The gods stood once more about their infinite table, smiling at the loss of Joe’s last piece. Of course there would be more wars, just not the same ones that were, where armies would line up on either side and charge valiantly into no man's land, which is the way War had liked it. This brought out the best in the men of virtue, the leadership in men of courage, and blood and steel to the men of Honor. Victory came from the subtle balance of equipment and tactics, but was also tipped in the favor of the bold. War himself had the heart of a lion and gave graces to those who would follow in his footsteps; though they may lose the battle, there was always a way to prove themselves worthy of winning the war.

Fate pondered to himself, Joe had not left yet. Fate had been here longest, and has seen his fair share of Gods losing entire games before like this, and they all left silently with their heads hung, else they had enough followers that they could start anew and fight the glorious battle again. But nobody Believed in war anymore, they knew he existed and took it for granted. There were no great battles that men prayed to the God of Battles to give them victory, they went to other Gods for that, sometimes they asked Fate himself to intervene. Which was all fine according to the rules, but Joe merely stood firmly in place and held the dice in hid hand, as if taunting them, daring someone to ask for their turn. Fate looked at each of the main player’s one at a time, even they were afraid of Joe since War still lived inside him. Old Gods doing different jobs. Why, even Fate was once known as Death, Drought as Famine, and Disease as Pestilence. Joe was one of the only one who was personified as such, maybe this was part of the rules that made themselves. The original four riders had made The Game to make their lives a little easier, but it had taken a life and meaning unto its own. The Rules varied by the second as deals were made and broken and the pieces played in ways not even thought of by their owners. Much like a dog show where the ugly poodle takes an M-16 and levels the competition. The rules must adapt for such situations...

"Well Joe, you can either leave peacefully and give up your turn, or you can tell us what you are waiting for." Fate said, breaking the minute-long silence.

"Well," Joe replied, "I will go, but not just yet. There is one last thing I must do."

And with that he cast the dice onto the board and began glowing. Not a heavenly glow, but one to cause confusion as to what was actually happening elsewhere. Which is what the other Gods knew, so they looked everywhere but Joe, who had stepped outside of his body, of course leaving himself behind. War looked around the room at the players around him smiled a big toothy grin, "Well, Joe stays but I have somewhere I have to be." And with that he marched to the Gates of The Heavens, opened the massive oak doors, and proceeded out into the Outside. Joe smiled sheepishly and looked at the dice, "well I think the game got a lot more interesting." He spoke as his final piece, still in two halves, began to twitch. The top half crawled its way over to the bottom, and began fitting itself together. When it was in place, one of the dice melted into light and the liquid luminance slid over to the piece and covered the midsection where it lay and solidified. The piece got up, dusted itself off and continued playing. Fate then noticed that the melted die was one of the four original dice, the one contributed by War. It had over six thousand sides and usually took a full minute to roll to a stop, and another just to read what it said. He smiled to himself again, these were the things of Legend, he thought. Although saddened that none of the four original players made it there first, he was consoled that soon one would be, if Fate was kind. And he was always kind to his brothers, they were still family.

On the Outside, War marched his way to the gate of Hell. They only had one, for there was only need for one. The heavens never attacked, they were too busy playing their games, Hell never attacked either, they were waiting until they were powerful enough. Plus they loved feasting on the souls of Men; demons were as gluttonous as the souls they ate. War Bashed three times onto the Gates and called out for the leader of the Underworld. "Barry! Get yourself out here before I come in there and drag you out!" Barry was the only other God personified, yet he always enjoyed what he was called before, but the language didn't have enough vowels for it to be pronounced properly. "Yes Joe what do you want?" He replied from atop the blackened battlements, the no mans land between heaven and hell spanned an eternity yet it could be crossed in seconds if you knew the shortcuts, "Oh, I see you have reverted. This isn't another raid is it; we agreed last time that it was against the Rules."

"You speak of the Rules to me? Magic was over with the Final War, we were supposed to not give them any more, yet I find your piece with an amulet of such power. Is it not strange that after magic is banned that your most powerful piece is actually pure magic?"

"Perhaps it is leftovers. You know how sloppy you can be in the thick of things."

"There were no leftovers. Us Four saw to it," everyone knew who "the four" were, "You gave them back the power and violated the agreement. I hereby call you out on it."

"You officially call me out? That is the most hilarious thing I've heard in a long time War," Barry smiled from ear to ear, but there was no joy in it, "Well it seems to me you don't have any pieces left, or a leg to stand on. Yes I know it was a cheap shot, and I apologize for my methods. No wait, I don't apologize. I have more power than you ever did, and ever will. I could overrun the Heavens today and win by a landslide, but that is of no consequence. That is no longer the prize."

"Legend. You will never get there by Force! We put strict rules unbreakable Rules on that. You cannot get in by sheer numbers. The pieces must believe you Worthy of it, or be Judged so. You know this, you helped implement this."

"Yes I do know this, but I have a question for you. If I control all the pieces, can I not just make them believe I am worthy?" With that he turned his back to the armor clad Warrior cackling loudly as the echoes rained upon a silent War. It was always so simple in the minds of the Twisted, so methodical in the hearts of the damned. Of course the rules would be broken, and this was not the first time someone had tried to force his way into Legend. But last time there was War, not Joe, and there was honor amongst thieves. War would not be allowed into The Heavens again, he could cut a swath of destruction in Hell and possibly even thwart Barry, but that was against the Rules originally set by the Four and he was bound by them indefinitely. There was only one option left. He would have to wait; perhaps he would even help out his daughter.

...