It can be hard to figure out the time of the day on an alien planet, but the sun has just risen on the world where the arena of the Strongest Under The Heavens contest has been relocated.
Max Black a.k.a. Quantum suppresses a yawn as he takes his seat in the audience, looking around to see the other spectators that share the same amphitheater.
Vesta is there, together with Kari Zel, her duplicate and her husband Kiros; Torn and his youngest daughter Lesion are present, but Noriko Null is missing, as are her former boyfriend Dmitry Voron and the blue-skinned Lily Elosia. Ulysses just arrived, almost as late as Quantum but lacking his speed to make up for it.
<Where’s Noriko?> Quantum asks him.
<What makes you think that I know that?>
<Because you’re always up to something. Lily stayed out all night, I haven’t seen her since yesterday… what’s going on?>
<As a Lampyrian, she needs less sleep than humans. She may be young, but you shouldn’t underestimate her capabilities, both as a scientist and as a spy.>
Quantum knows that Ulysses won’t give him a straight answer, but he has something else to consider: Thoth reappeared in the middle of the arena.
<Let us begin the quarter finals of the tournament that shall decide who is the Strongest Under The Heavens. As decided by lot: the defending champion Herakles, the God of Strength, shall battle Quantum, the Hero of Earth. Both contestants may approach the arena.>
<Showtime> Quantum says, disappearing in a flash of light and then re-appearing next to Thoth.
Another man approaches from the amphitheater that hosts the gods. He has a thick beard and wears only a white skirt with a golden belt, leaving exposed his massively over-muscled torso.
“He’s bigger than I thought” Quantum thinks: the African-American hero isn’t exactly short, but Herakles practically towers over him. His biceps alone are thicker than his head.
<Prepare thee for the fight, aethiopian mortal, for to challenge Herakles is to challenge the gods!>
<What did you just call me?> Quantum asks.
<Thou mean aethiopian? Is that not the color of thy skin?>
<Did you seriously use an ethnic slur against someone who can turn into a laser?>
<Zounds! Herakles doth not slur, mortal, his words speak louder than… uhm… than words!>
<You’re not exactly the brightest tool in the shed, aren’t you?>
<Thou art a strange mortal, calling Herakles both bright and a tool! >
<You already expressed the wish you desire to fulfill. Do you intend to change it?> Thoth asks.
<Nay!> Herakles immediately answers.
<Nope. Let’s get this over with.>
<The stakes are decided, until defeat or death. Herakles versus Quantum. FIGHT!!!>
Quantum decides to test his opponent first, throwing a thunderbolt at him. It bounces off his chest without doing any damage whatsoever.
<Ha! Verily, thou art a fool! Dost thee believe mere bolts may hurt the Son of Zeus?>
<It was worth a shot> Quantum thinks, transforming into pure light to blind his adversary and then taking the form of a laser to hit him; once again, doing no damage.
“Okay, he’s not just strong, he’s invulnerable too. At least he can’t do anything to me” – he reasons, continuing his barrage while he tries to come up with a plan.
<Herakles dost not need eyesight to fight you, accursed changeling!> the demigod protests, blindly throwing a punch. Quantum doesn’t care about that, even if the fist is somehow on fire, and he lets it pass through the photons that currently form his body. And then almost immediately returning to human form, a few feet away from Herakles, holding his stomach with an expression of pain and confusion on his face.
<You hit me? How the hell did you do that!?>
<Return thee to the fight, vile coward!> Herakles shouts, charging toward Quantum like a raging bull. Of course Quantum can get away from him in the blink of an eye; when he transforms into electricity trying to zap him again, Herakles moves his arm to intercept him, once again surrounded by a trail of fire. Quantum should go past him, but ends up tripping on the particles that surround the arm and awkwardly falling on his back as he returns to human form.
<Yep, that really hurt> he complains, rubbing his back.
<Thou believe thyself to be untouchable? Herakles doth punch hard enough to hurt a ghost!!!>
<I’ve seen that effect when Vesta flies too fast in the atmosphere. You’re punching so hard that you’re fusing the molecules in the air into plasma! You sucked the electrons right out of my attack.>
<Verily thou art wise to fear the God of…>
<That’s AWESOME, man! It’s like you’re throwing an atom bomb with every punch!!!>
<Art… art thou surrendering?> Herakles asks, scratching his head in utter confusion.
<I was thinking about using the Infinite Mass Punch against you, but that barely worked on Dionysus and you took him out with no problem. If you’re really as invulnerable as you’re strong, there’s no sense in trying to beat you with physical force.>
<Verily ‘tis too late to surrender!>
<Verily. Let’s try something new> Quantum answers, disappearing once more; this time, there’s no kind of visible attack against Herakles. The demigod looks around, waiting to intercept the next blast, but there’s nothing around him. But suddenly, he sinks up to his knees in the arena.
<By my father’s beard, what cowardly trick is this? Show thyself, mortal!> he shouts, before sinking to his neck. He tries to pull himself out, but as soon as he touches the floor he’s pulled down even harder than before. The entire arena shakes, as if hit by an earthquake: Herakles is clearly fighting something, even if nobody can see what.
Both gods and mortals in the audience start to talk to each other to comment what just happened, with only Adrestia keeping her composure. After what feels like an eternity to some of them, Quantum reappears on the arena.
<I think that’s it. I win, right?> he asks to Thoth; it’s hard to read the body language of someone who has the head of an ibis, but by the way the God of Knowledge tilts it he’s probably confused.
<There is no time limit. Herakles is technically still in the fight.>
<Hey bird-brain! What’s going on? I want to see someone fight!!!> Inanna shouts from her throne.
<I transformed into gravitons and pulled him into the lava beneath the surface, then I changed direction and threw him out into space. He’s invulnerable enough to survive there, but he’s not coming back anytime soon> Quantum explains.
<But why doesn’t he just fly back here?> Rhea asks.
<He doesn’t have that power. He would need to get a hold onto something> Inanna answers her.
<Herakles did not escape the gravity well of the nearest star. Since he will have the chance to jump off its core, he is still technically in the fight> Thoth informs her.
<Hmm, I guess that’s true. How long will it take him to reach the star?>
<27 days and 14 hours. Shall we wait for the return of the contestant, Lady Inanna?> Thoth asks.
<I’m not waiting for that long! The winner is Quantum, Hero of Earth!> she proclaims.
The mortals in the audience cheer for the winner, while Hera crosses her arms and shakes her head.
<What a disgrace! Just put that bastard out of his misery.>
<As you wish> Adrestia responds, visibly happy about the demigod’s loss; she looks at the arena, and soon enough Herakles falls from the sky, near the hole he created where he was buried.
Still soaked in lava, solidified by the coldness of space, and naked. He approaches Quantum and extends his hand.
<Well played, mortal! Thou hath triumphed against the glory of Herakles!>
<Yeah, uhm, put some pants over that glory okay?> he answers, looking away from the naked man before moving back to his place in the audience, where he sees that Lily has joined the others.
<Oh so that’s how naked humans look like!> Lesion exclaims, looking at Herakles despite having Vesta doing her best to cover the young Demon’s eyes.
<I wish> Kari, her duplicate and her husband comment at the same time.
<C’mon guys, I just won against freakin’ Hercules, a little cheer for me?> Quantum asks.
<I know, that was HUGE! I’m, uhm, I’m still talking about your victory> Lily adds, confirming that even a blue Lampyrian can still blush.
Thoth is ignoring the commotion, and after he’s repaired the arena he announces:
<Let us proceed. As decided by lot: Torn, the Lone Demon, shall battle Enyo, Goddess of War. Both contestants may approach the arena.>
Without saying anything, both contestants move to towards the Egyptian god who then asks:
<You already expressed the wish you desire to fulfill, Enyo. Do you intend to change it?>
<No> the goddess answers.
<What do you mean no!? I told you to kill Apollo, idiot, not Persephone!!!> Hera protests.
<Torn, your previous wish is no longer valid, since Pain is dead. What is your next wish?>
<Kill Artemis> he answers sincerely. Nobody objects, as she has no allies here.
<The stakes are decided, until defeat or death. Torn versus Enyo. FIGHT!!!>
Enyo doesn’t move, while Torn puts forward both his hands and shouts:
<Cut of a million deaths!!!>
An endless barrage of red energy daggers bounce off Enyo like harmless spring rain.
<Soul Reaper! Demon Sword!> Torn continues, creating two weapons that he wields with one hand each: a scythe seeping black energy and a red longsword, and jumps towards Enyo.
Without much effort, she blocks each blade with her bare hands: the sheer difference between their level of strength is immediately clear when she shatters them, before taking a long breath.
<Blood Mirror!> Torn is able to shout before Enyo starts her scream.
The shockwave she generates hits the pentagram of red energy that appeared between her and Torn; an identical portal appears behind her, causing Enyo to be hit in the back by her same attack.
Nearly anyone else would either stop or change strategy now, but Enyo doubles down and increases the volume of her hypersonic scream. It can’t be described as sound anymore: it’s the sheer blast pressure of an atomic bomb, and she doesn’t seem to need to take another breath to continue.
The portal serves as a shield for Torn, redirecting most of the power against Enyo herself, but even with her opponent taking much of the potential damage it’s still like being next to a hurricane.
Torn anchors himself to the ground with a couple of energy swords, his duster flapping dramatically in the wind; even with his superior Demon physiology, it’s becoming harder and harder to breathe.
And worse, he needs to put so much of his concentration on simply surviving that more complex uses of the Blood are out of the question.
<In… stinct… Ki…> is all he manages to say before the swords snap under the pressure.
Without anything to secure his position, Torn doesn’t stand a chance: the wind lifts him off his feed and throws him into the nearest wall at a couple hundred miles per hour.
Enyo’s war cry slowly dies down, with the goddess crossing her arms and looking at Thoth.
<Torn is no longer able to fight. The winner is Enyo, Goddess of War.>
Enyo quietly returns to the audience, floating away from the arena without saying a word, while Vesta flies to Torn’s aide making sure he’s still breathing.
<Boo! You’ll regret beating up my Dad, mean lady!!!> Lesion shouts.
<Well that was anticlimactic> Ulysses comments dryly.
<He could’ve died there. You could at least pretend to care> Quantum chastises him.
<Why? Any mortal in this kind of tournament is basically cannon fodder. Except maybe Null.>
<Excuse me? Mortal who defeated the Goddess of Victory over here?> Kari intervenes.
<And I defeated Hercules literally fifteen minutes ago> Quantum adds.
<I don’t mean to undermine your success: no mortal has ever made it this far, not even me. But Nike is a pushover and Herakles an idiot, while Enyo is an absolute monster in the battlefield.>
<Let us proceed. As decided by lot: Kari, the Heroine of Myridia, shall battle Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. Both contestants may approach the arena> Thoth continues.
<Well, at least Enyo and I have one thing in common then> Kari says, jumping out of her seat on the amphitheater to throw herself into the arena.
<Yes. You are both too fond of the thrill of battle for your own good> Ulysses comments.
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