Chapter 2

Brunhilde, Goll and Fionn would sit quietly, A sort of tense aura in the air around them. As Brunhilde looked through her options.
Goll looked between the two as they sat silently. Before getting huffy and voicing what was on her mind.

"Weren't you supposed to show me your capabilities or whatever?!" She asked, her voice pouty and full of anxiety.*What's the point of mulling around and doing nothing like this?"

"Goll, i understand your feelings but there's a process to things" Brunhilde spoke, making the younger valkyrie pipe down.

"I see" Fionn spoke out of nowhere,and then to the absolute befuddlement of Goll, He began to….
Suck his thumb?
And oh gods did he go at it too, It was almost like how she was with hard candies, the noises he made were loud and wet as he slurbed away at his own appendage…

How the hell was this supposed to help them?!

Brunhilde chuckled at her sister's Confusion.
"It's all part of the process, Dear sister." Brunhilde spoke. Earning her a confused look from the youngest sibling.
"What does a grown man sucking his thumb like a weirdo have to do with a fight for humanity's survival?"
Brunhilde smiled as she looked at the man.
"Allow me to explain"

—-700 BC: Ireland—-

A long time ago, Before the Romans had built their empire, There was a young man, Born to the great mercenary: Cumhaill, Who was slain by his rival

One day, That man's son Demne, who would one day be known as Fionn, Or 'the fair haired' Would come upon the bard, Finnegas, Angling at a riverside, Approaching the man in the kind of curiosity only boredom could bring, He would make himself known.

"Hey! You! What's your business in these parts? I never seen ya before!" The boy shouted with the rashness of a warrior, Despite his small stature. And as such, garnered the Bard's attention
"It is rather rude of you to be asking questions, Boiy, Especially without introducing yourself first." Spoke the poet Dismissing the child.
"Alriught, My name is Demne MacCumhaill!" The name certainly did ring a bell for the older man.

"Ah… That warrior who led the sacred band of the tuatha, How fascinating… IF you must know, I have been tracking a certain fish for some time. Said to hold all the knowledge and wisdom the gods have to offer. "
Fionn's interest was piqued. A fish that was as smart and wise as the gods?
Certainly he had to know more!

But , no sooner than when he decided to make his interrogation against the old bard , The line was taught. Seeing the man struggling greatly with the fishing pole, Young Demne helped the man to pull with all his might, And thus, A great golden salmon was pulled ashore.
The bard looked in awe at the great golden fish
"There is no doubt! This must be it! The salmon of the gods' wisdom!" The boy looked at the man as he ran with the golden fish , and as such followed.

By the time he had arrived at the man's camp the fish was skewered and roasting over a great bonfire. And Demne would see the man looking about for something.
"Nonono! A meal like this ought to be paired with the right things…. " Upon hearing this, The child would step forward.
"Ah! I believe I saw some wild root vegetables over to the east by about an hour or so. "
Finnegus would turn to the boy, Looking grateful for the information.
"Thank you! I will go to find the perfect vegetables for this meal of mine! If you could tend to the fish until my return I will owe you a great deal!" He spoke as Demne chuckled at his rather simple achievement being rewarded so greatly. "But… Whatever you do, do not eat that salmon."
"Sure thing, gramps! I'll see ya when ya get back" Said the boy, ready to diligently watch the fish. As tasty as the fish looked, It was the old timer who caught it,m And thus, Young Demne diligently tended to the salmon of god's knowledge. Eventually however, The grease had popped, And splashed against the thumb of Fionn.

As he went to suck the burning grease off his thumb, The whole universe made itself clear before his eyes, Every bit of knowledge mankind had at it's disposal, Every innovation that has ever been, Every tactic ever used. All of it was made clear to him..

And furthermore, He could see clearly, the emotions of the trees and animals in the forests, And knew all that the gods in the heavens knew.

For you see, When that grease splashed upon Demne's thumb, the scar it left was imbued with the Essense of the gods' wisdom

—-Present—-

"I see, So whenever he sucks his thumbs he becomes more or less omniscient?" Asked Goll "S-so! There's no way we can lose right? A person who knows everything has to give us a surefire victory!"

"The future isn't set in stone, Goll. He knows everything past and present., But the future isn't something he can know for certain."
"But then what's the po-"

"The future isn't set in stone, But its foundation is built upon what's happened from the current moment, and everything that's happened before, So while he's no great prophet like Nostradamus, He can use his knowledge to set the stage for our victory." Brunhilde said confidently.
"I see." Goll said, Suddenly far less sure about this whole ordeal.

After that story and the short conversation following, they would hear a pop,
The pair would look at Fionn expectantly.

His face was like cold, hard stone. He glared at them. As he slowly opened his mouth to speak.
"Brunhilde… You want the best possible outcome, For you and your sisters.,right? Not to mention the rest of the human race…"
The woman would nod. "Anything i need to give for the sake of that goal, i'll do it in a heartbeat…"
Fionn would take a deep breath, as he made a pained expression.
"Then… You must sacrifice one more, Another fighter… one that can give humanity the hope of victory even in his death."

The Valkyrie would look at eachother.
"Fionn MacCumhaill! Isn't your wisdom supposed to lead us to victory? What is this crap about us having to sacrifice another one of our warriors… Another one of our sisters ?!" Brunhilde said, losing her temper.
"... If you send out who you were planning to send out, They'll be sending their ace in the hole as well, Meanwhile if you don't, whatever fighter they send could tear almost any one of ours to shreds. And even those who beat him will be in such bad shape that there's a good chance they'll die afterwards anyway…" Fionn explained. "At least, that's my prediction…"
Brunhilde sighed, taking a seat and reclining back in mental exhaustion." Very well, we'll proceed as planned." She said, As Fionn nods.

"A wise choice"

Goll couldn't help but to give a loud whinge… One of her sisters… Another one of her precious sisters…
Of course, she failed to control her sobbing.

Unbeknownst to the rest of them, Another person was listening in, His thin girlish lips rose to a smirk.

It was five minutes in, And already they were exhausted.
Plumbing eachother with every ounce of speed and power they could muster.
His eyes… They hurt, So , so badly. But this was for his children, Each and every one of them.
Six minutes. And his head felt ready to burst, Blood spilt from his nose, he would knowck it away with his knuckle, As the pressure grew ever more intense.
Seven minutes in…
He knew there wasn't much chance he'd win, And as one of his eyes burst, That chance grew slimmer.
But…
That pressure, He knew his limits, both of his eyes should have gone blind, But…

He could still see!

Adam, The first man, continued to pour his whole heart and soul into the match, His ability to doge decreased, And so, he decided to meet fist to fist with the godfather of the cosmos. Alleviating the strain on his good eye, and placing it on his bones and muscles instead.

As one of their punches connected, The force would turn the bones of his arm to a fine powder, However, That same force turned zeus' arm into a fine red mist, But that didn't slow the greek god down in the slightest, As their brawl continued. Within ten seconds of fists continuous light speed impacts, A similar fate befell Zues' other arm, Leaving him defenseless to the onslaught adam delivered with his ibrass knuckles. Jab after jab, Adam would decimate every bone in zeus' body, before knocking him into a well, having long since returned to the form of a frail old man.

"Ohoho~! It seems you got me kiddo!" Zeus said, through his haggard breaths. " But… I have a single question… "
"Hm?" Asked Adam, looking at Zeus, approaching, himself looking ready to collapse..
"I didn't notice it until we entered our final hurrah… But you have a second devine treasure… Where did you get it?"
"Oh, You mean this?" He asked, "Using his good arm to unwrap a leather strap from his other knuckle." It was given to me as a loan… I don't know who he was, But he told me to use it and let myself rest when I could…"
Zeus would chuckle, As his body began to glow green "Ah~! I see! So that trinket let you pull your proverbial punches a bit! Hahaha! I can't say that I'm mad at that! It was a wonderful final battle for this old man! "He said, with a mixture of solemnity and pride.
"I'll see you around gramps… " He said, Watching the green dust scatter. To the winds.

"And there we have it! In an unbelievable turn of events! The humans have not only scored a solid victory! But they did so againstthe father of the gods himself! The winner…. Is- Is– The winner is Adam!''Heimdall roared out with tears in his eyes.

"FAAATHERRRR!" Ares roared out with tears in his eyes "How! How! How could this happen?!" Sobbed the wargod with tears gushing from his eyes.
Hermes could feel his knees shaking, Despite his attempts to keep his composure.
"Og my… I don't think anyone could have predicted this outcome… That spare treasure the human had made all the difference it seems."
"... " Aphrodite didn't know what to think of that beautiful young man, After all he was just protecting his children as any father should… for Zues on the other hand, :"Ares…. " she spoke with her usual sweet, if slightly neutral tone.
The warrior deity turned to her, Still sobbing like a baby.
"If ever the need for another ragnarok arises…" She spoke gently, Before her face contorted to one of impotent vengeful rage "I WANT MY TITLE BACK….!"
"Geep!" Ares squealed out pathetically "O-Of course sister in law…But-I have to ask why..?"
Aphrodite glared at him "That old sack of shit treated my dear haphaestus like garbage his hole life and you have to ask why?! I should kill you and take my place as war god back just because you asked such a stupid question! I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONE TO DO THE OLD COOT IN.I'LL MAKE THE HUMANS PAY FOR ROBBING THAT CHANCE FROM ME!"

Before the outburst could move any further, a pair of large rough hands would bare down on her shoulders, A huge ugly god standing behind her Earning her glare, But before she could yell, those huge working man's hands would begin to massage her.
"MY dear! There's no reason to be angry, I've told you many times I've forgiven Zues…" His voice was small and gentle despite his massive, imposing size, "and he's gone now, Your grudge for how our relationship was shouldn't bother you anymore, okay? Now please calm down, and let's watch the rest of the fights together…"
Aphrodite's rage turned slowly into an immature pout, and then to a gentle smile.
"Oh, Alright, Those magic hands of yours always know how to bring a girl's bad mood to climax. "She would turn to her attendants, as Hephaestus sat down. "You are dismissed." She said, getting up and walking to sit in her husband's lap, while he held her breasts for her. The two lesser gods would nod and leave the Greek gods' section.

Ares and Hermes sighed in relief, An angry aphrodite was rare, But there were few who survived her wrath.

Brunhilde was overjoyed, Goll likewise was crying loud, Happy tears that could be heard the stadium over.
"He won! He Wonnnnn!" Goll cried out as tears poured from her eyes andown into her mouth, and out her lower jaw like a waterfall

Fionn was amazed, he was so sure… But then… he remembered what Zues said.
"A second treasure huh? How in the world did he?"

The door flew from the hinges, smashing against the wall.
"I see we did pretty good eh?" He asked, As Goll turned to him, wiping her tears up.

"H-He won! Reigielief is okay!" She said her lips were quivering even as they moved into a smile.. Cu chulainn laughed at her words.
"Well yeah! I made sure of it!" Cu spoke rubbing under his nose.
Brunhilde looked at him and despite her relief, She had to know…
"How did you-?"
"My sling may be a simple strap of leather, But it was still made by the hands of Scathatch"Cu explained cheerfully "Iit was just the right size to use as a knuckle guard for someone so small and slim as i figured it'd give him just enough oomph to win out. "
Brunhilde nodded, Though only a demigod, The warrior woman of scotland was a master of armsBoth in their use and in crafting them…

Goll began to sniff again and launched herself into the arms of Cu chulainn
"Thank you! Thank you so much! If it weren't for you Reigenlief would be-be…"
"Of course.. I heard your little strategy meet, and I decided to spare you and hilde some grief."
Fionn would glare at Cu
"You know, Hound, This might not be a good thing, Every action you take has its consequences…" he said sternly. "You might have broken the wills of the greek pantheon… Or…" He would turn to the section meant for the greek gods. "You may have spurred their spirits further… Are you willing to accept responsibility if your actions turned out to be for the worst?"
Cu nodded without hesitation. "If my whims cause more deaths than they might have prevented, then i will fall on my plance once i've won my match."

Goll would continue weeping happy tears into Cu's chest, Mostly due to her gratitude, ignoring the conversation entirely until she remembered who it was she was holding onto. From there her whole body would turn red, and she'd push herself away from him with such force she knocked Brunhilde over.
"B-Bueh~ Sorry I didn't mean to cling!" she said, embarrassed out of her Cu could even acknowledge the apology, Brunhilde launched the poor girl off of her, and onto her butt about ten feet away.
"Smalltalk aside! We got our first victory, and that's what matters… But Fionn does have a point, we're goping to have to bring our A-game from here on out. '' She said, getting up and heading toward her quarters, as Goll rubbed her now very sore tailbone.

"Oww…."Goll whined as Fionn followed Brunhilde.
Cu would walk over to the loud valkyrie and pick her up.
"C'mon, you're needed for this whole 'pickin' our next fighter' thing as well. "
Goll would go beat red once more and scramble to get out of his arms, Laning flat on her face and scuttling away like a panicked kitten .
"Icanwalkmyselfbutthankyou!" She shouted, sprinting away to join the others, As Cu shrugged and walked along with them.