater formed with its defeat.
“Get up, you worthless titan. We still have work to do!” The titan roared in pain as it slowly got up in a limp state.
“You don’t respect anyone or anything, do you?” said Michael.
“Stop pretending you fucking know me. Nobody asked for more of your preachy bullshit,” said Alexa.
“Tell me, Alexa. How did you come across Ursula?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Alexa asked in annoyance.
“You two come from very different dimensions, right? I don’t fully understand how dimensions work yet, but that seems like some distance to go for someone you don’t respect. Just how did you two come together?”
“You don’t know when to shut that mouth of yours, do you?” Alexa gritted her teeth. “You really want to know? Fine.”
She remembered the experience in her home dimension as if it occurred moments ago.
“I was driving to work in my steam craft”—
“Your what?” Michael interrupted.
“The ship we landed here in. I didn’t expect your primitive brain to comprehend it,” she said with a groan. “Anyway, I was running late for an important meeting, so I took a backroad. That’s when our paths crossed.”
Alexa looked over at Ursula’s trembling face. She remembered the day just as well, nodding along as she spoke.