In this mess of an incident, there were 3 important yet unknown talks that happened.

These otherwise unremarkable events were the cause and eventual effect of the Zifang Incident.

One in the past.

One in the present.

One in the future.

-:-

PAST

1 hour before Theo's departure to Zifang.

Juno's awakening was not a pleasant one.

Lying on the cold operating table for days on end was murder on her back.

She could really complain given how she was the one that insisted on this set up.

The integration of 2 adamantium arms and the soul stone was going in a snails pace as expected.

She actually could integrate it instantly, but that led to her going insane and becoming a monster of catastrophic proportions.

As such, she made perfectly sure that absolutely no one was to enter the operating room to break her trance.

And since she was awake, it meant that someone ignored her command.

Quite annoying.

She tilted her head to the side and spotted the supposed future daughter of Nichola kneeling like she should. Kinda obvious how they pretty much looked like each other except the daughter inherited the curvaceous genes from the Lorne bloodline.

At the very least, she knew her place.

"Your name?" asked Juno in a condescending manner.

"Aveline Maria Lorne. Call me Maria if you would. I apologize for disturbing your rest Juno Mama." replied Nichola's daughter.

"As you can see, my chest cavity is still very much open and my cybernetic arms are still not fully in my control. Even in this state, I am more than enough to kill most people. If your reason is not good enough, I'll make sure to beat you within an inch of your life. Do you understand?"

"Yes mama."

"Then out with it."

"One year from now, the third world war will begin."

"I see. So?"

"Papa will die. This is inevitable."

She would have strangled Maria if she was in full strength. Maybe that's the reason why Nichola's future daughter approached her during this state.

Whoever told Maria to do this knew Juno quite well.

'Why was Juno so angry?' you ask?

This was because her entire existence was dedicated to keeping Theo alive and happy.

It went far beyond your typical yandere obsession.

To Juno, this was a matter of life and death.

As someone who did not belong to this timeline, her existence was under constant threat of simply disappearing.

In order to avoid this, she needed an anchor that would hold her to this reality.

And to no one's surprise, this anchor was Theodore Lorne.

Her Watcher friend casted a spell called a 'Soulbound' which, as the name suggested, shackled her soul to Theo.

If Theo's soul perishes, she ceases to exist.

The entire plan of turning Theo into a literal god was specifically made to avoid the worst case scenario.

FYI: Juno wasn't afraid of dying. She was just unable to live without Theo.

"I see.... So I have only 1 year of happiness left... It's too short... Way too short..." said Juno as a rare tear flowed from her eye.

"That's not the case Juno mama. Papa may die, but that doesn't mean he is going to stay dead." replied Maria.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Your efforts have not been in vain. Aside from the one the Lord of Vermillion is making for Papa, he himself already has the foundation of a soulstone. That should have been obvious during the Eldorado Election Incident. There's no way a normal Midas Alchemist can transmute that much material out of thin air."

"True. Then if Theo's death is inevitable, how do I resurrect him?"

"That is easy. At the point of his death, he must die not like a normal human but in a manner befitting the Machine God. Just like how the Patriarch of the Ecclesiarchy's death allowed him to rise to a higher plane of existence, Papa too must go through the same martyr-ish death. Only then can he become a beacon to which people would pray to."

"Ho.... I see... And how am I suppose to ensure that exactly?"

"Sadly, I don't know. You refused to tell me the details when I asked. Quoting your exact words: 'To avoid any changes to the space time continuum, the past me must clumsily discover this on her own. Trust me, the things she gained from failing outweighs the time saved by going straight to the goal.'. At least that was what you said to me."

"Ho.... Looks like I'm about to go on a wild misadventure... Very interesting indeed."

"I wouldn't know."

"It cant be helped. But to think I have to set up the greatest possible stage for Theo's ascension. I guess it's pretty much the same thing I've been doing for many years now."

"That is exactly right mama. Anyways, I need to go. Please take a good long rest."

"Hold on, I need to ask you something."

"Yes? What is it?"

"In the future that you came from, are we, the Lorne family, living a happy life?"

With the most genuine smile Juno has ever seen, Maria replied....

"Though a little bit chaotic most of the time, our Lorne Family is living a very happy life."

"I see. I'm looking forward to it." said Juno as she closed her eyes and returned to integrating.

Once again, she could not help but smile at how happy her life has become.

Destroying reality for this little slice of happiness was totally worth it.

-:-

PRESENT

The Undertide Realm

2 days after the destruction of the Garden of Eden.

2 of the most common trait associated to the Drow race was sadism and hedonism.

One of them was false and the other was unavoidable.

While it was true that the Drow were evil, but so were the Elves, Dwarves, Humans, etc.

Anyone can inflict the most disturbing and brutal of violence to anyone else.

The Drow did not have a monopoly on cruelty.

As for their hedonism, it was sadly true, but it was born from their situation.

Due to their infamy, traveling above ground in most realms were akin to suicide.

And with the world beneath was filled with dwarves, goblins, orcs and other hostile races that outnumber the already few Drows, building any type of stationary fortification was painting a large target on your back.

They had to keep moving or they'll get swarmed.

One of the main problems of a nomadic race in an extremely hostile environment was securing food.

Planting required a stationary civilization and that's something the Undertide simply did not allow.

Herding and foraging were the only ways to go.

Their main livestock were a creature called 'Nugs'. These creatures were.... very hard to describe.

Here's the short version:

Size was approximately that of a horse.

Extremely ugly.

Perfect as beast of burden.

Reproduces exceptionally fast.

Most importantly: Grows mushrooms on its back.

These mushrooms creatively called 'Deepshrooms' were, along with the Nugs, the Drow's main diet.

FYI: They tastes surprisingly good.

Now you're probably wondering 'What the hell does it have to do with the Drow's love for sex?'.

The answer was simple.

Deepshrooms were extremely potent aphrodisiac.

In fact, the most expensive Love Potions were made from Deepshrooms, which obviously was their primary export.

The effect of consuming Deepshrooms on a daily basis were in full display of La Ren Sithra.

In the largest yurt was an orgy of atleast 50 people.

At the middle of that was a fancy bed made out of the finest furs where La Ren Sithra and the 2 girls that went to Zifang were lying on top of.

La Ren was reading a book about guns she bought back from the Commonwealth while the two were using their tongues to pleasure her.

She wont be wielding any of them, but she was curious as to what the weapons Theo was using.

While enjoying the pleasure of reading and being licked in her loins, Du Al Ryien entered the yurt and knelt in front of her.

"You called my queen?" asked Du Al Ryien.

"Yes. I'd like to ask you a couple of questions. Take a seat or enjoy some pleasure. We'll be here for a bit." replied La Ren as she used her legs to tap the ass of the one licking her in the loins.

"As you wish my queen."

Du Al Ryien dropped his pants and began pistoning the girl from behind.

Since the Drow had very little friends outside of their race, no one really knew of their society and hierarchical structure.

One particular mystery was the Dreadqueen.

Everyone knew that the Dreadqueen exists, but no one knew who exactly it was or how the title was passed.

As Du Al told Theo, only the strongest could claim the mantle of the Dreadqueen. This was not a lie.

However, he did not tell the young man that the woman that takes the throne loses her name and is only called by her title.

The Drow word that meant Dreadqueen was 'La Ren Sithra' AKA 'The One Who All Fears'.

While the current La Ren Sithra looked like she was in her mid teens, she was already 1281 years old.

In fact, she gave birth to Du Al Ryien (582 years old).

However, since Drows have no concept of family, everyone was treated as allies and close friends. Hence the business-like interaction between the 2.

"I joined you to Earth to check out the apostle of the Machine God as you suggested. I must say, I'm quite impressed of what I saw. It was a bit annoying that I had to play a sort-off mute character." said La Ren.

"I apologize for the inconvenience." replied Du Al.

"I don't mind. It was quite fun. But why did I play that role?"

"It was mostly for Vivi Cornielo. A strong yet silent girl was one of his many fetishes. I'm sure you noticed how eager he was to please you during your infiltration of the Garden of Eden."

"Ah.... That spineless cretin huh? While his healing abilities were impressive, that goody two shoes act grated on my nerves. That kindhearted personality may work on girls like the one you sired, but I find it utterly disgusting."

"I thank you for not killing him."

"He was a friend of Theodore Lorne after all. Speaking of which, what do you make of our gun slinging friend? Can we get him on our side?"

"The odds are good at the very least. His sister-in-law was severely injured when elves tried to kill me in Vermilion City. Thanks to this incident, Theo has a bias against the elves. From what I could tell, it was almost as bad as his hatred for the Norscans."

"Very good. We dont exactly have an outstanding relationship with them either."

"On a different matter entirely, I would like to suggest something my queen."

"Go ahead. Your suggestions have been quite beneficial to us. I'm sure this one will end up just like it."

"Thank you my queen. Since my queen has not given birth in the last 300 years, I would humbly suggest siring a child with Theodore Lorne. You did say you wanted to fornicate with him."

"Hmm.... True. I did say that. But why sire a child?"

"Quite simply, it's to establish blood ties. Based on the information provided by Jabir Ibn Hayan, Theodore Lorne is quite protective of his children. If you and him were to sire a child, it would make a bond that he values above all else. He would go to great lengths to protect both the mother and the child."

"Ah. I see. And I guess an informal alliance with the Machine God is just a fortunate byproduct of that union huh?"

"Hahaha. It is as you say."

"Hmm... I do want to have a tussle with Lorne in the sheets. He seemed like he was properly trained in the art of love making... And he should be able to shelter our entire race once we eventually lose the war to the Elves."

The Drow were outnumbered, had very little allies and were surrounded in all sides by hostile forces.

While La Ren Sithra would do everything in her power to somehow overcome these challenges, there was no realistic path to victory.

And if she cant win, then she must do her absolute best to find the means of survival.

Fortunately, pragmatism was one of the core values drilled in to all Drows.

As such, all of her constituents understood that they may one day have to swallow their pride for their survival.

If they have to beg for the help of 'inferior races' such as humans, then they would have to do so.

For their descendants to have a future, they must survive.

"Very well Du Al Ryien. I shall do as you ask. I hope Theodore Lorne is ready, for I shall show mercy in bed!" said La Ren as she blessed her pleasurer with her holy water.

"Thank my queen." replied Du Al while he unleashed his life force into said pleasurer's sanctuary.

La Ren Sithra would soon discover that despite living for more than a millennia, she was no match for someone who was trained in the perverted arts by a monster.

-:-

FUTURE

25 years later

Vermilion City.... or what's left of it.

A massive surge of electricity erupted in the middle of the Hero Alliance Academy ruins.

After a couple of seconds, the electrical storm died down, revealing a naked Aveline Maria Lorne on her knees.

She was in the middle of a magic circle that was approximately 50 meters in diameter.

This was the spell that sent her back in time.

"I'm back." said Maria before someone kicked her in the face.

Said someone mounted her and violently pulled her cheeks apart.

"9 HOURS! You made me maintain that spell 9 UNGODLY HOURS STRAIGHT! I pissed myself twice! I would have murdered you if Papa saw me do that! I'm sure you don't mind if I do this my stupid little sister?! AM I NOT KIND MY STUPID LITTLE SISTER?!" said the beautiful woman on top of Maria.

"Showy! IYM SHOWY SHIS EVA! " replied Maria who could barely speak.

The woman was Evangelica Tenma Lorne or Eva for short. Approximately 25 years old and, despite being a pure mage, has an extremely short fuse and a tendency to physically assault people that piss her off.

From her mother Juno, she inherited her beautiful appearance and silver hair.

From her father Theo, she inherited her light brown skin and the curvaceous female Lorne body.

Just to be clear, Maria was physically stronger than her elder sister and could easy throw her off.

However, all the Lorne siblings have come to understand that it was better to take the punishment than fight back.

As the most powerful mage in the Lorne faction, she was more than capable of casting spells that would obliterate city blocks.

Better take Eva's weak physical strikes than get hit by massive firestorms.

"Okay Eva that's enough." said a calm man who pulled Eva off Maria.

"LET GO OF ME BRO! My stupid sister needs to learn what happens to those who embarrass me!" roared Eva who was literally kicking and screaming

"Calm down Sis. I'm sure Maria has a good reason. Right Maria?" said the man.

The man was Zachariah Tenshu Lorne or Zach for short. Also about 25 years old and the eldest of all the Lorne Siblings.

He was also one of 3 people that could calm Eva in mid rage. The pair had a solid bond of respect that the other siblings did not have.

Zach has also beaten Eva in a full blown fight a few times now.

Naturally, the other 2 that could stop Eva rage was her mother Juno (can also beat her into submission) and her father Theo (Eva was a Papa's girl).

As for Zach's appearance, he was pretty much Theodore Lorne 2.0 but inherited his mother's Albino skin color and hair.

"You alright Sis?" asked a 2 meter tall mechanized power armor as it handed Maria some clothes before helping her up.

"Thanks Eskry." replied Maria.

Inside the mechanized power armor was 23 yeard old Diomedes Eskry Lorne. Maria's little brother and the son of Theo and Pani.

His appearance was a weird mix between his parents, though his mother's genes were more dominant, hence the purple hair.

He was generally a soft spoken lad that was extremely hard to hate.

He also had the highest affinity for Theo's tech. He can pretty much use any of his father's creation minus the Golden Terminator Armor.

"Care to explain what happened?" asked Zach who successfully calmed his raging twin.

"Yes big bro. Quite simply, it was as Nichola mama warned us. Time travel is highly inaccurate." replied Maria.

"Ho? How many years was Eva off?" asked Zach, causing Eva to pout.

"5000 years."

"WHAT?! NO WAY!" exclaimed Eva.

Maria then retold everyone all of her experiences in the past.

Once she was done, Eva got on her needs and prostrated in front of her.

"I AM REALLY SORRY! If I had known what happened, I wouldn't have attacked you!"

Despite all of Eva's over inflated ego as 'the most powerful mage', she would not hesitate to admit she was wrong. Such was their father's influence on them.

"No need to beg for forgiveness Sis. Sometimes stuff like this happens." said Maria as she helped her crying older sister up.

"All's well that ends well." said Zach while patting Eva on the head. "But still... to think the world was like that before the nuclear war huh... It's so peaceful that it's almost impossible to imagine."

"Yeah. It sure was 'the good old days'." replied Maria. "And with the blatant kidnapping of a princess, the thin faced Jade Empire will most certainly start gunning for Papa. The 3rd World War is set in stone.... and Dio Cornielo's birth is assured."

"*sigh*... I guess if anyone can steal someone elses wife, it's Uncle Vivi... Ugh... Anyways, I still cant believe Papa would actually manipulate himself to ensure that World War 3 would happen."

"Either that or the allow the Bifrost to open. I think it's obvious that humanity is more likely to survive the former. "

As she said this, an ear splitting roar shook the ground. From a distance the Lorne siblings could see a 10 meter tall female demon. It had purple skin, 6 arms wielding various weapons and had literally flaming hair.

"Eh? Mama's Greater Daemon? What's it doing here?" asked Maria in confusion.

"While you were in the past, some unreliable info got passed around that there were Superhero resistance fighters hiding in Vermilion City. Probably to find out what we're up to. Since no one believed it was true, they sent Nichola mama. She hasn't seen the outside world for 2 months now soooo... yeah... " replied Zach

Maria facepalmed.

Despite being one who shouldered a lot of responsibilities among the Lorne siblings (by choice), Maria's main source of headache was not the thousands of people under her command, but her very own mother.

Her primary self assigned responsibility was to literally force her mother to live a healthy life.

And since her mother became immortal at a young age, it was often misunderstood that Maria was the older of the two.

"Well.... Shit. I guess we have to go keep her and her greater daemon from leveling what's left of our birth city huh." said Maria.

"Pretty much. Alright everyone! Move out!"

At Zach's words the 4 Lorne's rushed to clean up Nichola's mess... again.

Despite being at constant war with the many factions of this fractured world, the Lorne family was as happy as a normal family could be.