Chapter 2: Awkward Introductions (Rewrite)
Once the elevator departed from King Kai's planet, Goku felt as if he were being split apart on a subatomic level. His eardrums burst open due to the elevator's intense shaking, only being able to make out the faint sound of electric sparks and his screams of pure agony. His limbs were pulled and twisted in all sorts of weird shapes, but he could neither see or feel anything within the haze of white light surrounding him. This form of teleportation, or whatever it was, made Instant Transmission look way more enticing by comparison.
Thankfully, this little one-way trip ended as soon as it began. The elevator came to a sudden abrupt halt and shut down almost immediately upon reentry into the Empire State Building. However, due to the damages caused by King Kai's car, it lost all trace of its divine energy and contorted into all sorts of odd, unpleasant angles.
Regardless, the elevator was still functional enough to open its doors to the now-woozy, highly confused Goku. He groaned to himself and clutched his aching forehead.
"Ugh. My head…" His eyes were practically spinning from sudden dizziness. "Good thing I didn't have anything to eat before all of that happened."
He shook his head a few times and slowly, but surely walked away from the elevator's open doors. To his immense surprise and confusion, Goku seemed to be in a different location from where he was beforehand.
He rubbed his eyes and scratched the back of his head. "That's weird. Wasn't I with King Kai just a second ago?"
His brain began to hurt just thinking about the unfortunate predicament he was thrust into. All because of one random elevator, he was now standing in some hotel lobby of all things.
As he perused his new surroundings, a middle-aged woman sitting at the front desk took notice of him. She was another security guard taking over for her colleague from yesterday night. At first, she didn't believe his story about Lady Aphrodite trying to make contact with another universe, but now that this strange man appeared, it appeared to be quite factual.
Any reports to Lord Zeus could be given after the spiky-haired man decided to leave. Unfortunately, given how staticky and broken down the elevator to Olympus looked, he wouldn't be able to leave this world permanently or anything. He'd be free to wander the rest of New York City as he pleased instead.
And that possibility is what concerned her the most.
She cleared her throat and tried to act as polite as possible. "Ahem. Do you need help with anything, sir?"
Goku's head shot up like that of a startled puppy. Smiling with relief at the sight of another person, he sprinted up to the counter and attempted to catch his breath.
"Yes! I mean… um, yeah. Sorry to bother you, miss, but do you happen to know where I am?" He inquired.
The female security guard narrowed her eyes just fast enough for Goku not to notice.
Yep, that pretty much confirms it. He's definitely from another universe.
She cautiously scanned his body from head-to-toe before coming up with a proper response.
"Well, naturally, you're in the Empire State Building, sir. More specifically, New York City, the largest city in the in the ol' US of A."
Goku stared into space. He had absolutely no idea what this lady was talking about.
This is bad! I've never heard of these places before. Even Bulma hasn't talked about them and she knows everything!
Noticing Goku's unnerved expression, the security guard snapped her fingers a few times to regain his attention.
"Are you alright?" She pried while leaning a bit closer from her rolling chair.
The Saiyan nodded his head and shared a weak smile of faux gratitude. At this point, he really needed to find a place to focus and think things through.
"N-No, I'm good. Thanks for the help, ma'am." Goku said. "I'm just not all that familiar with this area. You know how tourists are. Hehe."
She didn't look all that amused by this remark. It mostly drew more of her attention towards the black 'Z' symbol on his chest than anything else. To her knowledge, no such symbol, outside of Japanese manga or anime, was known to exist in the world of martial arts.
"Right. Tourist." She muttered. "Would you wish to have a map then? Just so nothing like this… situation happens again."
She rummaged through her desk and pulled out a small yellow brochure. It read 'NEW YORK CITY' at the top in large blue letters and included a photographic rendition of the Statue of Liberty down below.
"Uh… sure thing! Thanks again!" Goku exclaimed nervously as he snatched the brochure from her hands and bolted through the Empire State Building's front doors without a second thought.
As soon as he was out of earshot, the security guard squinted her eyes in distrust. She quickly dialed an extensive combination on her phone and called a mysterious number that couldn't be accessed by mortals.
Her voice ever-so-slightly deepened in volume and became scratchier than it was before. Now that she was alone, there wasn't any reason to hide her true monstrous identity. The Mist wouldn't let anyone really notice, anyway.
"This is Phyllis. Send the information I'm telling you to Lord Zeus immediately. We may have a big problem on our hands."
Things were now about to get a whole lot worse for Goku in more ways than he could possibly imagine.
Back on Mount Olympus…
The morning sun shined down upon Mount Olympus, glistening with bright light as Apollo parked it high in the sky using his enchanted chariot. Sunshine subsequently beamed through the cracks of Aphrodite's temple and roused her from slumber.
The goddess got up and cutely yawned while outstretching her lithe, voluptuous body. After realizing what time it was, she struggled to suppress a high-pitched squeal of excitement from breaking out.
"Today's the day! I need to see if everything went according to plan." Aphrodite beamed.
She hopped out of bed and strutted over to her temple's bathroom. She then sat down on a luxurious, divinely crafted stool cushion and gazed upon a large mirror.
"Show me Son Goku's current location, please." The goddess commanded while brushing her tousled blonde hair in an up-and-down motion.
As instructed, the mirror glowed with magical pink energy and shifted from Aphrodite's reflection to where Goku was. He walked out of the Empire State Building and started looking at his map of New York in extreme confusion.
Not really paying much attention to the security guard's phone call once Goku left, Aphrodite placed a hand over her heart in pure joy. She had to stop herself jumping up and down like a crazed lunatic in that moment.
"EEEEE! Yes, yes, yes… YES!" She cheered delightedly. "I can't believe it! The man of my dreams is really here!"
She bounced in place for a few moments before stopping herself to prepare for the first meeting with Goku. She was tempted to describe it as a date, but given the Saiyan martial artist's personality, he wouldn't likely agree or even be aware of it.
"I need to see him right away, but… what should I wear? Hmm."
The seductive deity applied some eye shadow and a new layer of pink lipstick. Wishing to further enhance her already notorious sex appeal for Goku specifically, she shifted through various hairstyles, outfits, and other physical characteristics.
"No, no, no…" She suddenly stopped to look down at her new outfit. It was identical to Chi-Chi's blue martial arts gi from the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. "Ugh. Definitely not that one."
She indecisively tried out a few more appearances until a final look was chosen. Unlike her usual blonde hair and pink dress, Aphrodite currently sported long, wavy black hair almost as dark as Goku's with a blue dress to match. Her eyes remained the same emerald green color due it contrasting quite well with her pink lips.
Additionally, to further emphasize her semi-hourglass figure and overall, in most men's eyes, thickness, the goddess created a knee-length skirt and wore blue stilettos to match.
She struck a provocative pose in the mirror and smirked. "Mmm. He'll be begging for me in no time. Not even Goku can resist something like this."
Giving one last inspection of her butt and other attractive parts of her body, Aphrodite not-so-subtly swayed her hips as she gathered a large purse filled with miscellaneous beauty products. Now having everything she could possibly need for her and Goku's proposed "date", the love goddess caressed her raven hair backward and marched toward the temple entrance with exuded confidence.
"Don't worry, my Goku. Your days of suffering will be over soon. I promise." Aphrodite whispered as her emerald eyes gleamed with the utmost care and honesty.
She then walked into Mount Olympus's central elevator once more and gently pushed the 1st floor button. Hopefully, she'd be able to catch up to Goku before he did something stupid or worse by accident.
Outside of the Empire State Building…
A terrified Goku exited out of the famous skyscraper to witness New York City's usual series of events on full display. Multiple cars were positioned one after the other in a massive traffic jam while some drivers honked their horns and cussed out people for either going too slow or cutting them off.
Hundreds upon thousands of people also walked along the city's concrete sidewalks in preparation to go home or go to work. Buildings of varying sizes and shapes rested alongside each pathway with hotdog vendors selling food in close proximity. Pigeons also flew around, scouring the urban streets in search of table scraps that could become their most recent meal.
Goku, not used to the widespread cacophony of noise pollution that most New Yorkers have grown accustomed to, covered his ears and scanned the premises for somewhere to sit down. He found a wooden blench near the Empire State Building's entrance and walked over to it.
"Well, at least it's sorta similar to West City. Just with less animal people and hovercrafts." He said while plopping himself down on the bench. "What did I get myself into?"
He glumly rested a hand on his cheek and sighed. As he sat there in deep contemplation, many passersby shared looks of puzzlement at the muscular, spiky-haired man wearing nothing, but an orange martial arts gi. A majority of them mockingly snickered at his ridiculous hairdo while, namely women, were struck dumb by the Saiyan's large biceps and chiseled frame. Whether they be negative or positive, Goku was too focused on his own issues to really notice such comments. It's not that he would care what these strangers thought either way.
He looked down at the map to New York city in even further confusion. The place was so huge that he didn't even know where to start.
"Wish I knew where to go. This map isn't helping at all!" Goku whined. He childishly closed the brochure and stuffed it back in his pocket, grimacing.
His little tantrum sparked the attention of four college girls who were all in their early 20's. Each of them giggled at him amusedly.
Goku raised an eyebrow and waved at them. "Uh… hi. Is there something funny about me?"
The entire group of girls, all carrying smartphones with similar colors and cases, giggled even more and examined Goku like a hunk of fresh meat. They didn't even care that he was a tad bit older than them.
"Y-You… Y-You, like, do karate, right?" One girl asked while timidly pointing at his blue belt and weighted wristbands. Her entire face was now as red as a fresh tomato.
Goku looked down at his gi in bewilderment.
"Well, more so all forms of martial arts, but yeah, I guess. Why do you ask?" He asked.
Another girl with red curly hair acted a little bolder than her friend and walked up to Goku. She suggestively brushed a finger down his chest, smirking.
"Could you maybe show off a few of your moves, handsome? It would make me and my friends really happy if you did." The redhead purred, leaning even closer, so her pink, glossy lips could almost touch Goku's.
Undeterred by what Chi-Chi would likely describe as a "no-good hussy", Goku turned his head the other way and shrugged.
"S-Sure. I don't see why not."
"Great. Don't keep us waiting too long then, 'kay?" She replied while seductively winking at him in gratitude. The redhead then rejoined her posse of gal pals.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Heather? The dude looked pretty darn uncomfortable back there." One of her friends, an African-American girl, whispered in slight concern.
Heather scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be such a downer, Felicia. There's no way in hell I'd let a guy as hot as that slip past my radar! I mean, just look at him. Aren't you at least a little bit curious about what he can do?"
Felicia darted her brown eyes over to where Goku was standing. He was performing some pre-workout stretches such as toe touches, arm spins, and, to most of the girls' delight, flexing his muscles.
The dark-skinned girl bit her lower lip in slight yearning. "Alright. I'll bite."
"Figured you'd come around sooner or later." Heather giggled.
They then rejoined their other two friends and waited for Goku to begin his demonstration.
Better hold off on the ki usage for now… He thought to himself. It wouldn't be a good idea to draw any unwanted attention to himself, especially in what appeared to be a separate world from his own.
He then steadied his breathing and stood in his trademark fighting stance. He narrowed his eyes, remained motionless for second or two, and finally, threw a volley of ferocious punches and kicks at the air. Each attack was practically invisible to the naked eye, almost reaching speeds exceeding the speed of sound.
The college girls watched Goku in starstruck amazement, recording video after video of his exercises on their mobile devices. In the middle of this requested performance, Aphrodite hurriedly walked out of the Empire State Building in all her breathtaking glory.
The goddess looked around for any sign of Goku before finally catching sight of him. It felt as if her heart was about to burst from sheer happiness alone.
"As expected, he's even more impressive up close." She remarked to herself in pure adoration.
She adjusted the position of her blue sunhat to get a better look. However, what she didn't expect to see were the four bimbos practically undressing her Goku within each of their sex-crazed subconsciouses. Being the love goddess, Aphrodite, much to her disgust, could see every single, excruciating detail of their impure thoughts on full display!
Granted, it wasn't anything nearly as explicit as what she dreamed about her and Goku doing, but it was the thought that counted. She wouldn't rest until Goku was off-limits to every single woman apart from her.
"Hmph! So, these little girls think they can compete with me, hm? Ha! Watch and learn, wenches." Aphrodite scoffed as she haughtily brushed some bangs away from her forehead.
As she sashayed over to them, Goku finished off his martial arts showcase with an identical recreation of the pose he adopted in his first fight against Vegeta. The girls, especially Heather, clapped for him and began to post tweets about their "new boyfriend's" insane, black-belt level fighting skills. Some of them even took some selfies with Goku while he wasn't looking.
He scratched the back of his head and grinned. "What'd you girls think of that? Was that good enough?"
As a reply, Heather sauntered over to the Saiyan like a lioness about to pounce on her prey. She boldly pressed her chest against Goku's and wrapped her arms around him.
"That was absolutely stunning, cutie. Thank you so, so much for showing us all that." She proclaimed with a mischievous tilt of her head. "What's your name?"
Felicia and the other girls thought she was taking this stuff a little too far, but didn't bother saying anything. All of them were mainly just jealous that they couldn't make a move on Goku like she did.
"Son Goku, miss, but you can just call me Goku for short." He replied, wanting to get out of this conversation more and more by the second.
Aphrodite, now glaring daggers at the redheaded vixen, picked up the pace in her stride and thought of a possible way she could intervene.
Heather shivered with glee. She seemed to like the sound of his and her name put together. "Well, Goku, if I'm being perfectly honest, watching you spar like that was really starting to turn me on… a lot."
The martial artist quirked a brow. He didn't entirely understand what that meant. "It turned you on? Really?"
The girl batted her eyelashes and closed in on Goku's mouth with every passing moment. This only served to make him even more confused.
"Yeah, it did. So, how would you like to make use to those moves in another, more personal way and—"
"Oh, there you are! I was looking all over for you, sweetheart!"
"Huh?" Heather choked out in surprise.
Everyone turned around to see a drop-dead gorgeous woman in her early 30's standing close by. She looked overjoyed by Goku's presence, much to his confusion.
Who is that? He thought. Her face and eyes, although distinct from anyone he had met beforehand, also seemed to shift into the characteristics of his deceased wife. It only lasted for a split second, but the change left quite the impression on him, nonetheless. And why does she almost look like… Chi-Chi in a weird way?
He didn't have much time to inspect her long black hair and green eyes before the woman ran over to him. She wrapped her right arm around his own and made sure to tightly secure between both breasts.
Aphrodite then lovingly rested her head on his shoulder and nuzzled it. "I was so worried, my dear Goku. Why'd run off and leave me all alone like that?"
The Saiyan decided to play along for the time being. "Sorry about that. Guess I just… uh… got a little lost."
Heather, angry that her attempts at flirting were all for nothing, loudly cleared her throat. There was, ironically, an envious fire in her green eyes.
"Excuse me, Miss Prim-and-Propper, but who exactly are you? And what's your relation to Goku?"
"I'm his girlfriend, obviously. Right, hon?" Aphrodite replied while smiling affectionately at him.
Goku was about to object, but something about this lady's tug on his arm brought back memories to when he first married Chi-Chi at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament so many years ago. The fact that it was the exact same gesture brought over a sense of calmness that he hadn't experienced since his wife's death. Her vivid resemblance to Chi-Chi was, of course, an added bonus too.
"Um, yeah. What she said!" He stammered in agreement.
Although it was a lie, Aphrodite gasped at Goku's recognition of her as his girlfriend and squeezed his arm even tighter.
Heather also tightened the hold she had her cellphone. She was starting to become consumed by newfound feelings of jealousy and resentment. Her friends felt the same way, but to a lesser extent.
"You heard the man! Me and Goku have some much-needed catching up to do, so would you girls be so kind and…"
Aphrodite's kind smile was replaced by a cold, hostile sneer as her eyes lit up with just a sliver of pink godly power. Goku's eyes widened at this sudden fluctuation of energy, making him more curious to figure who or what she was.
"GET LOST!"
The girls, taking note of the goddess' change in mood more than her divine aura, clicked their tongues in disappointment. They spared one last longing glance at Goku before walking to some other part of the city.
However, Heather wasn't willing to accept defeat so easily. She grabbed a slip of paper out of her purse and jotted down her phone number on it.
"Call me if you happen to get lost again, alright, Goku?" She asked while placing the paper in his hand. The girl then challengingly glared at Aphrodite as she walked away with a confident, audacious sway in her hips.
The love goddess shook with rage as she suppressed the urge to transform this stubborn little brat into some wild animal. Ergh! She wants to play that kind of game, huh?
Felicia couldn't believe what she just witnessed.
"You're playing with fire now, girl. You can't just do something like that with another woman's man, even if he is hot!" She hissed to the overly cocky redhead.
"Please. You honestly think that dumb slut's his actual girlfriend? She's just lying to get in his pants. She's no better than any of us." Heather chuckled. "Besides, what's the worst that can happen? All I did was give him my digits."
Right as she said that last sentence, Aphrodite flicked her finger and caused all four of their smartphones to spontaneously combust. She also erased every single trace of their presences on social media for good measure, including any footage they had with Goku in it.
This caused them all to freak out and massage the spots where their destroyed phones burned them. "AIEEEEEEEEEE!"
Aphrodite looked incredibly pleased by their suffering and smiled from ear-to-ear.
"Hehe. Who's the dumb slut now, mortal…"
She then burned away the slip of paper in Goku's hand and lovingly stroked her face on his arm. The goddess continued to relish this moment until, unfortunately, she was brought back to cold hard reality.
"You can let go of me now, miss." The Saiyan said.
At the sound of his voice, Aphrodite whined in disappointment and let go of Goku's forearms for the time being.
"If that's what you want," She sighed in overly dramatic fashion.
He proceeded to get a good look at the goddess, trying to figure out if her inexplicable resemblance to Chi-Chi was all in his head or not.
"Soooo… uh… who and what exactly are you? Your energy spiked up when you were yelling at those girls." Goku asked suspiciously. "You also, well, destroyed that paper she gave me somehow."
Aphrodite was a little shocked that Goku could see through the Mist so easily, but then again, he wasn't just any ordinary mortal. She placed a hand over her chest and gestured to herself.
"I am known as Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, passion, and pleasure." She then rubbed her arm in slight nervousness. "And please don't be angry when I say this, but I was the one responsible for sending that elevator to your world, Goku."
The martial artist's thoughts were now running a mile a minute. Her answer brought up so many questions that it was starting to hurt just keeping them all in.
"Goddess? Greek? YOU SENT ME HERE?!" He gasped.
Wishing to calm the man down before any misunderstandings were made, Aphrodite shook her hands in pleading objection.
"Don't get the wrong idea, Goku. I didn't do this to mess with you!" She assured him with empathetic green eyes.
"Then what was your reason, Afro-Dietary? Cause taking me away from my friends and family seems pretty messed up to me." Earth's protector grunted in annoyance. The goddess felt a little disheartened by how worried and scared Goku was in that moment.
"It's Aphrodite, silly, and, believe me, I know. I know this whole situation seems bad, but I'll explain everything if… um…"
Aphrodite's cheeks became a bit rosier as she shyly glanced away from Goku. Try as she might, the goddess was too embarrassed to share complete eye contact with the Saiyan warrior of her dreams.
Goku gestured for her to continue. "If what?"
"…if you agree to join me for an early lunch. Would that be okay with you?" Aphrodite offered, hoping to ease Goku's worries through his love for food.
He stroked his chin in thought before being interrupted by the high-pitched, guttural squeal of an empty stomach. Aphrodite placed a hand over her mouth in shock while an embarrassed Goku snickered softly.
"Hehe. Guess that answers that question. I actually haven't been able to eat properly since… my wife passed away."
His laughs were halted by another sudden reminder of Chi-Chi's permanent departure from his life. That brought up another question that he needed to ask Aphrodite.
"Speaking of which, when I first saw your face, you looked like… her at first. Is that one of your abilities as a goddess or something?"
The goddess bit her lower lip and nodded.
"Yes. As the goddess of beauty, my appearance can change to become the most physically attractive woman for any person who locks eyes with me. For some men, it could be a supermodel or famous actress, but for you… it appears that the most beautiful woman was, and still is, Chi-Chi." Aphrodite explained in a regretful tone. "Although, due to you being from another world, I guess the effects of my omnipotent allure didn't work for too long and you managed to see me as I am now. Or more specifically, the look I chose to appear in."
Her expression slightly darkened at the slightest thought of Goku's former wife. Looking identical to her would have been a huge problem for all sorts of reasons.
Which is good, because now there'll be more a chance that Goku will learn to move on from that insufferable harpy.
The Saiyan nodded his head in understanding. "That seems like a dangerous power then. You looking exactly like Chi-Chi would have been pretty creepy, so I'm glad the effects wore off. Haha."
"I feel the same way." She said with a more enthusiastic grin. She then looked around the area and city streets, making sure that no one was listening in on their conversation. "Come along then, Goku. I'll show you what the Big Apple has to offer."
Afterwards, she abruptly grabbed him by the hand and looked around for the nearest restaurant. Goku wasn't familiar with the terminology Aphrodite just used, so his eyes widened in surprise.
"There's a Big Apple here?! Is it good enough to eat?" He inquired, drooling at the thought of a literal fifty-foot-tall version of the fruit.
Aphrodite giggled at the man's cluelessness as they explored the streets of Manhattan together. When Goku wasn't looking, the goddess took further initiative and interlocked her fingers with his.
I still can't believe he's here. It almost feels like a dream come true!
Little did she know, someone else was currently having a dream about Goku. However, it was nowhere near as positive as the one she had.
Meanwhile on Mount Olympus…
Atop Olympus's peak, a large, metaphysical city resided. It was here where the twelve Olympian gods, minor deities, and other mythological creatures lived. The Olympians tended to hold meetings within the Hall of the Gods, but no important topics needed to be discussed at the moment. They would need to wait until the Winter Solstice to fully discuss the Second Titanomachy and what Kronos was plotting to do next.
He had already failed to both frame Percy Jackson for stealing the Master Bolt and steal the Golden Fleece, so his next course of action was difficult to determine.
And such thoughts greatly unnerved Zeus, king of Olympus and his father's successor as ruler of the cosmos.
He was currently resting in a chamber separate from the council room. He attempted to go a few rounds with his wife, Hera, the prior night, but she was, as always, having a fit about his constant affairs and one-night stands. After going through the same argument for hundreds upon thousands of years at this point, the sky god just wanted some understanding to be found between the two of them.
In the end, however, Zeus decided to give her some space and slept by himself. Sleep wasn't required necessarily, but it did feel good to refresh his mind a bit. Dealing with the Titans' return was fairly stressful work, after all.
Hours and hours began to pass by until, all of a sudden, something sinister was projected through his subconscious mind.
It was a nightmarish premonition of some unforeseen cataclysm. To his horror, Zeus saw Olympus be bombarded by massive explosions of energy. Multiple palaces and buildings were left in complete shambles as mythological creatures, one after another, fell dead amongst fresh puddles of golden Ichor.
Who could be responsible for such an atrocity?! Is this Kronos's doing?
The premonition shifted over to the Hall of the Gods. A mortal man with black spiky hair and a gray martial arts gi could be seen floating in midair with a purple, demonic-looking scythe in his hands.
He laughed maniacally and proceeded to slash each of the Olympians' thrones into nothing, but dust. From Poseidon's to Aphrodite's, the man was merciless in his intentions to destroy the entire Greek Pantheon.
Once he was finished, Zeus's throne was all that remained. The sky god could only watch as his reign came to an end right before his very eyes.
No, this can't be possible. No mortal should be able to have this level of strength!
Then, he heard the mysterious figure speak. He outstretched his arms and shouted out to the heavens, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen! You call yourselves gods, yet pale in comparison to a mere mortal such as myself!"
Zeus's electric blue eyes widened from fear. The man's voice sent an unnatural chill down his spine. It exuded a type of confidence and power that only a true god could possess.
"Well, I'm afraid your arrogance has led to your downfall, Olympians. For now it is time that a new king ruled over this universe!" He darkly proclaimed. "No, not just a king, a true, supreme God above all others!"
An evil, purplish-red aura surrounded the man as he ascended into a higher state of being. His black hair now stood on end and became pink in color.
"And that God shall be named Son Goku!"
Zeus was perplexed by the identity of this seemingly unstoppable threat. He had never heard it before, but as of today, it would haunt his memory for quite some time.
S-Son Goku?
The man then brandished his purple scythe and speedily launched himself at Zeus's throne. From the sky god's perspective, it seemed like Goku was about to slice him in half.
"HAHAHA!"
"NO!"
Zeus woke up to a start, instinctively unleashing a burst of electricity without intending to. He then rubbed the sweat off his brow and brushed back his shoulder-length black hair.
"It was just a dream?" The king of the gods whispered to himself. He then clenched one of his fists in sheer agitation. "No. That wasn't just any normal dream. It was a premonition of the future."
In tandem with his rage, black storm clouds surrounded Olympus and let out a few claps of thunder. He got himself out of bed and narrowed his glowing blue eyes.
"But if that is the case, who is this Son Goku mortal? And how was he able to destroy Olympus so easily?"
Zeus didn't want to admit it, but this mortal's power genuinely terrified him. The use of a scythe in his vision also drew quite a bit of suspicion on his part.
"Perhaps this has something to do with Kronos's plan to possess a new physical body. Could that be who this Goku person is? A mere vessel for the Titan Lord's power?"
Although it seemed plausible, Zeus couldn't know for certain. Kronos, for instance, had never shown off the type of purple and red aura that Goku displayed. Neither gods or Titans have displayed pink, spiky hair as a "transformation" too. They only had their Divine Forms to rely on.
The lightning god pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. He seriously needed to calm down.
"No matter. I think about this more in the Hall of the Gods. Maybe I'll be able to gather more information about this premonition or even Son Goku himself."
He stood up straight and, in a flash of blue electricity, changed into a striped business suit. Zeus then stroked his beard in thought as he departed from his bed chambers.
"These kinds of premonitions don't happen randomly, though. I wonder if it's a warning of some kind…"
He grimaced at the implications behind this prophetic nightmare.
"A warning that some huge changes may be coming to this war. And they could be changes that I won't have any control or authority over…"
The Saiyan warrior, in particular, was far too powerful to blindly follow Zeus's orders. This would certainly cause a great bit of conflict if the two were ever to meet each other face-to-face.
That evil, more sinister version of Goku both Zeus and his father, Kronos, saw, on the other hand, was even more dangerous by comparison.
Somewhere in the mountains…
Artemis, self-proclaimed goddess of the hunt, hadn't been on Olympus in quite some time. She much preferred the company of her hunters over any Olympian, especially when compared to her annoying twin brother, Apollo, or someone as frivolous and dimwitted as Aphrodite. How she gained any sort of respect was beyond her.
The virgin archer was currently taking the form of a thirteen-year-old girl with golden eyes and auburn hair tied back into a ponytail. Artemis could change herself into any age, of course, but, more often than not, she wished to match the average age of her followers, which was either twelve or thirteen. This kept themselves pure and untouched by any male foolish enough to try garnering their interest. In fact, any male even caught looking at the Hunters of Artemis would be instantly transformed into a jackelope or wild animal.
That's how it was back in the old days, at least.
Now, Artemis and the hunters had set up camp in a snowy, mountainous region. They decided to take a short break after spending a few hours hunting monsters enlisted by the Titan Army. Every so often, she'd also be given special missions by her father, Zeus, but they were usually nothing too important.
That would likely change during this Second Titanomachy.
She sighed and sat close to a campfire. Large wolves surrounded the entire campsite, so no outsiders would compromise their current location.
I wonder what Kronos's next move will be. He may be stuck in his sarcophagus for now, but what will happen once he finally regenerates and becomes whole again?
Artemis's thoughts were interrupted by a swift gust of wind brushing past her face. This wind, although seemingly normal at first glance, caused her golden eyes to widen in surprise.
She then shut her eyelids and breathed in sync with the wind itself.
Something… is stirring at the moment. I'm not certain what it could be, but a shift in the world's balance has taken place. Something… or someone has interfered with it.
"Is there something troubling you, my lady?"
Artemis looked up to see her lieutenant, Zoë Nightshade, standing there. She was a tall, beautiful girl with brown eyes and copper-colored skin. She also had a silver circlet braided into her that matched both her parka and bow.
The goddess faintly grinned and shook her head. "It is nothing to concern yourself with, Zoë. The wind just gave off a kind of strange energy that seemed unfamiliar to me."
Zoë looked curious and said, "Even unfamiliar to thee? That's rather difficult to believe, Lady Artemis."
"I suppose so," Artemis laughed. "I'm just concerned that it might be another weapon that the Titan Army could use against Olympus. They are doing a rather good job at bringing demigods and others to their side, unfortunately."
Her lieutenant grimaced and rested a delicate hand on the goddess's shoulder.
"Hmph. Well, if it's anything that may threaten you or Lord Zeus, my lady, then I will personally hunt it to the ends of the earth and dispose of it right away!"
This confident proclamation caused Artemis to chuckle even more.
"I'll hold you to that promise then, dear one." She said while standing up straight. "Let's gather the others and continue our hunt now, shall we?"
Zoë nodded. "As thy wish, my lady!"
As she instructed the other Hunters of Artemis to break camp, their mistress narrowed her eyes and looked out into the distance. A few hundred or so miles away was the demigod base, Camp Half-Blood, and New York City.
It was there that she could sense the presence of two individuals. One was a fellow god while the other was undoubtedly foreign to this world. It was extremely potent, yet overall alien in nature.
Perhaps Zoë is right. Maybe we will have a new prey to hunt.
An aura of silver energy then surrounded Artemis's body as she reconvened with her adoptive sisters and moved on to another place in the mountains.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone