(This happens before New Earth)

The woman's screams echoed through her imprisonment. It was obviously the scream of the damned. But for some reason this scream stood out among the others. And it was the same every day, every night for that matter. You'd think by now her lungs would have gone hoarse and all you'd hear would be a whisper if anything at all, but it was the same. Not that the idea of a continuous scream is that rare in Hell, to be honest it was a very common occurence, it was made specifically for the purpose of torture after all. But somehow her scream was different, whether it be the volume or just the feeling behind the scream, it drowned out all the others.

"Gah!" Will suddenly woke up in a sweat, taking awhile to catch his breath. Looking over to the clock he groaned. It was his day off and because of that stupid dream he was awake at 3 in the morning. And it wasn't the first time he'd had that particular dream either. For the past couple of weeks, every single day it was the same dream, with the same woman screaming in the same place. At first he just thought maybe it was some suppressed guilt or something manifesting itself as a woman in constant torture. Or maybe a left over memory from one of the demons that now made up his body. From what he'd heard from Duo, Super had a similar experience when he switched bodies with Duo at the barbeque. When he'd fallen asleep in her body, he got visions of her death in the form of a dream.

But Will had a feeling that this wasn't the case this time. Flopping back on the bed he let out a sigh. Even after the dream was over he could still see after images of it. He'd had it so many times that off the top of his head he could remember every detail about the woman...which under other circumstances wouldn't be quite as bad since she was quite...well endowed, but the whole consistent pain thing kind of blows that buzz. This wasn't a dream though, despite how much Will wanted to make it 'only a bad dream' inside he knew it wasn't. "Okay okay I get it already. You're real and asking for my help. Could I just get 5 more hours of sleep please! You've been tortured for who knows how long now, what's five hours come on..." Will mumbled as he drifted off to sleep, but as soon as he did, the screaming started out once again.

Soon Will woke up once again, the beads of sweat going down his face. If it was this bad for him just watching it, he could imagine how bad it is for her going through it. With a defeated sigh, he sat up from his bed and let out a long stretch. By the end of the stretch, Will was donned in his costume once again liking the convenience of being able to do so without physically putting any of it on. It was one of the parts that he definitely missed during his powerless time.

Will had to admit that one good thing about the dream is that it didn't leave him groggy. He knew he'd have to go to Hell once again and the last way he'd want to do that is to be half awake since he barely got out alive the last time he was there. Closing his eyes Harm began to concentrate on the dream. As much as he could remember in fact. Though as much as he recalled of the actual woman, he was trying his best to see her surrounding's in his head. Maybe if he was able to concentrate on them enough, when she shadowported into Hell he'd be at least relatively close to where she was. If not...well, it would be a much more complicated process of asking his old aquaintances and hoping they would betray him like the last one did...which he'd like to avoid if possible.

Harm could feel the darkness surrounding him as he felt he got the best hold of the location as he could hope for. The first thing he noticed as always was the smell. You may think that you could imagine the way sulfur, brimstone and burning flesh smells, but words can't describe it. What worried Harm was the fact that as he took a big breath and opened his eyes that part of him missed it. And just as he dreamed, the sounds of the tormented rang through his ears, and just as he dreamed, one of them stood out and sounded pretty close in fact. "Bingo." In front of him he saw the jagged stone constructs that made up the woman's prison as well as the barrier over it. "Don't worry. I'm on my way." Harm said in a dark tone as he made his way up to the barrier.

The barrier seemed to be quite an effective one as Harm shadowport into it. Not only was the pure fact that he couldn't get through it frustrating but this close he could blatantly hear the tortured screams. Taking a deep breath, Harm closed his eyes and began to chant. Since he couldn't break it, and couldn't bypass it, he'd cut off the power source, or better yet, absorb it's source into himself. Harm felt the raw magic sweep into his body, giving him flashes of his own time in the fire. He immediately realized why that came to mind. Because the same being personally made them. But this time as Harm opened his eyes he saw that it was gone. "Guess that makes the score 1-1 this time, dad... In this body anyway." Harm said with a tired sigh as he made his way up the staircase.

Considering how hard it was to get through the barrier, Harm didn't know what to expect, since possibly it was only his connection to who made the barrier that allowed him to break through it in the first place. Though if he was already inside it might have been much more complicated. And because of that fact, he was going in on foot instead of simply shadowporting inside. With his enhanced speed though, that wasn't an issue as he made it inside the structure. He didn't need to have the directions or even his mystical abilities that allowed him to zero in on her. He just followed the screams. And sure enough, the more he followed the screams the hotter it got until he finally saw the room which of course was filled with hellfire.

Harm took a deep breath. His new body might be slightly resistant to hellfire, but he's far from invulnerable from it. But he couldn't just let her suffer like that and the fire gave off too much light to shadowport into it. Letting out a deep sigh, Harm jumped in, once more feeling the flames painfully embrace him. The fire made it nearly impossible to see, and now his screams were melding with hers. But soon he felt someone as he reached out and whether it was her or not he'd have to take it this time, as he shortly transformed into his demonic form, his size making it easier to get out of the fire as both of them hit the ground like someone who'd been saved by a lifeguard. Looking over to her he saw her baffled look from his currently blurry vision which worked quite well since the woman was currently naked. "One...sec..." Harm was barely able to let out, out of both exhaustion and the fact that the woman was currently hugging him so hard he could barely breathe when a funny thought crossed his mind. 'I'd have such a hard time explaining this situation to Cass...'

"Thank you...thank you...so much...whoever...you are...thank you..." As awkward as it was, Harm returned the embrace as he could completely relate to her pain, though the thought had occured to him that maybe he couldn't. He could only recently sense her after getting his demonic connections back, who knew how long she was there before he'd been able to. "Don't worry, I've got you. It's no biggie, I do this kinda stuff one, two times a week." Harm said with a smirk that wasn't seen as the woman had yet to actually look at his face as she clung to him trembling. Speaking of which, Harm took off his cape and draped it over her so at least he could say that he was looking at her face.

Using his ablilities, he changed the material in the cape to form an outfit...though since it was a cape originally he only had so much material to work with so it wasn't the most...modest outfit. "I don't know how long you've been in there but it'd be a good idea for us to get out of here as soon as possible." Harm said, looking around in suspicion. His father went through a lot of trouble to trap her here and someone would probably realize pretty soon that the barrier wasn't there and the screaming had stopped. When Harm looked back he was surprised slightly as he saw the woman looking directly at him. Getting a good look at her, the first thing he noticed was that her complexion was literally snow white, a contrast to her black eyes.

"You...got through the barrier...but...to do that you'd...have to be.." Harm let out a sigh as his eyes narrowed. "One of the six, yes." He replied in disgust which got a creepy smile from her which he chose to ignore. "What can I call you?" The woman finally pulled away from Harm as she flicked her white hair, which was so long it almost hit the ground. "You can call me...Mortem...brother."

Harm knew they needed to go but raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Mortem. "Brother?" Mortem seemed to look away as she thought but with no visible pupils it was hard to tell. "Well, half-brother anyway..." Immediately Harm's eyes narrowed once again as he backed up slightly putting some space between the two. "So you're one of the six as well. Interesting since I was told that our dear father killed all of you." That seemed to strike a chord as Mortem's expression changed. "...Normally you'd be right...I think...he planned to but..he forgot about me..." She said, though her tone and body language made her look vulnerable again, which relaxed Harm for some reason.

"..um..That's a good thing isn't it? Because you're alive and all?" Harm said as he got closer to her again, though obviously still being cautious. "..who are you, brother? If I may ask?" To be frank, it didn't sit well with Harm having someone besides Greta call him brother, but he felt now wasn't the time to bring that up, nor was it fare to be harsh to her because of which side of the family she came from...until she gave him reason to do so. "You can call me Harm. You'll excuse me for my cautiousness, Mortem, but if you tried to take over Satan's throne, it kind of leads me to think that you're...ya know...evil." Mortem looked up to Harm as her expression subtly changed. First she looked confused, then slowly she looked with a condescending amusement, like Harm was a little kid who'd just said that the stars in the sky were fireflies that got stuck up there.

"My dear brother, all that defines the term 'evil' is the one who says it at the time. I tried to overtake our father for the protection of my people. Hm..out of curiosity what was your mother?" While Harm remained close to Mortem, his guard was far from dropped especially after her answer to the evil question. "I'm not sure what you mean." Harm stated, genuinely confused by the question. "No two children of the six have the same race for a mother, whether it be demon or alien." "Oh. Um, she was human." Once again Mortem's expression changed as soon as she heard the race as she looked into Harm's eyes almost as if she was trying to look through him. "Really now...he must be getting desperate. I mean...to use a human..." Harm wasn't sure but it was just the way Mortem said human, it was like the word was a slur to her.

"And just what is your race?" Harm said, as he was slightly glaring down at her. "I am part Eldrich. Have you heard of them?" Mortem said matter-of-factly as she looked back up to him intently, her expression contrasting with his as he shook his head. "That's good...especially since you probably live with humans." For Harm that was the last straw. "Okay maybe you seemed to be forgetting that since my mother is human, which would make me part human as well, that maybe it's not your best interests to keep bashing them." "My dear, brother. No offence was intended. Forgive my biase. My people just...haven't had the best relationship with humans, I didn't mean anything to you personally. I'd be more than happy to show my appreciation for you rescuing me if you'd be willing to come home with me to Aglorond." Mortem politely offered.

In Harm's head there were practically sirens going off that were saying that it wasn't a good idea. He should just say that's okay, she's family(an idea he still found odd) accept her thanks, and then go back to his own home. He had no clue where Aglorond was or what the Eldrich were like, common sense would say to study up on them and maybe look her up later. Only an idiot would go into the unknown with a mysterious woman he just met. "...Sure, no problem."

Mortem's lips moved slightly as it seemed to form a genuine smile. "Take my hand. As you said before it is likely someone will notice the barrier's been destroyed." Harm was reluctant but still took his sister's hand. Immediately if felt like they were in the middle of a tornado. Oddly enough the first thought that crossed Harm's mind was that he was worried that between both of thier insanely long hair that the stong air would tangle them. It's weird the things you think about in those situations. The actual form of transportation didn't actually surprise Harm that much considering all the different kinds he'd gone through, from shadowporting to smoke jumping to boom tubes. Though if he had to say which one this was most like it'd probably be Duo's spell to get to Hell, which only made him more on edge.

But Harm did his best to focus so that he could follow where the spell was going in case he needed to leave and get back. Oddly enough it seemed that they were appearing somewhere in Massachusetts from what Harm could sense. As suddenly as it started the wind stopped, leaving both sets of hair intact, though Mortem seemed to be slightly woozy. Out of habit Harm put his arm around her to help brace her. "Are you alright?" Mortem looked into Harm's eyes once again just giving him a creepy 'this is just wrong' feeling. "I'm still kind of...out of it. I haven't used my powers in so long... Thank you brother." Harm raised an eyebrow as she hadn't readied herself so he didn't feel he should let her go yet. "You're not...gonna go all...'Devil's Advocate' on me are you?" Harm asked, half joking. Mortem cocked her head to the side, obviously not getting the reference, which made sense considering she'd probably been burning well before the movie came out. But as she reached up and put her hands on Harm's cheeks and brought up her forehead to his forehead to hers he began to think maybe she got the reference more than she was letting on until he felt a familiar sensation but put him at ease and on edge at the same time.

He'd trained enough with the White Mage to know when someone was reading his mind, and Mortem was definitely scanning his mind. "What are you doing?" Harm said calmly knowing full well what she was doing, but curious about her answer as he began to block off certain parts of his mind. "I'm merely getting a basic understanding of you, brother..and trying to get the reference of...ah...that was a joke about Satanic incest. How amusing. I suppose me getting this close to you so suddenly isn't helping your worries any?" Mortem said in her same mellow voice as she stood up under her own power but soon got a smirk across her face. "Though I would like to point out that it was you who gave me this quite revealing outfit. Of course you didn't know we were related then did you?" Mortem said as she began to walk away as Harm blushed slightly which was barely visible due to the simulated face paint. "H-hey! I can't create new material, just...rearrange what's there, and any more than my cape and I'd be the one whose half naked." Mortem either didn't hear the explanation or chose not to answer as she continued walking and Harm began to take in his surroundings. "...whoa..."

It looked like he'd suddenly entered some medieval festival or something. "Welcome to Aglorond." Mortem said with pride as she noticed Harm looking around. "It's beautiful." He said as he looked around at the people who seemed to be doing various jobs. He did notice that while they did resemble Mortem, there were some differences. Mainly not only was their skin and hair white, but so were their eyes. In fact one of the things that stood out about them were their bright clothes, which popped out even more due to their complexion. As he looked over to Mortem she seemed taken away as well. "Yes. It is." "But...this is a pretty big place for no one to know about." Mortem turned back with a slight smile. "True, Aglorond is in roughly in Salem, but there's a spell over this specific area that phases us enough out of your reality that it's practically impossible to find it unless you know specifically where it is as well as how to access the dimension. We're technically overlapping over Salem in fact." As interesting as Harm found this it did raise one question. "So there could technically be people and buildings going through us at this moment...then...what would happen to us if the spell over Aglorond was broken?" Mortem turned back to Harm with a serious expression. "You don't want to know..."

"But why risk it? You can't tell me that you hate humans that mu-" Harm started before he was interrupted by a loud yell followed by a clatter which sounded like it was coming from a little boy. Quickly turning he saw in one of the houses that a pretty muscular Eldrich had just stabbed a young boy who'd obviously been the one who yelled as the blood began to flow from his shoulder. "Get up, boy! Your enemy won't show you any restraint!" The Eldrich said as he went for another stab which connected this time with the boy's leg as he let out another scream as he tried to scramble for his discarded sword. Immediately Harm went for the kid only to get held back by Mortem. "Let them be." Mortem stated as calmly as ever much to Harm's surprise as he turned back.

"Your 'fighting'...if you want to call it that...is pathetic!" The Eldrich said as he went for another strike which the boy barely avoided while clutching his leg with one hand and trying to swing his sword with the other. "If you can't dodge these simple attacks.." The Eldrich started, but from the way he was positioning his sword Harm could tell the next blow was going to be a death blow and despite Mortem's protest he let out an energy blast knocking the sword out of the Eldrich's hand. Of course this took the Eldrich by surprise as Harm moved Mortem to the side as he made his way to him. "I know a thing or two about harsh training but I do believe actually killing them is a bit overkill don't you?" Harm said as his fury was obvious despite his calm demeanor. "How dare you interfere!? He's weak." The Eldrich pointed at the sniffling boy and back at Harm with just as much anger. Before Harm could reply Mortem stepped in the way calmly.

"Easy you two. I apologize to you, Sarittar. He's an outsider, he doesn't know our ways yet." Immediately Harm's eyes nearly popped out of his head if something like this was one of their 'ways' he wasn't sure he wanted to know the other. Seeing Harm's expression, Mortem calmly raised her hands. "Don't worry. I'll explain, which will answer your ealier question about the spell as well." Now it was time for Sarittar to be the one who was surprised as he seemingly saw Mortem for the first time. "Lady Mortem!" He said in alarm as he fell to his knees. Raising an eyebrow Harm looked from the now bowing Sarittar to 'Lady' Mortem. "Something else you forgot to explain?" Harm said sarcastically causing Mortem to smirk slightly. "You never asked." Harm gave Mortem a slight glare as she began to tell her story.

"You asked why we have such a hate for humans? It's not so much of a hate as a fear...with good reason. We weren't always..." Mortem looked at the boy and Sarittar. "...like this. Originally we were a peaceful people and lived without the majority of humans knowing about us for years. But after awhile there was a backlash against those that were different, and we...fit the bill for that even though we never showed any agression towards the humans. Eventually the few who we trusted turned on us, labelling us 'witches' and hunted us nearly to extinction. True we knew magic, but it wasn't even offensive magic. As I said, we were peaceful. We didn't know how to fight back, but the few of us that were left learned from what they saw. They were able to fight back enough of the humans that we were able to use our magic to hide those of us that remained. But the humans began to learn magic as well so eventually they will find us. We have to be prepared this time. We can't afford to be weak, Harm. Can't you understand?"

"So you're basically saying the reason you're so violent is because humans made you that way, hence your fear/hate for them, right?" Harm said doing his best not to show any emotion. He didn't agree with what he saw regardless of the reasons behind it. Mortem nodded in agreement. "Exactly. If it weren't for them we would still be peaceful... And there would be more of us. This village is all that's left. The remainders of our race have to be strong." "But is it really worth it if you end up killing the weak?" Harm replied as he helped the boy up. "Especially if they'd have the potential to be strong if you let them grow up more." Mortem gave Harm a sly smirk at his show of kindness. "How were you when you were his age?" Harm immediately got flashes of him putting the bullies that would eventually become his friends and even later become his enemies again into the hospital when they bullied Greta.

"That's not a fair comparison and we both know why." Harm said darkly as Mortem smirked back at him. "That just further proves my point. To those meant to be strong, age isn't as much of a factor as you make it out to be." Harm began to glare once again as he came upon a realization. "Funny how your peoples' ways have stayed exactly the same the entire time that you've been imprisonned." Once again a smirk was Harm's reply. "It's called survival Harm. And this is how we do it. If our ways had of changed I would have had quite the issue to whoever took my place. Speaking of which who has been ruling Aglorond?" Mortem asked turning back to Sarittar. "That would be Tvarus, of course my lady." Sarittar said politely as once again he bowed to Mortem who seemed quite pleased with that news. "Thank you Sarittar. And please don't kill the boy. My brother obviously sees potential in him." Mortem said with a warm smile to the boy before turning back to Harm. "We should go to the castle and see him."

Harm's expression remained stern despite Mortem's lifted spirits. "Why do I get the feeling that this whole 'might is right' deal your race has follows it's leader as well, Lady Mortem?" Harm said dryly, which Mortem did pick up on...she'd have to be blind to not have. "I don't understand your hostility. If you're implying that I would have to kill Tvarus you have nothing to worry about. Like you, he is my half brother, I wouldn't dream of killing him." Mortem said as she took Harm's hand. This didn't put him anymore at ease since the way Mortem phrased it, had it been anyone besides Tvarus she would have killed him. And the way Mortem smirked as that thought crossed his mind made him question if she was still reading his mind. This time Harm did the instant transportation since he could see the castle. When they appeared up to it the guards looked hostile until they saw Mortem and immediately opened the doors for her, with a bow. Harm also took note that they did this rather quickly as if they were afraid of what would happen if they didn't.

Before Harm could ponder this more the two of them were met by someone roughly around Harm's size but like the other Eldrich he wore bright colors, in this case red and blue. And by the crown on his head there was a very obvious assumption to be made. "Tvarus." Mortem said with an almost invisible bow, especially compared to the one that Tvarus returned. "My lady. It's been too long. We'd all thought you dead." Mortem seemed pleased with the bow as her expressions showed. "I might as well have been. I'm proud that it was you who took my place." "Of course, my lady. If I may be so bold who is this you bring with you?" Tvarus asked giving Harm a suspicious look, similar to the one Sarittar had given him when he first saw him. Which did make sense when you thought about it. While Harm did look slightly Eldrich, his hair and eyes made him stand out. "This is Harm. While he is an outsider. It was he who freed me from my imprisonment. I am indebted to him."

Not really one for bowing Harm simply nodded his head which Tvarus returned. "In that case I am indebted to you as well." Harm nodded once again, while the words were kind you could tell Tvarus was still warey of him. But then again, Harm might have been the only outsider to ever be allowed into Aglorond.

"Aglorond seems to have flourished since I've been gone." Mortem stated as she looked out of a high window looking down at them. "Yes, milady. You've been gone quite awhile, nearly 200 years." Harm seemed to be the only one surprised by how long Mortem had apparently been in Hell. The fact that she seemed fine now after being tortured that long was just...wow...

"200 years..." "Yes. Though you've come back at a very good time. Seeing you will raise the spirits of our people at this time." Both Mortem and Harm both looked suspiciously at Tvarus after the 'at this time'. "And exactly what would be dampening the spirits of my people in the first place, my brother." Mortem said in such a tone that even Harm found himself slightly creeped out. It would definitely seem that her 'people' would be the button you wouldn't want to press and Tvarus immediately jumped on the defensive. "I apologize. That came out...more blunt that I'd planned. Allow me to explain in more comfortable quarters. Your...friend is welcome to join us if you wish."

Mortem's expression lightened slightly as she nodded. "Of course. Harm is my brother on my father's side. We're all family here." With that said, Tvarus seemed to relax a little more with how he watched Harm though he now looked with curiousity at the demon. The trio walked silently up the castle while Harm continued to ponder exactly what was going on. Technically him and Greta were half siblings as well and even if he'd been king, if he'd thought that she'd been dead for 200 years, when he found out she wasn't it'd have probably taken an Apocalypse for him to release the embrace when he saw her. But yet, all Tvarus and Mortem did was bow to each other.

As they got into the room it kind of reminded Harm of the Titans' war room as they sat down. Tvarus was all business as he immediately got to the business at hand. "Let me start from the beginning. As you probably remeber, the humans have always had a slight affinity with magic which put us on edge. As the years went on they began refining they're ablities a few times we were worried that they might have found us, but we got a saving grace. We don't know all the details but something went around killing as many magical beings as it could find. Whatever it was it was stopped before it found us, but their magic has never been weaker. Which is good for us now but this isn't the first time this has happened and every time..." "A new more powerful age of magic starts." Harm stated for him having a bad feeling where this was going. Seeming slightly impressed by the answer Tvarus continued.

"Exactly. If the new age starts, I have no doubt we'll be found out once it stabilizes." Mortem took in the new knowledge and nodded in agreement. "So we have to stop it before it can start. So you've started mobilizing our troops." "Of course." Immediately Harm cleared his throat loud enough for both of them to stop. "I know Tvarus doesn't know this, but I did grow up with humans and was born half human so I would qualify them as my people. And I don't take kindly to attacks on them." Harm said, once again not hiding his hostility, despite Mortem's patient expression. "I don't understand you, brother. You'd think you of all people would understand what we're trying to do."

Cocking his head to the side, Harm looked with good reason, quite confused. "I'd understand you attacking the people I spend practically all my time trying to protect? Explain this to me." "Your...people are savages, Harm. You know this better than most. You've dealt with the worst humanity has to offer. There might be a few genuinely good ones, but they're just the prey for the majority. You spend all this time protecting them when all you're doing is prolonging their agony. Can you even name any of your 'friends' that don't go through daily torture?"

Harm hated being put in positions like this. The fact is while he hated to admit it, she was at least partially right, but he did say the first name to come to mind. "Cassie, she's genuinely a good person." Mortem gave a smile to that reply as if she were expecting it. "You mean, the Greek demigoddess? She represents humanity? I suppose you could have also used Superboy as well, whose a clone of an alien? Even using them both, I'm sure you know neither of them can be completely happy. Cassie still has memories of what Vicious did to you...and almost did to her....Superboy has to live with fighting one of his genetic fathers..." "Okay, fine. Robin." "The same Robin who almost joined the League of Assassins because of how empty he felt because his father was killed? My dear brother...why haven't you mentioned your sister? Or your best friend? Or her best friend for that matter?" Harm continued to glare as he continued to try to think despite the way Mortem was twisting his choices. "I'll tell you why. Supersonic, Secret, and Shinigami are the ones who represent humanity. Sure they all start off innocent. But because the rest of you get corrupted, so do they. They can fight it all they want, but the fact is someone, whether it be Vicious...or even you, Harm...someone corrupts them, and they either fall into the darkness or spend the rest of their life fighting it.

How could I put this bluntly. You're people are #$%^ed....you know they're $%^&ed...we're just trying to eliminate the middle man here. After all, you do believe that those who are genuinely good will go to Heaven and out of the Hell they're forced to live though now don't you?"

It seemed like Tvarus and Mortem were staring a hole through Harm as he thought. He hated when the bad guys made sense. But think as he might he couldn't think of anyone of his friends who would have represented someone who didn't go through daily torture. Even Cissie was basically trying to live down what she almost did. "So? You see that I'm right. You know there's a Heaven just as sure as there's a Hell. Why not just let them deal with it? Join us brother." Mortem said as she got up and put her hand on Harm's shoulder. Harm let out a long sigh. "But it isn't just humanity that has the potential for evil...look at Tamaranians, Czarnians, Apokalyptians for crying out loud. You can't tell me that there isn't any biase your your 'eradicate all things human' agenda."

Mortem merely smiled back at Harm. "I don't deny it. I want to kill every last one of them for what they did to my people. I'm simply pointing out that there's a logical merit and reason behind my biase." As Harm turned back to Mortem the two of them seemed to be having almost a silent argument with their eyes. "No, I don't care how hopeless we might seem. I can't merit an attack on them. I don't care if you succeed or not." Harm said as he moved Mortem's hand and stood up. "Brother...I was trying not to go this route but...how exactly do you plan on stopping us?" Mortem's expression was no longer the friendly one that she usually looked at Harm with but similar to the one she'd given Tvarus previously.

"Well, I'd prefer to talk you out of it but if it comes down to force I can go that way too." Harm threatened with a look just as serious. The sides of Mortem's lips began to move slightly as she formed an amused smirk. "And just how do you plan on fighting an entire village of people who do nothing but make themselves stronger?" Harm's expression stayed the same as his eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't have to. After all I'm pretty sure the ruler would be the best fighter. So if I took out the one in control, I doubt I'd have to do much more." Harm said glaring at Mortem and Tvarus. But Tvarus replied by merely crossing his arms and turning to Mortem who wasn't looking very pleased at the moment. "You have a lot of faith in someone whose been through endless torture for 200 years." Harm said with a bitter tone before turning his gaze to Mortem as well.

"I see...I was hoping that the demon in you would overpower the human, which is the only reason I let you step foot in Aglorond, but I see I was wrong. But know this, the only reason I lost against father dearest is because he used my peoples' safety against me. I don't need to be at full power to defeat a miserable little hybrid like you." There was a bright flash of white and before Harm knew what was going on he was slamming into the ground. His vision was slightly blurry as he looked up to see that he was no longer in the same room and there was a considerable hole through the wall...actually...through about 3 of them. "Ow...maybe I should have gone the talking route..." Harm muttered as he got up to see Mortem in front of him. Before he could react she already had him dangling in the air by his neck. "I like you, Harm. I really don't want to do this but you're giving me no choice. You challenged my power. But I will give you one more chance to make the right choice."

"I did." Harm choked out as he let out as much of his demonic power he could without changing into his demonic form. As useful as that form was, he was in closed quarters, it would be more of a hinderance than a help against someone as powerful as she obviously was. That was the only reason he let out that much power in the first place, he couldn't really afford to hold back, considering that was her first shot and doubtfully her best. Looking up he saw the damage he'd done with his blast which was significantly more than hers. "Heh.." "Heh, yourself." Before Harm was able to turn around to where the voice was he felt the blow against his back so strong that he knew he'd have to make the best of his healing power as once again he was sent flying but this time he was stopped midair by a kick and then stopped again multiple times like he was a ping pong ball and Mortem was the player.

Harm finally hit the floor with a sickening bounce. It took him a few breaths before he was even able to take a full one as his bones began to reset themselves. In a way he wished he could do it instantly like he did before, but then again he might not have had the wits to use it. Slowly he looked up to see Mortem gliding down to the floor. He'd have to be smart about this if he was going to win. She might be powerful but she'd been tortured for so long there had to be some scars. He just had to exploit that. He stood up slower that he actually could have, making it seem like he was more injured than he was. "You think just because you have a little demon in you that you can stand against me? I am many years your elder. You can't win this fight." And the moment he thought Mortem was going to make a move he opened a portal to a section of Hell. He knew she wouldn't fall in it since she'd shown she could fly but sure enough, seeing the hellfire froze her in her tracks as fear came across her face. "You just got one thing wrong, 'sis'. I've got a lot of demon in me." Taking advantage of that opening Harm dashed at her and hit her multiple times as hard as he could ignoring the fact that her own bones and flesh were being broken and ruptured with each blow.

He just let his instincts take over as he let Mortem have it. While Harm did his best not to unleash his demonic form everything else was game as he let his more vicious side go. He only stopped once he noticed she wasn't putting any resistance up and he finally let her hit the ground. This turned out ot be a mistake though, as she stopped herself from completely hitting the ground and on the rebound from it healed all of Harm's damage instantly as he could feel his jaw being dislocated from her uppercut before he could even think 'Awww crap.' Before he could protest, Harm found himself pinned down to the ground with Mortem's knee over his neck. "Your body might be that of a demon, brother...but your soul..." Mortem started as she lifted her hand which began to glow as she shoved it into Harm's stomach. "Your soul is all too human." All Harm could feel was pain as it felt like Mortem was literally ripping his soul from his body as she began to pull her hand up. "You let the power you think you have go to your head. I could have taught you what true power was, Harm. But now, the only use I have for you is to remind my people why I rule them."

Harm could barely see staight as it was and as his soul was slowly separating from his body everything began going black. "You...say...I'm human...like...it's a...weakness..." Harm used all of the energy he had left to grab Mortem's arm stopping it where it was. "...but...it's where...I get my strength." Harm finished as he twisted Mortem's arm in a way that broke it as well as releasing her grip. This time he summoned his sais and began to implement a trick he learned when he fought Shrike during the afformentioned situation with Robin and the League of Assassins, which entailed him magically controlling the weapons while attacking physically. This was particularly hard to defend against since you had to guard against the pointed weapons as well as the blows.

Now knowing that Mortem could heal faster than he could he didn't feel so bad about letting her have it. Sure enough she tended to block the physical blows more than the blades and it was showing. Like his previous healing power it seemed that she had to think about it for it to work which was in his favor. To keep herself alive she couldn't actually fight back, she could only defend and heal herself. As long as she was kept on the defensive, he was in charge of the fight. And if her healing factor was like Harm's, it had the same weakness. If he kept doing it, it became less effective each time. Eventually to heal wounds of the magnitude he was causing would take all of his concentration. And Harm's plan seemed to work to a 'T' as he changed the sais into two swords and had both of them crossed at Mortem's neck. He seriously doubted she could heal being beheaded and this was shown by her expression. As always the more 'immortal' the person, the more scared they were to die.

Though her fearful expression began to fade as she looked into Harm's eyes. "Who do you think you're fooling, brother? You won't kill me. Not as long as your girlfriend is against it." Harm let out a defeated sigh. "You're right. I'm one of the good guys so I don't kill, right? But you know what? I'm sick and tired of fighting the same enemies over and over because it's not moral to take them out. And you know what? What Cassie doesn't know won't hurt her." Harm's eyes glared into Mortem's as her fearful expression returned. "Unfortunately, it will kill you." With that, Harm pulled the swords apart and watched as Mortem was separated into Mortem's head and the rest of her. Slowly turning around Harm looked at Tvarus who seemed to be in a mixtured of both shock and awe as he ran out of the room. This wasn't over though and Harm knew it as he called the shadows to him once again going to Hell.

Meanwhile..."Well well. Look who we have here." The lord of darkness stated as he saw the new entrant to Hell in front of his throne. "Why, Lady Mortem, I'd almost forgotten about you. I see you've bitten off a bit more than you could chew." Lady Mortem's spiritual form merely bowed quietly in the face of her father. This was one thing she didn't want, now she was completely at his mercy because of her medling half brother. "You don't have to speak, my daughter. I know who sent you here. Quite funny to think about it really. I don't think I've ever seen two of my children fight each other. It's a shame that I missed it. Sometimes I get the feeling that my bloodline is destined to destroy itself until there's only one." Mortem simply let out a sigh as she listened to Satan's rant, to be honest it was all she could do. Only he could give her a body so she could return, so at least for now she had to play nice. "But I doubt you were at 100%. And if you were I don't see my son defeating you again. So the question is, what would do I get out of restoring you to your former glory?"

"Nothing." Harm's voice rang out immediately after Mortem picked her head up in interest. Once again, she was beheaded but this time it was for good since there's not return after the soul's gone. "I'm sick of this father. I swear if you send one more Vicious or Hellfire or any other being after me as a test that's going to be the last straw. I will search the Earth and kill every single one of your followers and come down here and finish the job. Do I make myself clear?" Harm threatened, there was no sense of fear or retreat in his eyes as he glared at his father who seemed like he couldn't be happier by the turn of events. "Crystal." "Good." Harm shot back as he shadowported back to Aglorond.

He wasn't lying when he said he was tired of his villains coming back. There's only so much of fighting the same people before you just get sick and tired of it. Harm wasn't sure he'd be able to make it back to Aglorond but he made it back in the first shot in front of the castle. He could only growl as he saw what was in front of it. It was Tvarus in front of what he could only assume to be damn near every other Eldrich. Pulling out both swords he prepared himself. "I'm not pulling any punches, Tvarus. Mortem is dead and not coming back, and if I have to kill each and every one of you, I'll do it. I'm not going to deal with having to look over my shoulder waiting for your revenge. If we're going to do this then do it." Harm threatened as the red in his eyes burned with Hellborn energy. But to his surprise, Tvarus fell to his knees as did all the other Eldrich. "All hail Harm, the ruler of Aglorond." He said as it was followed by a chorus of 'All Hail'. "Aw...hell.." Harm muttered as he realized what just happened. They followed the most powerful, and Harm defeated their most powerful making him... "I'm the ruler of Aglorond?"

Tvarus lifted his head merely to answer the new king. "Yes, my lord. You are the most powerful." Harm's first instinct was to say he didn't want to rule them but then he thought about it. On one hand he could renounce his throne and have them go after him for killing their queen and on the other he could be king and just have to worry about the occassional person going after his throne as opposed to the whole race. The answer was quite simple really. "So be it. First there shall be no attack against the humans. I'll make sure they never find out about Aglorond so you'll be safe. You can continue to train if you wish but no more killing the weak, is that understood?" Once again a chorus of agreement was heard which Harm had to say kind of boosted his already big ego. "You may rise. Tvarus will rule when I'm not here, but I doubt he'd do anything he thought I wouldn't approve. Isn't that right, Tvarus?" Harm threatened as he pointed a sword at him. "Yes sire." Tvarus quickly replied. "As you were then." Harm said as he shadowported away from Aglorond, partially kicking himself for ever even coming there. "Great...just what I need...lackeys...."

The End

(( LOL. Awesome story. ^_^ Kudos to you...or slurpies, if you prefer ))