"Is something wrong?"
Seeing him look backwards, Lois asked with a bit of puzzlement.
"No ..... I'm fine. It's just ....". At the moment, the Man Of Steel had furrowed eyebrows and a slight frown.
"I..... I thought I saw someone".
"Oh! An old friend, perhaps?"
"Um... Yeah, something like that". The extra thoughts could only be put aside for the meantime. After all, Clark had no idea who the man earlier was.
At least, he wasn't any superhero or villain he had seen before. There were a lot of strange things in this world, and the League couldn't possibly account for everything.
This..... Stranger wasn't the first and he most definitely wouldn't be the last.
Now, Clark could only hope that he was overthinking this time. But that sense of ominous premonition within him hadn't disappeared at all.
'When did I start growing so paranoid like Bruce?'
He wondered internally.
Whether Bruce's tendency to worry was rubbing off on him, his ability to keep a poker face wasn't.
Clark was strong, powerful, and particularly straightforward. When thinking of something, his thoughts were usually laid plain on his face to those who knew him.
Lois who was one of them.
"Alright Smallville, you Ok? You seemed a bit, troubled". She said seeing the frown apparent on his features.
"What? No. It's nothing important. I just... have a lot on my mind recently". Clark sobered up from his thoughts.
Looking at the beautifully dressed Lois Lane, a charming smile appeared on his face.
"And nothing could help me soothe those worries better than the company of a beautiful woman".
"Oh! I didn't know the coffee boy was such a sweet talker.....".
"A Kryptonian and a human". Standing on a building a far distance away, the scruffy looking man laid his eyes on the departing backs of Clark Kent and Lois Lane.
"What an interesting combination, wouldn't you agree?"
He muttered seemingly to the wind as on the roof he stood, there was no one to respond to his question.
"Not really. After all, I've seen Gods get involved with stranger women". A voice sounded within the man's head, causing him to chuckle.
"My son…. Are you mocking me?"
"I have done no such thing. Just stating the obvious. After all, your love life was very.... Intriguing".
"... Touché...".
Watching as Clark and Lois disappeared down a corner, the last gleam of interest in his eyes faded.
"So this kryptonian is the new champion of the mortals. The one they call Superman".
"Yes. He is known as the most powerful being on the planet. And, apparently, the last of his kind". The voice replied.
"Hmm?" That surprised the old man.
"How weird. The kryptonian race have gone into extinction in this universe? While their Gods watched".
"There might be more to this matter than it seems".
"What are the odds". The evening wind blew over him, causing the hood to fall backwards.
A head of long white hair could be seen fluttering with the breeze as a cloud of ash emerged from his body. The regular clothes previously worn disappeared with the dust cloud, and what emerged in its place was an ancient Greek style royal robe. Golden colored armbands made of the Aegis adorned his wrists, and a crown symbolizing his supreme status was placed on his head.
"No matter. There are more important things to be done. Whether he is the last or not, he will serve his due purpose".
There was no enthusiasm to discover the reason behind this. Unless, of course, he planned to seek the Gods of the Rao-Orthodox Pantheon itself.
After disappearance of the Greek Gods for thousands of years, seeking out other Pantheons was not in his to-do list.
That might change if he knew that not just in this universe, but almost all universe in the multiverse, the Kryptonian race was wiped out.
The Gods, Great Demons and all extraordinary deities and beings in general, all lived outside the multiverse itself. It was normal to ignore the daily happenings within the realm of mortals.
It was even more normal if the Kryptonians of this earth didn't worship their Gods like those in others.
At least, this was what he thought.
His blue eyes flashed with glorious lightning. Gone was the scruffy beard and unkempt look he once sported.
Now, he truly revealed the majesty and demeanor of an Ancient God.
"You plan to seize his body? That does not seem fitting for the King Of The Olympian Gods".
Thunder flashed in the dark skies.
The sapphire blue eyes looked at the beautiful city that was Metropolis.
"Fitting has nothing to do with it. Unless, of course, you would prefer to remain in a soul form until another, more suitable vessel can be found".
Zeus uttered with an expressionless face. His eyes couldn't help but wander on the city.
Mankind... How well it has developed in the thousands of years of their absence.
".....". The voice was silent, as if inwardly contemplating his words.
Zeus didn't mind.
A few seconds later, he received his reply.
"Do you plan to take action now?"
The situation was instantly reversed as Zeus began contemplating. Several more seconds passed by in silence, until the Godking made his decision.
"No. Not yet anyway".
"Why?"
"Because as you are aware, I do not yet have the power I once did".
Speaking of this, the eyes of Zeus narrowed to the extreme.
"It has been far too long, Apollo. The time of our reign has long since been buried under the sands of time. During the war with Ares, we lost everything. Our home, our people....". His eyes shone with a cold light.
"Our believers". The son of Zeus, the great sun god Apollo who was reduced to nothing more than a soul fragment, remained silent.
"To the mortals now, we are no longer Gods, but mere footnotes in Man's history. We are irrelevant..... All Gods are irrelevant. Now, they worship their own kind". In the short time since his return, Zeus had gained a proper understanding of the era he was in.
The gods were history. Humans followed, believed and worshiped their own. Athletes, celebrities... And superheroes going around doing good deeds.
Many exalted them as idols. The more powerful ones... Gods even.
"The heroes aren't God's father. Just fools with capes... All but one that is".
"Indeed. But nevertheless, the facts remain the same. I…. Am weakened greatly. Until our strength is restored, further actions are inadvisable".
"Do you plan to restore the place of the Gods among the humans?"
"What? No". The Godking snorted.
"Do not misunderstand my words my son. My weakened power is not because of the humans but due to other reasons".
"Other reasons?"
"Exactly. A thief has stolen a large part of my divine authority. One whom I intend to find. Your proposal is nothing more than a fool's errand. No good can come from interfering with the absurdities of man".
And so, Zeus turned away and began walking on the roof.
"The fall of Olympus was our dark ages. And I'm one hundred percent sure that the other Pantheons must have watched our... Downfall with relish". The once expressionless face contorted for a split second.
This just went to show that even a God needed pride and dignity.
The fact that the Olympian Gods were destroyed in a war against one of their own was embarrassing. Driven to the point of near extinction, slaughtered one after another, he was the famous Godking of Thunder, Zeus once hailed as the all powerful King of Gods was beaten by his own son.
"Ares ….". The Godking resisted the urge to grit his teeth in anger and utter hatred.
Fighting against Ares at his peak, even he was nearly killed. More than anything, he wanted to find that bastard and murder him, destroy his Godhead and throw his corpse into the deepest parts of Tartarus.
But not yet. It wasn't the time to seek retribution on his unfilial son.
The Greek Gods weren't dead. Zeus knew it, Apollo knew it, but the other Pantheons didn't. And for the meantime, Zeus would try as much as possible to keep it that way.
Now, his mind wasn't on the shallow matter of gathering believers but rebuilding the glory of Olympus before the other Pantheons could realize it in time to stop them.
Don't think that Gods, being all powerful were indifferent to everything.
Apart from having a billion times more power than mortals and a long sustainable life, they were essentially human in every other way.
They scrambled for power, fame, authority, believers, territory, sex. Zeus himself was especially promiscuous.
Most times, different Pantheons would wage war against each other for the above listed reasons.
This was of course, until the Great Treaty between Pantheons was signed.
In order to prevent the Gods and deities from destroying the multiverse in endless war, the Lords Of Order who sought peace more than anyone else, all came together to reach an agreement.
The different factions depending on a number of varying reasons shared the entire DC Multiverse between themselves.
In different universes, different realms, different Pantheons would gain complete control over territory and would claim that realm as their own.
The biggest factions could directly occupy an entire universe while the smaller ones would have to share between themselves, constantly fighting in a struggle for power albeit in smaller scales.
The realms of hell, the underworld, and places with similar landscape would be occupied by the demons and entities that drew power from negative sources.
The greater deities already had their own realms and needed not to participate in this division of territory.
The universe with the planet labeled Earth 16 within the multiverse was once the territory of the Olympian Gods. It was also here that they once resisted the invasion of The God Of Tyranny Uxas before the accords were written.
Earth 16 was where Zeus created the Amazons and created his daughter Diana. Nevertheless, the friction between Pantheons wasn't abolished either due to the successful division.
During the destruction of Olympus, Zeus knew that the other Pantheons were happily watching. Watching them destroy themselves and waiting for him to die.
They didn't wait in vain.
The Olympian Gods were brought to ruin under the hands of Ares, and Zeus knew that this universe was no longer under their domain.
If it was discovered by other factions that the Olympians were still alive, the results could and would be disastrous.
After all, no one would like having to spit out the cake already swallowed.
The Olympians would be destroyed before they could reform. And the Lords Of Order would definitely acquiesce to their destruction in the form of ignorance. After all, their return would bring chaos..... Something they didn't want.
All this coming back to the original point, Zeus had no time to waste trying to gather the faith of the people of this earth. It was true that the ideal of each God played an important role in their strength. His was the same.
As the God of the Sky, Thunder and Lightning, even when faith had dwindled rapidly, his strength would remain largely unaffected as long as these three things remained.
Humanity had already gone this far. How long would it take to get them to re-establish their faith in the Gods? Too long and would attract too much attention and resistance.
Now, Zeus was only slightly stronger than this earth's Superman. How would it be possible to fight against the other Godkings if they discovered him?
But now, for some reason, a large portion of his divine authority had been stripped away from him. For the arrogant Godking, this was unacceptable.
Without it, he would never be able to return to peak strength.
So it wasn't pointless to point out that unifying the will of man was a fool's errand.
At least at this moment.... It was.
"So until I once again regain enough power to suppress all opposition, we must not do anything rash". His footsteps came to a halt after patiently explaining.
Apollo was always his favorite son. If not, he wouldn't have gone to great lengths to save his life from Ares, even by storing his soul within his weakened body.
"And to achieve that.....". Zeus's gaze peered I to the far horizon.
"I will need all the help I can get". This was why he intended to use the body of the Kryptonian as a vessel for his son. Kryptonians all carried great potential.
Although such actions might cause a great conflict with the Rao Pantheon once discovered, Zeus had few choices at the moment.
He didn't know the happenings within the circle of Gods, or he would know that the Rao Pantheon wasn't exactly in the best of conditions.
Neither did he know that the Apokoliptan New God who was once injured to the point of near death by his son Ares was now a multiversal Tyrant who was spreading chaos and fear throughout the multiverse and there was little the other pantheons could do to stop it.
"In that case, what do you plan to do now?"
Zeus snorted solemnly.
"Among the heroes of this earth, my daughter, your sister Diana is one of them. We find her alongside the Amazons who have sworn allegiance to us". This was his plan.
As long as he revealed that he was still alive, Hippolyta would definitely do whatever he asked.
"Then, we find the one who stole my power and kill him". He uttered with an indifferent expression and a cold tone.
"Finally..... We gather the other Gods who survived the destruction. Wherever they are now".
Many old Gods had survived the battle with Ares. But with the disappearance and presumed death of the Zeus, they never dared to make their presence known.
There were also other Gods who were sealed on this very planet. His sons and daughters... His wife.
But first, there was something he needed to confirm.
Before his presumed death, The Wizard Shazam stole a portion of his power alongside the powers of other Greek Gods.
According to what he discovered, the Wizard had bestowed those abilities all on a single mortal, naming him the Champion of the Gods.
Zeus was very clear that it was through this portion of his abilities that a larger portion of his divine authority was stolen.
Now, he was going to see this so-called Champion that the wizard had chosen and learn why and how this mortal had stolen his power.
.....
I hope you enjoy the chapter.
How has the FF been so far?
I'm thinking of adding a Justice League versus the Olympians Arc.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Patreon.com/Future805