AFTERWARDS…
Ares sat at a fanciful black desk in a large room with detailed carpet and a painting of various gods behind him. A plate of macarons and a tea set were placed on the side of the desk. He sat with his hands clasped, looking directly ahead.
WHEN ASKED WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT MOMENT,
THE GOD ARES WOULD RESPOND WITH…
"I'm ashamed to admit it," he began. "But allow me to be frank. Not to brag, but as the god of war, I'm well versed in the way of battle. When it comes to my old man's Meteor Jab and Divine Axe, your average god will barely be able to see a shadow of the move. Meanwhile, I am capable of seeing it clearly."
He paused to take a sip of his tea. "However… Are you ready? I swear upon the gods this is true. In that moment, even though my eyes were fixated on the right, I saw my old man raise his fist… and just as that thought crossed my mind, the next thing I knew–" He took another furious gulp. "–was that his head was facing the wrong direction."
NOW
VALHALLA ARENA
"H-Huh?!" Heimdall yelled. "What… what just happened?!"
Adam started walking away from Zeus without a second thought, not even sparing a glance at his fallen opponent. Ares' hands trembled with anger until he snapped the handle off of his teacup. Grabbing the railing, he exclaimed, "The hell?! What is the meaning of this?! I was looking right at him and saw nothing!"
Hermes put his hand to his chin, deep in thought. "It appears that human's power exceeded our limitations," he said after a moment. Ares turned to him, confused. Hermes took a step back and imitated Zeus' stance. "Just then, as Lord Zeus made his move, at the same time–no, a moment later–by some unknown force, he was able to copy it and dodge Lord Zeus' fist by a hair, before he countered with his own fist."
"Hermes," Ares responded, head lowered. Suddenly, he grabbed his brother by the collar with one hand and lifted him off the ground. "Are you telling me you were able to see it?!" he shouted. "Despite the fact that I, the god of war, and your older brother, could not?!"
Hermes smiled gently. "Of course not. I just got that feeling from watching–" Instantly, his face shifted from polite to menacing. The area around his eyes grew dark, and his mouth turned downward grimly. "–dear brother."
Ares started, caught off guard by Hermes' hostility. He quickly set Hermes down with a frustrated exhale, allowing the butler to readjust his coat. In any case, he thought, I have no idea what just happened. But there is one thing that I know. He trembled vigorously as looked back at the arena, zeroing in on Adam standing above the fallen Zeus.
Even if I were to train for 1000 years, I still wouldn't be a match for that human!
The human in question side-eyed his opponent. "That's why I warned you," he said. "That you'd regret it…"
"The mighty Zeus has fallen!" Heimdall interrupted, running up to the combatants. "He's down!" He stopped above Zeus' head. "I can't believe it… but this isn't a dream, folks! Better wake up and smell the roses!" Huginn and Muninn squawked in a shocked manner. Odin narrowed his eyes. "'Cause he's out for the count!" Aphrodite's golems' jaws dropped. One of them was so surprised it forgot it was holding her breast and pushed it into her face. "What we are witnessing–" Humanity perked up, ecstatic at Adam's performance. "–is the birth of a new miracle for all of history!"
Up above the crowd, Göll was leaning over the edge with her arms crossed over her stomach, amazed and also slightly frightened by Adam's power. "He's strong… that guy's way too strong," she said. "Even if he can copy their techniques, being able to surpass the original is something else… what the hell is that guy?!"
"I believe I mentioned it earlier," Brunhilde replied, "but the source of that man's strength is his conviction… his hatred… toward the gods."
"Hatred…?" Göll whispered, staring at Adam with wide eyes.
10,000 YEARS AGO
THE GARDEN OF EDEN
A gentle breeze traveled over a mountain range and down into a lush valley, carrying with it the leaves and petals of passed-by plants. Rolling green hills were home to a large variety of plants and animals, the latter of which frolicked about the grass without a care in the world. Wolves and sheep played together. Lions and antelope slept together peacefully. And in the middle of it all, lying atop a large brown bear and surrounded by a rabbit, an elk, a fox, a pair of mice, and various colorful insects, was Adam. He reached to his side, grabbed a bunch of grapes, and shoved the bottom of it into his mouth. A dove flew up to him, landing beside him, and a squirrel climbed up the bear's leg to get a closer look. The sun shone down on all of them, basking them in its warm light.
ADAM LIVED HIS LIFE ALONGSIDE HIS FELLOW CREATIONS,
WITHIN THE INFINITE PROVIDENCE OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
UNTIL THAT FATEFUL DAY.
HEAVEN'S COURT
Two massive guards stood in front of a pair of large, ornate doors, wielding halberds. Two stone statues of birds, accompanied by golden torches on either side of the doors, gave the impression of being watched by many eyes. Beyond the doors, the was set up like a courtroom. A tall judge stand was erected at the front of the room, in which were seated three beings that resembled popes. Below them, in a shorter stand, were five beings with animal heads in black suits. On one side of the stand was the prosecution's table with another one-person stand in front of it. Two more animal-headed beings sat at the table while a third, a tall, thin, well-groomed, green-skinned man with long black hair and a dark suit, stood at the stand. Opposite them was the defendant's table, also with animal-headed beings, and behind that was the jury box. The jury themselves wore white togas. Surrounding the stands and tables were benches, both on the ground and on raised balconies, where gods of every kind watched the events unfold and quietly talked amongst one another.
And in the middle of it all, alone, with tears in her eyes, stood a nude woman with shining blonde hair that went to her hips, with small leaves and pink flower petals decorating it, and voluptuous breasts only barely covered by the hair. Her hands were clasped in front of her.
"No… you're wrong…" she said quieringly. "I swear upon the gods I didn't eat the apple!
ADAM'S WIFE: EVE
"Objection!" a shrill voice interjected. It was the green-skinned man, and he was pointing at Eve. Up close, he resembled a snake, with long fangs and slanted eyes. "I saw you eating it with my own two eyes!"
THE SERPENT HAD ACCUSED EVE OF EATING FROM THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE!
HOWEVER, IN TRUTH…
EARLIER
"No! Please, stop!" Eve cried. She was standing beneath a large tree with the Serpent standing behind her, his limbs transformed into snakes as he grabbed her breasts and wrapped his appendages around her body. A long, forked tongue snaked out of his mouth and licked her nipple as he chuckled eerily. "Someone!" she yelled.
"Nobody will save you here," the Serpent hissed. "Just surrender to me."
"Adam!" Eve shrieked, trying desperately to resist him. Nearby, two doves were sitting in a tree when they noticed the commotion. They immediately took action and divebombed the Serpent, pecking and scratching at him furiously.
"Whoa! What the–?!" he said, letting go of Eve to defend himself. She stumbled momentarily, then pushed the Serpent into the tree and took off, bawling as she went. The birds went with her.
The Serpent sat there, dazed, until an apple fell from the tree and hit him in the head, eliciting a grunt of pain. As he rubbed his fresh bruise, his emotions about to boil over, he started to stand up, morphing back into his humanoid form and grabbing the apple.
THE SERPENT HAD TRIED TO TAKE EVE AS HIS OWN.
HE HAD TRIED TO TEST HER FAITH TO ADAM, BUT MET ONLY RESENTMENT.
"That bitch!" he growled. "Fucking with me like that! I'll show you who you're messing with!" As he finished, he took a furious bite of the apple, a devilish plot forming in his mind.
NOW
HEAVEN'S COURT
The Serpent presented the apple to the gods, a victorious smile on his face. "Take that! This is proof that she at the apple!" Eve gasped in disbelief. He had already caused her so much distress, and now…
FORGED EVIDENCE!
HOWEVER, ALL HERE ARE GODS!
GOVERNMENT! JUDGES! PROSECUTORS!
IN EDEN, LAND OF THE GODS, THE CHANCES OF A HUMAN RECEIVING A GUILTY VERDICT WAS…
99.99999%!
The audience was outraged. "Banish her!" "Yeah, kick her out!" "Get her out of here!"
EVE WAS SENTENCE TO BE EXPELLED FROM EDEN.
Eve collapsed to her knees, tears falling down her cheeks. "No…" she whimpered. "Does that mean… I'm going to be separated from Adam…?"
The Serpent turned away from her, snickering. He covered his mouth so no one could see his delight. Hmph. If you won't be mine then you're not needed here, he thought. Go and suffer on the surface by yourself!
Suddenly, the large doors slowly creaked open, interrupting the proceedings. One of the guards stood in the doorway, motionless and silent.
"What is it?" the head judge asked. "Court is still in session!"
The guard didn't answer. After an extremely uncomfortable moment of silence, he fell forward and hit the ground with a boom! Which echoed through the courtroom. The audience gasped. Standing behind the guard was the silhouette of a man holding two baskets. Their contents couldn't be discerned.
"W-What is happening?!" the head judge cried.
The silhouette started walking down the aisle between the public benches, the baskets slightly swaying as he went. Every head was turned in his direction. As he got closer, the Serpent raised an eyebrow in recognition. "Huh?!" he said. "It's… Adam!" Eve's eyes widened in surprise.
The audience was similarly stunned. "It… It's Adam." "You mean he beat up security?" Adam didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he didn't care. One god looked at the baskets he was carrying. "Eh?...Hey… in that basket…that's–?!" The other gods took noticed and recoiled, their words and thoughts the same.
"So many apples!"
It was true. In the baskets were at least fifteen apples each, all picked from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. "Did he pick all those from the tree?" "They're gonna be pissed just from how many he took."
"Adam! What are you doing?!" the Serpent's piercing voice rang out. "This is a sacred place of judgment! Your kind aren't welcome here!"
Adam didn't reply. Instead, he raised the left basket up to his head, reached into it with his mouth, and bit into one of the apples.
Everyone started with shock and a small amount of fear at Adam's defiance. But that, of course, didn't stop him. He let the apple roll out of the basket and onto the floor, unconcerned.
"You… you ate one?!" the Serpent screeched as Adam chewed. The father of humanity then promptly spit it out.
"So sour," he remarked.
"And you're already spitting it out?!" the Serpent went on.
As he walked, Adam took a bite out of each and every apple, letting each fall to the floor unceremoniously and spitting out the fruit. The Serpent just stood there watching him, shaking vigorously, trying to say something, anything, but completely at a loss for words. The other gods' jaws dropped. It went on for a painfully long time before Adam spit out the last apple and dropped the baskets just to spite the gods one more time. Nobody uttered a word. He stopped in front of Eve, still chewing. She gazed at him with a mix of awe and affection. The Serpent finally found himself and traipsed over to him.
"Adam," he began, pointing at the human. "If you're thinking of saving Eve by missing with the trial–"
"Eve," Adam interrupted the god, not even bothering to look at him. He brushed past the Serpent and knelt down in front of his wife, holding his hand out to her. "If you're leaving, then I'm coming, too." He smiled gently at her to ease her.
Eve inhaled silently, staring at her husband with tears still lingering in her eyes. She was overcome with an incredibly strong feeling, one of love, appreciation, and joy. That Adam would do what he just did for her without a second thought… how could anyone ask for anything more?
"Adam!" she yelled, jumping into Adam's arms. Her breasts squished against his face, partially blinding him. "Adam! Oh, Adam!"
"Y-Yeah, that's me," he responded, slightly confused. "What's wrong? Please don't cry, Eve."
The Serpent gritted his teeth, his eyes darkening. This human… he had the gall to barge into the holy courthouse, disrupt these vital proceedings, and defile the sacred fruit that the gods had specifically outlawed to his kind? This was beyond outrageous. It demanded immediate punishment. A hiss escaped from his mouth, alerting the couple to his presence.
"You bastard!" he snarled. "You got flowers for brains?!" He ripped off his necktie and flung it away as his body began to elongate, his hands growing long claws, his legs tripling in size, and a thick tail sprouting from his lower back. His entire suit was shredded as he completed his monstrous transformation. "YOU THINK YOU CAN FUCK WITH THE GODS AND WALK AWAY WITH A HAPPY ENDING?!"
Adam set Eve down and held his arm in front of her. "Now, now. My little bird friends told me about you." His eyes narrowed. "They said you made Eve cry."
"What of it, you worm?!" the Serpent shouted. "How about I send the happy couple back to the dust where they belong?!" He lept at Adam, arm extended to cut right through him.
"Oh?" Stars appeared in Adam's eyes as he moved to counter the god.
EYES OF THE LORD
COPY!
His hands instantly morphing into those of the Serpent, he dashed forward with lightning speed, seemingly right through his foe. They both stopped in a crouched position, blood flying through the air. After a second, the Serpent slowly turned his head, struggling to move his mouth.
"I… I'll send you…" he said as blood spurted from various wounds across his body that were quickly appearing. "...back… to the dust…FUGYAAAH?!" All at once, his body split into twenty different pieces, each limb cut clean through in multiple places, blood spewing from his insides. He collapsed on the floor, dead.
"That's enough out of you," Adam remarked, wiping the blood off of his hands as they returned to normal. The judges just stared at the carnage, open-mouthed and silent.
"Adam… I'm so sorry," Eve apologized, walking up to him. "You did all this… for me."
"No," he answered resolutely. "I did it for us." He offered his hand to her, and she took it with a smile on her face. "Let's go. Together, we'll make a new paradise of our own." With that, they walked out of the room, holding hands, into the brilliant sunlight beyond.
AND SO,
ADAM LEFT TO LIVE ON EARTH WITH HIS PRECIOUS EVE,
AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
NOW
VALHALLA ARENA
As humanity celebrated their massive victory, one more than all the others cheered for her champion.
"Adam!" Eve yelled, holding her arms above her head. Her breasts and groin were now covered by leaves, but that was all she had bothered to put on. "Hooray! You did it!"
Michelangelo looked at her, and immediately his jaw dropped and his eyes bulged. "OOOOOOOOOOH?!" he exclaimed. He was completely overcome by her beauty, so much so that blood flew from his nose and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fainted. "She's so beautiful~!" He collapsed, startling the people around him.
"Ma!" Cain said. "Pops is pretty ammazing, isn't he?" Eve and Able smiled at him as Cain watched his father excitedly. "He's managed to knock out a god!"
"R-Revenge fulfilled!" Heimdall shouted. "Adam has returned the pain and suffering of his expulsion against the gods a hundredfold!" Humanity erupted into cheers, rallying behind their champion who had stuck it to the strongest god. Göll shared their elation.
"Looks like we're even with the second round!" she said. "Hell yeah!"
Brunhilde was covering her eyes with her hand, sweating. She let out a sigh of relief and grinned. "I have to admit that Zeus' entrance had me sweating," she responded. "But all's well that ends well."
What's more– she thought, is that the biggest thorn in my side, that old bastard… has been crushed!
"I can't take it!" she continued. "I'm about to lose my shit!" She laughed rather evilly, unnerving Göll.
Humanity mirrored her reaction. "That's our progenitor!" "Take that, you damned gods!" "Good job returning the favor to heaven!" But Adam seemed like he didn't really care.
"Well, let's get back on track!" Heimdall interrupted them. "The second round of Ragnarok… goes tooooo–" Suddenly, two gigantic fingers grabbed his head, one under his jaw and the other above his head. Heimdall let out a surprised noise, but the fingers' grip was so strong he couldn't open his mouth to talk.
Adam looked back at the announcer and silently gasped, his eyes widening. It couldn't be… he was sure he had knocked him out cold! This wasn't possible! Brunhilde glanced down at the arena and was similarly shocked.
When Adam had broken his neck, Zeus had not been knocked unconscious. No, he was simply reeling from the fact that this human had beaten his punch that surpassed time itself. Now, he had gotten over his surprise and used Heimdall to help him stand up, not even close to losing. His aura flared, paralyzing everyone in the arena. Only Adam seemed to be able to resist it. Zeus' head was still facing the wrong direction, only adding to his terrifying presence.
"HUUUUUUHHHHH?!" Göll shrieked, taking several steps back from the rail.
"I ain't done yet," Zeus said, his voice as deep as the ocean floor. He released Heimdall, who ran away as fast his legs could carry him. Adam watched his opponent warily, no longer concerned but still cautious. Zeus reached up and grabbed his head with both hands. Soft cracking sounds could be heard coming from him as he strained his arms. The sounds got louder and louder until suddenly, with a grunt, Zeus twisted his head back around with a snap!, letting humanity see his face again.
"He twisted it back?!" Göll squealed. Brunhilde winced slightly.
The gods, however, were thrilled. "Oh! Amazing!" "As expected of Lord Zeus!"
"Our old man's back!" Ares declared triumphantly, arms folded over his chest. "I knew he would be!"
Hermes wasn't impressed. "Though it would seem…" he began. "...that he's feeling it now." As if to illustrate Hermes' point, Zeus hunched over and vomited up a massive amount of blood, shaking. Adam eyed him with what seemed to be… a hint of concern.
"Oh, pops," he said. "Don't go pushing yourself."
"You don't gotta tell me twice," Zeus said through heavy breaths. "Now I see that your casual speech wasn't just for show. But you've piqued my interest." He stretched his arm out, index finger pointed up. "This old man has got one thing he'd like to ask you." He lowered his finger to point at Adam, who gazed back at him blankly. Zeus' eyes shined through his dark eye sockets. "I can't feel the flames of hatred towards us gods within those eyes of yours. So tell me: what's the real reason you're here to fight?"
Realization dawned on Adam. He lowered his head and sighed. Of course Pops wouldn't get it. "You thought the same too, huh?" he responded. Everyone in the crowd looked at him, eyes wide. Even Brunhilde was slightly taken aback. "They all same the same thing. 'Hatred'? 'Revenge'? I don't need any of that. There is no reason why." Eve and Able watched him with smiles on their faces. Cain was stone-faced. The rest of humanity leaned in, hanging onto every word. Adam clenched his right fist and raised it to be level with his chest, resolutely staring at his opponent. The sunlight seemed to coalesce around him, making him undeniably the center of the world at that moment.
"Is there any man that needs a reason to protect his own children?"
Hey, guys! A Ghost Most Grim here. Just wanted to apologize for the short chapter, but since the last one took so long I wanted to get this one out as soon as possible! And plus, it was over 7000 words when my usual length is between 5000 - 5500, so I think this one only being about 3500 is ok, right? Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. School's almost over for me, so I should be back to a mostly consistent release schedule. Thanks for reading and please share it with other people, I would really appreciate it!