Distant Cathartic

Distant Cathartic III (Soul 4)

The Elysian warriors remained calm. All six extended their arms, shooting streaks of blue energy towards the fast approaching ground. A round portal formed in the golden street beneath the tower.

Athlon could hear Lucifer screaming from behind, and he knew he could feel the Dark Lord gaining on them. A long, black tendril wrapped around Athlon's leg, and Lucifer's black voice echoed across the surface of Heaven.

"HE IS MINE!"

One of the Elysian warriors let go of Athlon, and spun in mid-air, drawing his sword and severing the tendril. The other five gained speed, and just as Athlon opened his eyes, they flew into the blue portal.

At first, Athlon was completely disoriented. The time jump jumbled his thoughts, and it took several seconds for his powerful processors to recalibrate. Athlon looked around, seeing that they were exactly where they had been, now flying upwards towards the balcony which had regained its pristine shine. The rest of Heaven looked fresh as well; no pitted buildings or tarnished gold.

The five remaining Elysians set Athlon down on the balcony. Two of them roused the second, sleeping Athlon, who awoke with a start. His eyes moved with precision, scanning each Elysian, before landing on the older Athlon.

They stared at each other. Both of them sped through identical protocols, reading every inch of the other and confirming that they shared the same data signature. A moment of silence passed, and then the young Athlon took a step forward. He examined the dent on his doppelgänger's face, and then leaned in very close to look at the perfect 399 above his left eye.

The older Athlon grinned back at himself, and was trying to decide what words were appropriate for such a meeting when the crackling sound of electricity rose from below. The warriors were all looking over the balcony, and the two Athlons joined them in time to see the sixth Elysian rocket out of the portal. He landed on the balcony, and looked at his brothers with fear in his eyes. All six turned, grabbing the Athlons roughly. The younger Android resisted at first, but he sensed the trust felt by his older self, and allowed the Elysians to encircle them. Wasting no time, the warriors held hands, and a painfully bright light grew from their eyes. The light wrapped itself around both Athlons before forming a column of pure light. The warriors released their grip and dove back off of the balcony. Inside the column of light, molecules began to merge. Athlon could no longer tell if he was the older or younger version. He felt the years of trauma melt from his mind, and the dent on his face glowed white and hot, and then disappeared. The energy column surged, and a shockwave blasted outward.

The gold of the tower began to melt under the heat, and the shockwave severed the tower neatly in half. Chunks of the massive building were thrown with immense force in every direction. Athlon tumbled across the balcony, feeling it pulverizing beneath him. He tried to get his bearings, but he was blind from the light, and could do little more than bounce off of the tower and fall towards the ground. He landed hard, knowing a simple fall wouldn't even scratch him. He blinked a few times, and looked up at the tower, which was crumbling under its own weight. A cloud of dust welled up from its base, throwing bits of molten gold like shrapnel through the air. Athlon put up his arms, and sped into the sky out of harms way.

He understood what had happened. His two timelines had been joined, erasing the age from his body, but not the memories from his mind. The terror that had plagued him in the future was gone, and in its place was a bit of resentment. Athlon could remember what had happened to him, but he was disgusted at how weak it had made him. Lucifer had very nearly beaten him, not with raw force, but with mental anguish.

Shaking the feeling off, Athlon decided to just be glad to have the sharpness of his mind returned. He hovered for a moment, scanning through the settling dust for the Elysians. He found them standing around the portal, hands extended, trying to close it. He called to them, and heard their response in his mind.

<Lucifer is still chasing us. On the other side of the portal, only a few seconds have passed. If we fail to close the portal on this side, Lucifer will come through it after us. Athlon, you cannot help here. We are 4000 years in the past, and the Lucifer of this time is about to arrive to find you.>

Athlon turned and flew upwards, remembering where he had seen the storm form above his sleeping self. He felt strong, and his fear of Lucifer had been replaced by an anger that fueled his ascent.

The storm appeared, just as before, and Athlon increased his speed. After a few moments, Lucifer arrived, the clouds forming his black body. Athlon hit him with everything he had, separating his head from his shoulders completely. It fell apart, and quickly rejoined his body, forming again in a few seconds. Athlon continued upward, hungry to demolish the Dark Lord. He peaked a few thousand feet above Lucifer, before turning and engaging his boosters for a descent followed by a sonic boom.

From so high above Heaven, Athlon could see the entire battlefield. The tower had come to rest in a pile of rubble, and the melted gold had cooled into round drops covering everything for a half-mile from the site of Athlon's reconstitution. The Elysians remained around the portal, pouring everything they had left into closing it. It was still bright blue.

Lucifer was fully formed, and turned upwards just in time to be hit by the speeding Athlon. Athlon wrapped his arms around Lucifer, driving him towards the planet's surface. Lucifer struggled, but Athlon kept his grip tight, giving no quarter. Together they fell towards Heaven, slamming fists into one another in an epic conflict.

They hit the ground like a missile, shaking it for miles. Athlon's speed had driven Lucifer several meters below the ground, and they were both stunned by the impact. Shaking it off, Athlon flew back out of the crater, and pushed a large piece of the former balcony in on top of Lucifer. Focusing, Athlon gave himself a surge of power, internally heating his own body to an incredible temperature. He laid his hands on the balcony, slowly melting it. Rage had seized Athlon; he didn't just want to be victorious. He wanted to bury Lucifer forever.

The gold liquified, rushing into every crevice of Lucifer's makeshift grave. Athlon sped back into the sky, cooling himself in the rushing air. Turning back, he worked to calm himself, knowing there was more to be concerned with than just the evil god screaming from beneath the ground.

Athlon located the Elysian warriors exhausting themselves with the effort of closing the portal. This was taking too long. Something wasn't right. Athlon took off towards them, not sure of what to expect.

The force of Lucifer coming through the portal sent the six Elysian warriors flying. For just a moment, old fear gripped Athlon. He remembered his anger, and drowned the fear with shear will. He increased his speed, ready to tackle the Dark Lord away from the Elysians, hoping to give them a chance to recover. A split second before Athlon reached his target, Lucifer turned and swung at the Android, connecting with a perfectly timed punch. Athlon spun out of control, crashing through the wall of a nearby building.

Athlon picked himself up and flew back out of the creaking structure. Lucifer had already moved to the filled crater, feeling his own presence from the past beneath the cooling gold. With amazing speed, he flattened part of his body, letting it slip into micro-fractures in the tomb. He hefted the entire boulder of gold, and flung it towards Athlon, sending the Android right back into the hole his crash had left in the building. The boulder knocked out the opposite wall, and the whole building came down with Athlon inside it, burying him in rubble.

The Elysians had regrouped, and came speeding in formation to the collapsed building, digging Athlon out with impressive strength. Together, the seven warriors rose from the wreckage, looking for either of the Lucifers. They were together by the crater, one shaking chunks of gold from his body, the other keeping watch. Spotting the group, he flashed his evil grin, and grabbed his twin. Their bodies loosened, thick ropes of black fluid weaving together. One arm ripped the head of the weaker Lucifer from the mass, and tossed it away. The tangled mass of tendrils combined, and re-solidified, leaving one hulking Lucifer rising from the surface of Heaven.

Athlon and the Elysians sped for their foe, but Lucifer hunched his body, and then launched into the air with blurring speed. He shot back into the storm that remained stirring in the sky, and the clouds surrounded him. In a flash, he was gone.