(General P.O.V)
"INSOLENT BRATS. YOUR MOTHER EXISTS AS AN EXTENSION OF MYSELF. WOULD YOU THINK OF ME AS WEAK?!"
The Great Darkness roared.
Towers of darkness rose up from all around them, creating a sort of cage that collapsed upon the Endless.
Looking at the falling walls of darkness, Desire laughed.
The laughter sounded like dozens of angelic instruments being played in a melody befitting the ears of a god. To a mortal, the sound would be inaudible.
Her/his laugh rushed out in a wave of sonic force, slamming onto the bars of the darkness and expelling it away.
The darkness fizzled out and regrouped, forming a pitch black right hand with even darker nails that swallowed light into their obsidian depths.
"No one would ever consider you weak, Antigod."
Destruction said, stepping forward and then swinging his axe at the hand.
The axe cleaved apart space, it's bladed edge parting the flesh of the arm at the middle, separating the pinky and ring finger from the rest.
There was a hiss as dark blood flooded out of the arm, falling in one cascading wave towards the Endless.
The blood seemed sentient, swimming through the air while frothing.
"Yuck..."
Desire sneered, looking at the river of blood about to fall on them.
Despair glowered. No one. No one got to ruin Desire's perfect beauty.
She ran forward, her ugly flabby body trembling and shaking with every step.
Then her mouth widened, the orifice stretching out for millions of miles and swallowed the waterfall of black blood.
Seeing this desire smiled.
"How disgustingly fortunate that you were here my twin. I shall braid your hair the prettiest it has ever been."
Despair's belly bulged out as she licked her lips, having not only drank the blood down but also taken a chomp at the hand.
She rubbed her belly before belching.
A black shade escaped her mouth, hands desperately clawing at the air, reaching out towards the Great Darkness in despair.
"My Dark Master! Save me!!"
Empty Hand bellowed in panic.
Despair's mouth widened once more, clamping down on the shade before it could fly away.
"Tasty."
She commented in a scratchy voice.
"I wouldn't mind more."
The darkness laughed in amusement.
"DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND, LITTLE ONES. I AM LIMITLESS. I CAN CREATE ENOUGH DARK SERVANTS TO BLOCK OUT THE SUN."
As a testament to his power, more creatures sprouted from the dark clouds.
"JUST AS YOU EXIST IN THEIR HEARTS SO DO I."
Multitudes of beings from the universe's already devoured were revived in darkly forms.
"I AM THE DARKNESS THEY TRY TO HIDE FROM THEMSELVES. FROM THE PUREST OF GOOD SOULS..."
Numerous iterations of the Justice League, independent heroes and The Legion Of Superheroes emerged, each twisted, body's hi-jacked and corrupted.
"TO THE MOST DEPRAVED..."
Multiple villains appeared, their forms warped. From the Legion of Doom, to The Light, to the Crime Syndicate to Galactic Warlords. There was no end to his creations.
"TO THE MOST POWERFUL OF ENTITIES."
New Gods, Old Gods, Cosmic Entities, Otherworld creatures, Beasts of End, Beings from the dark multiverse and nightmarish creatures that warped reality merely by existing, sprouted of his will.
Some just as powerful as the Endless.
All created from within the darkness itself.
******
In every higher plane, Higher conceptual beings looked on at the altercation about to unfold.
On one side, was the darkness at the end of all, the opposite of the Presence, the true Apex existence.
Then on the opposite side lay the children of Mother Night and Father Time.
The culmination of existence and meaning as a whole.
The spark of light and the void of dark combined in perfect harmony. An amalgam of ingenuity, constructs of potential given form. Each facet of life given light.
The Children of Creation.
The Endless.
Mother Night simply watched, her hands poised in preparation to grab her favorite.
Dream could not be allowed to die. Of her children, he was the one that mattered. As long as he was, then creativity would thrive.
The others, they saw her cruelty to her other children and did not understand. Their aloof father would not get it either.
Only she saw this for what it was, you could not stop the destruction coming. Everything was at an end but if Dream survived then he could bring it all back.
Every piece of fact, fiction and whim would be restored unto the next existence.
If Dream were to live none of this would matter.
******
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Throughout even more spheres of influence, beyond the Source and the Overvoid, a man looked up from his spot on top of a mountain.
He had long black hair, brown skin and was dressed in Wakandan Vibranium weaved robes.
"What, already getting homesick?"
Directly opposite him, seated on the other side of a Pai sho table was an almost perfect replica of the first man.
Only this one was dressed in black silk robes and had even longer hair.
At the middle of his forehead was the mark of the Avatar. A symbol drawn with cursive lines and inscriptions.
The question had come from the second man.
Aden sighed.
"Don't be stupid, Chaos. I am not stepping a foot in that place until this issue with Order has been resolved."
Chaos rolled his eyes at the mention of the third aspect of the Avatar.
"Besides." Aden looked up, his gaze zoning out a little.
"I believe they have it handled."
"The Presence? Are you sure he would step in to fight that...thing when he didn't intervene last time."
Chaos asked, moving a piece of Pai Sho through the board.
"No, not him."
Aden shook his head, eyes glowing as he gave Chaos access to his own senses.
"Can you feel them?"
The Lord of Balance asked of his Chaos Aspect.
Chaos' finger stalled as his eyes widened.
"Yeah...the Endless. Boss...who are they protecting?"
Chaos asked, a curious expression on his face.
Aden on the other side of the table, smiled. Battle lust on his face. Equity pulsed from his side. It wanted to fight him.
"So you can feel him too huh?"
Aden asked.
Chaos blinked, his gaze turning to numbly stare at the sky.
"That is the strongest Spirit I have ever sensed."
"Yeah. He's... powerful. Or will be given time anyway."
Aden shrugged.
"Whether he survives this or not is up to him."
******
"MY CREATIONS!! TEAR THE GODLINGS APART!!"
The Great Darkness ordered.
Hundreds of thousands of corrupted Heroes and villains, gods and devils, men and beast flew forth, their forms and sizes warped.
Dream raised his hand, a chain with a red locket wrapped around his palm and fingers.
His lips moved in a low chant. As Lord of Dreams, he had access to the great spells contained in the dreams of powerful Magicians and Sorcerers.
The low chant that escaped his lips was one such spell. A spell that even it's creator could never cast due to its effect.
It made space your bitch.
The distance between the Endless and the armies of the Great Darkness stretched out infinitely.
Dream turned to the others.
"That won't last long."
He said, staring at Death.
"I'm bored. Can we do something else other than trying to save the soul of one mortal? No matter how interesting they are."
Desire commented staring at her/his nails.
Her words were not surprising to the rest. Desire was a creature of the moment.
She/he was out of the red dress, now in a black body suit with a fuzzy collar. A long black tail swished behind them.
Death turned towards Destiny.
"How do you see this turning out?"
She asked, already knowing he wouldn't answer.
"Whatever needs to happen will happen. No need to get it tangled up sweet sis."
Unexpectedly, Delirium was the one who spoke up, cartwheeling next to dream.
The curved space around them begun to stretch back to it's original state.
"They're here..."
Dream informed the rest, just as the Great Darkness Armies appeared.
"Death?"
Destruction called out, hoisting his axe.
"We promised to assist you. Take the boy and retreat."
Death gazed at the inert wave of death behind them. Time seemed to have stopped for Davian who was inside the coccoon of death.
"Out of the question."
Death immediately refused.
"No one is getting left behind."
"So we fight then?"
Destruction said.
Portals opened around them and into the dreaming. The Great Darkness had his army. So Dream decided,
"He's not the only one who can call upon soldiers and warriors to fight."
Saying that, multiple beings and heroes whose imprint had been left in the dreaming poured forth.
There were characters from fables and legends.
The faerie court which was led by Ueberon the Fairy king.
Hundreds of fantasy beasts, like giants and dragons similarly flew forth to join in the battle.
There were also dozens of heroes from all over different time periods. Dream held no limitation to what he could do with his realm.
The white Raven behind them screeched, soaring to the sky and flying in a circle around them.
It hovered in mid air, flapping it's wings, before producing a wave of white light that rippled out into the surroundings, illuminating everything.
For a split second the armies of Darkness faltered.
"Interesting."
Desire commented, staring at the Raven.
"Form up."
Dream's voice cut through the void.
The beings he had called forth stood behind the Endless.
"Friends, enemies, acquittances, the final battle is upon us. To safeguard the next cycle, we must rally...and fight. Fight for the right to live."
His words were simple but filled with a lot of conviction.
Merlin, not the real deal but one from the countless book iterations that lived in the Library flew upwards, body wreathed in flames.
"rewohs roeteM!" (Meteor shower!)
Large balls of flaming rocks and boulders cut through the sky above them, having seemingly appeared from nowhere.
The meteors flew towards the dark armies, poised to land and initiate the first attack.
"ENOUGH!"
A majestic voice declared and time seemed to freeze around everything.
The advance of both armies stopped.
A walking paradox floated calmly between the Endless and the Great Darkness.
The paradox was a figure that kept on alternating from an old man, to a young boy to a middle aged man. The figure had long red hair and resembled Destruction a lot.
"Father?"
Destiny inclined his head in greetings.
Time seemed to have even frozen the other Endless. Only Destiny was be able to move freely.
"Destiny. What have you lot got yourselves into this time??"
Father Time questioned.
To him, his children were a nuisance, constantly asking for his intervention in matters they couldn't solve.
The only reason he had decided to make a move was because of Destiny.
In a request that was unlike him, Destiny had asked for a favor. Father Time could not deny his eldest.
Before Destiny could answer, Father Time raised a hand, turning towards the front.
"Before you answer, let us take care of this. The Great End cannot be contained or stopped, merely subverted."
Time started reversing across the whole multiverse.
Great was the concept of time and existence that he could forcefully drag back the whole temporal clock on reality as a whole.
The portals Dream had opened up begun closing with the beings called upon, withdrawing back.
he Great Darkness' Armies reverted to mere smoke that joined up with it's billowy forms.
The coccoon of death energy that was Davian begun to collapse on itself back into the Crystal Formation.
Infinity Island was restored for the second time.
The White Raven seemed to fold back into energy that rejoined with Death, Desire's clothes changed from the black body suit to the red dress from earlier.
With one last flex of his will, the Endless, Father Time and Infinity Island disappeared from the timeline.
******
Death blinked her eyes open and found herself inside a very familiar room.
It was a simple office/library. Shelves of ancient and recent books adorned the walls of the room.
Pictures taken of Time and his wife, Night were placed on a stand along with a large hourglass standing at the middle of the room.
Their Father's Palace.
"Oh we're alive? Good to know."
Desire stated, gracefully draping her/his body over the only couch in the room, her/his mere movements seductive.
"Out with it then."
Father Time addressed Death.
"Why would you fight against the Antigod? Don't you understand the concept of the Ancient Laws?"
"Do they even matter now, Father?"
Dream enquired.
"Of course they do, boy. They're in place to stop creation from coming down on all of us."
Father Time shook his head.
"You're not children anymore...you have more power than you know what to do with."
He lamented.
"I understand you, dear father. Death did all this to save one mortal soul."
Desire spoke up.
"Oooh so the drama intensifies..."
Delirium observed, her hands inside a bowl of popcorn that hadn't been there before.
"Mortal soul? What is so important about a mortal soul?"
Father Time asked.
Death and Destiny shared a look.
"He's your grandson. A child of me. A child of Death."
Death answered.
(Earth- 2010)
What... happened?
Davian opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed while staring at a generic ceiling.
"Oh, so you're awake."
A voice said from beside it.
Davian turned his head to stare at the pale and most beautiful woman he had ever seen, looking at him with a small smile.
The smile widened.
"Most beautiful huh? How sweet."
Davian scoffed, trying to get up.
"It's rude to read someone's mind without consent."
The rough sheet over him, fell away to reveal his muscular chest and the necklace with a green gem hanging off his neck.
His body felt sluggish and weak. His Reikaku's range was also smaller.
What had happened?
He reached for his hips and breathed out a sigh of relief. His Zanpakuto was where it was supposed to be.
"Good."
The woman clapped her hands, getting up.
"You're healed enough to move without your soul energy instantly crushing your body. Keep that necklace on if you want to maintain that balance. Good luck on your training."
Then she disappeared, just like that. One minute she was standing above him, then the next, she was gone.
Davian was left confused.
"Who?..."
He wondered to himself.