Dorian floated in a blank void. It was a purgatory of the mind he knew all too well. He sighed. Any moment now all would go dark, and that’d be that! The end, for the last time.

He wasn’t mad about wasn’t how dumb it all was. He’d died in utterly humiliating fashion a hundred times! What was one more? He was a good deal more annoyed that he’d never get to pay that ass Jez back before he went. It wouldn’t be him driving the knife through his chest, savoring the look of dumb shock on his face as his life’s work burned before him. He supposed it would’ve been nice to say a goodbye to his brother, too. So much left unfinished…

It didn’t sit right with him. Bah! A psychic shrug at that. What was there to do? He was not Dorian the Godking anymore, sadly. He was Dorian, the almost-a-demigod, and the Multiverse was full of weaklings with grudges. Almost all of them took them to the grave.

“—?”

Not a sound. A pang of feeling, the happy surprise of a distant mind. He felt it drift closer. He saw the outline of a white door in the space before him. It opened, admitting a wizened man. Their gazes met. The man’s eyes popped.

“Dorian!” cried Old Man Fate. Dorian watched, stunned, as he dashed over and hugged him tight. “It’s true—you live!”

He laughed, eyes a little watery. “I knew it! Phoenix-King Shen said you perished with the rest of Zenith… but I never lost faith! Oh, felicitous day! Tell me—how are you? Where are you?”

“Fate!” said Dorian. “Huh. I’m not unhappy to see you, which, I suppose, is a pleasant change of pace. Though you’ve caught me in a bit of a busy time…”

“Oh?”

“I’m getting my face pounded in by a teenager with a frying pan.”

Fate blinked. “Ah. I see.”

“Not my finest hour. Though it’s still a marginal improvement over a day ago, when Jez relieved me of all my bodies, my limbs, and nearly managed to snag my life along with it.”

“…I see…”

Dorian shrugged. “I find myself stuck without any of my bodies or powers in the Ninth Circle of Hell! So that’s how I’m doing. And you? How’s your little resistance going?” Fate sighed. “I’m sorry to say, not well. Jez rolls on, relentless. He has nearly all the middle realms. He has half the Upper Realms! By now I’ve got forces set up on every plane left... They fight bravely. But that is all they do, I fear…”

“Hm.” Dorian scratched his chin. “Seems we’re both screwed, then! So what do you plan to do? Surrender? Plea for mercy?”

“Oh, Heavens no!” Fate looked horrified. “No-one said anything about giving up! How could you countenance such a thing? The Fate of the Multiverse hangs in the balance!”

Dorian was mildly surprised this conversation was still ongoing. Why hadn’t Sun gotten on with offing him yet? It should be trivial.

“So what’s the plan?” He cocked his head. “Jez is a network—and if he’s conquered most of the Multiverse he’s got considerably more power than you. You plan to off all of him?”

“Please!” Fate was as close to he ever got to offended. A slight twitch of the cheek, a look of mild shock. “I am optimistic, dear Dorian, which is not the same thing as foolish.”

“I don’t know. I figure you’d like the idea of going out swinging. There’s something romantic about it. Principled, maybe? Honorable?” Dorian grinned. “Then again, what would I know about that?”

“No. There is hope. Real hope!” Fate leveled a sharp gaze at him. There was an intensity there that stilled Dorian. “Jez is not a perfect network.”

“Oh?”

“Think on it! What if one of his subordinates gets too powerful? What if there’s an internal rebellion, and some other forces take over the web? He can’t allow that. There is a web of followers of Jez, and Jez himself. He is the Infinity, and he must be in complete control! But how? Of late—with your brother’s help, I might add!—I’ve uncovered the secret.” His eyes grew fiery. “A secret that could change everything! Hear me, Dorian…”

“I’m listening.”

“Through each plane I’ve trawled the lines of Fate…” his voice took on a misty tone. His eyes clouded over; he stared at nothing. “They all point in the same direction. At first I thought it was to him. But no… they point somewhere else.”

Fiercely he gripped Dorian by the shoulders. “I sent a host of deities to investigate. Three gods died to bring back this intelligence! In each plane Jez controls he keeps what we call an Infinity Heart.”

Infinity Hearts… It jived with something in memory. Hadn’t his brother said something of the sort to him in that vision he’d had a mere day ago, on the brink of death? Seek out the Infinity Hearts?

Fate continued. “The vital organ through which all his golden qi flows, which circulates his powers to all his followers! It is the true locus of his powers. It is the prime node on each plane. Do you know what this means?!”

“…If you destroy the heart, you cut off his hold on the realm?” Dorian was starting to see why Fate was frothing so.

“Precisely! Don’t you see? This—this—“ Fate was struggling for words. “This means everything!”

“Huh.” Dorian blinked. “Alright. And how many of these Infinity Hearts have you managed to destroy?”

“…” Fate visibly deflated. “Ah…Well—Zero so far. They are—rather predictably—extremely well defended. A less optimistic man might call them impregnable. But still—there is a way out of this mess, and we aim to prove it!”

He was puffing back up again. “Before the year’s end we plan to stage a last stand in one of the Upper Realms. Likely it shall take place here in Hell, one of the few planes he has not overrun! Though he is making a vicious effort at it. We shall march for the Infinity Heart, make war with Jez, and free his grip on the Realm. From here we shall build to the others, gathering allies, until we have driven him from the Multiverse entirely!”

Dorian took a few seconds to digest it all. It also served to help cool Fate down. The old man had worked himself into a bit of a frenzy. His white hairs were sticking up on their ends, as though electrified.

“This all sounds very pleasant,” said Dorian absently. “It also sounds like a fever dream.”

He paused. He’d said it just to say it, because it was the sort of thing he expected himself to say. But really he was chewing on the idea.

If this is true… “But still… you have my attention.”

“Please—don’t mistake me! I am not under the illusion that we stand a fair chance of success,” said Fate. His eyes were pleading. “But if you wish for a chance to strike back at Jez—well—this is it!”

Dorian smiled softly. “So this is what this vision’s about? Yet again, you’ve come to recruit me?”

“I—well—no.” Fate sighed, long and slow. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t meant it that way… I suppose I got over-excited. In truth I simply came to check in on a—humor an old man, will you?—a friend I’d thought deceased. That’s all. I shan’t bother you with yet another try. It is true that I know you, of all gods, shall not stay weak for long. It is true that you break things better than anyone else I know! It is true that we could use a pint of chaos on our side—we could use you. Yet… I know your answer. I understand.”

“I’ll do it.”

Fate spluttered. “Err—pardon?”

“Did I stutter?” Dorian arched a brow. “I said I’ll do it. I’ll help.” He smiled. “As it happens I’ve something of a bone to pick with that smarmy little shit myself. And I’ve hardly got anything better to do, have I?”

For a few seconds, Fate gawked at him. Then—“Oh! Lovely! Wonderful!” His eyes shone. “Erm—Shall I route you to our forces, then? Let us begin posthaste! Where in Hell might you be?”

“Molten Plains.”

“Ah! Hum. That… is inconvenient.”

“How?”

“You are hundred of thousands of li from our base in the Demon Kingdom of Ur. And you are nearly on the diametrically opposite side of Hell to where we think Jez has stored his Infinity Heart.”

Dorian groaned. “Oh, don’t tell me…”

“He has set up his base in the Labyrinth of the Heavens.”

“Of course he has,” Dorian sighed. Only the most convoluted, treacherous dungeon in all the Multiverse! “Okay. Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll chart a route to Ur, gaining strength as I go. It so happens that I know this Realm very well. I know just the spots to hit to snatch treasures and power up fast.”

“I expect no less.”

“ You and your armies keep Jez busy, and we’ll assault the Labyrinth together.”

“Very well!” Fate's smile warbled a little. “A wonderful plan! Oh, thank you—truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! Together we shall overcome, and deliver a more just Multiverse for all!”

He made to give Dorian another shambling hug. Dorian fended him off.

“Alright, that’s enough sentimentality for one vision. Don’t fool yourself, old man. I don’t care a whit about your ‘justice.’ If all of you burn that would suit me just fine! All I ever wished for is to be left alone by you asshats! That little shit danced right over my one godsdamned red line.” He snorted. “He’s made things personal. That’s all.” “I knew you had it in you!” said Fate, still starry-eyed, as though Dorian had said nothing at all. “I knew it all along.”

“Alright, alright. Off with you!” Dorian rolled his eyes. Senile old coot. “I’ve got an ornery monkey-girl to survive.”