Location: The Universe
"Based off of Shilly's message, I've deduced that the creature we're looking for is a demigod," Athena's voice rang throughout the void of time and space. The stars and planets in the galaxy all rotated swiftly as if time didn't exist, bright particles traveling through various atmospheres and light sources reflecting off each other, creating waves of different colored, glorious lights lapping at the darkness of the universe. All the divine gods -no matter where they were in the universe- could hear the Goddess of Wisdom speak: "We must travel to all of the planets, moons, and asteroids capable of sustaining life if we want to discover the God-Slayer before they fully understand their powers. Shilly said that the God-Slayer was coming - this suggests that they have yet to make their debut. Let's try to find them before that happens."
"But there are so many demigods," Hecate purred through the veil of darkness. "I am the only one who has not produced children, everyone else has certainly put forth gallant efforts to help sustain the mortal race..."
Silence from the guilty gods.
"Oh, I forgot about Hades," she added.
"Who doesn't?" Hermes snorted with amusement. "He'll still be holding onto his V-card come the end of time."
"Herms, focus," Athena hissed.
"Right, anyway. With all of us workin' together - and personally, there ain't a god or goddess that can travel faster than I can - we'll be able to find this God-Slayer, no problem. I ain't even worried about it."
"But what will make this demigod different than all the others?" Hera asked.
Zeus' sister, Poseidon, answered through a galactic flash of blue light, shooting stars rushing through the display. "This demigod will certainly be more powerful than all the others, there will be something about this one that even mortals and machines can sense. Where they are, armies will follow, who they are will be chiseled into creatures' memories, and what they are will soon be known to the rest of the galaxy. I sense we are nearing the time when this God-Slayer discovers their powers...and I also don't think that this will be a time to rejoice."
"What are we going to do once we find this demi?" Aphrodite fretted.
There was a heavy pause as the systems in the galaxy continued to spiral. Finally Zeus answered, "I do not want this demigod harmed. They are a member of our family; we shall take them to Olympus and train them as a god."
"Interesting..." Apollo said softly. With a God-Slayer on our side, perhaps they will be able to help us contain Hades. Hades was Shilly's murderer, Apollo was still so certain of it. Oh, he wanted to find the God-Slayer so badly; they may have been his only hope of avenging his slaughtered Prophetess.
"Let's not waste any more time, there is an entire universe to scour for our God-Slayer," Zeus said. "Stay in touch."
"Wait! What about my son?" Demeter demanded furiously. "Hades kidnapped my baby! And now he's trapped there! I can sense it! Trapped and helpless!"
"Dee," Hera tried to soothe her fiery sister. "Persephon is resourceful, I'm sure he's keeping himself busy... And Hades would have no reason to harm him -"
"What reason does that monster need to do anything?! What reason did he need to have his dog kidnap my baby?!" She thundered, a nebula erupting through space in her corner of the galaxy.
"I understand you, Demeter," Apollo said quickly. "Trust me, Hades will be made to pay for this crime and all the others he has yet to answer for."
***
Planet: Sparta
Helen side-kicked off the stone-hedge and her thrust-boots sent her sailing sideways through the air high over her brothers' heads. She neatly landed behind them and then swung her deactivated brio-lance, tripping them as they spun around. She lunged forward and landed between them, rapidly bringing down one end of her lance to knock the tremor-sword from Castor's hand and then spun so her lance slammed into Pollux's chest, hurling him back to the ground.
"And...time!" Their elder sister, Clytemnestra, blew her whistle as she looked up from her stopwatch. "Helen, nice job kicking ass! Twins, nice job getting your asses kicked!"
The twins flipped her off as they leaped to their feet. "So I take it you really like those boots I gave you," Pollux smirked as he looked his little sister over.
Helen beamed as she shuffled the chunky pluto-chrome boots that were covered in soft strips of leather. "Best birthday present ever."
"Hey, what about that lance I gave you? It felt great, by the way, busting my knuckles," Castor looked his bloody hand over with a mocking grimace. "There goes my career as a hand-model."
"Oh, sorry!" Helen blushed and hastily strapped her lance to her back before she grabbed her brother's hand to look it over.
"Ha, forget it," he laughed and pulled away.
Clytemnestra hurried down the stairs into the courtyard. "Helen, I hate to remind you...but Mom will want to see you in that suit she gave you for tonight's big party," she winced and gave an apologetic smile. "You better get cleaned up before she sees you like this," she added softly.
This meaning Helen was dressed in her sister's old flight-suit. The faded red jumpsuit still hung off her frame no matter how hard she tried to buff up like her sister's muscular physique. And Clytemnestra had only been fourteen when she owned the getup. Helen had just turned sixteen. "Can't we train for just a few more moments? I wanna leave for the Majesty Flight Academy the day after tomorrow and I gotta be able to impress the judges."
"Hey, they'd be crazy if they didn't except you," Castor insisted, ruffling her afro that was energetically popping out over her headband. "You got sick skill, sis."
"Yeah," Pollux winked and shouldered her as he strode off after his twin. "You really kick ass, Helen!"
She felt her heart swell with affection and pride. "Thanks!" She called after them, smiling brightly as she glanced down at the faded logo on the breast pocket of her jumpsuit. Majesty Flight Academy: the Spartan Systems Defense bootcamp. Her entire family had gone to the elite school for generations. She was technically eligible to enroll two years ago but her mother was constantly vetoing her decision. If one was a minor they couldn't enroll without a parent's or guardian's written permission, so Helen was constantly stuck in the draining routine of begging her mother to see things her way all the while trying to appease her mom by completing the dull duties assigned to the heiress of Sparta.
This year was different though, Helen thought as she hurried after her sister into the castle. This year her mother promised a surprise that would change Helen's life and she knew it couldn't have been anything else other than a signed letter of approval she could use to apply to the academy. It had to be! That was what she wanted more than anything else in the entire galaxy...
But unfortunately, that wasn't what the surprise was.
Her mother announced what exactly it was when she came upstairs to see how the princess of Sparta was shaping up for their guests. "Oh, darling! You look fantastic!" She gushed, looking her youngest child over proudly. Helen stood there looking like the embodiment of glamor at its fiercest. She was wearing a dramatic blazing white sparkling three-piece suit with sheer leg-of-mutton sleeves and long, floor-length coat tails. A diamond choker glittered from its perch around her night Black neck and a long, feathery white cape swished over the ground around her crystal platform pumps. Her formerly untamable dark mane of curls was then painfully pinned back in a gorgeous array of curls that looked like roses.
Helen could barely recognize herself whenever she was so fussed up. She at leastwise had been allowed to keep her princess-cut diamond nose stud in and was lucky enough to have escaped the dreaded six-inch-long glass nails her mother typically always insisted her wore. "Good enough for the Majesty Flight Academy?" Helen forced a smile even though she knew the Academy had no tolerance for shimmery satin suits, heavy diamond crowns, or opera-gloves comprised out of Parnassus snakeskin imported from planet Delos.
"What? No," Leda scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I meant, you look like the beautiful future Ruler of Sparta, and rightly so, darling."
"Mom," Clytemnestra hissed with embarrassment and was making some sort of weird "X-Nay" slashing motion over her throat before she anxiously hid her hands when Helen glanced between them in confusion.
"Wait. She doesn't know?" Leda demanded. Clytemnestra slowly shook her head with a cringe. "What the Hades, Nestra?" Leda planted her hands on her curvy hips. "I asked you to do one thing for me today and that was to tell your baby sister that her debut as the Ruler is in a few hours," she threw her hands up in the air with frustration. "I have to do everything!"
"What?" Helen paled despite her rich pigmentation. "Mom, you didn't...you didn't announce that to the world, did you?"
"The world? What kind of mother do you think I am?" Leda snorted. Helen's shoulders slumped with relief. "I announced it to the galaxy. There are one thousand dignitaries downstairs right this minute waiting to congratulate you in person and over the HALO screens!"
"What?!" Helen staggered backwards in horror. "Mom! No! What did you do?! You gotta send them away! This can't be happening! Omigods, this isn't happening!" She spun away, unable to look at her mother a moment more. Her chest was heaving and tears of betrayal stung her eyes. "All I wanted was to have a chance to apply to the Academy..." She whispered painfully. Her heart felt like it was breaking. This was definitely a nightmare being realized. Ruler. There wasn't a word in the galaxy that frightened her more than ruler. She had never wanted to be one; she knew she couldn't be one.
"Helen -" Nestra stepped closer but Helen couldn't stand to be so close to anyone just then.
With a sob, she wrenched off her crown and hurled it to the floor as she bolted out of the room and outside to the balcony. But she didn't stop running there.
"Helen. Helen, no!" Leda called but her daughter already leaped over the banister.
Her enormous swan wings erupted out from beneath her cape and effortlessly caught her; her wings beat the air more powerfully and launched her straight up into the starry night sky as her cape fell away to the ground below. The hair her sister had painstakingly pulled back suddenly sprang free and her curls burst around her head as she soared through the twilight, her tears drying on her cheeks. She held out her arms, the silky feathers of her wings brushing her sleeves, and tried to breathe in as much fresh air as she could as if in hopes of clearing her muddled mind.
So...so what just happened? She shook her head with disbelief. Her mother was giving her the throne? Why? The throne was the last thing she wanted! Why couldn't she just give it to Castor or Pollux? Clytemnestra was already Queen of the moon Mycenae; the twins should've been the next best option. They were older than her! So why her? The last thing she wanted was to inherit the throne - she just wanted to join the Majesty Flight Academy. She wanted to be a soldier; everyone else in her family was! She wanted her turn! It was in her blood!
She gracefully floated down to the roof of the abandoned Watch-Tower that overlooked the ocean, her wings hugging themselves around her to offer protection from the gusty wind. "What is in my blood?" She softly asked as she stared at her wings with a furrowed brow. They definitely weren't normal, but her adoptive mother and siblings all refused to tell her anything about her past before them and just insisted that she was "special" and that her wings were a "special" secret. Ohkaaaaay, what the Hades did that mean? She sighed and rested her chin on her wrists folded over her risen knees, staring down into the ocean with a furrowed brow as the stars high above made her Black skin shimmer like diamonds.
A gorgeous barn owl suddenly landed on the roof beside her, cocking its head inquisitively as it studied her - studied her wings actually. "You got your own," Helen mumbled and her huge swan wing bumped the owl away from her. The owl hooted softly as it flew away regally.
***
Planet: The Underworld
For the first time since ever, Persephon was overjoyed to be seeing his mother. "Omigods, Mom!" He jumped off the couch and flew into her open arms. "About time! I thought I was doomed to die here like an epic loser whose mother didn't give a fuck!"
"Oh precious! Mommy's angel!" Demeter shakily caressed his face with both hands. "Oh I've been terrified sick with worry! You aren't hurt, are you, Mousy?"
"Well...no. I mean, I don't think so, not physically anyway," he sniffled for show. "But I-I just want to go home, Mommy," he hugged her, then sneered over her shoulder the gargoyle Keir. Keir stared blankly.
"Oh...Um, about that, my little cornucopia of love." Persephon narrowed his eyes, whenever Demeter busted out the "Little Cornucopia of Love" nickname he hated so much it was always accompanied by some bad news which translated to only one thing: mommy couldn't work her magic. "I can...visit you, precious, but I'm afraid I...I can't take you with me -"
"WHAT?!" He leaped away from her. "What the actual fuck?! My ass needed to be gone like, yesterday! Take me with you!"
"I would, darling, I would! But I can't! You see, baby feet, I -"
"NO! No! No! No! There is no fucking excuse!" He stomped around in a circle, his heart beating frantically. "You're a goddess, heal me or something!"
"I'm afraid there's nothing to be done, Mouse, I -"
"What about Auntie Hera?! Can't she do something?! Can't anyone in this motherfucking galaxy do anything?!" He suddenly sank to his knees and covered his face with his hands, sobbing in hysterics. "I'm fuckin' doomed!"
"Angel pie!" Demeter had tears running down her freckled face as she dropped down to embrace her son, he tried to shove her away, but she tightened her hold on him. "Precious patty-cake, Mommy will be able to see you as much as I want -"
"I don't want you to see me!" He finally managed to break free and scrambled up to his feet. "I want you to find a cure for me and get me out of this hellhole!"
"Yes, little Mouse, of course, darling! I will overturn every single stone in this galaxy to find something to help you, baby!" She insisted as she jumped up, fluttering around him as he continued to throw a tantrum, knocking over chairs and kicking at the couches. "Oh you mustn't let yourself get so upset, Mouse! It devastates me to see you in pain, precious! Mommy wishes I could trade places with you, pumpkin-tart!"
"Can you?" Persephon abruptly stopped kicking the couch and turned to face his mother hopefully. "Can you trade places with me?" He flashed a pleading smile.
"Well...No, cherub, I'm a goddess," she chuckled. "It doesn't work like-"
"Then I'm doomed here!" He screeched and resumed sobbing, clawing at his hair and threw himself down to the couch.
"Precious! Come, come now! Oh, I know! I have something to tell you that might boost your spirits until I come back -"
"Don't fucking come back unless you've found the way to take me with you!" He snapped, then continued thrashing on the couch. "No, no, no!"
"Mouse, listen," Demeter knelt beside the couch and brushed his hands off his face, despite all the epic theatrics, his eyes were free of tears. Demeter pretended not to notice. "There is a rumor that's running wild amongst the gods and goddesses that there is demigod out there with the power to slay a god," she whispered eagerly, her son sat up with a thoughtful frown.
"Oh yeah?" He shrugged. "That might be me."
"Well..." Demeter shrugged a shoulder slowly, then carried on. "Point is, Mouse, as soon as we find them -whoever they maybe- they might be able to do away with Hades and then -it stands to reason that without the dark king lording over the Underworld- perhaps all of his curses will be broken too...?" She raised her eyebrows hopefully.
He made a face. "Meh. I dunno...Hades himself was bitching earlier about 'not having the powers to undo the world's bidding'," he mimicked the God of the Dead's voice in an exaggeratedly deep tone, then pretended to gag. "Psycho. But hell, I'll take any tidbit of hope I can get down here in the kingdom of lame."
"Well keep your chin up, Mouse! Mommy will find something to help you, in the meantime, darling, please stay safe, and don't let anyone bully you, prince of mommy's whole world," she pinched his cheek, he huffed and swatted her hand away. "I-I am afraid I have to go now," she sniffled as she rose.
"Whatever, just don't forget to bring me my mistalizer-wand from home next time you're by," he hopped up and looked over the pile of luggage the Goddess of Harvest had brought with her from their mansion.
She made a face but nodded gravely. "Whatever you wish, toast," she kissed his cheek, he made a face and pulled away. "I'll be off, darling, I'll see you -"
"Farewell at long last, Demeter," Hades said as he swept into the parlor, then did a double take at the mound of stuff heaped up on the floor. "Whoa, there is still just one houseguest, right? I mean, fifty creatures aren't moving in, are they?" Who the hell has this much shit anyway? He thought as he nudged one of the luggage racks brimming with clothes.
Demeter just scoffed, then snapped, "don't let me hear from my precious innocent baby that you hurt him or anything," she flicked her blazing red capuchin behind her as she stormed past the king of the Underworld. "Keep your cold, clammy hands off him."
"Please, my nightmares wouldn't even be cruel enough to me to consider it," he retorted as he showed her the way out, then slammed the door behind her. He heard Persephon in the parlor loudly complain.
"Ah, damn it! There's no fucking signal down here for my HALO tablet to work! How will I upload?! This fucking sucks!"
Doesn't it? Hades rubbed his temples as he stormed away into the shadows.
***
Planet: Thebes
Heracles was busily tightening the balance-rod of a brio bike in the Augean Shop when she came marching in, she being the most beautiful girl in the world, the love of his life, and the only one he could imagine forever with. She looked like an angel with rosy, golden brown skin and jet-black eyes, her red wine hijab secured around her head and neck. Quickly waking up from his daze, Heracles eagerly slid out from beneath the bike suspended off the ground by magnetic lights-glowing from an arch that was stationed over the bike, tossing his tools aside hastily and hurried over to the counter. "Meg, s'up?" He smiled brightly. "How did the new clutch-cable work out?"
"It didn't work out, it fucking blew," she snapped and slapped the erupted hose down. "And it's Megara to you," she made a face as she looked him over with disgust, then looked around. "Where the Hades is Eurystheus? I want a gods be damned replacement for this shit you pushed on me," she tossed her head indignantly, drumming her black fingernails against the cropped snake-skin jacket she wore, chomping on gum with frustration.
"Oh we don't need him, I'll get a new cable for you," Heracles flashed a reassuring smile, his dimples deepened. "I'll just swing into the back real quick -"
"No, look, I don't want another dried-up cable, get Eurystheus to find me this shit himself. I have a bike race coming up tomorrow night and it's bad enough I'll have to work on my gods be damn ed bike all of tomorrow because I work the graveyard shift tonight, so get me what I want already!" She snapped, then whipped out her HALO tablet and feverishly started swiping.
"Yeah, I can -"
"Meggie! Baby!" Eurystheus smiled as he came up the stairs behind the counter from the underground hanger, wiping off his greasy hands on a towel. "I thought I heard my girl's voice. Here," he tossed the stained towel at Heracles before moving around the counter to slow-hug Megara in that creepy way that always made Heracles shudder as he looked away, absolutely disgusted that a slimy, greasy son of a bitch like Eurystheus was dating a beautiful, talented and fierce girl like Meg who was like, fifteen years too young for him. "How ya doin', hon?"
"I'm still working at the 12's Bar, so how the Hades do you think I'm doing?" She huffed and pulled away. "I wanna get a useful clutch cable, help me out?"
"Anything. You," he snapped his fingers at Heracles without even looking at him. "Get it. Now then, honey," he turned his attention back to Meg as Heracles rolled his dark blue eyes and hurried down the clanking metal stairs that led down into the shop. There were 3,000 brio-vessels kept in the massive shop, rows and rows of them lined the long walls and were stacked as high as the ceiling on the magnetic-light arches. Labor droids were hovering high off the ground to work beneath the crafts, red sparks fizzled into the air and the cacophonous of tools chattering together, repulsor-lifts humming, and drills buzzing loudly all merged in a soundtrack that had been familiar to him long before he started working for Eurystheus.
Heracles and his father, Amphitryon, had been working in their own shop together since before Heracles could even walk. He'd be sitting on a blanket and would be playing with a ratchet instead of a rattle and teethed on the rubber-grips of bit-drivers while his father showed him the ins and outs of brio-crafts. Heracles felt the sharp pang of loneliness and guilt again whenever he thought about his father, he missed him more than he missed his own right arm that was lost during that same accident.
"Herc!" His attention was brought back to the present and he smiled readily when his android best friend, Iolaus, strode over to him. "Herc, there you are, man! I was wondering if you were going to stay upstairs live-long all day or were comin' down to get some grease under your nails, I totally need your help, bro."
"Yeah, you name it - Oh, first I gotta get a new cable-clutch, apparently the other one snapped on Meg and -"
"Ooh, Meg," Iolaus smirked. Despite recent events, Iolaus' remarkable human-face was mostly still intact, so his expressions weren't necessary limited. Things were incredibly tense on Thebes, for both mortal-creatures and their android companions. Thebes was considered one of the most religious planets in the entire galaxy since it was supposedly considered the homeworld of the great god Zeus, and when the Parliament officials were replaced with radicals that introduced technology and androids into everyday life and costumes, the religious creatures revolted violently. There were still buildings in the city being tagged or caught on fire as religious protesters demanded the global standers be reverted to the old ways.
In hopes of calming the aggressive citizens, the Parliament ordered all androids be Marked so as they'd be unmistakable to the creatures that felt violated by the "impersonators." Heracles still remembered the day with a cringe when all the androids in the world were commanded to report in at various official markets to be branded; they were lined up like cattle out in the streets and were corralled inside to have their faces tarnished before they were thrown out again. The entire right side of Iolaus' neck was exposing the shiny, vibrant blue tendons and neon green and yellow wires that disappeared back under his sand-toned flesh, part of his jaw and his cheek were also missing so he unfortunately had a rather frightening half smile constantly on display.
Heracles made it a point never to stare at an android's identity mark; he always tried to hold their gazes, however most androids took to looking at their feet whenever they spoke to a mortal creature, as if ashamed. He had to admire Iolaus' unrelenting spunk and charismatic energy; he often wondered what it was that kept Iolaus from being bitter and resentful. Iolaus would have every excuse in the galaxy to have a chip on his shoulder and yet he was still friendliest and most good-natured creature Heracles had ever met, even if he wasn't exactly a "mortal creature."
"Lay off, man, she's still in the "hating me" stage," Heracles rolled his eyes as he shouldered past Iolaus to head down one of the dark side-halls that were between hover racks. The shelves down the otherwise blindingly dark halls were lit with neon blue lights that lined the metal frames. Heracles scanned the card he wore around his neck to gain access behind the tension-shields; the microscopic generators created an invisible force-shield from the atomic elements within the very air and produced an impenetrable barrier around whatever the generators were aimed at. He pulled a drawer up that opened like a latter and products were displayed on the rungs, "But one day she's going to Mrs. Heracles."
"Joy." Iolaus rolled his green eyes at the ceiling. "So anyway, my friends and I are getting together tomorrow night and I kinda want to introduce you to my -"
"Hey, that sounds perfect," he readily agreed. "Can we all get together under the Atlas Bridge at ten?"
"That's incredibly specific."
"Well," he shrugged a burly shoulder.
"Have anything to do with the fact that Megara has a race under that bridge tomorrow night? And are you blushing?"
"No," he huffed. "And it's too dark to be noticed anyway."
"Not unless you have nocturnal vision," he smirked and tapped his temple.
"You're too weird for me, dude," Heracles laughed and gathered up the bag the clutch-cable was in. "I better hurry up and get this upstairs or else my ass is in for it."
Later that night after work, when they were supposed to be dedicating some time working on their own brio bikes, Heracles managed to convince Iolaus to swing by the 12's Bar with him for just a few minutes. "I just wanna check on Meg and then we'll get back to the barn and finish our bikes." "The barn" was their somewhat affectionate nickname for the warehouse they were shacked up in with ten other mortal creatures and androids that were all struggling to make ends meet in the suffering economy, it took all twelve of them just to make the rent on that dump.
"Dude, she's going to get a restraining order against you," Iolaus groaned as he dragged himself after the other boy. The 12's Bar was a seedy little hole-in-the-wall type place, with glow orbs hovering above the stained tables and neon signs flickering from their stations on the rusted steel paneled walls. They quickly ducked into a booth and looked around, it was always bustling, creatures from the spaceport just around the block came to this oxygen-bar for a hard hit to get used to the different atmosphere of Thebes. Meg was a waitress, one of the few mortal-creatures that worked at the 12's, most of the staff were androids, and bitter ones at that. Heracles once seen one prick their finger and let some oil drip into someone's drink before they served it.
An android waitress stalked over their table and waited impatiently for an order. "Two golden apple squeezers, please, and hold the spit," Iolaus smirked, the waitress glared at him before she stomped away.
"Dude, she's totally gonna spit in it now."
"Oh I'm counting on it," he smiled brighter when the waitress returned. "They're not for us, I bought 'em for that guy over there," he pointed out the mangy looking satyr sitting at the bar. "That jerk refused to tip me yesterday at work just because I'm an android."
The waitress sneered. "Delivered with pleasure, hon," then she went over to the bar.
Heracles and Iolaus were falling over each other laughing as they watched the satyr down the drinks. "That was perfect!" Suddenly their attention was brought up when they heard a loud crash of glass at the other end of the bar, several creatures looked, and Heracles seen Meg glaring at a brutish looking Stymphalian who was laughing at her.
"Well pick it up, girlie," he could faintly hear the aves raptor creature rasp over the loud music.
Meg was still glaring but knelt to quickly gather up the broken pieces when the Stymphalian grabbed her waist and pull her into his lap. Heracles jumped up, ignoring Iolaus' warning of "Don't cause a rumble, man!" as he made this way through the crowd swiftly, but not quick enough for Meg's taste. The girl abruptly stomped on the scaly foot of her rowdy customer and reverse head-butted him before she jumped up, the creature hissed with fury and made another grab for her, but she seized his wrist and sharply twisted it, sending him crashing down to the top of the table before she kicked her fallen tray up to her waiting hands and bashed it over his face. The Stymphalian went limp with a gargling groan.
"Reggie, another deadbeat!" Meg called to the android bartender who hurried over to help her drag the brute outside. They came back inside laughing and high-fived each other before resuming work peacefully.
"Now don't you feel stupid, hero?" Iolaus laughed as he shook Heracles' shoulders. "C'mon, man, Meg seems to know how to handle 'em, let's get the Hades outta here."
"Just a minute," he shrugged him off and cautiously approached Meg sweeping up the remaining glass on the floor. "Meg - I mean, Megara, hey..." He nervously ran a hand through his short dark blonde hair. "Um, I-"
"What the Hades do you want?" She snapped, her smile from a few moments ago faded the instant she laid eyes on him.
He nearly cringed away from her glare, why did she hate him so much? He wondered for not the first time. "I uh, just wanted to say I saw the way you handled that guy and...it was pretty impressive," he smiled more when she smirked faintly.
"Yeah well, that's what you get when you're raised with eight brothers."
"Whoa, I didn't know you had eight brothers." Or any for that matter.
"Yeah. Hey, where's your boyfriend?"
"Huh?"
"Iolaus! I thought I seen you two come in together."
"Oh, you noticed us?" Should he have been flattered?
"I noticed Iolaus, so where is he?"
"Errr, I guess outside -"
"Well you should catch up to him, the streets at night are a fucked up place to be if you're an android. Now kindly move the Hades out of my way, I'm busier than executor on judgment day," she brushed past him as she kept sweeping.
Heracles watched for a moment, perplexed for sure over her concern for his best friend, but then heeded her advice and hurried outside in the humid night air. Much to his alarm, he did spot a couple of guys shoving Iolaus around farther up the street. One was a Geryon, an eight-foot-tall giant with six burly arms and three heads with yellow tusks protruding from his lower jaws, the other was a wiry Erytion elf holding the log-chain of an Orthrus hound with two heads and foaming jaws it kept gnashing together as it tried lunging for Iolaus.
"Haven't you heard this planet doesn't like you, robo-boy?" The Geryon demanded, shoving Iolaus against the brick alley wall.
"Yeah, go back to the toolbox you came from!" The Erytion gave the leash more lack so when the vicious canine lunged, its forepaws shoved Iolaus back into the wall.
Heracles was suddenly right behind the Geryon and seized one of his arms, swinging him around to punch him in the throat, the giant hissed with pain and fury and one of his arms swung for Heracles as the others went to its throat. Heracles ducked and darted around the swinging tree-branch sized limbs to kick the side of his knee out, bringing the giant down to a more reasonable height before he punched the left head's jaw with enough force to dislocate it with a loud snap just as one of the hands seized his shirt and flung him into the wall. The Erytion meanwhile dropped the chain and the hound suddenly flew into his face, Heracles wrapped both hands around either boxy muzzle, squeezing as forcefully as he could to keep the lethal jaws clamped shut before he summoned even more strength and shakily lifted the wither mass of muscled dog off the ground, the dog was dangling by its two muzzles and kicked at the air wildly.
He flung the dog at the elf that suddenly produced a tremor blade, the Erytion crashed to the ground with the beast on top of him and then the giant suddenly slammed into Heracles, snatching his wrists in two of its hands and holding them against the wall while the other set of fists were slamming hits to his torso, the other two hands were trying wipe the blood out of its face. Heracles rapidly kicked the giant between the legs before bringing up his feet to push-kick the Geryon's stomach, sending the brute to the ground in a heap.
The dog leaped back up for him.
He swiftly caught both heads and bashed them together before a spinning back-kick sent the Erytion flying out into traffic and then side-kicked off the alley wall to get just enough height to kick the giant to the right head just as the brute rose again. They both fell to the ground only this time, the giant didn't want to fight anymore when he realized his dog was out of commission and his fellow thug was running away across the street. The giant stumbled up to his feet before he took off running too, the dog stayed limp on the sidewalk.
Heracles scrambled up to his feet and looked around, Iolaus was on the ground with his back against the wall, his eyes wide with alarm and shock. "You okay?" Heracles hurried over and helped him up.
"Th-thanks," he looked away with shame, androids weren't programmed with violence, so he was unable to ever defend himself, and had Heracles not came along when he did...Iolaus shuddered. "Sorry," he gulped as he looked his best friend over.
"Me? No biggie, bro," he smirked and wiped the blood off his mouth with the back of his wrist. "Let's get back to the barn," he slung his arm over Iolaus' shoulders as they started walking.
A snowy white dove, a color that was such a startling contrast to all the dark filth and grime, was sitting perched on top of a Halt sign, its beauty made Heracles do a double take as they crossed the street. The dove seemingly looked directly at him and cocked its head before it took off in a flutter of glowing white feathers, it vanished an instant later.
***
"I believe that the demigod we're searchin' for is this Percy kid," Ares told the Olympians through their cosmic bond while -currently- he was a beasty Rottweiler lounging on top of a garbage-engine, absently digging at his short ears with his hind leg as he watched HeadShot carry Percy into a massive warehouse over his shoulder. "I mean, she's got fuckin' balls, she's gotta be one of my kids."
Of course currently Percy -tied up and gagged- was captured by only the most powerful gang lord on the planet but nevertheless, Ares was betting on her waking up and kicking major ass, escaping despite all the odds in a blaze of glory. She'd probably lose her little girlfriend in all the heat though and that would most likely horribly damage her outlook on life and make her hate the heartless gods for not interfering, thus making her the perfect candidate to be the God-Slayer. "It's totally Percy, and what a sick name, am I right? I love a girl with a guy's name. Kinda like you, Apollo, you like the bros with the chick names," the Ares-dog chortled with amusement. "Excuse me, I meant to say queens."
"You're such an idiot," Apollo snapped.
"Cool it," Athena huffed. "As it is, I believe I have found the demigod," her wise owl eyes were currently trained on Helen flying back to her castle, Athena's soft wings flew high above the demigod completely undetected. "A crowd of over a thousand has gathered to watch her be crowned the new Ruler of Sparta, Shilly did tell us that the God-Slayer would be one who the entire galaxy knows. Sparta is one of the most powerful systems in the entire universe, how could it not be Helen of Sparta?"
"Oh it's neither of those two!" Aphrodite huffed, nuzzling at her dove feathers as she perched in the loft of the warehouse the gorgeous boy Heracles lived at with eleven other creatures, he was currently working on his bike parked beside the android's whom he had saved earlier. "I have found this incredible demigod with unprecedented strengths, he fought against three assailants -one of them being a Geryon giant, mind you- and bested them in a mere matter of moments. Oh and if we're taking any account of looks, than this boy has the heroic looks of a god-"
"No one gives a shit, Phro," Ares interrupted. "Now I say it's lil' Percy Miss Badass here."
"It's Helen of Sparta, don't get distracted by anyone else," Athena insisted as she gracefully perched on the railing outside of Helen's bedroom. The girl was mobbed by her hysterical mother and sister that frantically fussed to spruce her up, draping her heavy cape around her shoulders to conceal her swan wings before they dragged her off downstairs to see to the guests that were eagerly awaiting her appearance.
"You two are only saying that because you found them!" Aphrodite snapped. "It's this handsome hunk Heracles!"
"And you're a perv!" Ares retorted.
"Am not, I'm a woman, we notice things."
"Bullshit, Percy is the God-Slayer -"
"Shut up!" Hera snapped. "Now then," she carried on calmly. "We shall approach all of them carefully, we certainly don't want to overwhelm them or come off as threatening so let's introduce ourselves carefully, alright?"
"Sounds like this is going to take a be-damned amount of time," Demeter huffed impatiently. I have my precious baby to rescue! She thought frantically, furthermore, she reasoned, Athena is the fuckin' Goddess of Wisdom, I trust her judgment over Ares and Aphrodite. Those two air-heads couldn't tell the different between a centaur's ass-end and its head. I don't have time to waste dicking around waiting for the perfect approach to win out, my duckling needs me! Demeter shape-shifted into her sacred animal, the calico field mouse, and called out to Iris softly while the others were still bitching back and forth. "Send me to Sparta!"
The speckled mouse vanished in the mist of rainbow light.