"Well, never thought I'd see this day"
Hades spoke as he watched the masses gather and rush to enter the large stadium, he and his wife and Hestia were seated right at the top of the stadium a special section made for the gods to witness.
"so who do you want to win?"
Hestia asked with a bit of melancholy in her tone, she looked a bit depressed and was rather just making small talk instead of actually being interested in whatever was going on. It was just recently that she heard about the death of her nephew Ares and among everyone in her family she seemed to the only one who cared enough to mourn him.
Hades gave her a glance, Ares didn't deserve her mourning but it's in her nature to care so he can say nothing to her but answer her questions.
"Well I don't have a favourite but it would be quite the upset if Zeus lost"
He answered and looked high up in the sky spotting Nike, she seemed keen on watching the battle from Such a height, according to her it was the best was to witness a battle. Such a vantage point. He turned to his wife before speaking once more.
"What about you my love?"
"Hmm I don't know, I'd like for my father to win or at the very least not lose, I don't know much about Hephaestus to want him to win"
She expressed in her mind though the whole battle was already in her father's victory and seemed fairly obvious, she didn't underestimate Hephaestus however Zeus has proven to be quite strong and Hephaestus doesn't seem to be all that powerful and she's hardly spoken to him as such it's only natural that she believes the one she knows better will win.
"well how unfortunate, I was hoping you'd be in favour of Hephaestus so that we'd wager on it?"
His earlier statement did not mean that he believed that Hephaestus would win but its something he thought would be interesting to see, his little brother getting humbled by his own son would certainly be hilarious, this battle was in largely in Zeus's favour.
"You can add me in that wager as well"
Hera spoke as she entered followed by various others which were, Demeter, Themis, Leto and Hecate as well as Athena and Artemis with Hermes entering seconds after them, each of them took their seats and continued the conversation that Hades had started. Hera this time had her own two arms rather than four.
"I take it you'll be I favour for Hephaestus then?"
"Yes, but what exactly are we wagering on?"
If she wasn't in the situation she's in right now she would have chosen Zeus's as he is more likely to win however if even if it's unlikely she still hopes for Hephaestus to win plus the future she saw the one about Olympus being in flames was still at the back of her mind. She at least thought that it either was an alternative future or it has yet to pass meaning that Hephaestus might lose and have Aphrodite take from him and thus cause him to destroy Olympus and that made her a bit uneasy and was one of the reason she hoped he wins, to get out of her current situation and to prevent the destruction of Olympus .
"well this was meant to be a thing between me an my wife but since you joined in I don't know"
"how about the loser owes the winner an irrefutable favour, after all we aren't humans so no need to wager money on this. Anyone else wish to join in?"
"no, I'd rather not have to worry about owing any of you a favour"
Demeter answered followed by the others Nodding to her statement, while the wager wasn't binding or anything owing another god a favour meant more than just doing their errands so they refused, however Hades felt that there was nothing he could lose or anything Hera could ask for that he wouldn't be able to give her so he agreed.
"Well it looks like it's the two of us on this"
Just as he said thunder roared and lightning struck the ground followed by the a sudden earthquake that shook everything just a bit. Hephaestus and Zeus had arrived. The crowd of humans cheered loudly as they began to chant Zeus's name as he was the most popular amongst the gods
With a Flick of her wrist Hecate activated the barrier to protect the spectators.
"where's Aphrodite ? Isn't she supposed to be here?"
Everyone turned to look at Athena who simply shrugged her shoulders admitting her ignorance about the location the goddess.
….
Hephaestus was once again faced with a question in his mind it's the same question that has crossed his mind before.
"what is a good king?"
He uttered, Zeus was certainly not a good king or At the very least not a good example of one. He is arrogant Selfish and self centred. His word is law and people should follow his command, he does not need to ask for anything he can simply take it by force, to be a good king then being far from Zeus on the scale is a good thing but how far.
"Can you see?"
He asked as he watched Zeus Taking in the cheers from the mortals, waving around his hands and show boating around. The stadium was huge, with plenty of room for the two of them to fight it out.
"Yes but floating in empty space takes some getting used to"
She responded, just in case that he loses Hephaestus made sure to place Aphrodite where she would be safe from Zeus and would never be found, though he had to let her in on one of his secrets well it wasn't a secret but more like something he would eventually tell her.
"good, also could you stay quiet until the battle, I want all my focus on this fight"
"okay"
She answered timidly, oddly feeling a bit aroused by his commanding tone.
Zeus raised his hand and immediately quieted the whole area before he gestured for Hephaestus to come closer and. Hephaestus obliged.
"Say why don't we add more stakes on this battle?"
Zeus asked while brushing his beard with a smirk on his face the confidence was oozing put of him it was quite palpable.
"how so?"
"why don't we make an oath to the river of Styx? That way both of us will be obligated to keep our end of the deal?"
"no"
He denied, to Hephaestus it didn't Matter because whoever wins mean they're the stronger one that means they can force their will on the other plus the loser will die so it's pointless to make an oath to the river.
"hmm too bad"
He said and turned his back at Hephaestus to walk away, Hephaestus was about to do the same when suddenly Zeus turned again this time the scythe the was on his hand, Hephaestus quickly jumped back instantly dodging the Scythe by a hair's breath opening the distance between him and Zeus even wider. He slid across the ground his eyes staring at Zeus who still had a smug smile on his face.
"That was close"
He said pulling out a red spear from a golden portal that appeared beside him, there was no referee on this battle and there were not rules so the match could begin at anytime, it was a bit stupid of him to get close but no matter.
The crowd that was stunned by the sudden beginning of the battle roared, no one expected the beginning of the battle to be so abrupt.
"Zeus seems confident?"
Hades threw the question at anyone willing to answer, what Zeus did was a test to see how fast Hephaestus would respond, this meant he saw Hephaestus as unworthy of him and thus needed to be tested of he truly go head to head with him a sign of great confidence, overconfidence.
"Did you expect him not to be?"
Athena responded, feeling a bit impressed by Hephaestus's reaction to the sudden attack, which alleviated her worries a bit.
"no but being cautious never hurts, also where's Poseidon, I haven't seen him in a long while"
"now that you mention it he hasn't been in Olympus in quite sometime now"
Hera answered, Poseidon hasn't been to Olympus since they had a meeting about the possible traitor and ever since he hasn't been to Olympus, he didn't even show during the fight with Zeus vs Athena.
"This is interesting, he's usually Zeus's agreeable hand I'm surprised he wouldn't be here"
….
"That was pretty good, looks like this actually might be entertaining."
He said and pierced the ground with the scythe leaving it stuck there and put up his fists.
"Before we start using weapons how about we first go hand to hand, you can use a weapon once you feel overwhelmed"
"Why should I do that when having a weapon gives me an advantage?"
As soon as he said as such he quickly reconsidered his words, he already knows the Scythe's effects and danger levels but Zeus doesn't know about any of his weapons, his best guess would be that the spear is dangerous and not its effects so keeping him in the dark about it works in his favour. He stabbed the ground and let the spear stand on its own and accepted the challenge from Zeus
The two of them faced each other, sizing each other up and waiting for the other to move first, a silence descended upon the Stadium as everyone else waited for the moment of attack in anticipation.
Streaks of blue lightning Arched around his body as he began to move, a blue blur flew at Hephaestus who met it head on, he parried the attack aimed at his stomach with his right hand and gently pushing Zeus's fist to the side before delivering his own punch at his face sending him flying across the stadium and crashing against the barrier with a loud bang that caused a shock wave.
Hephaestus ignored the cheering crowd as he moved towards Zeus to follow up on his attack, arrived before the slumped God king in no more than a second he went for a straight kick to his face but Zeus dodged by rolling to the side and pushed himself off the ground, Standing on his two feet. He spat out a tooth mixed with his blood and brushed his jaw.
"Great reaction speed and you pack a punch, yes now we're talking"
"I thought this was a fight not a sexual encounter, well you are Zeus everything is a sexual encounter"
"when you look as Good as I do the women just flock to me, not that you'd know"
"Oh sure 'they flock to you', interesting choice of words, almost implies you had sex with birds, crazy"
"As a king I have the right to have sex with whatever I so wish, my will and freedom extends that far"
"so you did have sex with ? Mad! That is mad"
Hephaestus chuckled at the god king's words, the Zeus a sexual deviant.
"alright enough of this let's see if you can take a punch as well"
He sprung forth followed by a loud boom that shook the stadium as he went to deliver a punch at Hephaestus's face who blocked and grabbed his arm threw it over his shoulders, turned and slammed Zeus on to the ground causing an earthquake and creating a large creator on the spot he slammed him on, he didn't left go after the shoulder throw he then bent Zeus's arm and broke it in two and then pulled the other half off and threw it across ground before standing up and kicking Zeus like a soccer ball.
The god king groaned as he once again slammed on to Hecate's barrier after rolling on the floor for a few seconds. His arm regenerated as he stood up, this was the second time he spilled blood on the floor and he Hephaestus had yet to even take damage.
"unacceptable"
"That's for sure"
He reflexively dodged Hephaestus's punch letting it strike the barrier causing another shockwave, he quickly tried to open the distance but Hephaestus grabbed him by his other arm pulled him back and let his fists connect with Zeus's face, breaking his jaw and sending him flying once again, this time there were two shockwaves one from the sound barrier being broken and the other from Zeus crashing on to the barrier.
"I thought the God king would fair a bit Better"
A spear of fire appeared on his hand, he then stretched open his legs and pulled his arm back while also increasing the intensity of the flame, he then threw it and a faint whistling sound echoed as the spear flew across the air heading straight for its target, however its suddenly dispersed in the air in it's stead appeared a bolt of lightning coming for Hephaestus, he dodged by jumping to the side.
"Gotcha!!"
Zeus appeared behind him with his palms open with electric sparks dancing on his fingers, he tried to touch Hephaestus but Hephaestus quickly jumped up performing a back flip over Zeus and dodging the attack or so he thought. Landing right behind Zeus, he kicked him on the back causing him to run forward, he then conjures another spear of fire but it suddenly dispersed before it could take shape.
"Huh what's the– oh fuck"
"It seems you're quick on the uptake"
Zeus comments as he dusted himself off, despite Hephaestus's attempts to dodge it was futile as single touch is enough, not to mention that he can shoot the lightning off his own fingertips so dodging at such close range was pointless.
"So you paralyzed my concept of fire huh?"
"I expected it to be much harder than it was, it's seems like you're dumber than Athena, even in her enraged state she still Knew to be careful when in close range"
.......