Alright guys, here's chapter nine. We've only got a few left to go, and it's really starting to hit me. I'm going to miss writing this story! But all good things have to come to an end, I guess. So I'm going to try my best and deliver on something worthy.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, or Trials of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

9. I Use The Last Resort

When the last ember of green light faded into the cosmos, I felt a small part of myself die.

It was both the combination of having so much respect for Old Matt, and just the fact that he was my counterpart. Also...guilt. It was my fault that he was put in the scenario to begin with. He wouldn't have died if we didn't come strolling into his universe.

Though he seemed content with what happened, it didn't heal my racing, worrying mind. That feeling of being a helpless little boy resurfaced, his only tool of survival being human shields.

Ouranos threw his arm out, jerking the spear and splattering ichor off of the weapon. He found me with his gaze, and smiled when he saw whatever fearful expression I wore. I was still frozen in shock. I didn't go into a rage, or an outburst of sloppy attacks, I just floated there, like a deer in headlights.

"Well, that's one Matt down." He said, and appeared in front of my face in an instant, ramming his foot in my chest. I felt the force of an entire asteroid rattle my body, the world passing by my peripherals in half a second before I finally felt myself hit something solid.

I groaned, looking next to me, I saw my arms and hands trapped in asteroid rock. Ouranos had kicked me straight into a piece of hurdling Earth, and...he was coming at me with another kick.

With a flex of aura, I yanked my arms out and jumped out of the way. I felt Ouranos crash into the asteroid and destroy it upon impact.

We began hopping around on the big chunks of rock, like a twisted game of hopscotch. He chased after me as I bounced backwards from piece to piece, barely avoiding Ouranos's chaos energy strikes. These black lines of death would come inches from grazing my ear, and each time, I'd feel my heart pound against my chest, as if trying to escape.

"Come on, Matthias, don't run!" He taunted, making another leap, "I'll make it quick!"

Just as he jumped off the last rock that I did, leading to nothing, he got hit with a pink line of energy, right in the chin. It caught him off guard enough to knock him aside and out of my sights.

Not one second later, I felt an arm wrap around my midsection, and a chin come over my shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" It was the soft, comforting voice of Harper whispering in my ear. But even her touch and embrace didn't help my conscious, I was still shattered from what I saw, and it was starting to hit me.

A stifled sob broke through my voice, "Old Matt...he's..."

"I know." She said, "I'm so sorry."

With a gentle tug, she pulled me to the nearest asteroid, the one that everyone hunkered down on. They all ran over to me, but didn't speak, and didn't get too close.

"It's all my fault, Harper." I said, horrified, "Gods..."

She came around to my front, kneeled down, and hugged me, "Don't say that, Matt. It's okay."

Talon came up to us and tapped us on the shoulders, his voice muffled from the aura dome around his head. "Hate to interrupt, but we've got a big psycho incoming!"

We didn't even have time to stand up. Ouranos came crashing down, his landing vibrated the entire asteroid, knocking everyone to the ground.

Ouranos sneered down at us, taking his time to savor the moment. Once he was satisfied, he turned around and slowly drug his spear across the air, in the shape of a line. In the wake of the tip, a tear in time and space formed, creating a wide rift in reality, showing the inside of the bridge world.

"I think it's time we take this back to the real world. My world." He laughed, "What do you say, guys?" He said 'guys' as if he were addressing old friends.

When we didn't answer, he frowned, "You don't want to go? Fine. I'll show you the way." He tightened his free hand into a fist, and I felt an invisible force wrap around me, as tight as a bearhug. With a flick of his finger, I went flying in the rift along with everyone else, spinning and flailing in the bridge world.

We were all shouting and screaming, trying to grab onto something, anything solid, so we wouldn't accidentally fall into some other universe. Next thing I knew, I saw Ouranos approaching me fast, the rift closing up behind him, and his fist coming behind his shoulder.

He punched me hard in the face, which quickened up the speed in which I flailed, and my vision only got blurrier.

A bunch of colors passed by me, like an acid trip, then it all crashed down. At some point, I passed through a familiar portal, or Ouranos opened it up. Either way, I passed through a giant hole and skidded on asphalt, landing in a fetal position.

The others came just a second later, Talon and Annabeth's dome heads broke when Amaterasu and Percy fell on the ground, breaking the concentration link. Ouranos came bumbling out of the portal himself, closing it behind him, and wasting no time in having his way with us.

Flexing his fingers, he raked his hand out in front of him in a wide scan, blowing out telekinetic waves like a leafblower, and clearing the path of my friends. When the waves hit them, they went sliding further out of the way, until I was the only one left.

"You don't get it, do you?!" Ouranos yelled, talking directly to me now, since it was just us in the vicinity. "I'm not backing down! I'm willing to do whatever it takes to reclaim what's mine!"

I tried to sit up, but Ouranos kicked me in the chin. I felt my legs leave the ground, my stomach turn and go into my chest as I fell.

BOOM! I hit the ground, an awful throb numbing my face.

"And I'll...do...whatever it takes...to stop you." I groaned out, pushing myself up. I weakly swung my sword, at a slower speed than even a normal human could muster. Ouranos chopped my arm with his hand and disarmed me, then used said hand to grab my face and throw me back on the ground, like tossing a ragdoll.

"You know, it's amazing that your older, much more experienced counterpart died before you did. How do you think that is?" The question was obviously rhetorical, "I think I know that one. Because you're only good for one thing. Getting other people to die for you. You cheat death by putting others in your place."

"That's not true!" I snapped, but I knew it was. Inside, my heart twisted when I said that. "You're the cause of everything that's happened, you bastard! If you hadn't showed up, none of this would've happened!" I tried to stand up, but couldn't. The blow to my face still had some tender effect on my knees, making them wobble. "You couldn't just accept your fate! You couldn't leave well enough alone!"

"Leave well enough alone?!" He bellowed, "Don't talk to me about leaving well enough alone!" He dematerialized the spear from thin air and grabbed me by the armor, picking me up off the ground to eye level, like an upper grade bully picking on a little kid. "You don't know anything about what I've been through! You're nothing but a puny half breed!"

"Bitterness and jealousy are universal." I spat.

That made him snarl. He pulled me forward, bashing his forehead against mine. It shook my entire skeletal system, like a knife being dug into the center of my skull. I couldn't even see what was happening when I felt my body lurch forward, then go flying through the air, headfirst. I could only guess that Ouranos cocked me back and pitched me like a catapult.

I sat there, helpless and broken. My friends the same as me, unable to do anything. We were losing this fight, especially with Old Matt gone. It felt like gravity was piling on top of itself to drill me into the dirt, a heavy weight crushing me from all sides, making me sick.

Ouranos's footsteps approached, the sound of the Heavenly Diamond spear scraping the ground got closer and closer, and I had no energy to even reach my hand out to push myself up. My heart was screaming at me to get up and do something, but my mind was telling me to stay down and accept my fate. It was already decided.

Whatever the Primordial was about to do though, was temporarily halted by a mound of fuzz and fur wrapping around me, protecting me like a wall of warmth.

Young Master! Kyros said, his voice loud in my ears, Are you okay?!

K-Kyros, get away. I don't want you to get hurt.

I will protect you with my life, young master. It's my duty!

I mustered a sliver of strength to attempt to push him away, but he weighed so much, and I was so weak at the moment that it was useless. Before I could beg him again to move, he was ripped away from me. Kyros let out a bunch of screeches, before a loud squawk that got quiet with distance. Ouranos must've thrown him aside with one hand.

"Get out of here, bird." He growled, "I have a score to settle with your master."

I blinked, desperately trying to get my clear vision back, but the throbbing and the black dots wouldn't stop. The black dots seemed to come together to form one big dot, that came down on my face, covering one of my eyes completely. There was a lot of force behind that particular dot, pushing my head into the ground.

I put the 'mental' dots together to figure out that Ouranos's sandal was on my face, and he was moving it around, like I was a filthy peasant, only worth being stepped on.

"Now comes the fun part." Ouranos said, "I get to decide which way to kill you. Erase you with Heavenly Diamond, beat you to a soup of blood and body fat, rip you limb from limb perhaps..." He cackled, "Oh, there's so much to choose from. Well, I can tell you this for sure. It won't be painless."

Before he could test any of those options, I felt the weight behind his foot loosen, heard another squawking noise, and Ouranos grunt in annoyance. I grabbed Ouranos's heel and pulled as hard as I could in such a position, freeing up some vision. Albeit unclear, I could make out what was going on. Kyros was desperately attacking Ouranos. Clawing at him with his talons, pecking at him with his beak, and doing whatever it took to get him off me.

Kyros! I called, but he didn't respond. He was dead set on helping me, even at the cost of...

The great eagle finally gained enough momentum to kick Ouranos back with both of his feet, and both figures were separated from me. I rubbed the crud out of my eyes, and blinked, only to see Ouranos swing his spear directly at Kyros.

There was a pained cry from the eagle, strained and short, like he was physically unable to elongate it. My breath caught in my throat once I saw the specks of brown feathers floating next to him.

Ouranos finished his swing, and Kyros fell on the ground, his furry chest sporting a gash, with no blood.

Immediately, my mind went into denial. My mouth confirmed it, "No..."

And again. "No...no, no, no."

But when he didn't move more than a twitch, and when Ouranos stared down at him without emotion, I screamed, "KYROS!"

Ignoring the dangerous Primordial completely, I scrambled to Kyros on my knees, kneeling at his side, stroking his fur as comfortingly as I could, just begging with the universe, or whatever the highest power was in all of this, to please reverse the effect. Say it wasn't true. Turn back time and allow me to correct the mistake.

But that never came. I could only lock eyes with my friend, and do my best to put on something akin to a smile. I wouldn't let him see me sad, as his final sight, if I could help it.

It's okay, bud. It's...okay. I'm here.

His voice was strained and faint, but I could hear him clearly. I love you, young master. Just like I loved your father. He laid his head on the ground, letting the rest of his body relax. Hopefully...I'll see him now.

That was the last thing he said. Not another opportunity for a word or a goodbye. Kyros's body turned into wind under my grip, his feathers to dust, and by the time I blinked a tear out of my eye and onto my cheek, he was gone. Just like that, as if he never existed to begin with.

For hours, or seconds, I couldn't tell, I sat there, hands quivering in front of me. I didn't move, I didn't breathe, I didn't blink.

Maybe I would've sat there for a few more hours, or until the next morning. But Ouranos's voice hit my ears, and it set me off.

"That's another shield down." He said casually, "How many more, Matthias? How much more have to die so you can live?"

And that's when I snapped.

Something inside of me made me let go. All of it. Any attachment to anything, all was forgotten within that moment. There was only one sole thing to focus on.

Killing this bastard.

That's all that mattered. And that's what drove me to do what I did.

My quivering hands turned into white knuckled clenched fists. I stood up shakily, glaring at Ouranos with all the hatred I held for him. He noticed it too, that my face had changed, that my emotions had skyrocketed.

"That's it." I growled, "I've had enough."

Tapping into the bolt's aura, I unsheathed it, holding the length of the weapon in my hand, its warmth radiating.

I closed my eyes, remembering Zeus's words about this deadly technique I was going to attempt.

"Yeah, I got it. Only use as a last resort."

"Good. Now, the technique itself is actually a state that I can enter. I call it Godspeed."

Keeping my eyes closed, I raised the bolt close to my chest.

"This technique is a last resort. Strictly, the very last thing you ever want to do in a battle. That means if you're on death's door, without any option left, nowhere to run, no allies left to help, and drained of energy...the situation must be ten times worse than that in order to use this technique."

I copied the motion Zeus performed in the flashback he showed me, in his fight with Porphyrion. I opened my eyes and raised the bolt to my heart.

Ouranos laughed at the movements, not taking it seriously. He must not know about the technique, which...is all the better for me. It makes sense. Zeus is the one who came up with it, and he was the only one to know before he told me. Well, him and Porphyrion, I guess.

"Heh! That's funny. That's the same movement Zeus started doing before I stabbed him!" But he wasn't stupid. He knew something was up, and recognizing that our movements matched in a god's last ditch effort and mine, the similarities were too big. His smile fell.

"Wait...what are you doing?"

A cold hand grabbed my shoulder, igniting a hot chill to run down my spine. Fear raced through my heart at the thought of another threat entering the fray. Gods forbid...Tartarus had somehow come back to help his brother. That cold hand felt like his, after all.

I turned my head slowly to see who it was, and gasped at what I found. An all too familiar face, one that I remember clearly from the visions before my father died. And finally, when he took him away, out of the savannah.

Death.

His face flashed between the man in the top hat and the hooded skull of the grim reaper, both pairs of empty eyes peering into mine.

He said nothing, but I could still...feel the words. Not even hear them, but feel them in my conscious.

Are you sure?

Yes.

If you do this, death awaits sooner than later.

I know.

The conversation lasted a single moment in time, but once done, Death nodded at me, and let go of my shoulder, speeding time up again.

I answered Ouranos's question with a smirk, "Last resort."

That seemed to freak him out, which only made my smirk grow. It's funny, smirking in the face of death, literally. But here I am, despite everything. If I die, at least...my friends will live.

I guess...that's my decision. When Talon chose to live, and let Nikandreos go, he changed fate. Its course must've redirected onto me, and now it was time to make a new decision. Use Godspeed to sacrifice myself and defeat Ouranos, or don't, and everyone dies.

Pretty easy, if you ask me.

Ouranos's nose got tight, "Last resort? What the hell-" His mouth went slack, "Wait. You're going to..."

I inched the bolt closer to my heart, and Ouranos thrust his hand out, sprinting towards me now.

"NO!" He screamed.

I didn't let him get even halfway to me. I stabbed as hard as I could with the bolt, letting it go straight into my chest, then my heart.

No pain, no electrocution, just...a bright light, and weightlessness.

When I opened my eyes, I saw nothing but blue.

As bright as the ocean in the Bahamas. It was almost like Glacier Freeze Gatorade, with its smooth appearance and white foam circling around. I blinked a few times, and looked around.

It was endless. No shapes, no land, no water, nothing but pure energy. It was so massive and poignant, it made my skin tingle, my teeth vibrate, even. It wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest. In fact, it was adrenaline inducing. It was almost like...the energy was being siphoned from this place to my own body.

What is this place?

I flinched. My voice was loud in my own head, louder than usual. I thought I said it, but when I tried to speak again just to make sure, my mouth wouldn't open. I got the weird feeling that I wasn't actually here. Or at least, my body wasn't, but my mind was. My conscious.

Woah...

There it is again. But wait, my words right now are thoughts, so why...are those thoughts so loud? Maybe because they're directed towards the object of attention. Or maybe it's just not real. Maybe I died when I stabbed the bolt into my heart, and this is the gate to Elysium.

No, no this can't be it. This energy, it feels so familiar. It feels like...the Master Bolt.

It hit me then, that this was the bolt's energy. All of it, in its infinity. I was floating in it, literally.

Realizing it, I began pushing my consciousness forward, towards the biggest point of energy. As I approached, it got brighter and brighter, like the core of the sun.

I reached my hand out. Lightning from the bolt's core jolted and connected with my hands, coiling all the way down to my feet. It was the most empowering thing I'd ever felt, even more powerful than any time I'd accessed the bolt's aura before. This was wildly different.

Finally, I made full contact with the bolt's core, and sunk into it. Its warmth enveloped me like the comfort of a hot shower, and then...I returned back to reality.

Like I never even blinked. I stood in the same spot as before, only now, I was beyond my normal strength level. I was a walking nuke, a god, an amplified version of myself to the supreme. Whatever you want to call it.

Ouranos had been blown back on his ass from the shockwave of the transformation. He sat on his rear, arm propped up by his side, eyes wide with fear and shock. All directed at me.

It was awesome.

I took a look at myself, craning my head down to see my body. I hadn't changed in size, other than a muscle pump, but there were these weird markings all across my body, etched in lightning. It started from a big circle on my chest, the core, where my heart sat, spreading into little tree branches of zig zags, going to both arms, my ribs, my stomach, and my collarbone.

Basically, it looked exactly how you'd expect it to look. The bolt lit up my chest like Iron Man's reactor, pushing out little veins of light all across my torso. Not to mention the constant sparks of lightning coming off my body. It was epic.

And it didn't hurt, either. At least, not right now. You'd think, stabbing the most destructive weapon in the universe would probably tickle a little. But no, right now, I only felt adrenaline induced.

The pain would probably come later though. I needed to make this fast.

And...I couldn't dare ponder the fact that I'd essentially sacrificed myself. And now, I'm living my last minutes on this Earth. That means, I'd have to leave Harper, and the rest of my friends. Everybody.

It was too hard to think about. I had to shake my head out of those thoughts and focus on Ouranos. Which I did.

Ouranos shook his head in tiny motions, his eyes still like saucers, "What the hell did you do?" His tone lowered into a whisper, "What the hell did you do?"

I took a step forward, pushing away piles of rubble with the simple movement. "It's called Godspeed, you piece of shit." I pushed my hand out and summoned the Heavenly Diamond sword to my hand. It practically threw itself at my palm. "I fused the Master Bolt with my own body. And thanks to that...you won't be able to lay another finger on me."

Past him, I saw my friends standing up, albeit with a struggle. I didn't realize just how much power and force I was emitting by just standing here. Wind and electricity was coming off of me like fleas off a stray dog. I saw Harper first, then the others. All of their hair being blown back, struggling to keep their footing. Harper was looking at me like I had three heads, pure confusion, a little bit of fear. Which made my heart sink a smidge, if I'm being honest.

They didn't know about the technique. I hadn't told them about it, because initially, I didn't plan on using it. But...here we are.

To them, I'd just done something weird. But I'd have to tell them the truth eventually.

Eventually, but not now.

Ouranos finally regained some nerve, standing up faster than light to reassure his dominance. "I won't lay a finger on you? Please! One little transformation won't be enough to-"

I didn't hear the rest of it. I'd already teleported away to the other side, next to my friends.

"-beat me!" Ouranos had only just finished his sentence, and I'd already been standing there for two seconds. I'd gotten way faster.

Ouranos realized I wasn't there anymore and whipped his head around, rearing it back when he saw me. If I didn't know the scum, I might've felt sorry for him. But I do know him, and I fought back laughter. The pure confusion on his face, the way his eyebrows were lifted, and his lip was straight, it was almost like a puzzled dog, cocking its head at something it didn't understand.

I kept my eyes on him, but directed my voice to Harper. "Guys, I'll handle it from here. I need you to stay where you are."

Harper's aura moved, and I felt her hand lift to touch my shoulder. "Matt, what did you do?"

"Be careful." I said it softly before her hand could make contact. I didn't know just how deadly this thing was, so I wanted to make sure she didn't get hurt by simply being around it.

She stopped, and I looked at her. Her expression mirrored Ouranos's, only I didn't laugh. I felt nothing but sadness and dread. Staring momentarily into her perfect blue eye, really drove home the seriousness of my decision.

"Your aura's through the roof." Percy said incredulously.

"It's...the bolt's." Malachi said, his eyes widening when he figured it out. "You've combined your aura's with the Master Bolt's. In the most physical way possible."

Harper gasped, and hesitated to touch my bare chest. "What? Is that what's in your chest?"

I nodded, "Yeah. It's a technique Zeus told me about. A...last resort sort of thing."

"Why is it a last resort?" She asked immediately, her tone laced with concern.

I paused, losing my eye lock with her. "Because...well, that's not important right now. It has a time limit, though, so I need to use it. I just want you guys to stay safe, and out of the way. I can do this."

I gently lifted my hand out in Amaterasu's direction, "Can I have that, please?"

Amaterasu realized I was referring to the Heavenly Diamond Labrys in her hand, and gave it to me immediately. With two of them, one in each hand, on top of this incredible power up, I felt unstoppable.

"Be careful." Harper said. I knew she had a thousand questions to ask, but bit her tongue for the sake of trust. I loved her for it.

"I will."

Surprisingly, Sera spoke up, her voice firm. I almost didn't recognize it.

"Do what you have to, Matt. End him."

My eyebrows raised a little at her wording, but I knew she was right, so I nodded.

Leaving them behind me, I found Ouranos unmoved, still staring at me like I was a rare artifact. I walked directly up to him, and we stood chest to chest. Or well, my head barely came up to his waist, so it wasn't quite a fair square up, but we still locked eyes with each other, him craning his head down, and mine up, electricity sparking between our eyes.

We stood like that for a few seconds, him gaining back his confidence enough to sneer. I mirrored the expression, Godspeed giving me newfound confidence.

"So, what's this one called? Godspeed, you said?" He chuckled, "That's cute."

"You know what's gonna be cute?" I said, pointing to the ground next to him, "Seeing your severed head roll around on the dirt right there, while the rest of your body turns to dust."

He laughed. In his emotions, I only read a hint of fear, which surprised me. He seemed pretty afraid upon seeing my transformation for the first time. But then again, he probably got over that, remembering his chaotic siphoning technique to fall back on.

"Decapitation? I figured you'd want to kill me the same way I killed your father." He cocked his head, "Hypothetically speaking, of course. You won't be able to do either."

"I'm still working through the options."

"And how are you gonna do it?" He taunted, "Create a ladder with your new powers and climb up here?"

I shook my head, "Nah, I'm gonna make you come down here."

He shot me a confused glance, and as casually as opening a door, I reached up and grabbed a patch of silver hair next to his ear. Once I got a fistful of it, I yanked him down to my level, and he couldn't resist.

My bent down to nearly one knee, wincing at the hair pull. I'd brought him to eye level, so now we were even.

I got right in his face when I said, "Now it's my turn to have fun."

He had no time whatsoever to react. He couldn't even begin to dream of combating or somehow dealing with my new speed. Zeus didn't name this form what he did for no reason. It held value. I felt like I could cross the universe and back to Earth in less than a second. I was lighter than a speck of dust against gravity. The rules of physics didn't apply to me anymore.

If I chose, I could do whatever I wanted.

As soon as I thought of it, my knee planted itself in Ouranos's chin. It surprised me, because I didn't even clench or flex my muscles. Hell, I didn't even feel myself move to do such a thing. It seemed my body was reacting to my thoughts faster than I could process what happened.

It was...an infinite amount of speed.

I dug deep with my kneecap. Ouranos's eyes were bugged out of his head, his teeth shattered and flying next to his mouth in shards. I'd gotten him good.

The blow's force finally took effect. Ouranos went soaring up into the atmosphere in a blink, his figure nothing but a black dot.

I bent down just an inch, and when I thought of where I wanted to be, I was there. I didn't feel myself move, again, and I didn't even notice that I'd launched off in the first place. This was a level of speed I couldn't even comprehend.

Either way, I wasn't about to question it. I reared my fist back and drove it through Ouranos's chest, instantly feeling a warm, thick liquid overtake my arm and hand. I looked, and saw that my arm had gone right through him, and come out the back through torn skin.

Ouranos howled in pain when the electrical currents started. He was resistant to such a thing, having lightning powers and all, so for this to hurt him, had to mean it was powerful. I didn't even mean to shock him, but lightning was constantly flying off my body in Godspeed, so it just came with the territory.

Like pulling a straw out of a soda glass, I pulled my arm out and straightened my legs, kicking him into oblivion.

BOOM!

Ouranos pancaked against the dirt, all fours spread out. I moved with my thoughts, and reappeared down there, the Heavenly Diamond sword outstretched in a downward swing.

Ouranos reacted faster than I thought, especially with the hole in his chest. He sat up and rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the sword.

But as soon as he stood up, I stabbed forward with the sword and caught him right in the open hole I'd created with my punch, sticking the sword in the gap. The best part, his godly healing factor caused the skin to close up around it, effectively trapping my weapon in his body.

"AGHHH!" Ouranos screamed out in agony as the chaos burned through him, permeating like a poison. I pulled the sword out, and watched as the six inch gash remained, leaking golden blood. A permanent stab wound.

And it hurt his aura too. I could tell when I sensed it, it was weakened. If only by a small amount.

In a quick spur of the moment, I slammed both weapons in the ground, sinking them there enough to hold them upright, hilts facing the sky. I had to let them go for now, just so I could lay a beating with my fists.

I dashed forward, right through Ouranos's weak swing with the spear, and planted my fist in his gut, bending my elbow so it looked like I'd punched upward.

Twisting my fist around made more Ichor come out of the chest hole, eliciting a low groan out of Ouranos's larynx, located just above my ear.

The delayed shockwave burst around us when I tore my fist away and punched his face. A deadly right cross that hobbled him. Then, I went to work.

Unleashing all of my hatred and anger for Dad, for Kyros, for Old Matt, for Levi, for everyone he's hurt, I packed it all into a one minute onslaught. A terrifying display of me darting around, pummeling Ouranos while he took it helplessly.

He had no way to combat my speed. Literally no way. He was forced to take the hits, and I gained so much satisfaction from delivering them.

Clumps of blood were coming out of him in all places now, a messy heap of flesh rendered from my terror. He was recoiling and moving side to side so fast, I couldn't even get a good look at him. I didn't stop to breath or take a moment, I just kept punching, punching, and punching.

I tried to give up the hatred, but it felt good to do this. Like a bullied, terrorized kid finally getting some payback on his bully.

My stamina was endless. I could've gone on forever, but I decided to stop after thousands of punches. Ouranos, somehow remained on his feet, but barely.

He stumbled forward, looking like a beehive had swarmed his face. He was swollen, bruised, and Ichor covered. Absolutely beaten.

He couldn't even speak right, "Guh...urgh..." it just came out as gibberish followed by specks of blood.

Weakly, he lifted his arms above his head with the spear, a clear attempt to slice me in half through his blindness. I pushed my hand out and lightning came out of it, hitting Ouranos in branches all over his body.

He writhed from the current, his flesh starting to smell like smoke. I condensed the core of the shock to his shoulder, and to my surprise, blew it clean off. As if I'd shot it with a slug from a twelve gauge. His arm came off, but didn't make it to the ground. It was already burned up by stray lightning and disintegrated before even dropping from gravity.

I stopped the intense current. Ouranos must've been so overloaded with pain and sensation, he didn't even verbally react to his arm being burned. Not that he really could, since his mouth was so swollen. He sort of just dropped to one knee and let his arm stump spurt ichor, while I stood over him.

"How does it feel?" I asked, "To be on the other end of the stick? Not so great, huh?" I summoned the two Heavenly Diamond weapons back to my hands and spun them around, "I'm only just getting started."

Ouranos propped himself up with his spear. It was shaking like a thin tree in a tornado, along with his entire trembling body. It was nice, for once, to feel the way I did, to stand over him like he's stood over me countless times. I'd finally let him have a taste of my hatred, and the results were about what I expected.

But then something different happened. Ouranos gripped his spear as tightly as he could, and the black glow of chaos returned, coming out of the spear's tip and throwing itself into his pores. His entire body outlined itself with the aura, and immediately his wounds healed. The ones that I'd dealt with my fists anyway. The hole above his pectoral didn't, that was permanent.

Which might've been why I just stood there. I'd already had him, so I didn't have to worry about this.

Right?

Either way, it was over in five seconds. Ouranos was good as new, and by the time he was, he was smiling.

His aura was rising every moment in bounds and leaps, the chaotic energy doing its job. But while his battle aura was roaring, his soul was declining. I could feel the contrast between the swell in energy, and the sickliness in his spirit.

But it seemed to invigorate him regardless. He inhaled, sighed, and stood up, towering over me.

"Me too." He said, responding to my claim of just getting started.

I only frowned at him, not too worried. But then again, in the back of my mind, I knew that I needed to put my ego in check and stop messing around. Zeus's training was right, regardless of how I felt. My only enemy is hatred, because hatred makes us weak.

And right now, my hatred is getting in the way of saving the world. If I could put it aside, I would've tried to end it immediately, instead of playing with my food.

Now, I've given Ouranos a chance to come back from this. Both of us have time limits in our forms, but...I'm willing to bet he can last longer with his chaos thing than I can in Godspeed. How long did Zeus say he was able to stay in it? Fifteen minutes? And he's the king of the gods. I'm not.

So I've probably got about three more minutes, tops.

Picking up the pace, I darted at him, both weapons coming down to hit his spear. The weapons clanged loudly, sending wind surges out next to us, blowing back mounds of dirt and broken asphalt. The rest of the area didn't exist, it was only he and I, locked in our own war.

My eyebrows raised a bit in shock. He was able to block my oncoming attack, when before...forget about it. He couldn't keep up with me.

The chaotic surge had evened the gap tremendously. That was a really, really dangerous technique.

Ouranos had a hyena-like grin on his face as we struggled. It started out with me having the edge, but slowly losing ground. It eventually came into an even push, where neither of us budged.

We pushed at one hundred and ten percent, both of our kinetic outputs hitting each other at the same time. Our feet parted, I remained stiff as I slid on my heels. Neither of us engaged again, because the air had gotten so tight, it felt like a barrier.

"You always surprise me, Matthias." Ouranos said, "Despite what I say about you, I'm not underestimating you in the slightest. I know there's always a possibility of you pulling something weird out of your sleeve." He gestured to me with his free palm, "Like now. So, I have to do the same."

"Should've figured. I knew Zeus wouldn't have gone down without you pulling some dirty trick."

His free palm protruded the index finger, "Rule number one. Always have a backup plan. Fortunately, I have hundreds."

"All useless. Right now, neither of our backup plans matter. It's a dogfight. Whoever wants it more is going to win. Simple as that, Ouranos."

He smiled, "Exactly! Finally, we agree on something. It's a shame for you, though. I want victory far more. I've held my dream for millennia, longer than you can even dream of."

I scoffed, "Stop complaining and come at me."

He sneered, "As you wish."

And he did. I prepared my weapons, with more force behind them than before. And in the back of my mind, I continued to count down on the clock.

(000)

Godspeed is out, and the clock is ticking.

We're in the last few chapters here, guys. Bear with me, I've got a good conclusion prepared!

Until Next Time.