A tree made of shadows loomed in the center of the west shopping district of Uraeus. It held in its branches three angels it drained the life force out of. Impetigo stood atop a nearby building drinking in the energy his tree provided. A soldier angel rushed him from behind brandishing a sword. Impetigo avoided the strike and grabbed the arm of the soldier, his seemingly human mouth morphed into a grotesque maw with jagged razor edged teeth. He opened wide and bit into the soldier's neck and shoulder, then ripped the spirit from his body, swallowing it. "Disgusting. Your gluttony knows no limit." A pale man dressed in long flowing red robes with his black hair tied in a top knot floated down from nowhere and hovered over the roof Impetigo was on. Impetigo's mouth morphed back to resembling a human's. "There is no limit." He replied, dabbing the blood from around his lips with his pocket handkerchief. The pale man couldn't hide his disgust. "You make me sick." Impetigo tipped his top hat to the man and the branches of the shadow tree reached out to grab him. The pale man revealed a whip from under his robes and lashed the branches of the tree away. He cracked the whip in the air and suddenly Impetigo was in a small quiet room with no windows or doors.

Gunshots rang out through the city as Cassius shot down angel after angel. "Their numbers have grown but their capabilities dropped in tandem." He said to Bonrue who was diligently plugging away on his holo pad. "Desperation." Is all he said in reply. Cassius reloaded and took the moment of reprieve to check his near futures. "That's weird." "What's weird?" Bonrue asked. "I can't see..." The sound of a whip crack interrupted Cassius and he found himself alone in a room. Identical to the one Impetigo was in. Bonrue looked up from his pad to see the pale man floating where Cassius had just been. Bonrue put his holo pad away. "Tawasi." He greeted. "The nerve you posses, addressing me with such informality." The third Deception descended to the ground. Bonrue smirked. If you want to chat I'd prefer to do it face to face. These copies aren't worth my time. It's the real Lord Tawasi I want to meet." Bonrue could tell that his mocking was getting the best of Tawasi. "If you think...." The clones' words were cut short as a torrent of scarlet flames bathed the entire block in heat while Xtabay slithered through the sky overhead. Bonrue tapped a button on his watch and a secret compartment rose out of the sidewalk and he slipped into it, escaping the flames. When the flames finally receded all that was left was a red peacock feather where the clone was standing. "Careful Tabs, you almost hit that Bonrue guy." Mul said, riding atop her head. Xtabay moved closer to a building allowing Mul to jump off before shifting to her human form. "He'll be okay." She finally replied, landing next to him on the roof of the building. Mul walked to the edge of the roof and looked over. "Hope so." He turned back to Xtabay who was staring up at something. Another Tawasi looked down upon them from the air with a platoon of seven angels at his back. "Rid me of their presence." He ordered the angels. Xtabay shifted just her wings and charged at the platoon before they attacked. Mul watched in appalling amazement while Xtabay figuratively and literally tore the platoon apart. Suddenly he felt a faint vibration all around his body. He looked down and noticed golden grains of sand popping into existence around his feet. The sound of a whip cracking drew his attention back to Xtabay but she was gone, only the Tawasi copy remained. "It seems your unworthy wretch of a companion abandoned you." The copy taunted. Before Mul could retort, an explosion of light eviscerated the false Archon. Mul stared up at the glowing visage of his daughter floating where her mother was seconds before. "Nanette?" He asked. "Hey dad." She greeted floating down to him. "We found Master Sahn. And I believe this is rightfully yours." She said, pulling the halo from her wrist and holding it out for him to take. "What is this?" He asked, taking it from her. The moment he touched it a blinding gold light covered the area.

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In a park in the northern part of Uraeus, Thuren Bahn stood surrounded by angels. All of a sudden eight pillars of golden sand erupted from the ground, engulfing the angels and then pulling them into the ground. A ninth pillar appeared next to Thuren and from it emerged Lukohé followed by Sahn. "You look old." Thuren remarked jokingly to Sahn. Sahn smiled big. "I am." He laughed in return. "Where is everyone?" Lukohé asked. "Thought there'd be more going on." "We scattered, I don't know where the others ended up." Thuren replied. A shrill grinding rang through the air as Bonrue pulled up on a magnetic cycle. "They're gone." He told them while getting off the cycle. "What do you mean?" Lukohé asked. Bonrue joined the group and pulled up his hollow pad. "I'm not sure I'm still working on it." They all simultaneously felt a presence appear where at the same moment the sound of a whip cracking and Thuren was gone. Sahn, Lukohé and Bonrue all looked up to see the real Tawasi standing in mid air. "This foolishness has gone on long enough. Now, bow to me and I will lessen the suffering planned for you. But make no mistake, you all will still suffer." Tawasi said as he descended to the ground to stand in front of them. "Aye Dick head, why you cap dawg? You drawing!" A voice called out from down the block. Tawasi's face contorted in disgust in recognition of whose voice it was. The others turned to see a young muscular man in a sleeveless black hoodie and black baggy pants walking towards them. Long locks fell from under the hood and covered most of his face. "Who's this now?" Lukohé asked. The young man walked by them and pointed at Tawasi. "You said you'd let 'em dip if I chilled. Come on gang, yet here you are doing the same shit. This time I'll finish. it for real." "Aeolus." Tawasi growled. "Wait, what?" Lukohé exclaimed. "Interesting turn of events." Said Bonrue. Aeolus turned back to them, "Go find ya mans and them, I got brodie." Aeolus turned back to Tawasi and his aura flared.