“Do you remember Cebrea?”

“...Yes.”

“Let’s do it.”

As she had moments ago, Sweet grabbed Boom by the leg. This time, though, she took the time to aim her shot.

“If anything, aim high. I don’t want to land low.” Boom cautioned, upside down. If he was uncomfortable from having his head dragged around the rough dirt, he didn’t show it.

Sweet lowered her gaze, then quickly shifted her eyes back up. “Yeah, I got it.”

Tori landed next to them, a body in his arms. “What are you doing?”

With his head still dragging against the ground, Boom responded. “What does it look like? I’m gonna land on his head and give him all the explosions I got.”

“No matter how powerful your explosions, mortal, you will only be able to injure our corrupt father, not kill him.”

“I know.” Boom nodded. His gaze drifted towards the one in Tori’s arms. “Who’s that?”

“Furamingo.”

“...Shit.”

Furamingo, while not the strongest of the gods, had been chosen as the leader of this all-important battle. To lose such a figure…

They looked at the carnage in the background. Countless monsters were pushing the angels and humans back, and the titan’s erratic movements were inflicting massive casualties on both sides. Sweet and Boom looked back at each other.

“Are you sure of this, mortals?”

Boom responded from his compromising position. “No, but what else can we do?”

Tori nodded as he lowered Furamingo’s corpse to the ground. “I wish you luck. I must help my brethren.”

“Hey, Tori. See if you can get him to face this way.”

“I shall.” With that, Tori ascended into the sky and flew towards the front lines.

Sweet and Boom watched Tori’s retreating form. As they waited, though, monsters began to head in their direction. Sweet unceremoniously dropped Boom to the ground, then raised her fist. After setting her stance, she punched the ground. The resulting shockwave knocked over the approaching monsters, giving just enough time for Sweet to look into the distance and see the Titan, far in the distance, snarling and biting at Tori.

It was time.

She grabbed Boom by the leg one last time, and in one motion, spun in a circle and launched him across the battlefield, right into the titan’s gaping maw. The big old thing didn’t even notice that its body had a new inhabitant.

Then, she turned and stared down the closest horror. “Let’s fight, bitches.”

Boom winced as he crashed against the titan’s inner walls. He felt himself fall an incredible distance, but at some point he came to a rest on…nothing?

Boom slowly stood up. There wasn’t dirt or anything beneath his feet, but yet, he was standing. He marveled as he looked around the titan’s insides. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected from the insides of the origin of all things, but… he’d definitely expected more. Maybe more flesh? Just more.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

All that was inside the titan was empty space. Darkness. And just a few steps away, a single, dark purple orb. The orb was barely bigger than Boom’s own head, absolutely tiny in comparison to the space surrounding them.

Boom tried to approach the orb, but for each step he took, the orb seemed to retreat so that it was just as far from him. That’s when it occurred to him. In all this vast space, stretching into the dark infinity, why was the only thing in it so close to him?

Either way, he knew what had to be done. He grabbed his two pouches and emptied them out, then puffed his cigar. As lights began to form in piles beneath him, he braced himself.

He was mostly impervious to explosions, but…this was going to hurt.

Outside in the battlefield, Sweet had joined up with what remained of her troops and the fast-dwindling army of angels.

“Just a little longer! The First Legend will prevail!”

“This is Heaven’s Final Hour! Hold them back!”

Only a few dozen gods remained, along with barely a hundred angels. As for Boom and Sweet’s soldiers, they’d long sacrificed themselves for the cause.

Surrounded on all sides, those remaining did their best to remain out of the grasp of the horrors surrounding them. None even tried to fight the titan that had stopped in its tracks, watching in glee as its children were torn apart and devoured by its wicked creations.

That was, until two things happened, one right after the other.

First, the horrors attacking the gods and angels disappeared, blipped out of existence, as if they’d never been there.

Second, cracks began forming on the titan’s skin. Bright white light shined through, followed by rolling explosions that started from its midsection, upwards.

A round of cheers sounded from the survivors, but Sweet’s expression was one of horror and desperation. “No! Where’s Boom? He’s not out!”

Tori looked at his father’s dying form with sadness in his eyes. “It seems that my father, in all his wickedness, refused to pass on without taking one last—”

“Shut up!” Sweet shouted. “Boom’s not one to just die from just a few explosions. He’s far sturdier than the likes of you.”

Several angels snarled, but Tori held them back with a quick wave of his hand and shake of his head. “I hope you are correct. I have grown fond of his antics, and we have already lost too many.”

The rolling explosions finally reached the titan’s mouth. As they did, its mouth opened, and out popped Boom, buffeted and propelled forward by the explosions behind him.

He—and an inconspicuous gray orb—landed a few hundred yards away from the survivors. Sweet was there by his side mere moments after. “Boom! No! You can’t die like this!”

She shook his unconscious body several times, on the verge of crying. Thankfully, her efforts proved useful.

Boom coughed and opened his eyes. “Wha…Where’s my cigar?”

He looked to the side and saw just how close Sweet was. “Woah, you weren’t trying to kiss me in my sleep, were you? You know, you can just do it when I’m awake, I don’t really like being taken advantage of when I’m—”

Sweet’s expression turned sour and she lifted her gauntleted fist. With enough force for even the most stoic of the gods behind her to wince, she smashed her fist into Boom’s face and forced it a foot deep into the ground.

With a final harrumph, she stood up and pulled a cold one from the depths of her armor and took a swig. After another swig, she finally turned and addressed the shocked angels and gods.

“It’s time for you to give us what was promised.”

“...Aye.”

***

Beneath the shadow of a mountain, two people stood in front of a forest clearing, holding hands.

“They really held up their end of the bargain.” Boom whistled in appreciation of the view before him.

Sweet’s hand tensed in Boom’s. “It took a bit of convincing to get a spot this good. And some magical help.”

“What do you mean?”

Sweet withdrew her hand from Boom’s and rummaged through her pack until she brought out a familiar gray orb.

“We can use its power to separate a region from the rest of the world. Keep us in our own little space. We won’t be able to leave and affect the rest of the world, which was something the gods were worried about. And the rest of the world won’t be able to find us. As long as we keep this charged, we’ll exist in a completely separate space. Parallel to this world, alongside it. But not with it.”

“Sounds…peaceful.” Boom grinned.

“Well, that was the plan. What should we call it?”

“How about… Boomtown?”

“...You’re an idiot.”