Cahokia was a vast city that served as the capital of the Mississippi Empire. It stood upon the banks of an enormous river, also called the Mississippi. The word simply meant Great River, and so this civilization was known as the people of the Great River.
The huge city was protected by a massive circular wall of wooden logs and stretched for nearly twenty kilometers. Though several pyramids stood within the city, the principal one—a gigantic three-tiered pyramid—was where the many human sacrifices were being carried out at that very moment.
The priests, however, halted the instant a great explosion erupted from one of the palaces facing the immense plaza where the pyramid rose.
The whole city was then engulfed by unbearable heat, easily surpassing fifty degrees. Frightened, people poured out of their homes when they saw that the entire city had been covered beneath a vast reddish veil of heat. Roofs began to catch fire, and chaos spread through the whole region. Nor was it limited to the city alone. Around Cahokia, the great Mississippi River began to boil from the heat, and the dense forest surrounding the city burst into flames.
The priests and the sacrificial victims stared in shock at the blazing woman with bat-like wings and a fierce scorpion tail standing exactly where the explosion had occurred. Her eyes were full of wrath, and her breathing was deep and slow.
“It is Tania!” cried Anpiel excitedly, standing among the sacrificial victims.
“Tania-san hath at last achieved her transformation in this land!” Susanoo shouted with delight.
“No... this must be rage,” said Anpiel.
“Rage?” Susanoo asked in confusion.
“Tania abhors human sacrifice more than anyone else in the world. This must have struck a most sensitive chord within her,” Anpiel replied. “If she has lost consciousness, she shall destroy this place in mere seconds.”
“Shimata!” Susanoo cried in alarm. Then he noticed that none of the soldiers were paying them any mind.
“Anpiel-san! Thou art nearer to that soldier. Seize his weapon, that we may free ourselves and go aid Tania-san,” said the eastern god to the angel, taking advantage of everyone’s distraction.
At that moment, all of Cahokia began to tremble. The people believed it was the end of days and fled the city as best they could, including some of the soldiers protected by Heshuka. The power they felt was unlike anything they had ever known in all their lives, and they judged the odds nonexistent that even their hawk god could defeat such a monster.
“Ch’úupal! You have to calm down! You’re destroying the whole city!” Tul cried desperately, trying to hug her. But Tania turned toward her and raised her flaming palm in a gesture that clearly meant stop.
At once, the heat faded and the trembling ceased. The fire that had spread over the roofs of the houses and the surrounding forest rose into the air and gathered into a vast sphere, which flew back to Tania and sank into her body.
“You don’t need to worry, Tul. I learned long ago to control my power, so that such a tragedy would never happen again,” Tania said. “Besides, I would never allow anything bad to happen to you.”
The soldiers who had not fled gripped their weapons and began advancing stealthily toward Tania and Tul.
“Do you think your tricks will frighten us? We shall show you who the proud soldiers who guard the Hawk of the Sun truly are!” one of them shouted, and the others nodded in agreement.
The rabbit goddess reached into her bag and pulled out a grayish powder. She swiftly flung it at the soldiers, and as it began to shine with a platinum glow, she recited:
“Múuyal Náay (Dream cloud).”
Every soldier who so much as breathed in or touched the powder Tul had cast fell asleep on the spot.
“I’ll take care of this, ch’úupal! You go rescue your friends!” the rabbit goddess shouted excitedly, and Tania smiled.
At that very moment, dozens of flying monsters like the ones that had attacked Onondaga were circling above Tania and Tul. There were easily more than ten of them.
“Those creatures are called Payiihsa, and we won’t be able to hurt them unless we shatter their hard shells first,” Tul said, rummaging through her bag again.
Just then, Tul saw Tania raise her hand toward the heavens and recite:
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“Shahar (Burn).”
Balls of fire shot from her blazing fingers, and when they struck the terrible flying monsters, the creatures exploded into pieces.
One of the beasts, however, managed to evade Tania’s attack and landed directly behind Tul. The monster opened its jaws to unleash a bolt of thunder at her, but the goddess pulled a red sphere from her bag and hurled it straight into the beast’s mouth at high speed, reciting:
“Waak’ k’aak eek (Explosive Fire Star)’.”
The sphere entered the creature’s body, and at once it triggered a violent explosion that destroyed the beast without difficulty.
Tul then turned to Tania and smiled at her once more. Tania understood that she was expecting praise for what she had done, so she extinguished the flames in her hand and patted her on the head.
“Good work, Tul,” she said.
After that, Tania turned toward the pyramid and saw dozens of flying monsters and hundreds of soldiers converging on them. And then something even more horrifying appeared: two gigantic serpents, the same kind as the one they had defeated in Ontario, came slithering toward the two goddesses.
“This is bad, Tul. They far outnumber us,” Tania said.
“I’ll protect your back, ch’úupal!” Tul cried, pulling out more fire spheres. Tania understood that the rabbit goddess’s chemical techniques were amplified by her own divine power.
“Very well, Tul, but first we must destroy those giant serpents,” Tania replied.
At that moment, a great surge of water burst forth and attacked Tania and Tul. It rose out of the sewers beneath the ground. The goddesses barely managed to evade it, but when the water finally stopped moving, it took the shape of a hideous feline.
“It’s another monster! It’s a lynx called Mishibizhiw, and it controls the element of water!” Tul cried. But at that very moment, more waves of water burst up from beneath the earth and surrounded the two goddesses.
Tania once again tried to launch her fireballs, but the monstrous water-lynxes trapped Tul inside their bodies, and she began to drown within them. Tania knew that if she attacked, she might hurt her friend, and so she stopped herself.
But just then, the water-lynxes exploded, leaving only a rainfall behind. Tul fell to the ground, coughing after swallowing so much water. Tania rushed to help her friend, when she suddenly felt someone’s presence behind her.
“Do not concern yourself, Tania-san. I have come to aid you,” came a voice, and the Punic goddess instantly recognized it as Susanoo’s. He wore his totema now and stood ready to fight.
“Susanoo! I’m glad you’re safe! I thought they were going to sacrifice you,” Tania said in relief while helping Tul back to her feet.
“Anpiel-san and I had resolved to make our escape the moment the sacrifice did commence, and to seek thee out forthwith; and so we concealed our totemas within our garments. From what Bellona uttered, we assumed thou wouldst not be offered up as a sacrifice, yet we did greatly fear that thou mightest have been dispatched to Lel,” Susanoo explained, when his gaze fell upon the rabbit girl.
At once, his expression changed completely. His heart began racing, and his face turned as red as a cherry.
“Utsukushi usagi-chan, daisuki desu!” Susanoo cried upon seeing the rabbit goddess, who merely stared at the eastern god in bewilderment.
“Is he your friend, ch’úupal?” Tul asked as she looked at Susanoo kneeling before her with both hands raised toward the goddess.
“Yes, but I’ve just discovered a side of him I never thought I would witness,” Tania said irritably, striking the eastern god on the head.
“Behave yourself. Look at the situation we’re in,” Tania scolded.
Susanoo sprang back to his feet at once and pretended nothing had happened. Then, as they saw the gigantic flying creatures drawing nearer—and worse still, the enormous serpents—they also heard soldiers climbing the stairs toward where they stood.
“Where is Anpiel?” Tania asked.
“Do not concern yourself with Anpiel-san. He is helping the people evacuate,” the eastern god replied, brandishing his katana against the threat advancing toward them.
“Susanoo, I know this may sound insane, but I want you to fight alongside her against all these beasts,” Tania said. “Her name is Tul, and from this day onward, she shall join us in our adventures.”
“Subarashi!” Susanoo cried in delight, though he quickly regained his composure.
“My name is Susanoo-no-Mikoto, though thou mayest simply address me as Susanoo, Tul-chan,” said the eastern god with a bow.
“Chan? Do you speak Maya, maak Susanoo?” Tul asked in surprise, astonished that he had used that word.
“No, most certainly not, Tul-chan,” Susanoo replied. “It is a title we employ in my homeland as a term of affection for those of smaller stature.”
“Chan also means small in my homeland...!” Tul said excitedly.
“Uso!” Susanoo cried in delight, until Tania once more reminded them of the situation they were in.
“Tul,” Tania asked, “can you create thunder or electricity?”
“Yes, ch’úupal,” the rabbit goddess replied.
“Good. I want you to produce it and feed that electricity into this young eastern god beside you. I’m certain that way the two of you can win,” Tania explained.
“Of course, ch’úupal! Leave it to me!” Tul cried excitedly.
“Entrust all unto me, Tania-san,” Susanoo added.
“Good luck, both of you,” Tania said, then flew off toward the pyramid.
Susanoo was astonished that Tania had managed to fly despite the anti-divinity barrier.
Tania-san is truly a prodigy, he thought.
“I... I’ll make electricity, maak Susanoo!” Tul shouted. Then dark smoke began to pour from her bag, swiftly turning into storm clouds crackling with lightning as the goddess recited:
“Cháak iik (Thunderstorm).”
“You are splendid, Tul-chan,” Susanoo said as he raised his great katana toward the heavens.
“Now, cause a mighty thunderbolt to fall upon me.”
“A-Are you... sure, maak Susanoo?” Tul asked in confusion.
“Trust in Tania-san,” Susanoo replied.
“All right!” Tul cried, just as two Payiihsas planted their claws upon the ground where the gods stood.
The thunderbolt struck Susanoo, and at once the god transformed momentarily into his electric form. With tremendous speed, he drove his katana through the heads of both flying creatures, slaying them in an instant.
Susanoo assumed a battle stance when he saw more of those monsters drawing near. At the same time, Tul once more used her sleeping powder against the soldiers climbing up from behind them.
Whatever happened, the two of them were determined to win that battle.