Chapter 5

There are few things that make a man feel more like a man than a hot shower and a shave. I entertain myself by drawing pictographs in the condensation on the shower door. I depict my own ascension in classic form. I like the sound of my finger squeaking on the glass. It sounds like Ciela will when she screams for me. I run my hand through the brush on my head. They shaved it to humiliate me, but I rather like it.

It only took one walk-through of the house for me to find her room. Still damp from my shower I drop my towel on her bed and begin searching. The straight razor that I shaved myself with was an unexpected luxury. I put it to good use during my search, as I root through her closet and drawers. Her tastes have improved. Silks and satins drip through my fingers, her scent permeates those she has worn. My growing frustration helps me sort them.

Ciela, you have become a clever little rabbit with your treasures. It is not here. The helmet and battery should be here. You don't have the control to manipulate their shape, Ciela.

Bitch.

I leave my towel on her bed and clothe myself in shadow. I will feed my stomach first. My anger will feed later.

Whoever stocks the larder here has excellent taste. I haven't eaten so well since I was with Cortez in New Metropolis. I rinse my dishes and stack them in the sink, then it's time to check on my 'guests'.

Rydgen the 'unstoppable' is where I left him bound to the glass coffee table. His torn T-shirt and flannel are crusted with dried blood. He turns toward me and the sound of his heart drowns out his words. I unfold the straight razor and open his chest. I set the razor down on his stomach and force my hands into his rib cage, pulling it open. The wet cracking sounds drowning out his screams. I marvel at the wonder of nature that is the human heart. I brush its convulsing surface with my fingertips. I'm dimly aware of his howling, but I can't hear him over the intoxicating beating of his heart. I cradle it in the palm of my hand and begin to chant, invoking Tezcatlipoca. There are no words to describe the rush I feel.

Do you remember your first conquest...

The first time you took someone just because you could...

That heady rush when they surrendered to your will?

That is as close as I can get to describing what this feels like.

My body resonates with my chant as I take up the razor again and cut his heart free. His body convulses and my chant ends as his heart stops beating. I consecrate the sacrifice and leave him to heal. I knew he would have his uses. Rydgen, the gift that keeps on giving.

Adrenaline courses through my body. I bring my breathing under control and I reach out to the shade that walks here. Satisfied that he is still under my control, I check on my last captive.

She is most probably of the witches' race, those who call themselves Kin, perhaps. I walk to her, hanging from the oak closet door where I left her. Only one door here has kept its secrets from me. She will give them up, sooner or later, in life or in death. She will beg to tell me. Her constant badgering annoyed me, so I silenced her. The gag does not detract from her looks. Her body is not unpleasant. She closes her eyes and turns her head away from me as I rip her blouse open. Perhaps I will see if she has other talents, talents that would extend her life.

At least for a while... There will be time aplenty to build a harem, later.

I wander about the house and check the locked door again. What could be behind here? She was in there when I came into the house. In my mind's eye I see a basement. I have not found any steps down and a building of this size should have one. I close my eyes and see a washer, a dryer, and a furnace. I duck under pipes I imagine. Just a basement nothing more.

I walk away from her and go into the parlor. I pour myself my first taste of alcohol in months and idly peruse the music collection. I'm surprised to see so much of it in vinyl. I find something by Franz Liszt, masterfully played by Horowitz. The background crackle of the album is welcome noise. CD's are too antiseptic. We need the ambient noise of vinyl to echo the noise in the mind.

The violent strains of the piano stokes me, and I can feel the shadows. The bonds on Rydgen's wrists are so clear to me that I can feel his pulse returning. The woman, Jayna, is far stronger than she appears. I should strip her and watch her muscles strain against my bonds. The thought of her rippling muscles under naked flesh arouses me and I smile. The other beast awakens from its slumber and demands its own sacrifice. I consider feeding the other hungry god when she comes through the doorway.

"Jayna, what are you listening to?" she says, then more softly, "Quetz!"

"Welcome to my parlor, Ciela." I motion to the chair across from me as the hunger retreats.

"Hello, Warren." The little rabbit looked calmly at the floor. I wait for her to bolt, tense ready to spring. "I like your hair cut." The rabbit stepped across the room and sat, placing her shopping bags on either side of the wingback chair.

"Thank you. It was all the fashion, in prison." The rabbit folded her hands in her lap. I am the fox. Predator and prey, staring warily at each other in a dance as old as time. "Give it to me, Ciela."

"Give you what?" She played dumb very well, if it was just an act. Before I can respond she begins chattering again. "There are so many things I would be happy to give you. A one-way ticket to hell comes to mind."

Was this Ciela? Had the little rabbit finally grown a spine? No. She is hiding behind that ridiculous make-up. It must make her feel more 'normal' to look like the untainted. I know of your stain Ciela, I wear it too. "The helmet and battery, I want them." I feel the anger building again it speaks to me of blood. Perhaps I serve too many gods.

"No." She sits there looking so indignant. How I want to slap that look off of her face. I fight to maintain control over the chorus of conflicting impulses in my head as my personal pantheon begins to make demands of me.

"Ciela, you are Quetz's champion. I am Tez's. I can't allow you to keep it any longer." I bring my hands together and lean forward for emphasis. "It's nothing personal. No, that's a lie. It is."

"Warren, I've beaten you before. I'll do it again." How can, how dare she say that with a straight face. This is why I hate Quetz and why I hate this little bitch. The shadows under the chair obey me and ensnare her. I rise, step forward, and slap her face.

Again...

Again...

Again...

"Give it to me! Where is it?" I spit at her. She looks up at me in silence, her face reddened by my assault.

"You're going to hell. You know that."

"Yes, I am and I'll have a very nice estate there, thank you." I take her by the wrist and pull her from the room. My shadows keep her from putting up too much of a fight. I drag her down the hall and throw her into her room, and then on to her bed. She squirms upright against the headboard. That is as far as I'll allow. Her fear is beginning to show. I pause to savor the moment.

"What now Warren?" She said, curling up, getting her feet under her. The rabbit tensed to run.

"WHERE IS IT?!!" I bellow at her. She glances to my right, trying to distract me, and looks back at me as though confused. I reach to my right and touch her dresser. "Here? Is it in here?" I pull her drawers out and throw them at her one after another. Ribbons of cloth dance in the air. "Here?! Here?!"

"BASTARD!" The rabbit stands on her bed her face contorted in an ugly mask. The rabbit has found her teeth, and her anger stains her make-up red.

At last. I brace myself for the featherblades, summoning shadow from under the bed. The shadows pool at my feet ready to become my shield. Wings of gossamer unfold from her back in an angry flex. Where are her golden wings? My wings? The wings she stole from me? These wings act like true feathers.

She is not a rabbit.

I tether her to the bed, feeling her pulse through my shadows as they hold her ankles. She flaps her wings and sends more ribbons to dance in the air for us. My tentacles reach up like a many-fingered hand. Her wrists, waist and wings become my prisoners. Her wings are cold and hard to hold, but hold them I must. I am the octopus. I reach to the depths for strength. Her bed shall be my altar, and she my greatest sacrifice.

Tez will be pleased.

She fights valiantly but my shadows are too much for her. After long minutes she is prone upon the altar. My pantheon chants to me, they chant of blood. I serve too many gods. I must focus.

Why was I here? I wanted her bloodied and beaten, but there was something more. Something golden. If my heart wasn't so loud. I touch my head and remember. Helmet, that was it. "Where is the helmet?" My voice is calm and soft. She is reddened and sweaty from the struggle, what manner of makeup changes color?

"QUETZ DAMN YOU!" Her muscles ripple under her skin, like serpents under a sheet, it repulses me. She is grotesque.

"Where is it?" I ask again grabbing a ribbon of denim, my rag was once a pair of jeans. "Tell me." I begin wiping her exposed thigh; I would see her blue skin. This makeup she wears to hide Tez's stain is stubborn, as stubborn as she is. Why won't it wipe off? I tighten the bonds. The room is darkening. I am filling it with shadow. What is this she has painted herself with? "Damn this paint!" I spit onto her cheek, and scrub vigorously. Her struggling increases, I tighten her bonds, those damned wings are cold.

The paint will not come off! I throw down the rag, my hand hurts from the scrubbing. "WHERE IT IS?!!"

"I will die before I tell you." Her words slap me. My face stings. I step away and take my lovely mask from the shadows. I place the mask over my wounded face. "Ciela. Since the helmet is not here. You must have it on you." I step forward and take out my only friend, the razor. "Do you know what a body cavity search is?"

It doesn't take long for her to scream for me. My tentacles probe and twist violently as I fight the bile rising in my throat. The altar is now an island in a sea of shadow. The hungry beast sleeps through her screams, curled against me as she writhes upon my altar. He is bored and wants to play elsewhere. I suppose this should be erotic, Ciela, you've become a vulgar writhing thing upon your bed with your clothes in ribbons, but I find it interesting in different ways.

I remember being brought before Cortez, I was eight maybe nine. I was trapping on the mountainside and one of the monks had caught me torturing a squirrel. Cortez asked what I was doing I said that it made interesting noises and that I was testing its vocal range. Cortez laughed at me, and we spent the day discussing life and its value.

Today Ciela, you are the squirrel. I am learning to play the instrument of your body. Your screams are music to me. I feel like Stradivarius testing the strings on his latest work. Or Mozart listening to the first performance of his opera. I conduct your arias, my squirrel. I will...

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Chapter 6

Rydgen regained consciousness to the sound of a human scream being cut off. The voice had been enraged, hoarse, and unidentifiable in it's anger. Bathed in a sea of pain, he struggled against the darkness holding him for a moment, almost relieved that the screaming being this time wasn't him. He couldn't have taken much more abuse, at least not until he got a chance to recharge...for a couple days. Or even weeks.

He tugged at the bonds holding him again, and they surprised him by dissolving as soon as he moved weakly against them. He rolled off the glass table onto his hands and knees, then to a sitting position. The pain was unbearable, his lungs hadn't healed completely yet, and he wasn't sure how much time he had before they would be. He knew if that had been Jayna screaming though, he was probably too late to help her. If he waited he knew for certain he'd be too late.

He looked down, inspecting the damage to his body. He was covered with sticky green blood and his shirt was in tatters over the barely-healed incision, but he had no choice, he had to at least try to help Jayna. Standing filled his body with needles of pain so sharp he nearly blacked out again. He struggled to stay conscious, and moved from the floor where he'd been bound out into the hallway, moving slowly towards the upstairs area. Then he saw her.

Jayna was hanging from an oak closet door, just past the main shop in one of the back rooms, her bonds still intact but weakening rapidly. She was almost free even as Ry moved towards her with a short sword he'd plucked from one of the display cases in the room he'd been in. She dropped to the floor, moving towards him quickly and quietly. "Ry, you're going to have to go for help, and you're not taking that, it's priceless." She whispered, taking the sword from him and guiding him towards the door. "Hurry. You're in no shape to stay here and things are out of control."

Ry's mind reeled. "I heard a scream...if it's not you..."

"It's Az. Go, just go. Try to get some sort of help, any kind of help. I'm going after him as soon as I grab something to use against him."

Rydgen staggered out the front door of the shop into the night, pulling away the remnants of his shredded shirt. He stumbled towards home, where he had left his JSS communicator.

*****

Jayna took the basement steps three at a time in her haste. Bastard...what the hell have I got that will hurt the bastard? She pulled open a drawer seemingly at random and took several silver glass spheres from the padded compartment. They worked last time. Water...the water worked last time as well, the only problem is I don't know how much of this power is his and how much is Tez's. She pulled open another drawer and took several vials filled with water that literally glistened with power.

She refastened her blouse, dropping the selected items into her pockets, and grabbed the cell phone she'd picked up on her way down. She dialed Aquarius again, this time getting his machine and leaving a message. She hoped he was just screening his calls, as he was sometimes wont to do, and that he would take her advice and be ready for trouble.
Surely he remembered Warren from their last encounter, and would take the proper precautions. Jayna looked down the rows at her collection. Her other business always had mages and sages hanging around studying, but now at the worst time the basement was empty.

She grabbed another huge blaster and moved back upstairs, fixing the locks again. She'd be dammed if Warren was going to get into her private collection, there were far too many items down there that held more power than he could ever hope to control. And he certainly seemed like the type who would try given the opportunity.

Hearing a small sound behind her she wheeled around, blaster ready. It was David, looking confused and somewhat back in control of himself. Apparently Warren's control over their resident corpse had waned at the same time both her and Rydgen's bonds had weakened. She didn't trust him in the least though, and she hit him with one of the silver spheres before he could react to her presence. As the dust settled he sputtered and shook his head. Silver powder rained down from his hair onto the floor.

"What the hell is this?"

"Don't worry about it and keep your voice down."

"What's happening? I answered the front door...and then I was in a closet? I open the door and ..."

"Shut up, David." Not something she'd ever expected to say to her usually silent guest. "All you need to know is that Az is in trouble and the guy who's causing the trouble can physically control you." She watched his reaction carefully, looking for any sign of deceit, any signs that Warren was still pulling his strings. He seemed to truly be in control of himself, albeit a bit more confused than usual. "Stay down here. I don't need to have to fight both of you by myself." She moved towards the stairs again, and tossed him the cell phone. "Every couple of minutes hit the redial, its Aqua. If you get his machine hang up, if you get him tell him what's going on and to come armed for bear."

*****

Rydgen stumbled blindly towards home. He was oblivious to his surroundings, oblivious to the loud honking and screeching that his trek was causing. Traffic swerved around him, drivers cursing and honking as he staggered down the center of J Street itself. He wasn't healed nearly as much as he'd originally thought he was, and his vision was clouded by the haze of pain that surrounded him. His sight cleared momentarily, long enough to see a truck barreling towards him at a speed that indicated it wasn't going to stop, swerve or even slow down before it smeared him across the pavement. Then he passed out.

*****

"Rydgen...wake up. Rydgen...I've done what I can, I need you to wake up now..."

Rydgen opened his eyes to what, at that moment, was the probably most beautiful thing he had ever seen. "Sil!" Ry sat up quickly, causing his head to spin and forcing the Oan to place a hand on him to steady him. He still wasn't completely healed, and his whole body still felt like it had been put through a cuisinart.

"Ry, take it easy. What's going on? Why are you..."

Sil was rendered mute by Ry's next words. "Warren's back...he's attacked Az...Jayna's new shop."

*****

Silver Lantern and Rydgen arrived at Jayna's a few moments later, after a quick run-down of events from Ry, who pointed the way while simultaneously holding onto Sil's board for dear life. Approaching from roof level, Sil was surprised to see someone on the back side of the house, standing next to a door at the top of some stairs. Apparently he had just arrived, and was digging in his pocket for a key. Sil looked to Rydgen, still clutching the board. "Aquarius?" Ry nodded.

"Hey, Ry...Sil...It's like old home week." He looked up, smiling key in hand, at the two former Sentinels.

Sil brought the cosmic board down to hover level next to the small landing, allowing Ry to disembark. Aquarius, getting a good look at Rydgen, frowned. "What happ..."

"Warren happened. He's probably still inside." Sil looked over to Aquarius. "He attacked Rydgen and then followed him here, and attacked both he and Jayna. I can't tell if he's still inside, my scans can't seem to penetrate the wards placed around the building."

"Crap." Aquarius opened the door cautiously, Sil following, the still weakened Rydgen bringing up the rear. "Where were they last, Ry?"

"Jayna was in the main shop, and I think Az and Warren were somewhere upstairs."

Sil turned towards the hallway leading from the kitchen they stood in. "They're down that way. A huge amount of shadow-stuff. The whole room is filled with it." A scream pierced the uncomfortable silence and set them to a run.

*****

Jayna began up the stairs to the living quarters slowly, doubt gnawing at her. Every scream she heard tightened the knot in her belly. She had been at Warren's mercy once. She reached the top of the stairs and reacted to the rushing figures coming toward her. She leveled the rifle. "Whoa! Jayna!" Aqua put his hands up to surrender and tried to stay upright as Ry slammed into him from behind. Silver Lantern ignored Jayna and the weapon, rushing past them and following the screams.

"Thank the gods." Jayna mumbled. Aqua reached out and put his hand on her arm. "Az." She said and they rushed to keep up with Sil. He was standing in the doorway to Ciela's room, looking in with him they saw shadow undulating through the room like waves on the ocean. In this midnight sea Warren stood like a conductor, his bulky muscles rippling under the black of his costume, a grayish skull mask hiding his face. They could hardly see Az writhing, her body was barely covered in the rags that were her clothes, and the tentacles of Warren's shadows. They stood in horror.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Chapter 7

They stood in the doorway. Inside Ciela's room, an angry sea of shadow raged. He stood like an ancient god conducting the turmoil within. Ciela, entwined with shadow tentacles, writhed and screamed.

Warren stopped his orchestrations and turned slowly to the intruders, struck numb with the horror before their eyes. Silver Lantern's words echoed in the silence.

"Well, look who's here. Do you mind? Ciela and I are trying to have a private moment."

"Sonofabitch!" Silver Lantern and Aquarius lashed out as one. A silver bolt of Oan force and a spout of 3000psi-water pressure sent Warren through the window he had obscured. The sea of shadow vanished with his exit, dropping Ciela on her bed in rags. Rydgen turned away, out of respect for his friend. Jayna pushed past the crush in the doorway, dropping her weapon and ripping down a curtain to wrap her friend with. Ciela, shaking like a junkie, curled into a fetal position. Sil calmly walked over to the hole in the wall and stepped onto his board that waited outside. He looked back at Az. There were no words. He set his jaw and braced himself for the battle ahead, a battle that would have no winners.

"Ry!" Jayna gathered Az up in her arms. "Grab that rifle and kill that bastard!" Ry's shaking hands obeyed the order with an almost military autonomic response. He ran from the room. Jayna tried to calm her friend and keep herself together.

Warren fell through the air with the realization that he was being resisted. The water droplets that fell with him coalesced into a large frozen mass above him. Warren realized that it would land on top of him, a fraction of a second too late to stop it.

Silver Lantern maintained his unflappable calm as the board swept around and watched the small glacier land on Warren, setting off car alarms two blocks away. The glacier stood and turned around, as Warren got up and brushed himself off. "What was that? Was that supposed to be," Warren searched for the word, "painful?" The glacier raised a massive foot as Silver Lantern knocked Warren off his feet with another blast. Aquarius followed through and stomped.

{Current assault strength should have been sufficient to overpower the previous Azangel. Warren's defenses do not match current data. Will scan and re-evaluate.} Silver Lantern's ring buzzed in his mind like an insect; he ignored it and the information it was conveying to him.

Warren lifted the ice giant's foot off of him and over-balanced Aquarius. A silver shield caught and righted him before he fell.

"Die, you bastard!" Ry shouted as the rifle braced on his hip belched forth destruction. Warren drew shadow from a nearby alley to shield himself from the rain of weapons fire.

{Current data shows the weapon may be effective, but non-lethal.}

Silver Lantern ramped up the power and fired again, trying to flank Warren. The shadowy construct held.

************

"Az, come on, talk to me...Ciela..."

"Just go away."

"I'm not going anywhere until I know you're ok. C'mon, sit up." She pulled gently on one of her friend's arms, livid bruises already tattooing her pale flesh. "At least let me look at you." Her statement got a reaction, just not the one she expected, as Ciela, voice still hoarse from screaming, shouted incomprehensibly and tried to push her away. Then she curled back up, hands clenched to her head, and resumed sobbing.

After several long, full minutes spent trying to calm Az, Jayna managed to discern that nothing was mutilated or broken, with the possible exception of the girl's spirit. She'd finally stopped sobbing and was sitting upright, knees drawn close to her body, with her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. Her wings were still out and folded around her as well, covering everything but her hands and head. She was staring at the dresser, where the helmet sat amidst the ribbons of clothing and other items Warren had destroyed while searching for it.

"Why didn't he just take it?" Az whispered more to herself than to Jayna.

Jayna looked over to the dresser, glaring at the helmet. "Damned if I know."

************

Warren was holding his own, although he had been unable to effectively counter-attack. He felt the ground shift under his feet and looked down to find himself ankle deep in water. His first thought was that a hydrant had been broken with all the fighting, he didn't realize in time that this was an attack. Aquarius in liquid form flowed over him and submerged Warren in his embrace, an embrace that quickly became a crushing force.

{Water pressure increasing. Simulated depth 100 feet. 200. 300. 400. 500 feet. Aquarius is pressurizing Warren faster than the human body should be able to adapt. Effectiveness of this attack is unknown, scanning. 1500 feet.}

Ry struggled to get the rifle in his arms to obey him, he didn't know that safety features were keeping the weapon from overheating.

{2500 feet.}

Aquarius squeezed for every second that he could, he intended to ramp up the pressure until Warren either passed out or lashed out. It was the latter. Warren called shadow to his aid and swept at the liquid mass around him. Aquarius in a spout of water leapt onto a nearby fire escape.

{Simulated depth sea level. A rapid decrease in atmospheric pressure results in the release of nitrogen bubbles into body tissues. These bubbles cut off the oxygen supply, causing nausea, pain in the joints and abdomen and, in severe cases, shock, paralysis, cardio-respiratory failure, spinal cord disorders and even death. This mode of attack should prove fatal.}

************

Jayna surveyed the destruction in what was, so recently, a pleasant guestroom. Now it was merely another scene of pointless desecration, a casualty of war. She hoped with every fiber of her being that the others were ripping that 'thing' to pieces (she refused to dignify him with a name). Whatever they did it wouldn't be enough. She had witnessed far too many scenes like this over the centuries, seen the devastation that men in their lust for power, territory, jealousy, or simple madness could leave in their wakes. The wall could be repaired, the room straightened; those were minor inconveniences. Ciela's well being was another matter. Her body would heal, surely. There didn't appear to be any major physical damage, but her spirit was another matter.

She didn't have the heart to inquire as to how much 'violating' Ciela had been forced to endure. That would come when and if she was ready to talk about it. It didn't really matter. What mattered was getting her past this crisis point. Jayna knew as well as anyone that Ciela had a tendency to blame herself for even the most trivial things. Getting her past this was going to be a challenge. The hardest part was probably going to be making Ciela understand that none of this was her fault, and that in the eyes of the people around her she hadn't changed...

The sounds of fighting from the street quieted for a moment, followed by an angry shout. It was Aquarius, and he wasn't happy. Jayna shot to the opening in the wall to see what was happening below. She saw a flash of movement off to her side. She turned slowly in that direction expecting to see a thrown pillow or some such, and was stunned to see Ciela standing in front of the dresser, placing the helmet upon her head. "Ciela, don't!" Jayna was too late. The instant the helmet was secure on her head she was clothed and on her way to the street below.

Jayna was speechless. There was nothing she could say to counter the look of determination on her friend's face, nothing that wouldn't tarnish the moment. Her friend was doing the almost unthinkable given the circumstances. She was fighting back. Maybe there was more to her than Jayna realized.

************

Warren staggered and lurched forward. He fell against a mailbox to keep himself on his feet, as his body raged against him. He was in agony. Rydgen, still unable to get the rifle to cooperate, used it as a bludgeon, knocking Warren to the sidewalk.

Silver Lantern stepped from the board and reached out enveloping Warren in the Power Oan. {Hyperbaric treatment beginning.}

Aquarius pulled the slide back on the automatic pistol he had retrieved from the secret compartment in the trunk of his car. He surveyed the scene. Ry was keeping onlookers back while trying to stay upright. The Oan bubble that encased Warren didn't look like much of a prison to Aquarius. He put the heavy pistol behind his back, and approached Sil. "What did I miss?"

The Oan sphere exploded, knocking Aquarius and Sil to the street. The board, ever obedient to its master, flew to shield him. "You conceited FOOL!" Warren bellowed. "Do you expect me to be GRATEFUL? Do you?"

"What did you do?" Aquarius looked at the Silver alien in shock.

"He signed his death certificate." Warren said calmly as the shadows pooled around his feet.

"You HELPED him?" Aqua looked at the Silver buffoon now getting to his feet. "LOOK, maybe you need to go back up there and look again at what he did." He gesticulated wildly toward the open hole that had once been a window into Az's room on the second floor. "This is war!" The chrome-plated pistol reflected the streetlights as he drew it on Warren. His target seemed unconcerned and opened his arms, daring him to fire.

{Weapon drawn: .50 caliber Smith and Wesson automatic pistol. Steel-jacketed hollow-points filled with mercury.}

Aquarius was unable to squeeze the trigger, as it was chocked with Oan force. "You stupid bastard!" Aqua threw the gun at Sil. "Are you working for him?"

"You cannot fire that with civilians around, you will pollute the area." Sil said as Warren lashed out and knocked Aqua from Sil's field of vision. Sil turned to face his former teammate. "Warren, it doesn't have to end like this."

"You're right, Sil. We can share her. You were fond of her, weren't you? Obey me and she will be yours." Warren looked at his face reflected in Sil's.

"I will stop you." Sil said, stepping onto his board.

"No, Silver Lantern, you won't. You didn't have the balls to keep me down when you had the chance. I'm going to help myself to Ry now, maybe a few of the cattle he's herding as well, and then it will be the last act of this Puccini Opera."

"No, Warren. It ends now." Azangel stepped lightly onto the street, her glowing wings reflected in the windshields and windows all around, bathing the scene in an unearthly glow. She held the helmet in her hands. "You want it so badly. Take it."

Aquarius pulled himself to his feet. He spat blood as he shouted, "NO!"

"Here, Warren, take it." She threw the helmet to him. He caught it like a wide receiver. His face lit up.

Warren looked at the prize in his hands and began to laugh, giddy, like a child who got everything he wanted on Christmas morning. He reached up and took the skull mask off his face and turned it to face him. "You see, Cortez? I outsmarted the lot of you after all!" He began to laugh.

"What the hell did you do?" Aqua walked up to Az who now wore an Oan silver dress, her costume having dissolved the second the helmet left her hands.

Warren lifted the helmet above his head, "I shall reshape this into my crown. Kneel before your master!" As Warren lowered the helmet Aqua lunged forward, and Az held him back, shaking her head slowly.

"You don't understand..." She whispered.

Warren fitted the helm onto his head. Then he noticed something amiss. The battery wasn't there. The cable that ran from the helmet to the battery wasn't there. The padding and straps that fit the helmet to its wearer were not there. A bare golden helmet sat upon his head. The helmet, the artifact, as it was consecrated over a thousand years ago, now rested upon the champion of Tezcatlipoca's head, and Quetzalcoatl in his heaven looked down in rage. Warren turned his eyes upward as the helmet fitted itself to him, and looked into the eyes of an angry God. Warren howled as Azangels from ages before the corruption surrounded him, standing on all sides, "STAY BACK!" Quetz hissed and lunged at him.

The group watched Warren looking around wildly, gesturing and shouting at phantoms unseen. He raised his arms to shield himself, and exploded with a radiance that blinded all except Quetz's chosen, Ciela Jarras.

For just a moment an unnatural silence hung over the street. The costume that Warren had been wearing was shadow form and dripped from his emaciated body like oil. His muscular physique was only shadows. He fell to his knees, drooling like a teething child. He jerked forward and the helmet fell from him. He jerked back and was absorbed into what remained of his own shadows.

The helmet struck the ground and liquefied instantly. As golden snake it slithered across the pavement toward Ciela. Jayna had rushed out to witness these events and stepped back from the golden snake that caressed Ciela's feet. Ciela Jarras reached down and brushed her fingertips across the surface, the serpent leapt up her arm and came to rest about her neck.

"All right people, the show's over. Go home!" Jayna shouted at the gathering crowd. Once she was certain that she wasn't going to be bitten by Az's new jewelry she put out an arm to steady her. "Come on, kiddo." She said, tugging Az in the direction of the house. "You look worse than David. Let's get you inside and into a hot bath." For her part, Az was just too numb to argue.

Chapter 8

Silver Lantern watched Jayna lead Ciela back into the shop in silence, and as the door closed, he immediately moved to the spot of ground that Warren had seemingly melted into. He crouched down to examine it, his ring feeding him information, or lack thereof.

{Residual portal energy does not match and form used by previous Azangel. Point of origin: unknown. Destination: unknown.}

{Can you track him?} Sil asked silently, putting one hand down and scooping up a handful of unremarkable dirt from the spot. He let it slip through his fingers as the ring scanned again.

{Negative.}

"Sil?" Ry spoke hesitantly from behind the Oan hero. "He's gone, right?"

"Yes, but I do not know where he's gone." Sil stood up, brushing off his hands on his costume. "He could have gone anywhere. I cannot trace the portal."

"Can't your ring..."

"What's wrong, Sil, you don't want to go 'help' Warren some more? Or maybe you wanna go grab him and throw him in some prison so he can break out?" Aquarius interrupted Rydgen and Sil, striding over to face Az's former teammate.

"Killing Warren would have solved nothing."

"It would have solved a lot of things you conceited..." He moved closer to Sil. "First and foremost, it would stop him from doing something like this again! You think this was a one-shot deal, that if the opportunity arose, he wouldn't do this again? You think he's not going to kill again? You arrogant son of..."

"Just because he chooses to kill, that does not give us the right to kill him. We should not be reduced to his level."

"'Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster', huh, Lantern? Nietzsche is a cliché no matter how you phrase it." Aqua was so close now that his breath condensed on the Oan's metal skin. "You should have let him die."

"As much as I hate to agree with Aquarius," Rydgen started, looking to the ground. "...he's right. You may not be here if he shows up again, Sil. Then what? I get my heart sliced out again..." he trailed off, looking up to the hole in the shop's second-floor wall.

"I would like to speak to Az." Sil moved away from Aquarius and Rydgen, heading towards the shop. He stopped when he noticed Jayna standing in the doorway, scowling, with her arms crossed in front of her.

"And I would like all of you to just leave. All this arguing out here isn't going to help Az calm down any." She looked them over again. "Rydgen, Sil, just go home. I appreciate your help more than you know, but I think right now we just need some peace and quiet around here."

"No problem, Jayna. I'll just come by later, when things have settled down." Ry turned and started moving slowly towards home. "Let me know if you need anything, if you need any help." Jayna imagined he'd spend a few hours after the sun came up recharging his cells enough to heal, then sleeping until he was better. She could be wrong though, she wasn't too sure how his powers worked.

Sil continued staring at Aqua for a few moments longer. "I will be back later as well. Tell Ciela..." He shook his head and stepped on his board. "Tell her I am sorry."

*****

Jayna backed out of the door to Ciela's room, almost tripping over David, who was sitting on the floor against the doorframe. His legs were hugged tightly to his chest and he looked even more disconsolate than usual. "David, if she so much as breaks wind I want to know about it." He nodded his head in assent, then rummaged inside one of his coat pockets. He extracted the phone that Jayna had given him earlier and held it out for her to take.

"He never answered, and the battery is dead."

*****

The mood in the kitchen wasn't any brighter. Jayna was surprised that Aquarius didn't have a small storm cloud hanging over his head. She circumnavigated the table so she could stand behind him and drape her arms over his shoulders, then brought her cheek to rest on the top of his head. "How are you doing?" she asked, softly.

"Pissed, but I'll get over it." He sighed and leaned against her. The real question is how is SHE?"

"How do you think?" There was no anger in her voice, only sadness and fatigue.

"I don't know what to think..."

"That's a good start." Jayna pulled on the chair with him in it so it was a few feet back from the table and sat in his lap. "There may just be some hope for you yet." He looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face. "It's nice to see a man who doesn't have all the answers for a change."

"That's one hell of a strong woman you have for a friend."

"We'll see..." She let herself relax in his arms. "She's been beaten bloody, tortured, and violated in just about every way possible. She's depressed, withdrawn, and angry. The next couple of days will be the worst, I suspect."

"She fought back, Jay. That has to mean something."

"More than you know, but it didn't really have enough time to sink in. You have no idea how many times I've seen things like this happen, or how horrible the results can be. I've seen women stab, hang, poison, and mutilate themselves, throw themselves from cliffs, drownings, catatonics... I could go on for hours. I don't want to remember any of this."

"Maybe we should take her to a hospital."

"She doesn't want to go. Trying to force her to do anything she doesn't want to do is probably the worst thing we could do at the moment. What could they do anyway? Poke and prod her, ask a lot of unwanted questions, and make her relive it over and over again."

"I suppose you're right, but I feel like crap not being able to do anything. Maybe I should just go home. You're all in..."

"I'd really rather you didn't. I may not be the best company tonight, but I'd rather not be alone." Aqua smiled and pulled her closer. They held each other for some time.

*****

Ciela soaked in the enormous tub as candlelight flickered about the room. Her eyes were closed but showed the strain of keeping her mind clear.

"We are very proud of you Ciela." The voice drifted softly through the room. When she realized that the words were Náhuatl, she turned to look at the speaker. The dark skinned woman looked no older than Ciela. Her ebony hair was pulled back in a pony tail and she wore a serape that was trimmed with images of feathered serpents.

"Look, I'd really like to be alone, whoever you are."

"I understand. I will go."

"Why did you let it happen?"

"What?"

"Why? Why did you let him do that to me? You and the rest of you damn spirits kept your damn mouths shut while he...he..." Ciela fought to retain control. "You could have stopped him, lashed out. You were right googing there!"

"Yes, we were."

"So what the hell? Why?"

"There is only so much control we have over the helmet. It hurt us to watch and do nothing, and we suffered with you. If we could do everything why would there be a champion? We fought with you. We fought to free the last of Tezcatlipoca's corruption. You fought with us unknowing. That Warren could not see the helmet was not our doing. Tez's champion should not know the helmet if he drank cacahuhel from it. When he passed it by in the room searching for it, we knew that we had the chance to purify it."

"Go. Just, go."