[twi] Twilight VII: III The Dark Tower

[Cracklord]

Solomon Kane
"It started with the dreams." One of them sobs.
Billy the werewolf sighs. "We can't say exactly what happened, because we weren't in a position to see it, but the city is at was with itself. About a week ago we had dreams, all of us, everyone in the city, The first one was of the church, and the second was a man in a denim jacket on a cliff, smiling like a kid pulling wings of flies, with glowing red eyes. We don't know who it is..."
"Call him Beelzebub, because that's his name. Call him Nyarlathotep and Ahaz and Set and Astaroth. His name is Legion, and he is an apostle of Hell, and this city is his playground."
Billy cut over the clamor. "We don't know who he is, but he's powerful, and the dreams were some sort of line in the sand. Marcone is working for him, as are some supernatural heavyweights that make me uncomfortable just thinking about, and nobody knows what to do."

Vin
It's even nicer inside. Richard, however, is still staring at the graffiti.

Dante
It takes six shots, but you blow it away, cracking it's shell to pieces. They are not individually dangerous, it's in numbers that they become a threat. And their are scores of the things crawling out of the ocean and converging on the gate.
"Did-a-Chop? Deed-a-chap?"

Nicodemus
She listens to every word. You feel like you're speaking to a black hole, a yawning gulf waiting to be filled up.

[doliest]

Azula
She nods, "Yes, my lord. She Who Still Burns appointed me." The Summer Mother receives active veneration from the young firebender. Both for her power and position, as well as for helping pull her from madness.

Light
He nods; Doom, while a 'villain' had always seemed more in line with Light's philosophy than most 'heroes'. The only thing he truly agreed with heroes like the League and the Authority on was that insane men like Joker or Carnage needed stopping. And many of the 'villains' agreed with him in that respect.

Dracula
I was rather busy being on trial, in case you did not notice. Dracula grins at the man And I have no interest in ending it prematurely.

Dr.Kovacs
He nods, "But how can I accomplish that? Nothing short of wiping out all electricity on the planet could shut off all communications."

[Cracklord]

Light Yagami
"But enough, I think." Doom says. He strides over. "Light Yagami is dead. But your body and mind remain. Will you take my offer of adoption?"
Admit it, Light Von Doom is a pretty cool name, and Victor could teach you much. Think about what Light can do untrained, then imagine what Doom could do with him.

Dracula
The Crimson King doesn't answer. He just stares at you with those blazing red eyes, then stands up. He folds his hands in the sleeves of his robe, that strides past you, giving the Fallen Angel not one iota of his attention.

Dr.Kovacs
"What choice do you have?" Habib replies. "The planet is sick. You must save it however you can."

Azula
Oberon nods. "What do you want in my realm?"

[Gulping]

Lea

/\!

Lea slams his weapons against the oncoming blade, using it as leverage to vault over it, propelling himself out of the attack's path and towards the creature's head. "Better luck next time!" Combining his Keyblades into the double-weapon again, Lea suddenly dashes forward, slicing through the giant's neck like a flying guillotine. "Now disappear!" Separating the Flames again, he goes into a vertical spin, hurtling down the monster's spine like a rolling sawblade, only stopping when he hits the floor.

"Next!"

The Stig

The portal system makes an error somehow. Exactly why and how it happens is unknowable, but it does not deposit you as close to Apokolips as it possibly can.

Rather, it throws you out a good fifty feet above Dracula's throne room. The sensors in your helmet detect a massive amount of negative energy dwelling within, something that fills you with the same feeling as the Spider Monster.

You Know what you have to do here. You slam your hands on your belt, pushing the Memory slots apart, causing the Ganbaride Card slot to close and activate. It is time to use the power that you have been granted.

For even if there is no God or Buddha..
.

JOKER! JOKER!
J-J-J-JOKER!

PT FORM RIDE: GESPENST!

There is KAMEN RIDER: THE STIG.

With your true power revealed, you initiate the only attack that is even close to appropriate for this situation.

GESPENST KICK

You dive down towards the mass of negative energy, blowing through the roof like it was nothing and striking the Crimson King like the fist of an angry god.

[doliest]

Light
"I never did have anything in common with my family." Light's more than open to working for someone who wasn't the Authority. Rather someone who might kill him if he screws up than an organization that all want him dead because they don't like him.

Dracula
He turns, facing Zarthos, Well, that was an amusing diversion. Do you need something, Angel?

Dr.Kovacs
"None. So it shall be done." He begins focusing on just that. Focusing on cutting off the life blood of modern society. On making every electrical device fail. It would be a strange world that people woke into; hopefully this wouldn't need to be permanent.

Azula
"None, my lord. I was traveling to the Summer Court to recover from a fight with a large group of people that had not ended well. My portal was disrupted somehow and my injuries make travel somewhat dangerous on it's own." The bullets were still in her, only the Mantle keeping her alive and moving.

[Colesign]

Vin

She walks over to Richard. "We had a run-in with this Crimson King some time ago." she remarks. "He looks like a dwarf with a white beard and a red cloak, but piss him off and he turns into a Gigantic Spider Thing. He isn't invincible, though: we fought him to a standstill, and he ran away. His strength, it seems, is corrupting the hearts of evil men and women with visions of destruction. And that's his goal. He wants to pull down all of reality. Utter Ruin."

There's a moment of silence. "Additionally, if you run into him, don't try stabbing him with his own severed limbs. It just doesn't work."

Solomon Kane

"This Man in Black, whoever his is, is an avatar of darkness and evil, the enemy of Light and Kindess and the Freedom of the Human Soul. He and his agents must be fought."

Solomon sighs. "Figuring out how to fight him, of course, is the challenge."

[darkblade]

Zarthos

The Crimson King was well beyond Zarthos's authority, that kind of matter was more suited to Michael and Uriel. Dracula on the other hand was his. Abomination, you have violated both the accords the most Holy but bounds of mortal justice as well. For that you shall be burned."

The Rider's signiture flaming chain manifests in it's hands and flies towards Dracula's face.

***

Darksied

"Death no longer has power over Darksied for Darksied is Anti-Life." The New God states defiantly.

***

Ramirez

Ramirez gestures with his glove calling some of the nearby water to redirect it's flow and run through the little monsters like a blade.

***

Dresden

"Thats way more mojo than old Nicky should have." I said shaking my head.

"Where are the Carpenders and Father Forthill, if nothing else Molly should be dealing with these dreams at twice the intensity than this crowd of mostly kitchen witches?" I asked Billy.

"What about Murphy and Special Investigations? Please tell me they aren't rushing into a confrontation we don't need any dead cops?"

***

Lea

The funny thing about Ivenzo is that with his emotions back he was pretty big on irony. That includes using your former Nobody soldiers against you.

Three assasin nobodies rise up from the ground and make different angled slashes against your throat.

[Cracklord]

The Stig
The kick smashes into him, descending, unstoppable as the orbit of the universe. Even the beings that inhabit Earth, many of them amongst the most powerful beings in the universe are shocked and horrified at the sheer amount of power that you just used.
The Blow is enough to tear through anything, even the heart of the universe.
And is stopped, unable to have the slightest impact on the master of the Red and the self proclaimed King of The Tower. He's well above such obvious methods.
Your momentum brought up as sharply as possible, the leg beneath you breaks sharply, and you collapse, the red, hooded figure motionless beneath. Slowly, he turns to look at you, eyes burning, and pulls back his hood.
Nothing prepares you for what you see, and you snap, unable to cope. Even your own enlightenment does not prepare you for what lies under that hood. It was everywhere, yet it had shapes, a thousand shapes of horror beyond all memory and perception. It was the pit - the maelstrom- the ultimate abomination.
You were mad. You occasionally suspected that. But madness can only go so far, and the confrontation with this thing tossed you somewhere beyond madness, to the yawning abyss of oblivion, and you could only scream gratefully at the mercy of not having to remember what happened.
It's eyes tear into yours, then it's mouth opens, stretching wider and wider, Impossibly wide, wider then the body itself until it engulfs you completely, mecha and all, dragging you into it's black gullet.

Dracula
He spits out a pair of swords, both of which scythe through the air and land blade down, quivering in the stone floor. You were lucky, you didn't see his face. If you had, something like that would be a mercy. "Once, that was impressive. Once you were powerful. Dangerous. Mighty. But it's all falling apart. The world has moved on." He says, as though addressing the Stig. Then he's gone.

Vin
Richard doesn't answer. At last he sighs. "There is no proof of a God, or a devil, or of life after death. What maters is this world, and what we do with it." He straightens. "Lets go in. There is nothing for us out here."

The Stig
The human brain, and the inhuman brain, is far better at surviving these sort of experiences then Mr Lovecraft suggested. It simply suppresses them, then reduces them to raw data, then disposes of them, leaving you with no memory of what happened.
You're in a dark Cavern, and the place is full of spiders. You don't know how you got here, or what happened, and you feel slightly nauseous if you try.

Dresden
Billy looks at you, then shows you a picture. People. Crucified to telegraph poles. You can't be sure, but one of them looks like Murphy.
"The FBI are investigating it." Billy says. "Reckon it's connected to those terrorists that sttacked an airport a few years ago. Nobody saw it happen. Murphy is here, but she's not... taking it very well." He means she's drinking, but it's still a relief. For a moment, you were so sure. "As for Molly... nobody has a clue."
"Actually -" Mortimer begins, but then swallows and falls silent, vanishing back into the crowd. You step into the next room
Michael looks like a man who is lost, and doesn't know what to do. Charity has puffy eyes from sobbing, and the children are nowhere to be seen. Father Forthill is comforting them, though he doesn't seem to be achieving much.
Michael looks up at you, and for a moment, hops makes him a younger man. Then, seeing you alone, it vanishes, to be replaced with crushing despair, a black sadness. "Have you seen my daughter, Dresden?" He asks sadly.

Ramirez
Their shells give the blade trouble, but it works better then you anticipates, sending spidery legs, eyes and dominant claws flying, and leaving maimed lobstrosities in the water to be torn apart by their hungry kin.
Some DOzen are still coming, making their ungainly way up the beach.

[doliest]

Dracula
He moves quickly, withen seconds he's behind his throne, rather than in the open in front of you. I'm ready to return to the court! I was brought here by our esteemed guest, who you saw leave! Is this about my leaving, Angel, or your hatred? Dracula's laughing at Zarthos. Egging him on.

Death
"You threaten all mortals. You are my business, Darkseid. I don't mind that you hold the equation, or even that you are attempting to unleash it on the universe. A few have tried in the past, and that's not quite my business. But you move beyond it. You attempt to spread it throughout the multiverse. That makes you my business. The business of every being on my scale. By unleashing it as you have, you bring the wrath of all of my kind on you. The Endless. Dormammu. Lucifer. Michael. You will see the Old Ones and a host of others of their kind unleashed and sent against you, if you do not decease.

[Cracklord]

Latveria
"So be it. You are now Doom's son." He touches something on his mask. "This calls for a celebration. Formal adoption tomorrow." Doomsday is the main holiday in Latveria. It is celebrated whenever Doom feels like celebrating.

[doliest]

Light
He gives a respectful bow. "Of course." He wasn't going to look a good situation in the mouth. In view of anyone else, anyway.

[Cracklord]

Light Yagami
Doom leaves, and the door locks behind him. Misa opens here eyes, finally waking up.
"Light? What..." She looks around. "Where are we?"

[doliest]

Light Von Doom(You're right. Great ring.)
"Latvia. You've got a new father-in-law."

[The Shoveler]

Coop
He's not the strongest when it comes to will; he had just come out from being crushed by a mere Sith Lord, after all. Coop fights for a very short while before the Getter bots next to him turn on the Megas.
"All is one in Darkseid!" he says, emitting the Equation through his bot and using his machine to appear before Darkseid, leaving the Getter bots behind in that deserted Earth.

Lucy
She hears the equation. She responds.
"I KNOW!"
The equation has no real effect on her. She knew this information as truth, she had lived this way, after all. Also, she wasn't completely human, but something more. A Diclonus. Her Will was absolute when it came to her mind and her actions. It had to be in order for her to use the Vectors.
"Now leave me alone, fiend, or I will hunt you down and kill you myself!"

Vash
Not human, not effected.
"Stupid equations trying to bring me down," he says. He watches Lea as he follows. Let the man work out his anger and intervene only when absolutely necessary.

Flandre
She's in the throne room in a matter of moments, sensing the Fallen.
"Hey, what in the world is going on? One second I'm watching the army, the next we have a Fallen Angel, a Weird Robot-Man thing outside, and the one known as Crimson King in the castle? Interesting!" she says, focusing her power on Zarthos' chain discreetly. Her hand isn't out, but instead crossed over her other. She'd learned to be sneaky.

[darkblade]

Zarthos

I opposed your trial from the moment I became aware of it. I will not allow you to escape justice through legal trickery as you have through coincidence. Zarthos flies towards the vampire dangling his chain in front of himself aiming to wrap it around Dracula's throat.

***

Darksied

"They may come." Darksied will not yeild.

***

Dresden

"Last time the FBI got involved in something along these lines we got a pack of hexenwolves carrying badges." I shook my head, governments doen't deal well with things beyond their control like magic.

I went to the next room to see Michael and Charity being comforted by Father Forthill. I just shook my head to their questions about Molly. "I'm sorry, Michael. I was out of town on Warden business, I only just got back now. I am so sorry."

***

Oracle

"Yes well Drummer has a collection of alien insect porn, it's rather hard not to speal to him." Oracle says before going back into the Carrier's system and turning her attention to Cortona.

"Do you have any anti-viral protocols?" She asks manifesting her own as a glowing claymore sword.

***

Ramirez

The remianing swarm is confronted with a fragmentation gernade as Ramirez erects a liquid shield to prevent any of the resulting shrapnel from hitting him or his companions.

[doliest]

Dracula
Ah, now who has a life beyond his purpose? He laughs as he his hands cover in hellfire and he attempts to grab the chains and pull Zarthos forward, I wasn't the one lying in court, now was I, angel?

Death
Then let me be the first of many, Darkseid of Apocolypse. A scythe in her hands, the perky young goth strolls forward. A grim line planted on her face.

[Cracklord]

Dresden
"You are not to blame, Dresden." He says softly. It was worse then raining blows. She was your responsibility, and something happened to her. And just because Michael is too good a man to blame you, it doesn't mean you don't blame yourself.
Charity is silent as well. She doesn't have anything to say. You wish she'd shout at you at least. But she leaves you alone as well.
Last time you were here, the White Council was leaderless, The Black Council was moving, and The Day Watch was about to attack. It strikes you that something very bad is about to happen. But first, you have to look out for your own.
Your investigative sense is tingling. Marcone has been involved. Well that's good news. Marcone is easy to find.

Ka'tet
All dealt with. You my now cross through the unfound door.

Yoshimori
A tall, muscular Indian boy is standing in front of you, arms folded over his considerable chest. "What are you doing in our town?"

Elijah
One is eventually located, and wheeled up to you. It's somewhat old-fashioned and clunky, but serviceable.

Evil Ka'tet
The sun rises. Dawn.
The journey, as far as you know, is as follows.
"Through the Unfound door to the emerald city, beneath the tree to the land of always winter, 'cross mountains, ice and death. Into the realm of the Other, the heart of ice, then before to Charn, around which lie the plains of Leng, where all the worlds meet."
Without the map, this is hard to follow, but you have a suspicion there is a tunnel from here. Afterall, where else could this green place be but the emerald city?

Team Nightside
Skellos stops, then moves over to a tree, and begins to shove himself through the roots, vanishing beneath them into a gap that looks far too tiny for him.

[industrious]

Elijah Snow

At his direction, they strip the vast majority of the machine down, until they find the thing's hard drive. Taking the thing out, they plug it into Ambrose's laptop, as well as flash drive containing the Anti-Life Equation. After Elijah freezes the speakers solid, they process the audio file, and dump the new file back onto the drive.

"Next stop: Adirondacks. Doc Brass's machine is going to be put to good use."

The best thing about not having a Carrier while having Carrier access was that nobody knew he had it. Oracle never even pinged Wilder's screens.

"Wilder. I need a Door to the following location in the Adirondacks..."

Nicodemus

((Actually, sundown. They're sleeping during the day, and walking at night.))

As the sun goes down, Nicodemus wakes up, briefly stretches, and carefully packs up any trace of their presence.

"The balloon on top might be very useful. I have experience flying one; we can use it to reach our goal sooner."

[Colesign]

Solomon Kane

The Puritan goes to one knee. "I swear by the Staff and sword I bear, Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter, that I will never stray from Mr. Dresden's side, nor rest until your daughter is rescued. God shall show the way, even in the Darkest Times."

Vin

Vin enters the hallway, striding past the refugees, the hood of her Mistcloak draped over her head. She enters the room with the Carpenters and sees the expression of sorrow on their faces. "What's wrong?" She asks.

[darkblade]

Ramirez

"Well that was weird." Ramirez says brushing himself off and heading for the door.

"So where exactly are we going and what are we looking for when we get there?"

***

Dresden

"I'll find her, Michael." I said.

"Or die trying." I briefly scoweled at Vin before shaking my head and explaining.

"Their daughter, my apprentice is missing. No doubt Nicodemus's work."

***

Darksied

"Disciple, deal with the Getter." Darksied orders Coop.

"I shall put the girl in her place." Darksied's wounds seal up and he stands defiant ready to take Death's blows.

***

Vash

As you cross the battlefield you find a couple crossbow bolts fly towards your head at speeds much faster than crossbow bolts should be in fact these seem almost more like clumsily censored guns than crossbows.

Looking into the air you can clearly see three purple and silver armoured men floating about weilding crossbows, no doubt the shooters.

[Gulping]

Musashi

He turns to death, a rather grim look on his face. "You see what we're dealing with here? He's set on his path, completely and utterly. Nothing to do but to put him down and cast his consciousness into oblivion until it loses all meaning." The Last Guardian raises his sword, holding it in a standard kendo stance.

"Sorry, but there's no other option. That's what defines a Ruina."

Lea

"Not so fast!" Lea slams his weapons into the ground, generating a wave of fire that blows his former minions away.

One of the main flaws of the Assassin Nobodies is the fact that if their attack is parried, they're rendered completely helpless. They're meant to sneak up and slay in a single blow, they're almost useless in a straight-up fight.

Lea demonstrates this handily as he shreds his assailants to pieces before pressing deeper into Ienzo's stronghold.

"Come on, Six! You can do better than this!"

Benkei

"Thank you for the compliments, Mr. Luthor.

A shame I can't say the same about you." Using his good hand, Benkei grabs Lex's own and jerks hard, pulling the maniacal executive over his shoulder in a classic judo throw. Lex is slammed down hard as the soldier fishes his sidearm out of his belt and pushes the barrel up against Luthor's bald head.

"I'm sorry." He pulls the trigger, unloading the revolver in a short flurry of carnage, every bullet slamming into Lex's brain.

[The Shoveler]

Vash
The bolts nearly hit him. He had to make it seem like they could hit him, after all.
"What manner of being are you? Be you human?" he says in a mock-"Royal Knight" accent.

[Murkus]

Azazel

He glances between the Kurgan and the gleaming palace, taking a slow ascent up to the entrance. "Come on, barbarian. Let's see if we can't find you something to kill."

Cortana

She begins to wrap her mind around it. Being based on a clone of Dr. Catherine Halsey's Brain, Oracle's mental transfer seems awfully familiar to the AI.

"You saved yourself. How?"

Master Chief

He cuts the connection with Cortana, peeking back around the corner at Planetary's team. The cyborg puts a large hand on the door's edge, pulling about and back inside. He doesn't even seem daunted by the pair of heavy weapons magnetically attached to his back.

"What did you just do?"

[industrious]

Elijah Snow

"Used time travel to paradoxically eradicate the Anti-Life Equation from Earth. Now for everywhere else."

The blue portal appears once more, and the four very strange individuals enter it.

[Cracklord]

Ramirez
Dessert. The apotheosis of all desserts, huge, standing to the sky for what looked like an eternity in all directions. It was white and blinding and waterless and without feature save for the faint, cloudy haze of the mountains sketched on the horizon, and the patches of devil-grass atop the dunes, and the collum of smoke in the distance.

Chicago
Michael shakes his head. "God helps those who help themselves. He will be there with you, but he won't fight for you." He gets shakingly to his feet. He's still big and strong, though one lung is punctures, one eye ruined and he walks with a considerable limp.
"Do what you can for her. I know you will, that's all I ask." He gives you a weak smile.

Nicodemus
Molly is still asleep. She's having nightmares. Trauma. It happens.
Azazel and The Kurgan are inspecting the palace.

The Kurgen, Azazel
The Castle is all massive, empty rooms, none of which seem to have any function. They are all, likewise empty. You find an entrance to the catacombs and smile. Somewhere beyond here is the route to the tower. You just need to find the right tunnel.

Benkei
That's a neat trick with no right shoulder, given he just crushed it. You manage to toss him anyway, but given he was gripping you at the time you just used leverage to toss him while he was holding you with enough force to crush you collarbone to powder. Blinding pain doesn't even begin to describe it.
He gets quickly to his feet, and forces the gun aside. He's really losing control. "Do I have to break your other arm as well?" He yells, slamming an uppercut into your kidneys.

[doliest]

Death
She doesn't strike. Beings on her and now Darkseid's level don't truly need to. She merely starts focusing her power on ending him. Taking his ties to reality and severing it with a metaphorical scythe until their is nothing left, if only because attempting the same thing on the physical plane would wipe out...probably several solar systems by the time the two were done, no matter who won the fight.

[Gulping]

Musashi

Musashi looks at the Megas, his expression blank.

"Coop Cooplowski. Gilgamesh. Edward Riggs. Scott Pilgrim. STAND DOWN."

They have no real choice but to comply, their bodies falling into a catatonic state from Musashi's words as the Megas' generator goes silent. He turns back to Darkseid and Death's silent duel, and focuses, closing his eyes.

When he opens them again, he is standing right with the two uber-powered beings, on the strange, metaphysical level that defines existence. He sees Death sawing at the strings that tie Darkseid to Existence, and looks up, searching for the root, the anchor point that's destruction would utterly undo the lord of Apokolips.

The Stig

*Mega Smasher.* You engage the hoverjets, and stick out your chest as panels of armor slide away from their positions, revealing a compact, but powerful beam cannon within the Gespenst. As soon as it's charged, you fire, using the thrusters to sweep the destructive beam around, obliterating the little monsters in a blaze of power.

If That Thing believed that this was enough to stop you, it would be sadly mistaken.

Dante

"Good, let's get going." Dante stomps deliberately towards the door, his handguns at the ready as he walks through.

Benkei

"Honestly, I doubt that even killing me would do the trick." Gritting his teeth, Benkei puts some distance between himself and Luthor, taking a stimpack out of his belt and slamming the needle into his shoulder.

The advanced combination of nanomachines and painkillers goes to work, supercharging the knitting of the coach's shattered bones. It'll take a little bit to complete its job, but if there's one thing Benkei's good at, it's playing it cagey.

Facing Luthor as he stands up, he grabs at the strap that has secured his rifle, finagling the weapon's grip into his left hand.

"Someone like you should be well acquainted with futile efforts, Luthor. You've devoted your life to them."

[AnimeKid]

Mary

Seeing as the Hilbert effect did nothing she merely focuses on making sure that no one is affected by the Equation

Yoshimori

Yoshimori looks at the man who towers over him and says in an irritated tone, "That would be none of your bussiness" he always did have issues with his height.

Fayt

He looks incredulusly at the small hole that Skellios slipped through and asks John, "How badly to the laws of physics get mangled in the Nightside".

[darkblade]

Darksied

That is why she will lose, Darksied does not care about the innocent realities that may diedue to his battle with death. Then again can things even die after he deals with Death? Not important for now.

Darksied charges the seemingly young woman and attempts to phsyically crush her with the force of countless worlds behind hiw blow.

The flow of Anti-Life leads off of Darksied to a world at the very center of reality, the world of the Dark Tower.

***

Dresden

I try to return Michael's smiles but I just can't. I return to searching the church either for Murphy or Mortimer, he knows something. If nothing else he can give me a clear answer if she's still alive.

***

Oracle

"Long story involving alien evil cybernetic masterminds and multidimensional phase frequencies. Long story short I have been only using that body for interacting with humans for a couple of years now, I've been primarily living within the machine network." Oracle shrugs.

"So do you have anti-viral protocol or not."

[doliest]

Death
She gets hurled back by the punch, only not flying into the atmosphere by her own power. She pushes herself up, a little dirt on her cloths, "Okay. My mistake. Let's get serious, then."

Her scythe glows, and it rings out with a sound not truly understood by mortal men. The call of Death. The call to enter her embrace, as all life does. Her scythe was known to species who've never created or even heard of the implement. She was known far and wide in one guise or another. She was a skeleton. A lovely woman. A young girl. A well groomed man in a business suit. . She was the ringing bell. The cold wind. The comforting light at the end. She was all of it an more. She was something to look forward to, and something to run from. The ultimate subpoena to your final judgment. She was Death. And she would not be resisted.