The familiar clack of a cane against stone echoed across the burning battlefield.
Mike turned sharply.
Through drifting ash and pillars of smoke, a figure walked casually between the corpses of soldiers and shattered gods as if he were strolling through a park instead of a battlefield.
Black suit. Polished shoes. Top hat.
A familiar grin and face that could only belong to one annoying demon. Mephistopheles spread his arms dramatically. "Oh my dear Michael! What a fantastic situation you have found yourself in, yet again! Marvelous!"
The demon clapped enthusiastically while giving an exaggerated bow.
Mike stared at him.
Then looked around the battlefield.
Then back at the demon.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Mike barked. "How are you able to see it's me? Isn't this the past?"
Mephistopheles straightened his tie with a disappointed sigh.
"Michael," he said patiently, "Punching and murder are your talents. The intricacies of space and time are above your intellectual level."
Mike narrowed his eyes.
"Just be relieved your good friend has come to cheer you on!"
"Why him…" Mike muttered.
Mephistopheles gasped theatrically and placed one hand over his chest.
"Oh, you wound me. Michael, you should appreciate that I have come to see you."
Behind them, the battlefield rumbled.
The six-armed god rose from the burning crater Mike had thrown it into moments earlier.
One remaining eye glowed beneath the cracked bronze mask.
Glowing blood poured from the stump where Mike had ripped away one of its arms.
The god looked furious.
Mephistopheles glanced toward it briefly.
"Mm. Angry little thing."
Mike pointed toward the demon. "You know what? Stay out of my way."
"My dear boy," Mephistopheles said with mock offense, "I would never interrupt art."
With a dismissive flick of his wrist, an ornate chair materialized behind him.
The demon sat gracefully, crossed one leg over the other, and summoned a glass of wine from thin air.
"Now that your rude comments have spoiled my arrival," he sighed dramatically, "get back to killing."
His hand waved lazily toward the battlefield.
Mike stared at him for a second longer.
Then his grin spread again.
The sky above the plains was still splitting open.
More gods descended through widening fractures of light. Mike's chest expanded with a deep inhale. Then he threw back his head and laughed. A massive, booming laugh rolled across the burning battlefield.
"All of you come!" he roared.
Black fire exploded outward from between his scales.
"Fucking COME AT ME!"
The heavens answered immediately.
Three gods dove from the nearest portal simultaneously.
A silver-armored woman riding a massive serpent.
A giant with molten bronze skin wielding a hammer.
And a lean figure wrapped entirely in red cloth, twin hooked blades glimmering beneath the fabric.
They struck together.
The serpent reached Mike first.
Lightning erupted from its jaws in a frenzy. Bolts curved and arched toward him.
Mike flew directly into it.
Electricity exploded across his scales.
The smell of burned ozone filled the air.
Mike laughed through it.
"Little stronger!"
The serpent lunged.
Mike caught its jaws in both claws.
The impact cratered the earth beneath him.
The silver goddess shouted something in a language Mike didn't understand.
The serpent's body wrapped around him instantly, coils tightening.
Mike's grin widened.
"Hugged by a snake."
The molten giant slammed into him from above.
The hammer connected with Mike's skull like a meteor strike.
The ground beneath him erupted. Fire and dust exploded outward in a massive ring.
Mephistopheles calmly sipped his wine while chunks of burning rock rained around him.
"Excellent form," the demon commented.
Deep inside the crater, the serpent suddenly convulsed.
The silver goddess blinked.
Black fire exploded through the creature's chest.
Mike erupted upward through its body in a explosion of blood and burning scales.
He grabbed the serpent with both claws.
Then tore it apart down the middle.
The creature shrieked as its body split open.
Mike hurled both halves at the molten giant.
The god smashed one aside with the hammer.
The other collided with him hard enough to stagger his footing.
Mike appeared in front of him instantly. His fist slammed into the giant's face.
Molten bronze cracked.
The giant swung the hammer.
Mike ducked beneath it.
Then drove both claws into the god's abdomen and lifted.
The giant roared as Mike carried him upward into the sky.
Clouds exploded around them.
The red-cloaked assassin appeared behind Mike silently.
Hooked blades pierced into the joints beneath Mike's wings.
Pain flared.
Mike snarled.
The assassin twisted the blades deeper.
"Your death is demanded."
Mike laughed.
Then head-butted him hard enough to cave in half his skull.
The assassin flew backward spinning wildly through the clouds.
Mike ripped the blades free from his back with one arm and threw them downward like spears.
One punched clean through the falling assassin's chest.
The other hit the silver goddess below.
She screamed as the blade impaled her through the shoulder and pinned her to the earth.
Mike looked down at the molten giant still trapped in his grip.
The god glared at him with burning eyes.
"You cannot fight eternity."
Mike smiled.
"No."
His jaws slowly opened.
"But I can eat it."
Then he bit into the god's throat.
Molten divine blood exploded into his mouth.
The giant screamed as Mike devoured flesh and essence alike.
The power that surged into him this time was heavier. Like swallowing magma.
Heat rolled through every vein in his body.
Mike roared as black fire burst from his wings.
Below him more portals opened.
The gods were no longer arriving in small groups. Now they came in waves.
Entire formations descended from the fractured sky.
Winged warriors in radiant armor.
Beast-headed gods carrying spears of gold.
Towering figures woven from wind and shadow.
The battlefield below vanished beneath divine light.
Even Mike paused for a moment.
Then his smile became monstrous.
"Oh this is getting fucking awesome."
The first wave hit him midair.
A barrage of spears crossed the sky.
Mike twisted through them as explosions of divine light tore apart the clouds around him.
A winged god crashed into his side.
Mike grabbed him by the face and used his body to block three incoming spears before tearing his head free.
Another god struck from below with a trident of blue crystal.
The weapon pierced Mike's side.
Mike snarled.
Then drove downward with both claws.
The god was ripped apart as he tore through them. Blood sprayed through the sky.
More came immediately. The gods were panicking now.
Mike could sense the fear from them.
They weren't trying to stop him anymore.
They were trying to survive.
And Mike loved it.
He slammed through the next formation. Bodies burst apart around him.
Black fire spread across the sky.
Screams of pain echoed. The plains below became a graveyard of burning corpses.
Mephistopheles leaned slightly forward in his chair, chin resting against one hand.
"My my," he mused. "The old stories were boring. I truly undersold you. This is much better."
Mike drove his claws through another god's chest and hurled the corpse into a cluster of winged soldiers.
The collision exploded like artillery.
A spear punched through Mike's shoulder.
Another through his ribs.
A third shattered against his skull.
Mike grabbed the god responsible by the leg.
Then swung him hard enough to obliterate his own allies.
The sky itself was becoming unstable now.
Every collision sent ripples through reality.
Thunder rolled endlessly.
The portals widened further.
Then suddenly everything stopped.
The gods froze.
Even the wounded and dying.
A pressure descended across the battlefield so immense the air itself became heavy.
Mike slowly turned toward the largest fracture in the heavens.
Light flooded the sky. Dominating. Absolute.
The clouds parted.
A colossal shape descended slowly through the radiance.
The first thing Mike saw was the lightning.
It crawled across the figure's body like living serpents.
Then came the armor.
Gold and white.
Perfect.
Untouched by battle.
A massive spear rested in one hand.
A white cloak drifted behind him.
And his eyes burned with authority and jumping arcs of electricity.
Every surviving god lowered their heads immediately.
The battlefield fell silent.
Even Mephistopheles stopped smiling for half a second.
Mike stared upward.
Then grinned slowly.
"Well," he said.
"That one looks important."
The figure descended until he hovered above the battlefield itself.
Lightning rolled behind him endlessly.
When he spoke, the world trembled.
"Kur."
Mike cracked his neck.
"Mike."
The god's gaze narrowed.
"You have slaughtered too many pantheons."
Mike spread his wings wider.
Black fire bled into the sky around him.
"You all keep showing up."
The god lifted his spear slightly.
The storm answered instantly.
Thunder detonated across the heavens.
Even Mike felt the difference immediately.
This wasn't another lesser god.
This was something far older.
Far more dangerous.
The king of Olympus looked down at him with cold fury.
"I am Zeus."
Mike's grin widened until it hurt.
"This will be fun," he said.
Then lightning split the sky.