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Ophelia stared at the steel door at the front of the large metal building as it slowly cranked open at the car's approach.  Whatever was inside glowed a yellowish orange, and steam or smoke or some sort of fog billowed out.  She slowed to a stop, taking a deep breath, then looking at Lita in the seat next to her.  The Queen of Bladehenge was staring apprehensively at the opening as well, and after a second, looked to Ophelia.

"You nervous?"

"A little, yeah," Ophelia replied honestly.  "Believe it or not, I'm kinda glad you're here.  I've never even been down there with Eddie...I sure didn't want to go in there alone."

"You would have," Lita said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah...but I wouldn't have wanted to."  Ophelia took in, then slowly let out a deep breath.  "All right...Eddie's waiting for us.  Let's do this."

Lita nodded, leaning back and taking hold of the frame of the car beside her, as Ophelia moved the car forward cautiously, just as Eddie had warned, and entered the Metal Forge.

The inside seemed to be a long, twisting stone cave, with spikes and heavy rocks along the walls and ceilings, and strange, glowing hieroglyphics along the walls.  Ophelia felt an almost immediate sense of claustrophobia in this place...the rock walls themselves seemed to glow with an eerie red light, and it seemed as though any speed at all could prove fatal, as around every corner waited a new obstacle that seemed designed to smash any vehicles that came through.  "How does Eddie come down here so often?" she muttered, driving forward into the downward-sloping tunnel.

"I really don't know..." Lita murmured, sounding rather freaked out.  "These...cave formations almost look like...anvils..."

Ophelia gulped slightly as she had to work up a little speed to get by some of those exact formations.  "Oh God, I've never driven through anything like this...the freaking bog is easier to navigate..."

"Just remember we're down here for Eddie..."

Ophelia tightened her grip on the steering wheel at that, and pressed the accelerator down a bit harder, moving more quickly through the cave.  Lita hung on, but kept looking around at everything as they went, absolutely baffled at this place.  The bizarre symbols on the walls were like nothing she'd ever seen, but they seemed to be meaningful...but whatever that meaning was, it was lost on her.  She turned her gaze forward again, watching-

"Holy shit!"

Ophelia slammed on the brakes when the cave abruptly opened up, into a spectacularly enormous chamber.  Both women stared...it was like driving into the mouth of Hell.  Surrounding them were jagged rocks and more of the strangely anvil-shaped outcroppings, jutting up from what looked like an ocean of lava.  Strange giant chains were hanging all around them, along with that same bizarre fog, and everything glowed dully from the molten rock below.  And far off in the distance, moving about, were what looked like mind-numbingly giant humans, actually wading through the lava without a bit of trouble, wielding huge hammers and working silently at striking something against the anvil rocks.  The creatures were so giant that the women couldn't even see their heads, as they were jutted up into the ceiling.

"What...are...those...?" Ophelia gasped out, eyes wider than anyone would have thought possible.

"I...I don't know..." Lita said, staring at them as well.  "Eddie never mentioned those."

"Do...do you think one of those things is the Guardian of Metal?"

Lita shook her head slowly, more from shock than from disagreement.  "I, uh, I kind of hope not."

Ophelia looked downwards at the road, seeing it narrowed out, with no guardrails on either side, and long, long drops down off either side.  "Oh my God.  Eddie wasn't kidding about not wanting to drive off that cliff."

"Are you gonna be able to drive on that?" Lita asked incredulously, noticing the thin road as well.

"Um.  I guess we're gonna find out."

"Oh damn."  Lita clutched at the side of the Deuce, and Ophelia took in a deep breath before starting forward again, heading down the path.  It seemed to head steadily downwards, though it remained frighteningly high above the steaming lava below.  Ophelia kept a tight hold on the wheel and kept her eyes on either side, but found that despite how narrow the road had looked from above, it was still about as wide as the highways above...it just seemed smaller because of the lack of sides.

"This isn't as bad as I expected it to be," she said.

"Road ends up there," Lita said, pointing forward, and Ophelia looked, and tapped the brakes carefully, bringing the car to a stop several feet away from the edge.

"I...I guess this is where we're supposed to go."  She turned off the engine, and she and Lita jumped out of the car, looking around.  The giant creatures were still far off in the distance, and didn't seem to be paying any attention to them.  "So...he said the Guardian of Metal would just sort of...pop up."

Lita kept hold of her halberd, looking around.  "So then...where-?"

A loud, manic laugh began to echo through the air around them, causing both girls to look around, gripping tightly at their weapons.  The sound seemed to be coming from everywhere around them at once, above and below and all over the chamber.  Even as they were looking for it, though, it trailed off...and with a strange plopping sound, a segment of lava seemed to arc upwards, splashing to the end of the road in front of them, and quickly it solidified into a tall, vaguely human-like rock shape.  The women had just enough time to trade a look when, with a surprisingly loud explosion, the rock exploded off, shattering harmlessly to the sides, leaving a figure in a long cloak...black, though as with everything else, tinted oddly from the glow of the lava, with a hood pulled up.  After only an instant, a voice spoke with a lilting accent that was similar to Killmaster's, though a bit more...affected.

"Well now this is certainly interesting."

The figure reached up with hands practically encrusted from rings and jewelry, and flipped it's hood back, revealing...a man.  A seemingly ordinary man, taller even than Mangus, on a level nearly with the Bouncers, though thinner, with long, dark hair and wearing a dark robe and pink mirrored glasses that completely obscured his eyes.

"After weeks of no one comin' to visit, I finally get some guests, and it's not that screaming twit with the axe.  But you did bring down the car-what the hell did you do to it?"  The man swept past both of them, leaning down to examine the urchin spines and other assorted mess that had resulted from Ophelia's haphazard driving.  "I thought I had finally convinced that boy to quit runnin' over everything with this poor precious vehicle!"

"Uh..."  Lita and Ophelia looked at each other, then back at him as he continued to fret over the car.  "Are...are you...are you the Guardian of Metal?" Lita finally asked.

"Who, me?  Oh, yes, of course."  He straightened, a faint smile coming to his face as he sort of bowed to them.  "Do forgive my manners, it's been eons since I've had such lovely guests, not to mention royalty.  Pleasure to finally meet you, Queen of Bladehenge."

"You...know who I am?"

"Well, of course I do!  I know what goes on upstairs.  You're Lita, the Queen of Bladehenge."  He pointed to Ophelia as he wandered past them, back towards the edge of the path.  "You're Ophelia, the girl with the Black Tear issues. And since the two of you are here, in that car, I'm going to assume it's because that daft twit Eddie has done something horrible to himself."

"What's your problem with Eddie?" Ophelia asked, apparently a bit incensed at the affronts.

"Problem?  I don't have a problem with him, he's my best customer!"  The Guardian chuckled heartily, moving...unusually quickly to put an arm around Ophelia's shoulders, pulling her closer than she was comfortable with.  "Truth be told, I'm quite fond of him, reminds me of my own boys.  But he's still a tosser who mistreats this poor exquisite car."  He pushed away from her without a word, moving to inspect the vehicle in question again, brushing some of the quills out of it.

Ophelia gave Lita another confused look, shrugging her shoulders slightly at the creature's antics.  Lita cleared her throat and spoke up.  "Well...yes...Eddie is in some trouble and we need your help."

"Ah, see, I knew that much."  The Guardian crouched at the rear of the vehicle, and, baffled, Ophelia moved to look at what he was doing...but even as she did, the man's voice came from behind them.  "So then why did you come to me?"

The women swirled around to see him standing on his ledge again, Ophelia looking back and forth between where he was and where he'd been a few times, while Lita just stared at him.  Finally, though, she started to respond.  "Um.  Well...there was a Tainted Coil attack..."

"Ohhh, those nasty bastards again," the Guardian grumbled, crossing his arms, reaching one hand up to adjust his glasses.  "What did they do?"

Lita bit her lip.  "Well...they attacked us, and took Eddie...they were trying to do something, he said, like they were trying to make him into their new emperor.  A Warfather, he said, it...it did something to him, he said it was like the thing set him on fire inside, but then it was over and the demons flipped out, saying it hadn't worked, they didn't get their new emperor, so we assumed everything was okay-,"

The Guardian nodded some, arms still crossed.  "And now he's spittin' blood and screamin' in pain, ain't he?"

"How do you know?" Ophelia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah.  That's one hell of a shame, it is."  The Guardian shook his head somewhat, walking back over to the car and idly stroking a hand along it like it were an animal needing a pet.  "Bloody damn demons, always screwing up nice things."

"So...what is it?" Lita asked.  "And how do we make it stop?"

"Stop?"  A brief look of confusion before understanding dawned.  "Oh, you mean he's not already pretty much dead?"

"Well...no, he's with the Killmaster right now...it's keeping him going even though the injuries are...happening."

"Ah, good man.  Your healer's talent is extraordinary.  Unfortunately, it won't be enough."  The Guardian let loose a weary sigh, his very posture slumped, the very picture of exhaustion all of a sudden.  "All right, you want to know how you can help ol' Eddie?"

"Of course we do!" Ophelia said, stepping forward.  "Anything to help him!"

"Well, here's what you're gonna have to do."  He turned, leaning against the front of the car, looking Ophelia over, gesturing to the weapons at her sides.  "Those two swords of your's are good and sharp, right?"

"Yes, of course..."

"All right.  What you're gonna do is, you're gonna load back up, you're gonna drive back to him...and you're gonna take those swords, yeah?  And you're gonna run him through, quick and painless as you can manage it.  Through the heart should be fastest."

There was a second of complete silence before the Guardian's words completely computed for the two women...and when it did, the reactions were immediate and loud from both.

"WHAT?"

"How could you-"

"-we can't-"

"-can't help-"

"-bastard-"

"-won't do that!"

The Guardian winced, pinching the bridge of his nose as the women bellowed at him, then stood back up, holding up his hands as he walked along towards the edge of the path again.  "Ladies, ladies, please.  You sound terrible enough without tripping on each other."

"You have a sick sense of humor," Ophelia practically snarled.  "Tell us how to help Eddie or else!"

The Guardian glanced back at her, raising an eyebrow.  "Lady, I can jump down into that lava and be gone from here in a second.  But that's not even the point.  You want to help Eddie, then you better get back and put him out of his misery before it gets even worse."

Ophelia seemed ready to try and rip the creature apart, actually reaching for her swords, but Lita held a hand out to try and stop her.  "Wait."  She looked the Guardian over.  "Why would you say that?"

He considered them a second.  "Ah.  I take it then that you two don't understand what's happened, do you?"

Lita shook her head again.  "What do you mean?"

"Oh God.  This is going to be fun."  The Guardian turned away from them, actually taking off the pink glasses and polishing them on the front of his robes before putting them back on.  "You know about the Coil and their hierarchy, I take it."

"Yeah, the nuns, the Warfathers, the...Overblessers?  Those were the ones who...bred out the others on Doviculus's say so.  All the demons sprung from those."

"Well, not quite all, but for the Coil, pretty damn near.  The demons have a breeding mechanic that's utterly grotesque to humans, the way that any of them can breed together...though they will always defer to a ruler in that."  He turned to look back at them.  "Eddie's not the first crossbreed there's ever been, you know.  The years of demons enslaving and torturing humanity saw to that."

Ophelia seemed to have calmed herself somewhat, and that definitely gave her pause.  "Then why have we never seen any others like him?"

"Because...there are no others like him.  Eddie is completely unique.  You see, demons and humans, by all rights, shouldn't be able to breed together.  The methods are completely different.  The way demons spawn...well, it's disgusting, it is.  They...are you really going to make me explain all this?"

Lita and Ophelia just looked at him, Ophelia crossing her arms.  "Go on."

"Ugh, God.  All right, don't say I didn't warn you.  See, humans are two-sexed...men and women.  You need one of each to make a baby, and the woman carries the baby and gives birth, yeah?  Demons aren't that discerning.  It takes two demons...and that's literally as far as it goes.  The demon that's higher in rank impregnates the one that's lower, and they actively choose what offspring they'll make.  That's why you see the same kinds of demons.  Over the centuries, they've bred themselves to a point of only having the same few shapes over and over again, to the point that they literally can't conceive of anything else...in a few different ways."

"Okay...so what does that have to do with Eddie?"

"Well, the demons aren't stupid.  They figured out that their race was stagnating fast.  So even before Succoria was sent into the future, the demons started trying to figure out a way to introduce some diversity into their ranks.  Seeing the humans, and how much difference there was between them, they thought hey, that's the ticket, we'll just breed with the humans and make them create new creatures for us."  The Guardian shook his head, obviously somewhat grossed out by the discussion.  "So...they started trying."

Ophelia nodded slowly, taking this in, starting to look a bit green in the face.  "So...there were halflings even that far back?"

"If that's what you want to call the results."  He moved to start idly brushing at the car again, still trying to clean it up.  "None of the humans survived it.  You see the way that demons give birth...I don't think I have to explain why they didn't."

The women traded another glance, and Lita felt a shudder travel up her back at the thought of a human being going through the disgusting "birth" that she'd seen the demons use.  Even if a person could survive that, she doubted any would want to.  "Okay..." she said finally, nodding for the Guardian to continue.

"Well...the offspring didn't do any better.  Demons...don't recreate the way people do.  Humans have birds and bees or whatever delightful little euphemism you folks have for it.  When a demon breeds...the one creating the offspring sacrifices pieces of themselves...half of this organ, a tad of that muscle, a piece of that bone...all combining together and sent into that boil to be grown almost instantly into whatever shape the demon's thought up.  That's why you see that the offspring create a healing aura for their parent...to repair the fact that the demon's literally given up huge chunks of itself to make them."

Lita was starting to get a nasty, nasty feeling about where this tale was going, and she could see Ophelia was thinking the same thing, but she forced herself to speak again.  "So...what happened to the offspring?"

"Most of them were...let's say half-done.  The demon and human halves just couldn't combine, so they'd usually end up with a pile of loose meat by the time it was over.  The few times anything whole did come out of it, it was either dead on arrival or died screaming within a few minutes.  The demons eventually gave up on that idea, and decided instead to send Succoria forward in time to regain the secrets of the Titans."

"Then...why is Eddie different?" Ophelia asked softly.

"Because the one thing the demons didn't try was using themselves as the birthing parent.  It never occurred to them that the method they were attempting was something only their birthing method could effectively do...combining bits from inside themselves...whether those bits were themselves or the...input of a human.  So when Succoria and Riggnarok did...what they did...Succoria was able to join together parts of her body with the...offered part of Riggnarok...very similarly to the way a human mother would join the two human parts...and out Eddie came, as healthy as could be."  He glanced up from his care of the vehicle.  "You know, I really don't enjoy talking about this subject, I'd just like to say."

"Then...now the demons know how to create more hybrids..." Ophelia said, trying unsuccessfully not to show how horrified the thought made her.

"Well, yes, aside from one thing..."  The Guardian held up a finger as he paced back to the edge of the road, apparently rather restless.  "They know birthing Eddie killed Succoria, and she was the most powerful and fearsome of all of  them.  They don't want to give up their own lives unless on say-so of a leader...which they don't have.  So at the moment, they're in a blind panic, trying to come up with a way to rebuild their hierarchy and get everything back to the way it should be."

"Then...what they've done to Eddie..." Lita asked, biting at her lip.

"The method you described?  That's exactly what they would do to try and breed with humans...burn away their own flesh and force it into the victim to add in the demonic essence."

Ophelia couldn't stop her reaction any longer...turning away from the Guardian, gagging uselessly and letting out a weak sob as she did.  Lita understood...and she wanted to be right there beside her, but she held firm.  She was the queen of Bladehenge, she had to stay strong, no matter how strongly she wanted to break down as well.  "Then...Eddie...Eddie is breeding a demon."

The Guardian raised his hands in what looked like a sympathetic shrug.  "Afraid so, your majesty.  My guess that the demons thought, since he's a halfling, they could use him for the diversity they desperately need.  Unfortunately, the demons have never been able to figure out that human males of any sort can't do what human females can...or that human birth takes time.  They're used to summoning a new child and it appearing there immediately, that when it didn't, the dumb bastards assumed they failed. So his demon half has reacted to the summon...and it's tearing loose parts of him to try and create a new demon...and it's not going to stop until the breeding completes."

"And...since Eddie's part human and can't birth the way they do...or at all...it can't."

"Why...why can't Killmaster's healing save him?" Ophelia asked, looking up from where she was leaned against the car, brushing her eyes clear as fast as she could.  "If the demons can heal their birth parent from that-,"

"Because, love, he's just about the most talented healer up there...but he has his limits.  People can still die under his care, if the damage comes too fast.  What's happening now is just...nothing but warning pangs.  When the process really accelerates, all healing will do is keep him suffering longer, because the damage won't stop coming if a birth can't be completed."  The Guardian shook his head.  "It's a damn shame for it to have to happen to such a good man, but...that's the way the world is.  The only help you can offer now is going to be a fast, painless death."

Description
Ophelia stared at the steel door at the front of the large metal building as it slowly cranked open at the car's approach.  Whatever was inside glowed a yellowish orange, and steam or smoke or some sort of fog billowed out.  She slowed to a stop, taking a deep breath, then looking at Lita in the seat next to her.  The Queen of Bladehenge was staring apprehensively at the opening as well, and after a second, looked to Ophelia.

"You nervous?"

"A little, yeah," Ophelia replied honestly.  "Believe it or not, I'm kinda glad you're here.  I've never even been down there with Eddie...I sure didn't want to go in there alone."

"You would have," Lita said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah...but I wouldn't have wanted to."  Ophelia took in, then slowly let out a deep breath.  "All right...Eddie's waiting for us.  Let's do this."

Lita nodded, leaning back and taking hold of the frame of the car beside her, as Ophelia moved the car forward cautiously, just as Eddie had warned, and entered the Metal Forge.

The inside seemed to be a long, twisting stone cave, with spikes and heavy rocks along the walls and ceilings, and strange, glowing hieroglyphics along the walls.  Ophelia felt an almost immediate sense of claustrophobia in this place...the rock walls themselves seemed to glow with an eerie red light, and it seemed as though any speed at all could prove fatal, as around every corner waited a new obstacle that seemed designed to smash any vehicles that came through.  "How does Eddie come down here so often?" she muttered, driving forward into the downward-sloping tunnel.

"I really don't know..." Lita murmured, sounding rather freaked out.  "These...cave formations almost look like...anvils..."

Ophelia gulped slightly as she had to work up a little speed to get by some of those exact formations.  "Oh God, I've never driven through anything like this...the freaking bog is easier to navigate..."

"Just remember we're down here for Eddie..."

Ophelia tightened her grip on the steering wheel at that, and pressed the accelerator down a bit harder, moving more quickly through the cave.  Lita hung on, but kept looking around at everything as they went, absolutely baffled at this place.  The bizarre symbols on the walls were like nothing she'd ever seen, but they seemed to be meaningful...but whatever that meaning was, it was lost on her.  She turned her gaze forward again, watching-

"Holy shit!"

Ophelia slammed on the brakes when the cave abruptly opened up, into a spectacularly enormous chamber.  Both women stared...it was like driving into the mouth of Hell.  Surrounding them were jagged rocks and more of the strangely anvil-shaped outcroppings, jutting up from what looked like an ocean of lava.  Strange giant chains were hanging all around them, along with that same bizarre fog, and everything glowed dully from the molten rock below.  And far off in the distance, moving about, were what looked like mind-numbingly giant humans, actually wading through the lava without a bit of trouble, wielding huge hammers and working silently at striking something against the anvil rocks.  The creatures were so giant that the women couldn't even see their heads, as they were jutted up into the ceiling.

"What...are...those...?" Ophelia gasped out, eyes wider than anyone would have thought possible.

"I...I don't know..." Lita said, staring at them as well.  "Eddie never mentioned those."

"Do...do you think one of those things is the Guardian of Metal?"

Lita shook her head slowly, more from shock than from disagreement.  "I, uh, I kind of hope not."

Ophelia looked downwards at the road, seeing it narrowed out, with no guardrails on either side, and long, long drops down off either side.  "Oh my God.  Eddie wasn't kidding about not wanting to drive off that cliff."

"Are you gonna be able to drive on that?" Lita asked incredulously, noticing the thin road as well.

"Um.  I guess we're gonna find out."

"Oh damn."  Lita clutched at the side of the Deuce, and Ophelia took in a deep breath before starting forward again, heading down the path.  It seemed to head steadily downwards, though it remained frighteningly high above the steaming lava below.  Ophelia kept a tight hold on the wheel and kept her eyes on either side, but found that despite how narrow the road had looked from above, it was still about as wide as the highways above...it just seemed smaller because of the lack of sides.

"This isn't as bad as I expected it to be," she said.

"Road ends up there," Lita said, pointing forward, and Ophelia looked, and tapped the brakes carefully, bringing the car to a stop several feet away from the edge.

"I...I guess this is where we're supposed to go."  She turned off the engine, and she and Lita jumped out of the car, looking around.  The giant creatures were still far off in the distance, and didn't seem to be paying any attention to them.  "So...he said the Guardian of Metal would just sort of...pop up."

Lita kept hold of her halberd, looking around.  "So then...where-?"

A loud, manic laugh began to echo through the air around them, causing both girls to look around, gripping tightly at their weapons.  The sound seemed to be coming from everywhere around them at once, above and below and all over the chamber.  Even as they were looking for it, though, it trailed off...and with a strange plopping sound, a segment of lava seemed to arc upwards, splashing to the end of the road in front of them, and quickly it solidified into a tall, vaguely human-like rock shape.  The women had just enough time to trade a look when, with a surprisingly loud explosion, the rock exploded off, shattering harmlessly to the sides, leaving a figure in a long cloak...black, though as with everything else, tinted oddly from the glow of the lava, with a hood pulled up.  After only an instant, a voice spoke with a lilting accent that was similar to Killmaster's, though a bit more...affected.

"Well now this is certainly interesting."

The figure reached up with hands practically encrusted from rings and jewelry, and flipped it's hood back, revealing...a man.  A seemingly ordinary man, taller even than Mangus, on a level nearly with the Bouncers, though thinner, with long, dark hair and wearing a dark robe and pink mirrored glasses that completely obscured his eyes.

"After weeks of no one comin' to visit, I finally get some guests, and it's not that screaming twit with the axe.  But you did bring down the car-what the hell did you do to it?"  The man swept past both of them, leaning down to examine the urchin spines and other assorted mess that had resulted from Ophelia's haphazard driving.  "I thought I had finally convinced that boy to quit runnin' over everything with this poor precious vehicle!"

"Uh..."  Lita and Ophelia looked at each other, then back at him as he continued to fret over the car.  "Are...are you...are you the Guardian of Metal?" Lita finally asked.

"Who, me?  Oh, yes, of course."  He straightened, a faint smile coming to his face as he sort of bowed to them.  "Do forgive my manners, it's been eons since I've had such lovely guests, not to mention royalty.  Pleasure to finally meet you, Queen of Bladehenge."

"You...know who I am?"

"Well, of course I do!  I know what goes on upstairs.  You're Lita, the Queen of Bladehenge."  He pointed to Ophelia as he wandered past them, back towards the edge of the path.  "You're Ophelia, the girl with the Black Tear issues. And since the two of you are here, in that car, I'm going to assume it's because that daft twit Eddie has done something horrible to himself."

"What's your problem with Eddie?" Ophelia asked, apparently a bit incensed at the affronts.

"Problem?  I don't have a problem with him, he's my best customer!"  The Guardian chuckled heartily, moving...unusually quickly to put an arm around Ophelia's shoulders, pulling her closer than she was comfortable with.  "Truth be told, I'm quite fond of him, reminds me of my own boys.  But he's still a tosser who mistreats this poor exquisite car."  He pushed away from her without a word, moving to inspect the vehicle in question again, brushing some of the quills out of it.

Ophelia gave Lita another confused look, shrugging her shoulders slightly at the creature's antics.  Lita cleared her throat and spoke up.  "Well...yes...Eddie is in some trouble and we need your help."

"Ah, see, I knew that much."  The Guardian crouched at the rear of the vehicle, and, baffled, Ophelia moved to look at what he was doing...but even as she did, the man's voice came from behind them.  "So then why did you come to me?"

The women swirled around to see him standing on his ledge again, Ophelia looking back and forth between where he was and where he'd been a few times, while Lita just stared at him.  Finally, though, she started to respond.  "Um.  Well...there was a Tainted Coil attack..."

"Ohhh, those nasty bastards again," the Guardian grumbled, crossing his arms, reaching one hand up to adjust his glasses.  "What did they do?"

Lita bit her lip.  "Well...they attacked us, and took Eddie...they were trying to do something, he said, like they were trying to make him into their new emperor.  A Warfather, he said, it...it did something to him, he said it was like the thing set him on fire inside, but then it was over and the demons flipped out, saying it hadn't worked, they didn't get their new emperor, so we assumed everything was okay-,"

The Guardian nodded some, arms still crossed.  "And now he's spittin' blood and screamin' in pain, ain't he?"

"How do you know?" Ophelia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah.  That's one hell of a shame, it is."  The Guardian shook his head somewhat, walking back over to the car and idly stroking a hand along it like it were an animal needing a pet.  "Bloody damn demons, always screwing up nice things."

"So...what is it?" Lita asked.  "And how do we make it stop?"

"Stop?"  A brief look of confusion before understanding dawned.  "Oh, you mean he's not already pretty much dead?"

"Well...no, he's with the Killmaster right now...it's keeping him going even though the injuries are...happening."

"Ah, good man.  Your healer's talent is extraordinary.  Unfortunately, it won't be enough."  The Guardian let loose a weary sigh, his very posture slumped, the very picture of exhaustion all of a sudden.  "All right, you want to know how you can help ol' Eddie?"

"Of course we do!" Ophelia said, stepping forward.  "Anything to help him!"

"Well, here's what you're gonna have to do."  He turned, leaning against the front of the car, looking Ophelia over, gesturing to the weapons at her sides.  "Those two swords of your's are good and sharp, right?"

"Yes, of course..."

"All right.  What you're gonna do is, you're gonna load back up, you're gonna drive back to him...and you're gonna take those swords, yeah?  And you're gonna run him through, quick and painless as you can manage it.  Through the heart should be fastest."

There was a second of complete silence before the Guardian's words completely computed for the two women...and when it did, the reactions were immediate and loud from both.

"WHAT?"

"How could you-"

"-we can't-"

"-can't help-"

"-bastard-"

"-won't do that!"

The Guardian winced, pinching the bridge of his nose as the women bellowed at him, then stood back up, holding up his hands as he walked along towards the edge of the path again.  "Ladies, ladies, please.  You sound terrible enough without tripping on each other."

"You have a sick sense of humor," Ophelia practically snarled.  "Tell us how to help Eddie or else!"

The Guardian glanced back at her, raising an eyebrow.  "Lady, I can jump down into that lava and be gone from here in a second.  But that's not even the point.  You want to help Eddie, then you better get back and put him out of his misery before it gets even worse."

Ophelia seemed ready to try and rip the creature apart, actually reaching for her swords, but Lita held a hand out to try and stop her.  "Wait."  She looked the Guardian over.  "Why would you say that?"

He considered them a second.  "Ah.  I take it then that you two don't understand what's happened, do you?"

Lita shook her head again.  "What do you mean?"

"Oh God.  This is going to be fun."  The Guardian turned away from them, actually taking off the pink glasses and polishing them on the front of his robes before putting them back on.  "You know about the Coil and their hierarchy, I take it."

"Yeah, the nuns, the Warfathers, the...Overblessers?  Those were the ones who...bred out the others on Doviculus's say so.  All the demons sprung from those."

"Well, not quite all, but for the Coil, pretty damn near.  The demons have a breeding mechanic that's utterly grotesque to humans, the way that any of them can breed together...though they will always defer to a ruler in that."  He turned to look back at them.  "Eddie's not the first crossbreed there's ever been, you know.  The years of demons enslaving and torturing humanity saw to that."

Ophelia seemed to have calmed herself somewhat, and that definitely gave her pause.  "Then why have we never seen any others like him?"

"Because...there are no others like him.  Eddie is completely unique.  You see, demons and humans, by all rights, shouldn't be able to breed together.  The methods are completely different.  The way demons spawn...well, it's disgusting, it is.  They...are you really going to make me explain all this?"

Lita and Ophelia just looked at him, Ophelia crossing her arms.  "Go on."

"Ugh, God.  All right, don't say I didn't warn you.  See, humans are two-sexed...men and women.  You need one of each to make a baby, and the woman carries the baby and gives birth, yeah?  Demons aren't that discerning.  It takes two demons...and that's literally as far as it goes.  The demon that's higher in rank impregnates the one that's lower, and they actively choose what offspring they'll make.  That's why you see the same kinds of demons.  Over the centuries, they've bred themselves to a point of only having the same few shapes over and over again, to the point that they literally can't conceive of anything else...in a few different ways."

"Okay...so what does that have to do with Eddie?"

"Well, the demons aren't stupid.  They figured out that their race was stagnating fast.  So even before Succoria was sent into the future, the demons started trying to figure out a way to introduce some diversity into their ranks.  Seeing the humans, and how much difference there was between them, they thought hey, that's the ticket, we'll just breed with the humans and make them create new creatures for us."  The Guardian shook his head, obviously somewhat grossed out by the discussion.  "So...they started trying."

Ophelia nodded slowly, taking this in, starting to look a bit green in the face.  "So...there were halflings even that far back?"

"If that's what you want to call the results."  He moved to start idly brushing at the car again, still trying to clean it up.  "None of the humans survived it.  You see the way that demons give birth...I don't think I have to explain why they didn't."

The women traded another glance, and Lita felt a shudder travel up her back at the thought of a human being going through the disgusting "birth" that she'd seen the demons use.  Even if a person could survive that, she doubted any would want to.  "Okay..." she said finally, nodding for the Guardian to continue.

"Well...the offspring didn't do any better.  Demons...don't recreate the way people do.  Humans have birds and bees or whatever delightful little euphemism you folks have for it.  When a demon breeds...the one creating the offspring sacrifices pieces of themselves...half of this organ, a tad of that muscle, a piece of that bone...all combining together and sent into that boil to be grown almost instantly into whatever shape the demon's thought up.  That's why you see that the offspring create a healing aura for their parent...to repair the fact that the demon's literally given up huge chunks of itself to make them."

Lita was starting to get a nasty, nasty feeling about where this tale was going, and she could see Ophelia was thinking the same thing, but she forced herself to speak again.  "So...what happened to the offspring?"

"Most of them were...let's say half-done.  The demon and human halves just couldn't combine, so they'd usually end up with a pile of loose meat by the time it was over.  The few times anything whole did come out of it, it was either dead on arrival or died screaming within a few minutes.  The demons eventually gave up on that idea, and decided instead to send Succoria forward in time to regain the secrets of the Titans."

"Then...why is Eddie different?" Ophelia asked softly.

"Because the one thing the demons didn't try was using themselves as the birthing parent.  It never occurred to them that the method they were attempting was something only their birthing method could effectively do...combining bits from inside themselves...whether those bits were themselves or the...input of a human.  So when Succoria and Riggnarok did...what they did...Succoria was able to join together parts of her body with the...offered part of Riggnarok...very similarly to the way a human mother would join the two human parts...and out Eddie came, as healthy as could be."  He glanced up from his care of the vehicle.  "You know, I really don't enjoy talking about this subject, I'd just like to say."

"Then...now the demons know how to create more hybrids..." Ophelia said, trying unsuccessfully not to show how horrified the thought made her.

"Well, yes, aside from one thing..."  The Guardian held up a finger as he paced back to the edge of the road, apparently rather restless.  "They know birthing Eddie killed Succoria, and she was the most powerful and fearsome of all of  them.  They don't want to give up their own lives unless on say-so of a leader...which they don't have.  So at the moment, they're in a blind panic, trying to come up with a way to rebuild their hierarchy and get everything back to the way it should be."

"Then...what they've done to Eddie..." Lita asked, biting at her lip.

"The method you described?  That's exactly what they would do to try and breed with humans...burn away their own flesh and force it into the victim to add in the demonic essence."

Ophelia couldn't stop her reaction any longer...turning away from the Guardian, gagging uselessly and letting out a weak sob as she did.  Lita understood...and she wanted to be right there beside her, but she held firm.  She was the queen of Bladehenge, she had to stay strong, no matter how strongly she wanted to break down as well.  "Then...Eddie...Eddie is breeding a demon."

The Guardian raised his hands in what looked like a sympathetic shrug.  "Afraid so, your majesty.  My guess that the demons thought, since he's a halfling, they could use him for the diversity they desperately need.  Unfortunately, the demons have never been able to figure out that human males of any sort can't do what human females can...or that human birth takes time.  They're used to summoning a new child and it appearing there immediately, that when it didn't, the dumb bastards assumed they failed. So his demon half has reacted to the summon...and it's tearing loose parts of him to try and create a new demon...and it's not going to stop until the breeding completes."

"And...since Eddie's part human and can't birth the way they do...or at all...it can't."

"Why...why can't Killmaster's healing save him?" Ophelia asked, looking up from where she was leaned against the car, brushing her eyes clear as fast as she could.  "If the demons can heal their birth parent from that-,"

"Because, love, he's just about the most talented healer up there...but he has his limits.  People can still die under his care, if the damage comes too fast.  What's happening now is just...nothing but warning pangs.  When the process really accelerates, all healing will do is keep him suffering longer, because the damage won't stop coming if a birth can't be completed."  The Guardian shook his head.  "It's a damn shame for it to have to happen to such a good man, but...that's the way the world is.  The only help you can offer now is going to be a fast, painless death."