All Good Things Must Come to an End
Like Las Vegas, the city of Chicago had learned to fear the sky.

Its residents knew of portals. Great rifts that opened between worlds, releasing entities and energies that could have no earthly origin. Some of the former had proven powerful enough to injure dozens, to tear down buildings and churn up the asphalt of city streets. But latter were far worse than winged monsters or renegade demons. Energies could not be struck down by brave heroes with swords and stakes. They could not be hidden from. They could render monsters out of human flesh, make strangers out of lifelong neighbors, toy with people's personalities and lives.

In another city, a mysterious crackle of white energy might be viewed as a weather phenomenon. It might be a subject of wonder and awe. But here, in the shadow of Lincoln Park, people understood that rarely was such a disturbance benevolent.

When the writhing mass of electromagnetism appeared over Lake Michigan on July 10, 2014, people began to gather. The beach at the end of North Avenue offered the best view of what could just as easily be an apocalyptic event as an atmospheric fluke. As day faded into night, the portal that had caused so much chaos two years past only intensified in brightness and size.

Whatever it was, it awakened caution in multiple dimensions. Even heaven and hell felt the ripples of energy as the portal bulged, preparing itself for an explosion that remained a mystery even to demigods.

By the end of the night, an answer would come.


[Final Thread: Open to All!]