They had cleaned out the the fallen heroes in the ring, and now the three of them were all that was left. Mythos and Dynabane were facing each other, death in their eyes. Steelia walked slowly up to them and they both turned to face her, pity in their eyes. Clearly they didn’t believe a woman was capable of standing up to them, clearly they didn’t think anything of her, standing there against them… Steelia was scared out of her mind. She thought maybe she didn’t belong there, maybe she should give up. If she kneeled down now, and kept her rank 3, it was likely one of these two would pass their exit exam, and she could make her way up to number 1 that way. But she knew if she won that way, she would never win in the exit exam. She was scared. Sure. She was terrified out of her mind. But in the back of her mind, she thought of Adrian. I hate him, but he’s putting his all into winning… so I will too! If he gets first and I don’t… he’ll kill me. 

Steelia noticed the new weapon rack they had carted in, for the heroes to use. Unlike the villain side, the hero arena was always a chaotic free-for-all where everyone fought to the death. When the dust cleared on the last three, the rules changed. It was still a battle royale, but they upped the stakes, providing weapons for the heroes who wanted them. Steelia knew that no one there would use the weapons, but perhaps she could use the cart… 

“Mythos…” Dynabane crossed his arms, staring at the mortal god. “I hope you’ve prayed to your gods about today’s match… maybe they’ll be merciful to you, and only allow me to break a couple of your bones today.” His self-righteous smirk was enough to make Steelia nauseous. 

“Dynabane, I have prayed to the god that lives within me, and he tells me that a blasphemer such as yourself cannot stand. The weight of your own sins will bring you down.” Mythos strummed a delicate tune on his harp, closing his beautiful eyes and tilting his head gracefully. “If you truly believe that the god will not be kind to me, and allow me victory after such a painful defeat at your hands last, then you’re sorely mistaken. My god will not allow me to fail. My justice is divine.” 

“Justice lies not with gods. It lies with the people. My justice is tangible, it is absolute!” Dynabane clenched his fists. “It is what has allowed me to take and hold my number one rank for this long. My justice is the only real justice. Gods have nothing to do with it… You are a fool for believing that a god would care anything about justice.”

The reality hit Steelia hard all over again. They don’t even realize I’m standing here. I’m not even a shred of a threat to them. They’re completely unacknowledging my existence… She stared blankly at the two, trying to figure out what to do. The match had yet to start, but Steelia was already getting furious at the two of them. She looked over at the cart, walking over to it and selecting a weapon. 

“Your justice is nothing more than an overbearing sense of self-holiness!” Mythos said, clearly being riled up by the other hero’s words. “Your justice is nothing! Your justice is insignificant! I am holy! I am the receptacle for a GOD! How can you think you stand a chance against me!?” He grew more angry by the moment. The two of them suddenly leapt backwards as a sword flew through the air between them, sticking in the wall. In unison they both turned on Steelia, and she panicked, but stood strong. 

“I’m in this match as well!” she said, narrowing her eyes at them. “You may not want to acknowledge me… but you WILL acknowledge me. I WILL defeat you today! BOTH OF YOU! I will take my worthy place as number one of the senior class… I have worked too hard, and too long, to stand here and be ignored.” Steelia yelled, staring the both of them in the face. “You may act like I’m not here… you might pretend I’m not a threat… but I am certainly a threat to you.”

Both Mythos and Dynabane looked at each other, and Steelia got the feeling that they were more rival like than they probably were with their own villains. They turned to look back at her. Mythos was the one to speak up first, the one to pity her first. “Of course…” Mythos said, his voice sweet as honey. “Of course you’re in this match as well… You’re certainly strong, or you wouldn’t have made it this far…” he said, a lovely smile gracing his features. 

“But you’re a damn idiot to think you’d ever come close to challenging us.” Dynabane finished his statement for him. “Hard work can only get you so far… it will never come close to natural talent. Mythos and I, you see, were born to succeed. We were born to excel and be good at what we do. We were born to win, and get our own universes. Hard work cannot give you a destiny. Hard work cannot give you a future. The best future you can look forward to…” 

“Is losing your powers and living out a quiet life with an ugly husband, too many kids, and an overwhelming amount of debt.” Mythos smiled, politely. “And even a future like that is probably… too good for someone like you.” 

Mythos and Dynabane’s words felt like a knife piercing Steelia’s heart. Haven’t I done well? Haven’t I worked hard?... Haven’t my efforts proven that… that I can do something, when I try my hardest? Tears, against her will, pooled up in her eyes. Taking pride in your efforts is a waste, isn’t it?... results are what matter… Th-think of… I have to turn this into rage. God, they said that in the most… the most painful way! Adrian would have said it in a way that would piss me off… Okay. Let’s… see… She closed her eyes tight in thought. … * You’ll never catch up to me at this rate. Quit hiding and fight! * would be something like it… argh why am I doing this like he’s an encouraging, kind person! Then it would be something to really piss me off like… Agh I have no idea what he’d think! but I know what I think and I’m really going to tear these guys DOWN! She opened her eyes. “I swear, on my life, right here in this arena… that I’ll beat you, or I’ll die fighting.” Steelia said, staring at them. “I will not lose. I will not let Adrian mock me.”

The announcer called the start of the match, and both Dynabane and Mythos gave each other a smile before turning on her. Mythos brought his hand down on his harp, and a super screech filled the air, and Steelia narrowly dodged. The concrete wall of the arena cracked and split under the aggressive force and vibration from his attack. Steelia found herself thanking her own gods for not being hit by that attack. Dynabane shot his laser eyes at her, and Steelia continued running. Sh-shit! Oh god, I’m such an idiot! Now I’ve pissed them off! She made it over to the weapons rack, picking it up easily. She managed to use it as a shield to stop another blast from Mythos’ harp, the metal crushing like a tin can, before she flung it, flat side out. Mythos wasn’t expecting it, and it hit him full force across his chest, sending him flying across the arena. 

Dynabane laughed at his temporary ally’s situation, not paying attention to Steelia. She leapt up, grabbing him around the neck, twisting backwards to send him over her head before she slammed him into the ground. Still maintaining her grip on him, she picked him up and spun him, sending him flying. While she was doing that, and not paying attention, she saw Mythos’ blast coming straight at her and she froze. The shockwave slammed into her like an automobile, sending her skidding backwards. Luckily the earplugs she’d put in earlier kept her eardrums from shattering, but she could tell they were definitely ruptured. She could tell she was going to have bruises all over her whole body. She took off running, not intending to be hit again. 

Dynabane got to his feet slowly. “Huh. Mythos, she might not be too pathetic this time,” he grinned at his temporarily ally. “Let’s kill her.” The words, so casual and offhanded, dropped like a bomb. Mythos gave him a cheerful smile, nodding his head. “Mm. The god in me agrees… this woman, for her sins against god, will be put to death.”

Steelia couldn’t understand what they said, but she knew enough to be scared.

Steelia ran around the edge of the arena, trying to think what to do. She narrowly avoided Dynabane’s laser eyes again, before a lightbulb went on over her head. She knew exactly what to do, but how to do it? Mythos and Dynabane stood in the center of the arena, to give them the most advantage, standing hardly three feet apart from each other. 

Steelia could see the crowd screaming and going wild up in the stands. What alarmed her was that she couldn’t hear them. She could feel the fear and confusion and hesitation slip away from her. If Steelia couldn’t hear their despondant remarks… then she couldn’t fear them. She flipped over the cart, running. The next time she looked, the cart was destroyed, blasted to pieces. There’s got to be something I can do. I can’t lose here. I’ve got to separate them! I know how to take them out but I just have to get an opening. 

The perfect hero duo stood smirking dead center in the middle of the arena, their judgemental eyes piercing Steelia. She looked at Mythos, his long flowing blonde hair, and those cold, dead blue eyes. His long robes flowing down, stopping just short of the ground, his deadly harp clutched in long slender fingers. “... HEY, MYTHOS!” Steelia screamed across the stadium, standing dead still. “MAYBE IF YOU’D QUIT PLAYING BOTTOM BITCH FOR DYNABANE, YOU’D BE NUMBER ONE!” 

She couldn’t hear anything they said, but the looks on their face were stunned and then aggressively, insanely, angry. It was the kind of angry that sent freezing chills down her back. “IT’S BAD FORM TO FUCK YOUR COMPETITION!” she screamed again. Mythos, without another thought, rushed at her. Dynabane grabbed him, pulling him back, saying something to him, his face serious and angry. Mythos slapped his hand away, yelling something. He brought his hand down on his harpstrings and the sound barreled out of it, sending Dynabane flying, Mythos clearly enraged over what had happened. 

He rushed towards Steelia and she ran at him, placing her foot on his harp, and flipping over him. She ran over to the stunned Dynabane, sensing it was her chance. She grabbed him up, beginning to spin rapidly, throwing him as far as she could, and as high as she could. He went flying over the edge of the arena, and collapsed in the spectator stands, sending heroes scurrying everywhere. 

The announcer announced something, as Mythos froze, stupidly staring outside the arena. Steelia assumed, correctly, that the announcer was declaring that Dynabane had been disqualified for leaving the arena, and now Mythos was number one, moving Steelia up to the number two position. 

Steelia noticed Mythos beginning to laugh, and it seemed almost frantic, a wildly amused laugh, a wicked, evil grin spreading across his face. He brought his harp down on his knee, cracking it in half, dropping the pieces to the floor, his eyes fixed intently on her, clearly accepting her challenge, planning on returning it fully. His twisted grin made Steelia nauseous, and she wondered if he was truly possessed by a god. She couldn’t imagine any god looking that sick, looking that evil and twisted. 

In any rate, Steelia could tell that now that he had the number one position, he wouldn’t be letting it go without a fight. Steelia had never seen Mythos fight without his harp, but she knew she was deeply scared.

Mythos lowered his hands to his sides, beginning to chant, the rhythm of his words rising and falling softly, filling the arena with the holy echo which bounced off the walls. He began to float, his blonde hair floating and swirling in the directionless wind, his eyes closed in holy prayer. Something seemed to swirl at his hands, an invisible film, distorting the area around it like steam off a hot pavement. It grew larger and Steelia watched in stupid awe as these orbs formed along the sides of him. Wings, pristine white, and nearly 8 feet across emerged from his back, Mythos deciding to give all he had for this battle, deciding he would be the one to destroy her. 

Steelia stared at him, politely, yet stupidly, letting him finish his transformation out of a sense of wonder and awe. She realized rather quickly that she had no idea what she was doing. She had no idea how she could defeat Mythos, but she intended to try. Clearly he viewed her as a threat now, otherwise he wouldn t have transformed. He had never gone to this level to win before. Mythos opened his eyes and looked at her, seeming to say something in a grave tone. I have no idea what he s saying to me. Steelia stared at her. Probably something demeaning. You can suck it, Mythos! I hope you like second place, because you re staying there! 

Mythos looked startled, and Steelia wondered if maybe he hadn t said something that wasn t rude or hateful. She honestly had no idea what he d said, whether it was kind, unkind, rude, or otherwise. Either way he was visibly startled by her abrasive response. It was that or he was confused because what she d said didn t make sense with what he d said. Looks like you re fated to be a second rate loser forever! she yelled, deciding she didn t really care what he d said. 

That pissed him off. His face, which had been wide-eyed and confused, hardened into anger. He said something else and tilted his head back. The orbs began flying around erratically, and Steelia ran at him. Mythos swung his hands toward her and the orbs shot at her, three of them connecting with her skin. The moment they made contact with her skin, they exploded, causing her to stiffen and cry out in agony. SHIT! That
that really hurts! she staggered, the orbs causing solid bruises and black char marks on her skin from where they burned. Was he trying to tell me what these things did? Aghh, no! I can keep going. A couple of explosions isn t going to stop me! Steelia noticed a weapon lying to her left and she dived for it, tossing it up in the air. She kicked it, sending it flying in Mythos direction. He covered his forehead with his arm, before one of the orbs flew in the path of the sword, exploding and knocking the sword off course. Mythos lowered his arm and started aiming the orbs at her again, intending to kill her. 

Steelia began running around the arena, not sure what to do. She frantically dodged orbs, but one clipped her back and exploded. She screamed in pain before shaking it off and continuing to run, feeling trapped like a fish in a barrel. With a stick of dynamite. I can t even get CLOSE to him! She ran at him, dropping low and avoiding the orbs, rushing towards him. Mythos brought his hands together and all the orbs converged on her, exploding all around her, all over her. Steelia s high pitched scream was heard across the entire stadium and she took a step back, staggering against the agony that was nothing like she d ever felt. Blood ran down her arms and off her forehead as she backed away from him. 

Mythos was laughing. He held his hand out to her, saying something, probably something demeaning. Steelia was woozy from the pain, but she looked to her left, noticing a morningstar lying in the dirt. She reached for it, slowly. It s over there s no way I can win. Even as durable as I am, these things are still doing this kind of damage
If he had used this on anyone else, they would have been dead. Even my power being what it is, I m probably going to die. Because I refuse to give up... Dizzily, her fingers wrapped around the handle of the weapon, lifting it up, nearly falling over onto it. She pointed it towards him, staring at him. The smell of her own charred flesh, a acrid combination of coal and barbeque, filled her nose. 

That s a hell of a last smell. And that speech Mythos gave that was a hell of a last noise. Mythos had his eyes closed, looking away from her, deep in the middle of some kind of dramatic lecture, smiling and laughing as he talked. Steelia attempted to read his lips. What is he saying? Let s see...* I m a pathetic excuse for a hero but you should know I m good at sucking dick! * As Mythos paused, he gave her a bright smile, and a nod, gesturing at the crowd. In spite of the pain, a small smile twitched across Steelia s features and she burst into laughter, holding her stomach in one hand, and the morning star in the other. She nearly fell over, laughing so hard. [I] In terms of last thoughts that's the best one I think I could have. [/i] Mythos looked startled again, not understanding what she found so funny. [I] Seriously though
I don t know how much longer I can go on. Those little orbs really tore me up... [/i] Mythos stomped his foot, saying more angry words she couldn t hear.