Atlas froze on the spot as he stared into the crowd. They had stopped clamouring but their eyes were glazed over. He immediately knew that something was wrong and looked over at Apollo who seemed to have one of the few eyes that retained knowledge.
'Is he the one behind everything?'
He looked towards Apollo questioningly but only received a shrug. The deity clearly wasn't involved with the crowd's weird reaction. Atlas walked over to the hole that he made in the ground, under the stares of the dead-eyed crowd.
Shockingly, he saw a figure dressed in all black and wearing a crow-like mask carrying the body of Evil Claw away. That figure hoisted the dead body and suddenly teleported away. When he did so, something magically covered the hole up and the crowd began to clamour again.
'I wonder what the hell just happened?'
Though he thought about the event, he still made sure to signal that he was ready for another fight.
An hour passed by and Atlas had surprisingly fought over a dozen people in that time frame. When things similar to the first time happened, the crowd would suddenly 'space out' and the weird figure would appear. It happened a few times, making Atlas realize that it was probably one of the few supernatural creatures responsible for running the establishment.
'That will make it a bit difficult to acquire this place,'
After the sixteenth fight, he decided that his next one would be his last for the night. So far, he had not encountered any mythical opponents mentioned by Apollo. His goal for fighting for so long was to battle one of them.
'Seventeenth times the charm!'
He wished for the best and watched his next opponent come onto the stage. Atlas easily noted that from the opponent's entrance alone that he wasn't some pushover.
A large man jumped out from the crowd and ferociously landed on the hard stone stage, shaking it to the core. Atlas looked confusedly at the extremely large figure with his mouth slightly agape.
"How did he hide in the crowd…." he unintentionally muttered seeing the large figure.
The large, brown-haired giant bore a striking resemblance to whom Atlas saw as his father figure for a few years, Thomas. He wished he didn't see t the resemblance that was there, but Atlas couldn't help but feel that it was Thomas, despite Thomas having died the day before under the God of Mischief's control.
"Good to meet you again, Titan,"
The whole world outside the stage seemed to stop in that instant. The voice of that weird humanoid shadow from before came out of the giant. The voice itself was already an oddity, going several octaves higher or lower in the span of a few seconds. It couldn't fit anything.
Atlas instantly realized the speaker and put both fists up in the most natural stance he could perform.
Cold sweat ran down his back as he thought of all the ways he could call out to Apollo from the pocket of space that Loki had created.
"I'm not trying to fight you. I'm actually only here for one reason."
When he said that, Atlas felt even more on guard from the man's presence and disposition.
"Titans from Greek mythology have always had the strongest wills. For example, when your father was trapped holding the sky up, he still had the mental strength to attempt to trick Heracles into doing it,"
Loki was a very sly person. He moved around the ring and kept talking about the feats of Atlas' father and ancestors.
"So, I want to ask you this. Why would you want to work under the Greeks, when you know that they are manipulating you? They are prideful and are less willing to allow new entrants into their pantheon. If anything, you should be worried especially about Apollo."
Atlas kept a neutral face, but he almost nodded in agreement. He already had a list of theories as to why the Greeks were trying to ascend him to Godhood. Amongst those theories was that it was what it was; exactly like Apollo mentioned.
When he ascended to Godhood under the Greeks, the residual energy would restore them back to their prime. It was what Apollo said, but he didn't believe it that was all.
'There has to be another catch that they're trying to trick me on.'
A thought flashed past Atlas' mind, and he had a sudden insight as to what they might try. He didn't make it show on his face, though.
"And so I'm supposed to trust you by proxy? It doesn't work that way. If anything, you're more sketchy on your own than the entire Greek Pantheon. If you want to have a proper chat, bring Thor or even better, Odin!"
As he yelled that, he dashed forward and appeared before the puppet in an instant, striking it with both fists.
His arms were like twin hammers and even resembled them for a second.
Even Loki couldn't react, meaning one of Atlas' theories was true. As long as deities were in a mortal body, then they would be affected by mortal constraints. There was no going around it.
With that explanation in mind, he kept on hitting the puppet's body with no remorse. It stumbled back and Loki's voice emerged once more.
"You've made a wrong choice, little Titan boy. One day you'll see what I mean. For now, just keep enjoying my little presents for you and your mother."
Loki mentioned his mother and he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread in his heart. The giant man in front of him suddenly became even larger and the surrounding air became static-like, bursting with electricity from time to time.
Its teeth resembled sharp silver metal, while its claws were like serrated blades of diamond that made a loud ringing noise when they struck objects. Atlas' face changed as he hurriedly tried to remember what those types of beings were called in Norse mythology.
After a bit of thinking, he finally remembered by then… the monster had already come charging forward.
"Jotunn."
****
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