[indent][b][u]December 25th, 0122 Hours
Mount Olympus[/u][/b][/indent]

The waves of Myrmidons hadn’t ceased once they had cleared the stairs. More had soon arrived, floods of the mindless creatures all raining arcane-fueled firepower down at them. Even after clearing [i]those[/i], they had barely been given a moment’s rest. Cyclopes had soon arrived, carrying with them the same magitech as the ant-men.

These were no mindless brutes, however, and used their superior strength to wield a much larger, much more powerful arsenal of weaponry.

“Man is a blight!” one roared, unleashed a small storm of arcane missiles that detonated on impact in an orchid ball of fire, the force behind the explosion dwarfing any conventional human weaponry by a great deal.

“Gaia must be purged!” Another declared, firing what Karen could only describe as a magitech autocannon from above his hip.

She was on the defensive, once again unsure how to fight these clearly sapient creatures with her unfamiliar powers. She had been clipped a couple of times, and it [i]had[/i] hurt...she wasn’t nearly as invulnerable as was normal for her. 

[color=maroon][i]’Well, that’s not good.’[/i][/color] Ted deadpanned internally at the sight of the new and improved welcoming committee and their new toys. [color=maroon][i]’Couldn’t just come at us, screaming, with clubs and axes like the [b]good ol’ days,[/b] could ya?’[/i][/color]

Yes, even in his own mind, Ted somehow found a way to make light of their current predicament... but that didn’t mean they weren’t in trouble.

...Well, not him and Laz, mind you. They were [i]Titans[/i], not exactly the easiest things in the universe to kill, never mind make [i]stay dead...[/i] [i]Karen,[/i] however, was a still very much a squishy little mortal underneath all that magic armour and was slightly more prone to becoming hamburger meat under concentrated fire.

Which was kind of a bad thing, considering that pretty well [i]all[/i] of them had just decided to level their shiny toys at her.

The sight brought him pause for a moment, before a low growl escaped his throat and the flesh on his arms returned to their glowing ember state he’d shown on the stairs earlier.

[color=maroon]”Charon’s Jokes, this was a lot easier back when I just [i]fried the bad guys and went home...[/i]”[/color] He grumbled under his breath before launching himself between the girl wearing his gear and the One-eyed Monsters and their big guns. Calling out to her in his usual casually grumpy tone [color=maroon]”Okay, Kid. [i]Listen up.[/i]”[/color]

Rushing forward and ducking under a barrage of missiles, the scarred old man bore right down on his first victim, getting right into melee range and reeling his fist back… before just anti-climatically tapping the magic weapon with his knuckles and skidding between the giant’s legs before he could swing at him.

[color=maroon]”They’re holding [i]big metal guns[/i] and you control [i]fire and heat[/i].”[/color]

It took a few long, comical seconds of confused silence for the Cyclops to register what just happened and why. Before it began screaming in pain and juggling it’s red-hot weapon around like some sort of cartoon character, before throwing it off in a panic and in the process smacking his brother in the face with the damned thing, who also began to scream.

 [color=maroon]”They’re also awkward, clumsy [i]and prone to doing dumb shit when they panic.[/i] Think you can work with that?”[/color]

Karen honestly felt rather dumb for not thinking of it at first. She was used to being a lot more quick-witted than this while fighting...was it because she didn’t have the Intellect of Mnemosyne right now?

[color=orchid]”R-right! Thanks,”[/color] she called back, now having a moment breath thanks to the Cyclopes being distracted by his attack.

Taking a page from the one who had given her this power, she leveled her palms at the sizable weaponry carried by their opponents. Blue flames burst from her hands to engulf them, and sure enough the Cyclopes carrying them began howling in pain and throwing them aside. Not that they would’ve been of any use: her mystical flames had partially melted them almost on contact.

The three of them had by this point ascended through multiple levels of the great golden city, powering their way through endless scores of every sort of mythological creature: cyclops, centaurs, harpies, minotaurs, even a kraken that guarded the lake that sat just below the palace of Zeus.

Karen was, in all honesty, beginning to feel exhausted, beads of sweat trailing down to her brows. Her stamina had certainly been enhanced by the armor Ted had given her, but it wasn’t limitless. While she wouldn’t be giving up, there was little doubt in her mind that her usefulness as a fighter would soon reach its end.

The battle to breach the palace and then the throne room was a whole new level of brutal. Tight corridors, close quarters combat, and the most elite warriors they had yet to face. Most terrifyingly, Gorgons now joined the ranks of the creatures they now faced, a fact that had nearly resulted in her death via petrification.

[color=orchid]”Nngh…”[/color] Karen averted her gaze from the snake women before, an action that was immediately exploited by a towering minotaur. Slamming its oversized axe into his torso, it bit into her armor and knocked the breath from her lungs. Flying back into the golden wall of the staircase they were fighting on, her impact left a heavy indention as she fell back to the ground.

[color=maroon]”Shit.”[/color] Ted hissed, wincing slightly as Karen slammed into the wall behind him- [i]That didn’t look fun[/i] [color=maroon]”...Laz?”[/color]

[color=silver]”I got this.”[/color] The older Titan snarled, eying the reflections of the Gorgons on the polished gold of the wall and bringing has hands back and then forward in another of his signature sonic claps, made all the more effective by the tight spaces of the stairwell. [color=silver]”Go check on yer kid.”[/color]

If the apron-clad Titan was expecting the same brand of grumpy retort for that statement he’d been receiving from his brother since they arrived here, he never got it; as Ted wordless closed the distance to Karen’s still stunned frame, gripping her shoulder and easing her into a sitting position.

[color=maroon]”How ya holding up, Kiddo?”[/color] The scarred deity asked, a note of concern in his voice… before he looked away for a moment to deliver a thundering jab straight to the dangly bits of a Minotaur who’d been sneaking it’s way [i]up[/i] the stairs behind them, axe at the ready with all of his Titanic strength, sending it half wheezing, half screaming and fully airborne back the way it came [color=maroon]”Still with us?”[/color]

Karen was dazed, her head ringing after the impact with the wall. Still, she was just able to make out the sound of Ted’s voice, giving him an ambiguous groan. Forcing her eyes open, she slowly staggered to her feet - though not without using the old man for support. They couldn’t be far from the throne room now. The big guy’s thunderclap had also cleared the stairs before them for the most part, too.

Placing a hand to the wall as they ascended the remaining steps, it took only a few minutes of climbing before they finally stood before a pair of large double doors. Before any of them could even think of knocking them down, they began to smoothly slide open.

Before them now was the resplendent throne room of the King of Olympus, every bit as opulent and brilliant as the city it ruled over. But it was no King that sat upon its throne.

“My, my,” the dark haired woman on the throne exclaimed, her black wings fluttering. She wore a golden diadem and a suit of flawlessly crafted armor of the same color. “If it isn’t the Firebringer and the Skybearer, and the little Wizard as well. I must confess, I never considered that not one, but two of the Titans would decide to stand against their brethren for the sake of the Gods who so abused them. Just what, exactly, are you thinking?”

[i]That[/i] gave Ted pause, a sharp sound escaping the scarred man’s lips with the force and disdain of the ugliest curse imaginable;

[color=maroon][b]”Eris.”[/b][/color]

Of all the deities and divine lunatics who could’ve been sitting on that throne causing all this madness, [i]it just had to be [b]her.[/b][/i] 

Giving the room a quick once-over for any sign of her husband and clenching and unclenching his fist once in thought, the now-identified ‘Firebringer’ stepped forward, sparing his brother a quick glance as he did so.

[color=maroon]”What I’m thinking? Frankly, I’m not entirely sure whether I should be surprised or disappointed.”[/color] He began, his voice calm, even as he studied the Goddess of Discord on her stolen throne. [color=maroon]”You honestly thought I’d just sit on my hands while you wipe out the [i]entire human race?[/i] C’mon Eri, you [i]know who I am.[/i] And you [i]know better than that…[/i]”[/color]

Sticking his hands in the pockets of his flannel jacket, the Titan spared one more glance around the room.

[color=maroon]”So… where’s the pretty boy?”[/color]

“Doing something even [i]he[/i] should be incapable of failing at,” Eris replied, resting her face on her knuckles. “He’s guarding the very much [i]incapacitated[/i] forms of the old Pantheon. They’re just over there, through the doors.”

She lazily gestured to her left, at the large chamber in the distance, the golden doors shut tightly.

“Your little friend there,” she glanced to Karen, “is welcome to try and free them...not that she would stand a chance against my husband as she is, pathetic though he may be.”

Her black lips then curled slightly into a smile. “As for you two, however...you’re both going to stay right here with me. We have a lot of [i]catching up[/i] to do...”