34 Heaven

First level: the Garden of Eden.

Second level: the Realm of Heroes.

Third level: the Halls of Wisdom.

Fourth level: the Fountain of Harmony.

Fifth level: Celestial Courts.

Sixth level: Valley of Eternity.

Finally, the seventh level: the Divine Throne.

To reach the Divine Throne–the Throne of the Presence–once must traverse all six levels of Heaven. The throne hardly counted as a level as it was THE throne. It was the crown. It stood above all else in creation. It transcended the concept of levels and floors.

Empty Hand, however, laughed. While the Gentry destroyed barrier after barrier, demolished and genocided level after level, Empty Hand stayed at the Garden of Eden. Specifically, at a mansion a distance away from the Silver City.

A mansion housing many women and a single man.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Chosen Messenger. The literal mound of metal turned into a person. How are you doing?"

A bulk of the mansion was blasted open. Smoke trailed from the gap and Empty Hand floated down to approach the tall, dark-skinned man. He was in the mansion's library with a white-haired woman.

"Arik," the woman called to him, terrified by his presence.

"You must be Empty Hand." Arik shielded the white-haired woman. "The evil of legend."

"That I am," Empty Hand replied, descending, his feet touching the floor. Immediately, he sensed several other presences, among them being Green Lanterns. How interesting. "I see you've cultivated quite the harem. Good job."

Arik scowled. Empty Hand was about to laugh in his face but green chains suddenly contained him. Arisia Rrab and Droxelle, the two Green Lanterns, appeared next to Arik, Green Lanterns rings on them. Floating slightly and coated in a thick green aura, there was no doubt about their affiliation.

"Oh, right, this is the Garden of Eden. You can imagine yourself at your prime, hence the rings. God sure made this quite the convenient place for you weaklings, eh? If only your strongest was strong enough…"

"Shut up," Droxelle interjected, sneering. "Who are you? How did you come here!?"

Droxelle alongside Arisia tightened Empty Hand's chains. Antonia Monetti, a silver-skinned, black-haired woman with beaming white fists floated down beside them.

Psionic powers also gripped Empty Hand's body. Black hair and black eyes, Miriam Delgado looked like she was possessed by a demon as she amplified their coordinated efforts.

"Speak your name, fiend," Miriam said, "before we crush you into nothing."

Two separate blades touched Empty Hand's neck belonging to two Wonder Womans. Nubia of Earth 23 and Diana of Themyscira of Earth 112016.

"Indeed," Diana said. "You dare intrude us? Our love?"

"You will die unless we get answers," Nubia continued, her blade dangerously close to a cut.

"Woah-ho!" Empty Hand chuckled in spite of his precarious situation. "Two Green Lanterns, two Titan members, AND two Wonder Womans!? You're much more of a stud than I could have guessed. Heaven sure is treating you well, eh, Chosen Messenger? Sorry I had to ruin your parade."

A nasty red fiery energy emerged from his eyes. The Wonder Womans went wide eyed, recognizing the signature Omega Beams, and backed away. But it was too late. The moment the Omega Beams were unleashed, they were defeated.

In an instant, the Omega Beams struck them and erased them from existence. Nothing was left of them. No smoke, no ashes–they were wiped from heaven.

The Omega Beams did not stop, however. They zipped through and struck the two Green Lanterns. On immediate impact, they disappeared.

The two Titan members attempted to resist. Antonio used her own silver plasma energy to fight back against the Omega Beams. Her dense, panic-induced energy blast lasted…all for but one millisecond. Antonio disappeared.

Miriam went for a different approach. Her hands raised in front of her, she absorbed the Omega Beams. Well, she absorbed it, alright, and she died as a consequence. No mere mortal or machine could contain Darkseid's Omega Beams.

Her body turned red and was ripped apart atom by atom. A hideous process that enabled her to muster out a scream.

Arik and two of his lovers remained: Silver St. Cloud and Lourdes. His two powerless lovers.

Empty Hand's feet touched the floor. The women cowered behind their man. It was an amusing sight for Empty Hand. The bio-electric shock lingered in his gaze.

"Hilarious. You're powerless, aren't you? Yet you remain. I'm guessing the Chosen One took pity on you and absorbed a portion of you. Wait, doesn't that mean he's ALSO weakened? Ha, thank you for your weasley humanness, Chosen Messenger. It will make my battle with him easier."

Arik did not respond to Empty Hand's words. Instead, he closed his eyes, lips quivering, resigned to his fate.

Empty Hand hummed before speaking again. "You must be wondering why I'm doing all this, right? Well…I'm not telling you." Empty Hand smiled, eyes gleaming with the Omega Beams. "Figure it out…in the void."

"A-Arik," Silver called out, lips quivering, fear stunning her legs. "I…I love you…"

"Me too, novio," Lourdes added, hugging him from behind. "Me too…"

Arik didn't respond. He couldn't. To offer them protection would be false hope. To give them love would be cruel.

"Bye-bye," Empty Hand said.

The Omega Beams swallowed Arik, his lovers, and the mansion whole.

***

Pax Dei: the military order of the angels divided into four orders/hosts. The Bull Host, the Human Host, the Eagle Host, and the Lion Host. A member of the Justice League and a special angel who left his angelic duties to serve on Earth, Zauriel, was a part of the Eagle Host.

It was unfortunate Zauriel would never be able to see his host again.

Intellectron, his personal bat of destruction, genocided the military force. Not a single lowly angel remained.

Those that did survive were not truly alive. They had been revived in a process known as "Gentrification", transforming them into a mindless, zombie-like state that only followed the will of the Gentry. This corruption was a result of the Anti-Death Equation that each member of the Gentry held. It was how they corrupted the New Gods. They corroded anything from the laws of physics to even beings as powerful as Monitors.

Angels, humans, New Gods, it did not matter. The Gentry were a multiversal menace capable of corrupting all.

The supposed incorruptible archangels were already dead. Not because of Empty Hand or the Gentry but because of their own conflicts and stories. Gabriel, Metatron, Raguel, Michael, Lucifer…

"My dear readers, read Vertigo comics. I know when I was on Earth 33, I read them to catch up on which angels which. I felt so relieved when I learned most of them were dead. Seriously, if I had to fight Lucifer or Michael, then I would have had to kill myself to do it. Not to say it wasn't impossible, but well…it's like cleaning the house. You COULD do it but you could also get your mom to do it, right?"

In the tower of unending high, in the primum mobile, sat the throne of light, and for more than a decade, it sat with a ruler. The angels served the new ruler, the new Presence: Elaine Belloc. The motion of the Throne and its crowned ruler caused all the levels of Heaven to move. It was the physical origin of life, motion, and time of the Presence's will.

A white void surrounded him. The staircase to heaven was deafening. With each step, the snow became tainted with his darkness. There was a platform and a large gate, all white.

With an Empty Hand, it opened.

Light struck him. The darkness walked through regardless.

The Throne of the Presence was in sight. Taken by a young woman with black hair and a modest figure. Short but undoubtedly a female of the human species.

Empty Hand smirked. "So this is the place Lucifer Morningstar tried so hard to destroy. I have to say, I'm impressed."

Although the outside of the gate was white, here–in the Throne Room–there was a grey blend to the world. A darkness behind the throne.

Elaine Belloc sat on the throne, eyes closed. She sighed. "So you've arrived, Empty Hand."

"So you know my name? Oooh, scary. Doesn't make you omnipotent though. If it did, then you would have known the Chosen Messenger was here."

Elaine opened an eye. "...who?"

A grin. "See? Nigh-omniscience, not omniscience. The Throne might have blessed you with powers but they weren't complete. How sad."

Elaine stretched her arms high in the air, sighing again, and casually leapt off her throne. The colour of the Throne Room dimmed. The sound of flesh tearing rang and a brilliant pair of white wings sprung from her back.

"But they're complete enough, bozo. You thought that by destroying the boundaries of the omniverse, the forces that power me will weaken. Sorry to say, I'm still here and as strong as ever."

Empty Hand chuckled and a flaming power imbued his eyes. "Hahaha. Any other last words?"

The Omega Beams flew after her. Elaine sighed once more, raised a hand, and coolly blocked it.

"The Right Hand and Left Hand of the Great Darkness working in tandem." Elaine scoffed. Her hand was still outstretched, blocking the Omega Beams as if they were nothing. "Do you really think that will be enough to defeat me? You should have levelled up some up before coming here, Empty Hand."

A light engulfed her hand that started overpowering the Omega Beams. Distance did not matter in the Throne of the Presence. Like a zap of lightning, the golden light emerging from the palm of her hand overwhelmed the Omega Beams and engulfed Empty Hand.

The holy light did not stop. It kept burning into Empty Hand like a steady laser beam. Elaine looked on, sighed, and then stopped.

The dust settled.

Empty Hand was totally unfazed.

Elaine blinked. "You…wait, how did you?"

"Sorry, princess, I was already more than your equal before, but now? You are nothing but a gnat to be swatted away by Empty Hand." The Alpha Effect of the Highfather protected him, the blueness acting as a barrier. A thicker, darker blue aura took hold of his hands.

Time did not matter nor did space. From an outside perspective he travelled twenty feet in an instant but the truth was so much more complicated. Nevertheless, when Elaine was uppercutted, she hardly realized what had happened. It wasn't until she fell back on her throne, crumbled, that she understood what had happened.

He had struck her.

She, the Presence, had been hurt.

Blood fell from her lips. Elaine wiped the blood with her thumb and stared at the red substance. "Blood…?"

"The moment god bleeds…he ceases to be a god." Empty Hand grinned. He was so close to the throne–so, so close! All that remained was the weak woman lying on it like a weakling. "Frauuuud! You're a fucking fraud, Elaine Belloc! Or should I call you Elaine Fraudoc?"

"I don't understand. What are you? You couldn't have hurt me. You should have been killed when I shone my holy light on you," Elaine said. She wasn't afraid of the pain, no. She was afraid of this…thing in front of her. Her enemy. The Empty Hand that hurt her. That had dared to defy God–Elaine Belloc.

Empty Hand raised a fist. The Astro Force of Orion–of the God of Strength–when used by Empty Hand could reach heights it never could before. It could hurt god. It was the epitome of strength and capable of shattering reality with a wave of the arm.

The expression on Empty Hand shifted. "Empty is my hand. Be gone now, Elaine Belloc."

Elaine grunted and threw holy light at him again. His hand casually caught it. No matter how hard she deepened the holy light, no matter how much she tried melting his hand, he stood there and took it all.

Despite standing before the Throne of the Presence, Empty Hand did not take a single step back.

"Why, why, why?" A powerful bolt of lightning struck him from the heavens of Heaven. The darkness lit up all for but a moment. Nothing. The holy punishment of God was a fickle thing to the Empty Hand.

"The number of people who believe in you has increased, sure," Empty Hand began, smiling again, "but the actual QUALITY of faith leaves much to be desired. It is as simple as that, God. In fact, I'd bet half the people reading are atheists or agnostics. They just don't give a shit about religion anymore. Ha! It's pathetic. To rely upon the power of humans–of others. So weak. The real Presence, although boosted by human thoughts, never relied on it. He was strong and omnipotent no matter what happened under his watch. Because he was God. Not you. You're a pretender…woman."

Her eyes went white and the holy light suddenly powered up exponentially. A combination of lightning from above, a heavenly thunderbolt, and a territory of light emerging from Elaine. Empty Hand was sent skidding across the floor, laughing.

"Woaaah~! Look at that, did I touch a nerve!?"

With a flap of her wings, she was above him and hooked him across the cheek. Empty Hand was again blown away, this time hitting the gate.

Elaine disappeared and reappeared again, and then slammed a foot into his chest. The creature of darkness exploded out of the Throne of the Presence and nearly fell off the staircase. He managed to recover his balance, however, and float above the platform of the gate.

Empty Hand sensed a sudden burst of energy behind him. He turned and saw Elaine Belloc high above, her wings flapping and a hand lifted proudly. Behind her was a space-like background. The whiteness of the dimension had suddenly changed. The tiny dots of lights twinkled and Empty Hand laughed.

"What are those, stars?"

Her eyes darkened. "No. Each is a cluster of a multiverse that I just conjured."

Empty Hand blinked. There must have been thousands–no, millions of those lights–

"Die," Elaine said, gesturing down at him. The black background, the white twinkles, they came closer.

Closer, closer, closer, till he saw planets, stars, solar systems, and galaxies…

The millions of multiverses rained down on him. Empty Hand felt earth and sea, hot and cold, life and death–the weight of existence itself–crash down on him.

No matter what happened to the dimension of the Throne, it would not be destroyed. Therefore, Elaine could afford to do this. She would afford to hurl millions of multiverses. God could afford to go all out.

…and vice-versa.

The more the reader read, the stronger and emptier his Hand became.

In one fell swoop, he annihilated every single multiverse with the power of the Omega Beams. By increasing his size to cosmic proportions, he enabled himself to combat the light of God with his own darkness. He confronted and overpowered God's hopes with his own.

And now…

"Ngh…! Let go!" Elaine Belloc was within his grip. Literally. She was the size of a pixie fairy compared to him. A winged, magical entity whose only purpose was to serve the superior being: Empty Hand.

"Pipe down, woman," Empty Hand said, smirking. Currently, he was larger than any multiverse in existence. The space they were in could contain him since it was beyond infinite in dimension.

"I said…let…GO!!!!"

Elaine glowed with a terrifying yellow light. But no matter how much she struggled, she could not escape. She could not breach her grip. Empty Hand was a giant that she simply could not overpower.

"Haha, you really think I'm misogynistic? Fuck no. I'm an omniversal being–gender doesn't fucking apply to me. Literally, that shit is not even that important of a concept. It's weak and malleable, unlike me. Unlike my strength. My strength which comes from those above. So can you guess why I said it? To get under your skin, bitch. It's so damn easy!"

Empty Hand started to shrink. He grew smaller and smaller till he was the size of an ordinary human. The instant he was small enough, Elaine attempted to flee. Her back to him, wings fluttering, it was a pathetic move from the god.

Empty Hand couldn't blame her though.

With speed granted to him by motion itself, he practically teleported above Elaine, grabbed her left wing and swung her back through the gate of the Throne. Crash! Thud! Elaine was coughing in pain and she crawled onto the Throne as if seeking refuge.

Empty Hand placed a foot on her back and then grabbed both of her wings. Elaine looked back at him, utterly terrified.

"W-wait, please…" Elaine pleaded, tears stinging the corner of her eyes.

"Please what?" Empty Hand cackled. "Please what, god?"

"D-don't–"

Riiiiiiip!

He tore her wings right from her back. Accompanying the disgusting tear of flesh was a gut-wrenching scream. Tears ran down Elaine's cheeks.

Her gorgeous white wings withered away. Blotches of blood stained her clothing. Elaine panted laboriously and cried harder.

"You're all my bitches now, understand?" Empty Hand grinded his foot into the bloody area where her left wing once was. Elaine cried out in pain again. "Especially you, Elaine Belloc. You're going to be my personal whore. I am going to Gentrify you and treat you like a bitch in heat. I mean, I don't technically have a penis buuuuut we can make it work."

His foot continued to grind into her and cause her to writhe in pain. Her divine wings were gone, turned into dust. And the throne was now his, as was Elaine Belloc.

A disturbance erupted from the bottom of the staircase. A strong, powerful source of energy. "But who the fuck…?"

Empty Hand turned. Hanging at the gate of the Throne was a tall, dark-skinned man with a high-top fade. A man who he thought was dead. A man who was not a man at all but a living, breathing piece of Element X.

"You really think I would die that easily?"

"Honestly? Yeah," Empty Hand admitted. "I'm guessing you manifested your powers right before the Omega Beams took effect. Lucky, Chosen Messenger."

"Call me Arik," he replied.

Silence.

Empty Hand was right on the cusp of absorbing Elaine Belloc's powers. She was behind him. She was right there, hunched over the throne, fingers curling in agony. But since Arik, the Chosen Messenger, was back at full power, he couldn't act carelessly here. He was fast. Dangerously fast. How fast would one have to be in order to travel up the fleet of stairs of the Throne? The answer was beyond immeasurable.

"Are you really gonna save her, Arik–"

Before the Chosen Messenger's name could be uttered, Arik disappeared. Empty Hand went wide-eyed and checked on Elaine. "Huh?" Elaine was still there. In other words–

Bam!

A strong impact hit his face. A foot, he guessed, powered by the imagination of Element X. The image of him getting hurt.

It worked.

Empty Hand was stunned.

Arik disappeared again. This time, when Empty Hand looked back at Elaine, she was gone. So was Arik, it seemed. The Throne room was empty of people, angels, and living metals.

"So you let the bitch escape. That's not like you, Arik," Empty Hand muttered. Sighing, he sat down on the Throne. He could feel power radiating through him. While Elaine had escaped him, the Throne was his.

In other words, Heaven was his to control now.

That also meant there weren't a lot of places for Elaine and Arik to run to. And if they wanted to get to Earth or the rest of the Multiverse, then they would have to through the Gentry. His five twisted monsters.

"Arik, you might be back at full power, but with Elaine's wings clipped, she's a hindrance. Do you really think you'll be able to get past the Gentry with baggage like that?"

That was the question now. Would Arik and Elaine be able to escape Heaven? Empty Hand laughed and crossed his arms as he leaned on the Throne of the Presence.

"Until next time, dear readers–"

"Hey. Where the hell do you think you're sitting?"