Preface Part 1
Title: Lethal in Leather (Preface/Info)
Author: Raven
Email: burnehazard@hotmail.com
Rating: This part is PG-PG13 for some language.
Fandom: Xena: Warrior Princes (may include some Herc later on)
Pairing: Ares/Joxer; Cupid/Strife; Other/Other
Disclaimer:
Ares, Joxer, Cupid, Strife and all other characters from Hercules or
Xena shows/movies/etc are NOT owned by me (unluckily for me, maybe
luckily for you) and are only being borrowed for non-profit
entertainment and fun, so please don't sue. I DO own the Blood God;
Burne, God of Pain, Pleasure and Corruption so no filching him
without my express permission please. Writer does not take
responsibility for any content in writing that is offensive,
tasteless or downright pitiful, yet will admit to having produced
it. Any response from readers, critics or other viewers is their
sole response and was not forced or guided by writer thus he cannot
be held responsible. Any further problems or complaints must be
taken to the nearest mental institution to be analyzed by the staff
on basis of the writer claiming temporary insanity.
Warning: Um, as I have no idea where the fic is going to head, best
be ready for anything from character death to male pregnancy to odd
pairings to freaky occurrences and other insanity. Writer is also
along for the ride on this one...
Summary: This will come later when the first part is finished.
"Okay, due ta the writer's insecurity--ow!"
A black glare is sent in the direction of Raven before both
settle.
"This writer decided that perhaps a bit a background would be
wise 'fore we get ta the really interestin' stuff. My name is Burne,
called the Blood God but otherwise known as the God of Pain, Pleasure
and Corruption if ya want the full title. Normally, I dun really
talk like this, but...it does kinda happen when I get lazy."
Raven grumbles, "Cut the wise-cracks and get to the point
already, we're wasting valuable time."
"Pushy. Okay, enough silliness. I am a God that
was...created you could say, in what is the Far Future in that it is
beyond the time of the One God. Yep, I hail from a time past the
silence of Ancient Gods and Modern ones. Of course, with the fall of
the One God, it left spaces open...and in that place, two races were
created from the desperation and random prayers or faith of humans."
"You see...and I'm certain most of you are aware of what I'm
talking about...after the events of a certain September 11, and the
destruction of the World Trade Center in the city of New York,
country being that of the United States of America...the War on
Terrorism evolved into an all-out World War Three. The One God had
staged that little demonstration in effort to cause more mortals to
pray to him. Empty prayers with false faith were his downfall...and
with that, all traces of The Way. And thank the Stars that happened."
"Unfortunately, that war came very close to completely wiping
out the entire planet. You're lucky to see green that isn't a patchy-
poor dye on cloth or paint where I come from, almost all plants are
gone. The earth is a wasteland of poisoned lakes and decaying
deserts of ash and sand. Machines grind constantly to make poisoned
air into breathable air and cities...what few there are...are all
packed with survivors where the protection of bio domes make life
possible."
Raven clears his throat. "Burne...back on track here please."
"Right, right. Anyway, all of the energy and random faith
brought about two races of new Gods. Light and Dark. Me, well, you
can pretty much tell I'm a Dark God myself...title an' all. I was
one of the first, if not the first to awaken though as I remember the
Towers incident foggily. But I only really came to when
Japan...which had overtaken and basically dominated China joined with
North America, as their area of the world was the first hit an' the
States with Canada were wide open for people having lost so many of
their own. So, that new country became known as the United
Amerojapan. Corny name, eh?"
Again the writer glowers and reaches out to thwap Burne
upside his head.
"Okay! Sheesh. Anyway, this new merging managed to survive
the end of the Third World War...as did others like Englo-France and
the United Spanish Africa. The rest, well, not enough people in once
place to really make any true countries. Oh, yeah, Germain was in
there too."
"On to the Gods. Me, I was the main God of the UA...times
were killer, the people Godless...so I got saddled with three general
problems being Pain, Pleasure and Corruption. Supposedly I took over
for old Lucifer himself. Seduction, Sin and Corruption were my
specialties with Pain and Pleasure being the strongest part of the
mix. Yeah, me, big bad leather-clad sex god. Granted, my appearance
was different for each one, with or without the wings."
"Dark Gods...well, I guess you could say were the lesser of
the two evils ever since the One God botched things up royally. We
at least looked human...I had wings, I know that my closest friend
had a tail and talons, being the Twisted Goddess, aka Goddess of
Lies, Deception and Disgrace. The Light Gods though, man, you think
you've seen monsters, you ain't never seen anythin' like them! More
animal and alien than human. Hazard is their strongest and is
naturally my rival. Go figure. Yep, she's the Beast Goddess, or as
others refer to her, Goddess of Destruction, Chaos and Possession.
Nasty bitch if I do say so myself."
"So, there ya go. My world, a summary."
"Burne, you forgot that last part we discussed."
The winged god blinks, frowning, "I did?"
Raven nods, glowering.
"Oh! Right...erm, in the Far Future, the Gods are born
already dying...since it's likely the Last Age of Man period...unless
something is done. Also, the main problem that we Dark Gods have is
the fact we live on the surface or in the Cities as Light Gods are
subterranean creatures. But, they are also the cause for Storms.
An' I dun mean storms like you know. These things are nasty, semi-
sentient killers that leave nothing alive or whole in their path.
And Hazard is especially lethal with hers...makes flying a danger
with the Winds and Bolts they produce. There, now we done?"
Glancing over at the notes, Raven skims through them before
nodding. "I believe so. Now, if you'll get back into place I can
get back to writing this fic out."
Burne grins darkly, fangs flashing in the dim light.
Pausing, Raven frowns. "Oh, before I forget. The coming fic
is going to be from an impromptu challenge I took from a friend over
the phone. It may seem like a Marty Stu, but...well, I can't really
say or ruin the whole thing...but I hope that it is not disappointing
as you will still have your Ares/Joxer and Cupid/Strife pairings...I
think..." Eyeing the lingering Blood God, he frowns.
"Well, anyway, um...I may need a Beta's help as the names of
the Fates and various town-names in ancient Greece are...ahem,
currently missing from my memory. I do hope you'll enjoy the fic as
it is going to be the first one for Xena/Herc fandoms I've tried."
"Oh, and if Raven screws up, feel free to flame him, he loves
the opinions of others as usually he's his own worst critic anyway."
"BURNE!"
"I know, I know...I'm gittin'!"
---------
Raven glances up and clears his throat softly.
"Oh-kay, I just realized while skimming over and editing the first
part of this fic that I forgot to throw a few things up while I had
Burne out in front of you...so, let's clear that up now, shall we?"
Motioning with the tip of a dagger to a board just slightly behind
his left shoulder, he sighs.
"I do not claim these images, I'm merely using them as an example on
how this God looks. In this image;
http://www.geocities.com/bloodburne/Kaoru15.jpg you can see what
Burne would look like in an every-day setting...without the red
streaks in his hair that is. His right eye is always concealed."
The tip of the dagger moves on to the second image.
"Here:
http://www.geocities.com/bloodburne/Kaoru28.jpg an example of
his hair's coloring and appearance. Both rather normal. However..."
Pausing, the writer lowers the dagger to use his hand in pointing to
the darker image upon his right.
"...here you may see the Blood God in his "business" mode;
http://www.geocities.com/bloodburne/Die5.jpg and I would suggest you
keep your wits and chastity belts about you at all times. And beside
it is the typical Battle/Torture appearance:
http://www.geocities.com/bloodburne/Die7.jpg you really don't want to
mess with that one."
Kicking the displays out of the way, Raven takes the dagger up to
play with it, eyeing the mess of the fanfiction on his desk.
"There's the image examples, minus of course, Burne's wings which
you'll see later. And now, as for the Challenge basis that I
accepted...on the board beside you."
Fandom - Hercules/Xena
Category - None
Pairing - Must be either Male/Male or Female/Female for main focus.
All is well in the Ancient World, Gods and Mortals both going about
their business...post Strife-death. Things have grown quiet on
Olympus and over the Earth, too quiet. One day a God/Goddess decides
to do something (your pick) for fun, resulting in an accident that
affects the Halls of Time. They bring out a God from the Far Future
when all others were gone. At the new arrival, all Chaos breaks
loose when newest God is placed by mortals as the main Bad Boy in
Leather, indirectly challenging Ares' claim on the role as the
leather-sporting stud.
Must Have:
- Ares, Cupid and Xena making appearances
- New God (you choose which Godhood) in leather
- Cake and ice cream
- Mention of some "modern" music at least twice
- Skinny dipping
- Male pregnancy
- Gabrielle as a rabbit or mouse or squirrel
- Reunion between two characters in your fic's main focus
May Have:
- Strife, Hercules, Hades, Hera and Aphrodite (or others I forgot)
- Pudding fights
- Talking horses and cats
- Singing swords
- Talent competition
The guide of the story is up to you, but there must be at least one
baby born and two fathers together at the end.
"Keep in mind, this is my first Challenge, first time in this actual
Cannon-based fiction (Burne did come from ideas of the shows...as did
those I used to RP him with). I have never before attempted a MPreg
fic and I do reserve the right to shade things in as I'm just along
for the ride like you are. Now, hopefully, the first part will be
fully sliced, edited, stitched up and healed for presentation to your
senses in a couple more days. Thanks."
Disclaimer/Info: See Prologue & PrologueB
Rating: This part is PG
Pairing: None in this one, but they're coming
Title: Accidental Transfer
Note: I have no Beta, so this is all mine, I take full responsibility
for any and all mistakes.
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
It all began with a Prophecy from Apollo himself while still
a godling and before the other Gods and Goddesses not of the Twelve
were born.
"From ashes not yet trees, and birth not yet conceived a
stranger of the family shall come. Blood of thine blood, power of
thine enemy's power, a dark god of things corrupt shall make Olympus
shatter. Align the House of Aggression with Death and build from an
earth no longer living and undead. The fall of the One will be
brought by the hand of Another. The rise of the New combined with
the Ancient to thrive once more. A stranger lost in time, returning
to ash to restore the life of the world, a dark god to be reborn as
friend's enemy."
It was recorded only due to the belief it was something cute
that may give Apollo or future Gods something to toy with, for
Olympus was still young and growing stronger every day. By the time
the pantheon was settled and the Gods and Goddesses mostly
established, it was merely another old and forgotten scroll gathering
dust in a back room of Apollo's palace, hidden away and lost.
Yet, the Fates themselves still remembered it well and
watched the tapestry of existence form, prepared through a far
greater plan for what was yet to come. The God of the Sky was
becoming more insane every passing decade due to various curses upon
him. The other Houses and divisions were petty, un-restful,
bickering. It was very nearly time, for Dehak and the One God had
come into being, as-yet still virtually unknown among Gods and
Mortals alike.
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
Apollo was bored. It was not that he lacked for anything,
what with bed-partners aplenty and work, but things had slowed down
some and left him with too much free time. Of course, he could
always have tried his hand at some mischief, but ever since Calisto
had killed Strife, things on that topic were touchy, mainly due to
Ares, Eris and even Cupid of all people. Strumming the lyre was
becoming tedious due to the pure boredom.
Finally, he had enough and rose from the scattering of velvet
and silk pillows, leaving his instrument behind. Perhaps he was
overdue for a little trip to the Halls of Time. Maybe there was
something in the future that could entertain him for a bit. Sure,
actual Time Travel was outlawed, but snagging things from the future
to play with was permitted. Hermes certainly got away with it more
than once after all.
In a shower of gold sparks, Apollo vanished from his temple
on Olympus only to appear a few minutes later after a small side-trip
with a bright flash outside the Halls. Pausing, he glanced around
and listened. There were voices nearby, though it was likely someone
babysitting Bliss. The godling had been struck hard by Strife's
death, and it had taken some time for his father, mother and
grandparents to help him understand what had happened. Turning away
from those dark memories though, the God reached toward the doors.
Due to Bliss being around, they were locked. But, Apollo had
purposely gone to get the key first. Unlocking the doors, he slid
inside, letting them close behind him. He was unaware that they did
not close fully as the force was not enough to bring the latch into
place. Moving into the halls, he paused before turning to enter the
labyrinth-like place of Time. The key acted as a life-line to the
doors themselves so he would not be lost.
Outside the Halls, Ares sat in a chair quietly watching Bliss
play with a young pup that was an offering in one of his temples.
The pup's mother and sire were both excellent dogs of war as far as
mortal animals were concerned, bred just for that purpose. It was
hard to tell by watching the puppy. The tawny paws were large and
floppy, the black body roly-poly and it was far too cute. But, it
was good natured and got along with Bliss who was laughing every time
the whelp's tongue found him.
The God of War was brooding actually, watching his grandson
as a form of light distraction to keep him from falling too deeply
into his thoughts. Cupid had a meeting with Eris concerning his
forced return to the role of both God of Love and Mischief. Ares
seriously hoped that his son was going to be able to deal with all of
this once again. He was feeling along the lines of Eris, as he did
treat Strife like his own, a father grieving for a missing son. At
least, a father, unlike his own Father. Zeus knew nothing of what
that word meant.
An urgent call broke through his musing, causing him to
stiffen before finding the plea once more. One of his currently
favored warlords was begging for his help. If Xena was messing in
that particular little feud, she was going to be meeting a very angry
God of War. Pausing, he looked to Bliss before rising from his
seat. The godling was so busy with the pup, they would likely not
even notice his absence until he was back. It would not take long.
So, falling into his usual guise, he vanished in a flash of blood red
embers.
Bliss glanced up past the pup's head as he saw the faint
flash. His grandpa was gone, though likely not for long. It was
just the chance the godling had been waiting for. Small wings
flapping hard, he gently pushed the pup away and rose into the air,
bringing a slightly chubby finger to his lips in a hushing motion.
"Shhh...gwanpa be back soon. Bwiss gotta do somet'ing.
Stay, okay? Be wight back."
The pup whined, but sat down. She knew what "stay" meant,
but she did not like it one bit! Her job as far as she understood
was to protect, and now the Leather One's little pup was up in the
air where she could not reach! Sad blue eyes looked after the flying
godling as Bliss slipped out to move down the halls.
Apollo's appearance had not gone unnoticed, Bliss had sensed
him...mainly due to the boredom. But he knew where the Sun God was
at. That forbidden place he was never able to go because it was
locked. He had seen his grandma, grandpa and great-grandpa and great-
grandma go in and out of the doors once in a while, often carrying
cool things out. And Bliss just had to try getting in there one more
time. Maybe he could get a present to cheer his daddy up.
Peeking around the corner, he checked carefully but saw
no 'pollo and no one else. Darting forward as quickly as his wings
would let him, he headed for the doors. Hovering a moment, he landed
in front of them to reach out and test them. Bliss almost squeaked
when the doors swung open under his tug, sending him backward to sit
down hard. But...the Hall was open! Now maybe, if he was careful,
he could slip in, find a gift and slip back out.
Wings beating, he got back to his feet then, after thinking,
chose to walk into the place instead. He had never been there before
and what he saw was making his eyes open wide and mouth open. Some
things he was seeing he could not understand, but they were kinda
cool. A few things he knew would be painful if he got too close, but
as long as he kept moving, he felt nothing. Now, he just had to pick
something for his daddy and maybe even his grandparents.
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
Ares was not particularly happy when he left his general. It
had not been any sort of emergency period, just that Xena look-alike
named Meg. Just his luck. After ordering Myonus to stand down and
let her and the girls she was traveling with pass without trouble,
the God flashed back to Olympus. Even before the crimson flashes had
faded, he was aware that he was alone. The pup was there,
but...Bliss was not. He had not been quite that long, had he?
"Bliss?"
Earlier his grandson had been playing hide 'n' seek with the
puppy, but she was sitting down and whining as if she did not like
the position yet knew better than to move. Frowning, Ares moved away
from his chair, reaching out to try and find the godling's
signature. Nothing nearby so he increased his search, beginning to
worry. But there was no Bliss to be found. Dark storms began to
boil behind the God's eyes.
"APHRODITE!"
Not a split second later, the Goddess of Love and Beauty
flashed into sight amidst a shower of pink petals.
"You bellowed, bro?"
"Did you see Bliss in the past few minutes?"
Aphrodite lost the silly smile upon her rosy lips at that.
Now, the goddess did not frown, but the presence was there as her
hands dropped off her hips.
"No, I haven't. I thought Cupe said he was leaving him with
you."
"He did," Ares grumbled. "But I had to go check on a threat
to a war that Artemis has been nagging me into to help the game
around the area...I was only gone a minute. Bliss was playing with
the pup there but when I got back, he was gone."
Turning her head, Aphrodite noticed the puppy for the first
time and instantly squealed. Bouncing over, she took the still-
whimpering whelp into her arms to coo to it. "Aren't you just the
sweetest thing? Yes you are, just so cute! So, Bliss was playing
with this little girl? And here I thought you didn't like puppies,
bro."
Ares sighed, feeling a headache coming on.
"I'm not, 'Dite. That was an offering in one of my temples
and I gave her to Bliss...who is missing!"
Grinning, still cuddling the pup, Aphrodite gave a shrug and
reached out to try and find her absent grandson.
"Like, don't have a cow, bro. How far could he have gotten?"
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
Bliss stood in the center of a hall that was making him a bit
nervous yet brushing over his insatiable curiosity at once. He moved
along it a bit more carefully though, something was telling him to be
very careful now. This Hall was like the others, warm golden-peach
marble floor and rising columns that seemed to glow with a sense of
safety and warmth. Great supports ran in long rectangles like
picture frames laying down on the top, kind of reminding the godling
of a bridge with supports he had seen earlier.
Unlike the other halls however, there was a shadow hiding the
far end. The walls here were not showing any moving scenes with
people, animals or other things he had no name for. In fact, he was
not certain there were walls here at all. It was deathly quiet here
where before there had been a background of soft noise from the
playing scenes. All around him as he walked forward was a mass of
black, blue, purple, green, orange, gray...all dark and the colors
constantly shifting and twisting together and apart like...like
boiling clouds.
Guessing it was some sort of storm, he hesitated, slowing.
Bliss felt alone suddenly, and it scared him, as he could not feel
anyone else. Looking back, he saw the way he had come, an open door
with a glowing-warm floor and a few moving scenes from the wall
opposite the entrance. He was ready to turn and go back when he
heard a strange sound. Stopping, he looked around at the clouds,
liking the pretty colors and the flashes of red, orange, yellow and
violet that came every so often.
Listening hard, Bliss took a step closer to the edge. It
made the sound a bit clearer. Music. For a moment, he wondered if
this was where 'pollo was at. The sound was beautiful, but Bliss
could not remember having heard it before. He was moving closer
without realizing it as the clouds on the wall seemed to draw back,
thinning a bit. Yes, it was music! And as things cleared some, he
saw a pinkish-orange glow a bit below, yellow-white outlining it. It
was a dome, black lines holding it like a web.
Even if scared, he wanted a closer look and leaned forward.
There was something else there, and almost as if sensing his desire
to see, the wall shifted, bringing him down and toward the great
dome. It was huge! Closer and closer, he wobbled a bit from the
strange flight-while-standing feel. At last, the wall slowed and
stopped so he could see into the glowing dome at the giant city
underneath, lights and flying things everywhere, people and metal
things moving. They were all dressed so odd!
Giggling at the strange hair colors and paintings on the
skins of the mortals, Bliss looked around to see if anything else was
being shown. Looking up, he blinked, eyes widening at what he saw.
The music was strong now, so strong and so...sad. It hurt. Lower
lip trembling, he stepped forward once more as he looked at the one
playing. It was not 'pollo!
Not sure if it was man or woman, the godling leaned in
further, almost directly against the wall. Whoever it was had long
hair wild from being pulled and tugged by the wind, black with blood-
red tips. It fit the great wings resting folded against the person's
back, black with crimson tips on each feather Bliss thought. Then he
knew it had to be a guy, the leather was tight and reminded him of
Strife. Maybe, it was? Strife could have grown wings once, right?
He had to know.
Reaching forward, he took a breath and almost
whispered, "Stwife?"
The music stopped suddenly as the being's head snapped up.
Bliss gasped as he saw the face, pale, actually white with black lips
and a GOLD eye glaring straight at him. It was no one he knew! But
that look...it hurt him, this winged guy was in so much pain...he
wanted to help him and reached out without thinking. The moment his
hand touched the wall...the barrier between times was breached and he
was sucked in by a sudden pull of wind.
His cry never entered the Hall even as he tumbled through the
air directly into a hard surface. Something wrapped around him and
he felt cool leather. Looking up, his wide eyes took in the shocked
golden gaze before something else suddenly slammed into him, sending
him and the one who caught him tumbling. The last thing he knew was
black feathers wrapping about his body.
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
When the little white-winged child had appeared, he had been
surprised to say the least as the boy fell out of thin air without
anything signaling his arrival. Then the boy was in his arms,
looking up at him just as surprised and scared as he was...and he
knew that voice he heard had not been a trick of his mind or the
Storm's winds. He sensed the sudden charge a split second before the
Bolt slammed into him and the boy at full-force, sending him
forward. Instinctively, he tried to wrap his wings around the child.
Then the boy was gone and he was being blinded by light. He
had no time to even close his eyes before he hit something harder and
smoother than metal or transparasteel so hard he felt the crunch of a
rib breaking. Breath forced from his lungs, he tumbled over the
slick surface only to be stopped by slamming into another unforgiving
surface. Coughing, he just lay still for a moment, trying to
remember how to breathe around pain. It was only three seconds
before he got himself under control.
Realizing that he was laying still without wind or needles of
rain striking him, he slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head. He
saw the boiling chaos of the Storm, but he no longer felt it. And,
it was too bright to be in the Storm. Pushing himself up onto one
elbow, he looked around. He lay on some Old-Style marble floor, and
from the looks of it, even the supports were of an Ancient Age. Such
things had been either lost or protected after the fall of the
Austria Republic as most had been completely destroyed.
This...looked almost new.
Mind spinning, he slowly twisted, wincing as one wing's joint
popped back into place. That felt wonderful...not. Getting to his
hands and knees, he tried looking around again, but saw nothing that
was very helpful period. Wondering where in the Thirteenth Hell he
was, and where the boy had gone, he started to try and get up, knees
unsteady and even his stomach lurching. He froze when he caught the
sound of a foot fall, then another. Someone was approaching and he
was not going to stick around in his present state.
By the time Apollo strode into view, all that was left of the
entire incident was a single black feather upon the floor and a
fading twist of shadow fading away like smoke. The Sun God did not
even notice as he passed by, toying with something called a DVD
player and silvery disks that it was supposed to eat...or something.
tbc