Chapter 19: The God of Thunder and Lightning
It was almost instantaneous. Hermes had swept Markus, Diana, and Cir-El off their feet and carried them straight through the dimensional portal into the grand kingdom of Olympus.
The sky was bright, as bright as it could be. The sun god Apollo's doing. His brilliance radiated like the light of a hundred suns.
" Welcome, my friends, to Mount Olympus. Home of the gods. Diana, Zeus wishes to see you." Hermes told the woman. With a gust of air, Hermes and Diana were gone, leaving Markus and Cir-El behind by themselves.
The city was grander than Markus had expected. Each breath of air felt like a surge of energy to Markus. It felt great.
" Cir-El, do you feel that?" Markus asked the woman.
" Feel what?" Cir-El asked the man. Whatever it was, Markus was feeling it was felt only by him. The only thing she felt was the sun beaming down on her, and even that wasn't such a different sensation than what she felt back home.
" The air feels magical here." Markus could feel the energy in Olympus entering his body. His power felt more natural here, more powerful. It felt as if he belonged here, more than anywhere else.
" Feels like a rush, doesn't it?" Hermes quickly returned.
" Hermes, what is this feeling?" Markus asked.
" Well, you were born a god, Markus. Our might is never more powerful than when we are in our place of power. Here we Greeks reign supreme. It would not be foolish to think that maybe our powers here are just a little bit stronger." Hermes explained.
" Now then. Let's get to the arena, shall we? Zeus is ready to see what you can do. And I know Ares is more than ready." Hermes stated. He grabbed Markus and Cir-El by the shoulder and whisked them away once more.
There was no time to wait, adjust, and learn or explore. No, there was only time for one thing. To fight.
Within moments, Markus was standing in an arena, surrounded on all sides by men and women of all shapes and sizes. Men and women shaped like dogs and cats, and snakes. But sitting high atop on thrones, the size of mountains were ten thrones. Residing on those thrones were the heads of the Olympians, Demeter, Apollo, Hermes, Artemis, Poseidon, Athena, Hera, Aphrodite, Hestia, and Zeus himself. They were all there to watch a battle between two of Zeus' children. A battle of gods.
Entering the Arena behind him, in a blaze of fire and Lightning was the last of the Great Gods, Ares.
" Hello, brother. You've come." Ares spoke. His strong and deep voice carried with it a weight unlike any other. His golden hair blew in the wind like grass in an open plain.
" What is this, Ares?" Markus asked the man. A show, a spectacle? This is not what he came for.
" What would you expect from our father? Everything he does is for show. To make us all his amusement. That's all we've ever been. But in this case, I have no problem playing Zeus' personal executioner." Ares said to Markus. He was emblazed by fire, and when he emerged, his pitch-black armor shined with radiance under apollo's sunlight.
" Let's Dance!" Markus shouted.
[ Metal Gear revengeance- The only thing I know for real]
The two gods collided with one another, the force of which reverberated across Olympus. Ares, laughed at Markus. He grabbed the young man's arm and yanked him forward, headbutting him as hard as he could.
Markus dropped to the ground, but not for long. He rolled, swinging his legs underneath Ares and sweeping the man off of his feet. Markus quickly hopped to his feet and kneed Ares in his gut just as he was falling to the ground, bouncing him into the air. Markus brought both of his fists together and tried hitting Ares in his back only for the man to vanish in a smoke of flames.
Ares reappeared behind Markus and dropped kick him, knocking the man down on his stomach. Ares then summoned his two-sided axe.
It surged with Fire and Lightning at the same time.
Ares swung the axe down towards Markus.
Markus raised his hand to the sky, and a single bolt of lightning exploded into this hand, hardening and taking the shape of a spear, which Markus used to block Ares axe.
Sparks of lightning sparked in the air from the collision.
Ares pressed down on the lightning bolt with his axe, grunting as he slowly pushed the Axe downwards.
With the Axe inches from Markus' neck, Markus needed to act fast. He reached out to the sky once again and summoned a bolt of lightning that Ares dodged. He wouldn't get caught falling for the same trap again.
" I won't be falling for that again." Ares muttered.
Markus climbed to his feet quickly. " I see that." Markus knew that Ares wouldn't be a weakling. He had just hoped that he would have grown enough since the last time they met. But Ares was getting stronger.
" A tricky little ability of yours. It's a pain in the ass." Markus told the man. " Do me a favor, try not to dodge this." Markus took the lightning bolt in his hands and chucked it at Ares.
Ares, at first, planned to just swat the bolt away, but as it grew closer, Ares eyes widened in realization. He moved his head just out of the way of the bolt and watched as it exploded in the air.
The size of the blast was enormous. It was bigger than any explosion Ares had ever seen. The sky of Olympus was engulfed in a haze of bright blue lightning.
With Ares' attention still on the lightning, Markus rushed the man, crashing into his back and tackling him through the arena walls, taking the fight to the city outside.
Markus punched Ares in his chin, sending him crashing through one of the many pillars holding up the temple of Zeus.
"HAAAAH!" Fire erupted from Ares eyes, burning Markus' skin and sending him flying into the air. Ares then exploded through Mount Olympus, his body turning to the size of a mountain, and used the palm of his hand to slam, Markus down into the fields of Elysium, just outside the city of Olympus.
Markus was both surprised by the sudden increase in Ares size and hurt. The force from Ares attack nearly broke Markus' arms.
Ares returned to his normal size and looked down on the destruction he had wrought. " Surely that would not be enough to end him. where is he hiding?" Ares asked himself.
His question was quickly answered as Markus remerged from the crater in the ground.
He smashed into Ares.
Markus flew in a circle around Ares, punching him repeatedly on every part of his body. Markus was moving so fast and punching so hard that the wind in the area swept up and turned into a tornado. Markus continued to pummel Ares, he even started zapping the man in his face with lightning bolts from his eyes, and while Ares' armor was strong, even it couldn't help but begin to crack under the pressure from Markus' attacks.
But that didn't mean the god of war was out. Far from it, in fact.
Ares grit his teeth; he was getting annoyed. He managed to get his hand out just as Markus was passing by in front of him and caught Markus by his throat.
With as much force as he could muster, Ares eyes lit aflame and bore down on Markus' face. Ares was returning the favor ten times over.
Markus raised his hands as best he could and slammed them over Ares eyes. With a shout of anger, Lightning exploded from Markus hands that blasted both men, sending both of them hurtling towards the grassy fields below.
[ Brandon Yates - A Flash of Darkness]
It wasn't long before both men remerged from the smoking craters they had left in the ground.
Vulcan and Ares.
Both men, larger than life.
Locked arms with one another
Lightning and fire surged all around Mount Olympus, their battle shook the city to its very core.
Markus punched Ares in his gut, lifting him off the ground.
Ares headbutted Markus in his nose on the way down.
Markus uppercutted Ares with both of his fists.
Ares backhands Markus on the side of his chin.
Markus returns with a strong punch straight to Ares' nose.
Ares returns a punch of his own to Markus's chin. He then slammed both of his fists into the side of Markus' head, stunning him briefly. Ares then grabbed Markus by his head and kneed him in the face.
Markus' head snapped back with blood coming down his nose.
Ares punched Markus in his stomach, his spiked gauntlets slicing open his chest and tearing through the armor that he wore.
Markus felt the burn from Ares fire. The blood from his chest quickly evaporated into thin air. It was so hot.
Markus was hurting, bad. But he was not ready to lose.
Markus hit the ground and rolled away from Ares, getting some distance to gather his composure.
Ares was tough, and he was getting stronger the more the battle carried on. Each blow he took, he returned one of his own many times stronger than the previous. And as Markus stood there gazing at him, that little bit of doubt began to creep into his mind that he could not win this battle.
And Ares knew that.
" I have to win. So, how about we take things up a notch?"
Markus took a deep breath. He had to give it his all. But using this technique wasn't easy. It took its toll on Markus if he used it for too long.
" Here it comes." Ares muttered.
It was at that moment that Vulcan had begun to dance to the rhythm of the universe. Something only, he amongst the Greek could do.
The gods watched from as Vulcan and Ares battled each other. Each were impressed in their own way. But one.... One was afraid.
Zeus.
For as he watched his sons battle, he saw not only the threat that Ares posed. But the threat Vulcan did as well.
Never before has another god displayed the kind of control and raw power with lightning that Zeus has, until now. Even Poseidon himself noted the similarity, noting that watching Vulcan was like watching Zeus thousands of years ago during the time of the war with the Titans.
" Well, would you look at that. So, this is the famous dance I heard about. Brother, he's almost as proficient with the power of the sky as you are." Poseidon remarked.
" What is with this dancing?" Hera asked. She was revolted by the mere look of Markus, as she was with many of her husband's children who were not sired by herself.
" This is Markus' special dance." Cir-El spoke up. Her presence intrigued many of the gods, who found her to be quite the beautiful woman. But this relationship she shared with Vulcan intrigued them more.
" And what is this special dance?" Zeus asked.
" Markus' special dance. The one he used to free a planet from a tyrannical king. The special war dance of King Vulcan, The Divine Dance of Valdr, the people have taken to calling it. It is a special dance only he can do." Cir-El explained.
" Well, it looks like old Ares is in for quite the ride. So, I'm placing bets who's got me for fifty on Vulcan?" Hermes exclaimed.
A clap of thunder drew Hermes' attention back to the fields.
Vulcan exploded towards Ares, delivering a monstrous punch to his jaw that nearly shattered his helmet on contact. A surge of lightning erupted from his fist, drowning Ares within a sea of electricity.
Ares emerged from the cloud of lightning bleeding from his chest and head. Injured yest, but not defeated.
Markus did not have time to waste. He rushed Ares once more and unleashed upon him a series of vicious punches that sounded like a beating drum of thunder.
As he laid into Ares, the spectators began taking note of how Markus' body began to emit steam.
" Whoa! What's happening to him?" Hermes asked.
" He's igniting." Athena told the man. " All those punches, combined with the lightning and the speed at which he's moving... It's causing his body to burn up. interesting, a combination of fire and lightning, just like Ares."
" But that shouldn't hurt him. In fact, Lightning shouldn't even be able to touch him, let alone hurt him." Hermes replied.
" His skin, maybe. But it's rather interesting... it's not his body that's burning. It's his blood." Athena told the man. " His blood is pumping faster and faster."
Hermes was amazed. He watched as his brother's attacks grew hotter and hotter, eventually so hot that both Lightning and fire erupted from his hands.
Though his mastery over fire saved Ares from a majority of the damage.
" You... You're different. I wasn't.... Expecting this." Ares spoke.
Markus had to stop; his attacks had done the damage he needed to even things up. Any further than that, and he wasn't sure if his body could handle the strain at the moment.
Ares' knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground.
Never been hit so hard in my life. That's what Ares thought as he clutched his chest.
Markus formed a bolt of lightning in his hands and threw it straight at Ares, shocking the man brutally.
Ares' shout resounded throughout all of Olympus.
Ares back hit the ground for the first time in years. And when he looked up, Markus was standing there, looking down at him.
" I... I didn't expect this." Ares muttered. " Go on then... Do it." Ares commanded.
Markus grabbed Ares by his throat and lifted him off the ground. He had bested the god of war.
" Yes, do it." Zeus and the rest of the Olympians appeared in the presence of Markus and Vulcan. " Do it and take Ares' place amongst the gods."
" So... this was your plan... Old man? You never intended to give me the crown." Ares muttered.
" Hang on... What?" Markus muttered.
" Oh, dear brother.... Don't you know? I told you what Father said. Don't you understand? He wanted us to fight. If I killed you, I get the crown." Ares stated.
Markus looked to Zeus, an air of confusion on his face.
" And if he lost, you would take your rightful place at my side." Zeus spoke.
And then it all hit him.
" My friend died... For your amusement?" Markus muttered. He looked down at Ares and then to Zeus himself. He dropped the God of war and then turned his bloody finger towards the father of the gods. " You send my brother to my home, kill my friend, and use me as a tool to do your work. I am not your executioner. You want Ares dead? Do it yourself. I will not be your slave. And I want nothing from you. I have a home already. And I have a family. I'm done here. This was a waste of time." Markus exclaimed.
Ares sneered at Zeus before disappearing in a haze of fire.
Zeus was not happy.
Such defiance in the face of the Olympians was something not unseen before, but rarely has it ever happened.
Zeus chucked a bolt of lightning from his hands towards Markus, but before the bolt hit him, Markus caught it with his bare hands. Absorbing the lightning into his body before redirecting it at Zeus, who deflected it with his hand.
" You aren't the only one who commands the sky, father." Markus told the man. " Come, Cir-El. we're leaving. This farce is over."
Markus did not hesitate to speak his mind in front of Zeus. In fact, his blatant disrespect brought a vague smile to even Hera. She had wanted so badly for Zeus' plans to fail. But she didn't imagine it would be like this.
No, this was certainly better than what she expected.
Zeus, on the other hand, was not happy. But what choice did he have other than to watch as Markus and Cir-El left the Elysian fields. No, with his daughter watching, and with his plans failed, Zeus had no choice but to allow it to be as it was.
As they flew in the air, Markus began to stagger, and for a moment, it looked like he was about to fall out of the sky.
Thankfully, Cir-El grabbed him and placed his weight on her own body and carried him on her shoulders.
" Cir-El."
" Easy husband. You've had a hard day. Let me carry you from here on." Cir-El told the man.
" Cir-El, was I a fool for not killing Ares?" Markus asked the woman.
" You did what you thought was right. You were both played by your father. And you both suffered for it. I think enough is enough. I'd be happier if we never saw this place again." Cir-El told the man.
" You're right. I just hate that Sideros died because my father thought he could use me." Markus told the woman.
" This is one hard truth of the world. There are some things in the world we can't control. This is just one of them." Cir-El told the man.
" This is unfair." Markus complained.
" I know. Husband. I know."
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