- Lucifer and Poseidon -
Even though the announcer had made the call to start, neither Poseidon nor Lucifer had moved. Poseidon was waiting for Lucifer's first move while Lucifer was calming himself down. The slowness of the two competitors created a shift in the crowd.
The once uproarious cheers were replaced with tense stares. The air around the arena had gone from that of a fun sports event to something more sinister.
"Afraid to move?!" Poseidon shouted at Lucifer.
"What exactly should I be fearing?!" Lucifer responded.
That simple exchange marked the actual start of the battle. Poseidon moved first, throwing the spheres of water above the center of the coliseum. The spheres began firing high-pressure darts of water toward Lucifer.
Lucifer crossed his arms and then whipped them out to the side, spraying a wide wall of flames at Poseidon's attack. The flames didn't stop the entirety of the sphere's barrage but it did give Lucifer enough room to launch himself at Poseidon.
Poseidon smiled. He found the charge forward laughable. He pulled a large surge of water from the lake and filled the coliseum's ground with water. He surfed along the water as it crashed down, aiming his trident at Lucifer.
Lucifer took a deep breath. He created a thick cloud of smoke from his right hand as he got closer to Poseidon. The flames from his left arm climbed up into his hand and condensed into a single orb.
Poseidon wasn't sure what Lucifer was planning with the smokescreen but he wasn't about to be fooled so easily. He stopped his approach, slammed the bottom of his trident against the shallow water below him, and created a powerful geyser to shoot up through the smoke. He looked left and right of the geyser, waiting for Lucifer to appear on either side.
Lucifer had flipped upside down once he noticed the geyser of water appearing beneath him. He let the surge of water strike his wings and carry him into the sky as he wrapped his right arm's flames around his left hand's orb. He wasn't concerned with the potential damage to his back but more so that Poseidon might figure out what he was doing.
'Not a chance,' Lucifer thought.
As Poseidon's checks of the left and right of his geyser came up empty a thought came into his head.
'He wouldn't just take that attack head-on, would he?'
Poseidon could see the crowd out of the corner of his eye. He noticed they were all looking up, confirming his suspicion. He immediately flew backward and covered himself in a swirling orb of water as Lucifer's attack hit the ground. He could feel the impact of the tentacles of flame slamming against his watery shield.
Lucifer was in the sky now. He saw his attack connect but knew that it wouldn't be enough. He reignited his arms and began his barrage against Poseidon. The rain of explosive orbs shot so much water into the air that the fire on his arms sizzled as droplets hit them.
The crowd watched wide-eyed at what seemed like a one-sided battle. There was a growing worry that Poseidon might actually lose. While almost everyone in the crowd was thinking the same thing, none dared to say anything, except for one cloaked spectator.
"Looks like the Devil might take this one!" The enthusiastic male voice shouted.
Everyone near the voice looked over in fear. They couldn't believe anyone would be so bold as to root for Lucifer in this situation. Instead of questioning the man, the beings that sat next to him had a different plan.
"DON'T LOSE TO THE FALLEN'S TRICKS!" a minotaur sitting behind the man yelled.
"YOU DON'T NEED TO HOLD BACK ANYMORE!" The satyrs to the left of the man shouted.
"QUENCH THE FLAMES!" A group of shrill-voiced harpies to the man's right started to chant.
Eventually, the entirety of the crowd was chanting "QUENCH THE FLAMES" in unison. The man who had previously shouted in Lucifer's favor was now leaning back and smiling. He looked up at Lucifer.
"I'll be rich if you win, Devil," The man mumbled.
Poseidon wasn't struggling to maintain his defensive position. The only thing slowing his counterattack down was his thoughts.
'I guess I should have listened when brother told me about your lack of self-preservation. To think I would ever be on the back foot against you. No, that isn't what this is. I'm simply giving the crowd a good show. I hope you enjoyed the false sense of power while it lasted.'
Poseidon leaped into the air with his sphere of water around him and a large trailing line of water. He dropped his trident into the water that he had been following underneath him. The trident floated down the aerial stream before stopping halfway.
Once Lucifer saw the trident fall out of Poseidon's protective bubble he flew back. He knew just as well as the crowd what was coming. He removed his shirt and covered his entire torso in flames, creating a gasp among the crowd that broke up the cheering.
The man from before quickly leaned forward. The hood of his cloak pulled back slightly revealing his curly brown hair. He slapped his hands together and cheered for Lucifer loud enough to draw attention to himself once again.
Zeus's face showed a slight sign of worry. His curious thoughts about Lucifer's current form were being interrupted by the constant questioning of his family.
"Of course I knew he could do that!" Zeus lied.
The water that had been feeding into Poseidon's protective sphere went still. The water started to move on its own, slithering left and right before congealing into a more recognizable form.
"LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND OTHERS, WE HAVE ONE OF YOUR FAVORITES; POSEEEEEEEEIDON'S HYYYYYYYYDDDDDDRRRRRAAAAAAA!" The announcer projected.
Lucifer's thoughts got petty for a moment, 'I feel sorry for you, Eros. Having to sell this garbage to these fools.'
Lucifer, aiming for the floating trident, shot one orb at the center of the hydra. The attack was blocked by a separate wall of water that Poseidon was controlling. The fight was effectively two-on-one now.
Thoughts of more recent conflicts ran through Lucifer's head. There was a part of his mind telling him to just let Poseidon win so he could go meet up with the others in the Underworld. It wasn't so much that he had a desire to win but more that he didn't want to lose. If he just gave up now he could always pretend that he hadn't actually been trying so the loss doesn't count, to him at least.
He was fighting in an arena that wanted nothing more than for him to lose. He felt a faint sense of nostalgia as the sound of the crowd chanting "HYDRA" got louder. All the fervor he had, the anger towards Zeus and Poseidon, seemed to slowly turn more bitter. As he felt this mental change he ignited his arms with blue fire.
'I'LL SHOW YOU!' he shouted in his mind.
The thoughts of wanting to just give up drove his anger deep, deep into his stomach. The anger felt like it was constantly scratching at him, pushing him to do something he shouldn't. The cheering of the crowd, the smug look on Poseidon's face, and Eros's announcing weren't helping. All of that, and the fact that there had been a small part of him that actually believed he would have been treated with respect because of his ranking increase.
'Foolish,' Lucifer thought. 'I was a fucking fool for believing there was ever a chance any of you would treat me with respect.'
The chants of the crowd slowly shifted to pointing fingers. It was clear to Lucifer that the blue flames had surprised the spectators. This made his thoughts shift slightly. His bitter rage gave him a very dangerous idea.
Lucifer took in a deep breath and shouted as loud as his lungs would allow him to, "YOU'RE NOT WORTH IT!"
The blue flames changed back to orange-red. The crowd looked confused, while Zeus and Poseidon looked furious.
Zeus was leaning forward, almost spitting as he yelled. "WHAT DOES THAT FALLEN PIECE OF SHIT MEAN, 'NOT WORTH IT'?!"
Lucifer put his arms up in the air and spelled out the words "Not worth it" in the sky.
Zeus had to be held back from interfering after seeing Lucifer's message.
The man who had previously cheered for Lucifer was now hunched over, speaking into an echo. "You won't believe what the Devil just did."