PROLOGUE

-The Arrival Of Cod-

"Who could defeat the God Of War!?" cried a spartan warrior from afar, gathered amongst his brethren as Roman soldiers rallied upon them.

"Kratos has been toppled!" said the voice of another spartan, engaged in a melee with a shield-bearing Roman.

Indeed, the God Of War and Bloodshed had been conquered. As he had stood triumphantly, boasting his victory over the ruined Colossus Of Rhodes, brought to life by the godly power torn from his body like smoke into the night sky, the Fates had ousted him of his victory and sprung an impassable surprise upon the wearied God as he was flattened by the crumbling statue. As he rose, the Blade of Olympus and all of his remaining power had been, too, torn from him and stabbed into the shambled marble. Kratos dismally watched on as a silver-feathered bird of Olympus landed courtly next to the sword, bathing itself in lightning as it began a transformation...

"Zeus!" Kratos spat, blood following his words.

"Yes, I am forced to attend to this matter myself. Athena refused to undo her mistake....imagine caring for a creature such as yourself..." the Chief of All The Deathless Gods, the Master of Thunder and Bolt, Zeus himself spoke earnestly to Kratos.

"But why...why would you betray me?" the extinguished God of War was too fatigued to summon any anger or fury at this turn of events, only confusion and curiosity beamed through him. It was hard to tell through the cuts and bruises, but it seemed to even change the pigment of his ghostly skin for a moment as Zeus brought the sword's edge to his chest proudly.

"It is YOU who would betray me." he thundered, voice quickly rising, "Am I too sit idly by while Olympus is THREATENED? Your hands are ALREADY stained with the blood of a God...I will not let Ares fate be my own..."

Kratos sneered at this. The deathless, or formerly deathless Gods were just as conniving and untrustworthy as ever, never wanting to accept blame and cowering like children whenever they were challenged. It was the same way it had been since he slayed Persephone and bound Atlas, the same way since he'd defeated monsters like the Basilisk and the Hydra. If he could have afforded it, he would have laughed at the Thunder God right there and then, but settled for a doting insult, "The Gods are petty and pathetic, and your rule is weak."

Zeus's expression blazed with extreme rage and irritation, he retorted loudly at first, and then in a quiet, snake-like tongue, "I grow tired of this insolence! I am the King Of Olympus. And it is my way that is the way of the gods....you must vow to forever SERVE me..."

Zeus flung the godly, silver-shimmering blade's glowing edge to the Spartan's chest threateningly, this action would have brought any mortal man to his knees in fear of the God's power but Kratos, no, he merely stood there, scanning down the forte to the fuller of the sword as a white flash traced its broad movement.

"I serve...NO ONE..." barked Kratos, squashing the Olympian blade with his hand. His fingers mashed against its sizzling blue steel, the electricity vibrating off the fuller ran through and burnt his hand as he shoved it downward in defiance, aggravating the King Of Gods. Finally pressed of his tolerance, Zeus made a powerful breath and stomped forward, the exhale forced a great gale of wind at the Spartan as he hefted his bloodied arms left and right.

Zeus stormed further, bringing the Blade Of Olympus up and speaking prevalently, "..rrr...Then you leave me no choice!"

Without warning, the sky clapped and the clouds parted, letting in a heavenly ray of light that seemed just above Mount Olympus. The thunder god was bewildered by this act, for nor he, who had not willed the clouds or the storm to separate, or any other god, for only Helios was able, had not sensed any scent of an Olympian or demigod at play.

Actually, as he sniffed, there was some form of demon trickery here, but he could not yell what it was exactly. It had the reek of freshwater fish recently strung in a merchant stand, about to be cooked in a pot or on a pan, but somehow, it was different. No, this fish was one of War, one of combat. It had the stench of blood, as would be expected of a dead animal of any sort, but this fish stood up, it stood proudly and ripped itself from its containment. Crimson fishooks were carefully tied around its black arms and wrists, wielded professionally as the fish descended from the clouds and mentally quieted the rays of light behind him. With little effort, Zeus controlled the skies to resume the prominent storm, the element that would give him utmost confidence to face this new threat belligerently.

As the fish, that could be identified as a cod from a close look, descended next to Zeus, Kratos spied the fishhooks dangerously. They, like the fish warrior's spirit, were drenched in blood and a history of agony.

It was then that Zeus finally realized what this frighteningly animalistic creature was, "...The Cod Of War."

Kratos just stared thoughtlessly, without a response to the appearance of such a legendary creature.

And Zeus joined him.

The Cod Of War, an amphibious demigod with the ability to slaughter immortals with his sacred fishhooks, had an immaculate appearance, to vague to be described through the Greek language. His raised, preposterous lips and eyes straightened first at Kratos, a very disturbing scene in deed, and then at Zeus, with fury running down his spine. He leveled his fishhooks, and then chucked them at Zeus. The God was caught by surprise, the fishhook's clever design reached deep inside the Olympian blade's ridges and wrestled it out of his hands, tugging him forward and even moshing him to the ground.

The Cod released its fishhooks, which were appropriately attached and left to dangle by his wrists, and snatched the Blade of Olympus, which was searing hot blue with Kratos's godly power and was strong enough to eradicate the Gods themselves, for himself.

"Kratos, you are free to go about your business. I'm going to kill this bastard and save the world."

"Who...are you?" Kratos asked, drained.

"I am the Cod Of War. I am you, but from another world, and I now possess the strength to kill Zeus and end the treachery of all Olympians."

"Not while I still draw air!" Zeus howled, buckling his fist with electricity and dashing out of his crouch and at the Cod Of War. The fish warrior braced himself with the blade at his chest before Zeus stuck a powerful blow to his mid-section, the electricity exploded and launched him into the air along with Zeus who attempted to steal the blade back.

But Cod would not relinquish it so easily, he furrowed and twisted and kicked and shook as the two flipped round and round through Zeus's homemade thunder storm, with Kratos watching onward from below. They disappeared over a mountain, a very VERY tall mountain with the ruins of a temple dedicated to Hermes, where Cod wielded the sword with one hand and with the other punched Zeus. While the God was stunned, he made a horizontal slash that blew through Zeus's stomach and exposed a gushing of fresh blood. But he was tough, and as soon as Cod could see the blood splatter the wound itself had healed instantaneously as though the blade had never struck there.

Freed from Zeus's grasp, Cod barrel rolled and back flipped off of a pillar. A mysterious applause cheered him, but he ignored it as Zeus suddenly rose from the turmoil of grayish-charcoal storm clouds below fifty times larger than he was previously, his hand shadowed over the Cod Of War like a tree on a hot summer's day. Zeus spouted off a bunch of threatening remarks but Cod held his ground, stomping his toes against the salty earth and knuckling under for the next attack. A group of Sirens appeared from a black mist off the ground.

Meanwhile, back where reality actually had some standing, Kratos furiously struggled to contemplate the events that had just transpired. A talking, breathing mythical fish man from another plane had spontaneously upper handed Zeus and stolen the Blade of Olympus, which inconveniently also carried all of Kratos's magical power, his physical strength, and his amassed godly power. All taken from him and heavily battered and bruised, Kratos was virtually powerless as his Spartan brethren watched on, their precious god now reduced to a poor, pathetic, shaking bald man with a severe anger problem.

"Zeus, I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER. I AM THE C..GOD OF WAR!!!" he screamed.

Elsewhere, Cod and Zeus were still fighting. All of the Sirens lay dead with their throats slashed or their stomaches gouged and a shallow wind flustered over them, a result of the excellent slices created by the Blade Of Olympus each time Cod struck. He pivoted nimbly and managed to pervade enough attacks for the God to become disoriented, making perfect room for a slash. Zeus feinted, snatching Cod and throwing him from the Blade Of Olympus with every last ounce of his godly strength. They tusseled, and tumbled as the blade slid clean from them both.

Cod hooked Zeus in the chin, pushing the God back far enough for the fishhooks to become immediately deadly. He launched them fiercely and dug into Zeus's shoulders, releasing a gasp of pain as Cod yanked himself inward towards him. His fishy ankles pounced on Zeus's nostrils and his fishy smell bewildered him, giving Cod the opportunity to brutally bash him with his wrists, blowing off chunks of statically-charged blood with every strike. Zeus still proved stronger, and ripped the fishhooks from his shoulders and hoistered the Cod's heel.

"Your Achilles will be your downfall-"

"You mean YOUR downfall!" Cod screamed, slamming down on Zeus's face once more and leaping away. Zeus was obviously crippled, and rested on one knee while he furiously scrubbed his fish-scratched face clean of the wound.

The Blade...Of Olympus...was visible above them, lodged in a member of the Clouds as it was carried away by the nigh invisible Hermes. The Cod of War did not wait for the event to progress and, with a righted grunt, vaulted into the air and onto a pillar for added distance. A fishhook flew at the wind God, only to miss by inches and then catch him off-guard as it doubled back, slashing the God's right wing, mounted aside his temples, into a ribbon of white feathers. He screeched with agony, but did not drop the sword, as Cod gazed in despair as he plummeted from the humoungous height and stared into Zeus's forebodingly blinded face, as Hermes fluttered away into his storm.

Kratos was lost at this point.

He had just lost his godly privileges: the divine nymphs that he gravely fondled each night, the industrial-grade armory he honed to peak perfection over the past years, his shiny, golden serrated swords Athena bestowed to him, and most importantly, the view of his daughter high above Olympus down to the Elysian Fields, and to the River Styx where his beloved wife floated eternally. He'd lost everything important to him.

Which now included the respect of his Spartan brothers...and the Roman victims they splayed. All of Rome, even in shambles, was laughing at him, the near dead former God Of War, tricked by Zeus (Venus) himself.

"DIE GHOST OF SPAR-TAAA!!!"

A Roman soldier wielding a gladius had snuck up on him, but just as he cried out his battle shriek a flaming comet descended from the heavens. A white-hot hook shot out of its surface, bellowing equally bizarre fire from it as the comet dissipated. It smashed into the ground and on top of the soldier, dispersing into an array of dust and gravel as Kratos shielded himself weakly. As the blast smoke cleared, Kratos was on the ground and limping, his right arm and shoulder smothered in his own blood...or was it the dead Roman's?

Anyways, Cod got up from his crouch and dusted himself off. The fish suit the alternate Kratos wore had negated the extreme flames, but had disintegrated in doing so and only shreds of the black fabric for the leg and torso sheathing remained. Cod removed the torso and arm regions, his legs were bared and the only thing that remained of his fish costume was a kilt-like tunic in a fashion similar to Kratos's own, but painted completely black, abstracting from his legs and matching his fishhooks. As he helped Kratos up, it was obvious the two were practically twins.

"Where did you come from?"

"I am from a world like this one, only that you did not fall to Zeus this day. No, the Titan mother, Gaia, rescued you...me...us at the last moment, but fell at Zeus's hands and was banished to the Underworld. I traveled to the Sisters of Fate for vengeance, but before I could overpower them I was sent to this place, right before the battle. I was too late to stop the Colossus, but we can still defeat Zeus."

"And how do you plan to do that? Your powers have no place in this realm, and Zeus and his petty brethren will throw everything at us. We'll need more than an abomination and a bewitched Spartan to defeat them...."

A flaming stead descended right next to them, willed there mentally by Kratos. Cod helped Kratos up and then sat behind him, fishhooks rested upon his shoulders similar to the Blades of Athena.

"We require the aid of a much greater power, something even the Gods can't comprehend." Cod explained.

"And what is that?"