Chapter 38

Fiery Stand-off

"An incredibly heart-pounding conclusion to Round 4, Set may have held the advantage in raw speed and strength, but it was Koschei's tenacity and reflexes which won him the match in the end!"

As Heimdall finalized the results of Round 4 and the devastating truth for her, Nephthys was inconsolable. While celebratory cheers echoed all around her, the goddess was on her knees, quietly sobbing over the loss of her husband. Isis knelt down next to her, gently whispering comforting words in an attempt to soothe her grieving sister. Isis may have detested Set with every fiber of her being, but she knew the pain of losing one's soulmate, and it wasn't a feeling she wished upon anyone much less her sister.

As his mother and aunt embraced, Horus stood solemnly, looking over the marble banisters as the last of his uncle's essence disappeared into the air. "Goodbye you old bastard…" He whispered softly, out of respect for the mourning Nephthys, "You let envy and hatred rule your heart, as far as I'm concerned, you deserved this. Yet part of me wishes I didn't have to hate you, part of me wishes that I actually knew you as an uncle. Farewell, Set, send my father my regards."

…

As he made his way down the corridors of the arena, the irritating cheers of humanity could still be heard loud and clear in the ears of Ra. "Pathetic," He smirked to himself, "Barely managing to tie the score and they think all is well? Humans are incredibly deluded, wouldn't you three agree…?"

At the other end of the corridor stood Prometheus, Pandora and Göll, on their way back to the Akashic Records to prepare for the fifth round. The titan's eyes narrowed as he stepped in front of his two companions in the presence of their most dangerous adversary.

Ra's malicious grin only widened, "Long time no see Prometheus, these girls with you… I assume the blond one must be Hephaestus' little passion project? And of course who could forget the weakest of the Valkyrie Sisters? I'm sure Brunhilde must be extremely proud of you right now, Göll."

Pandora and Göll shivered, there were so many retorts swirling in both their minds that they wished to make heard. Yet in the crushing presence of Ra, they found that their lips didn't even dare separate.

"What do you want Ra?" Prometheus spat with uncharacteristic aggression, earning a cruel laugh from the Sun God.

"Why such anger, Prometheus?" Ra mocked, taking a step forward and causing the titan to flinch, "You know, after the council were so kind enough to release you early from your sentence, I assumed you'd learn gratitude and stay in line… A shame, the leopard can't change its spots it seems."

"The council didn't release me," Prometheus replied, his armored hands balling into fists, "Heracles did, I owe none of you any favors."

"But only with our approval," Ra retorted smugly, tapping the side of his head. "I must applaud the effort shown by you three. A futile attempt perhaps, but effort nonetheless, pity it will only end in your demise… Though, you've already had more than enough experiences with obvious failures to share with your companions, don't you Prometheus?"

Those words that left the Sun God's mouth seemed to trigger something within the Titan of Foresight. For as soon as they did, a ball of fire ignited in the palm of Prometheus. Despite the protest of his companions, the titan drew his hand back, and flung his flaming projectile with incredible pin-point accuracy towards Ra's smug face.

"BOOM!"

The ensuing explosion shook the entire corridor to its very core, loose debris and concrete rained down from the roof, caking the entire walkway in a thin layer of smoke. Pandora and Göll coughed loudly, shielding their eyes as they desperately tried to peer through the dust and rubble. Had Prometheus actually managed to deal a blow at the Chief God of the Duat himself?

The two girls suddenly felt themselves bump into someone, and their heads frantically darted upwards to see who it was, fearing that they had accidentally ran into the enemy in the confusion. Thankfully, Pandora and Göll were met by the familiar face of Prometheus, the titan quickly pulled them behind him as they all bore witness to the result of his impulsive action.

"D-did you get him?" Pandora whispered softly,

"Idiot girl, I should cut off your tongue for such a blasphemous statement."

The trio tensed, as Ra revealed himself from out of the dust and smoke. The Sun God was completely unharmed, with not so much as a scratch on his body, casually tossing to and fro in between his hands, the very fireball Prometheus had thrown.

Ra caught the ball in his right hand, bringing it up to his face and inspecting it with mocking disdain. "Really now Prometheus, you've become rusty, was THIS really your best attempt? How laughably pathetic… and it's not even your own to boot. I must say, I'm honestly… disappointed." At that moment, the Sun God held forth his right hand, Prometheus's flame still blazing on his palm. A sinister light glinted in Ra's eyes as his smile widened even more still.

"Allow me to show you how it is supposed to be done."

All of a sudden, the entire corridor seemed to warp, as Prometheus' fireball began swirling in the palm of Ra. The flames seemed to leap in height, growing larger with each passing second and bathing the surrounding walls in a fiery glow. Yet instead of sweat from the immense heat within the growing fireball, the trio felt goosebumps running up their arms as the surrounding temperature seemed to plummet, plunging the hallway's atmosphere into a frigid coldness.

Prometheus gritted his chattering teeth, eyes widening as he saw Ra's fireball shaking violently as though it had hit critical mass. The titan barely had time to force his two companions to the ground, as with a casual flick of his wrist, the Sun God sent the blazing wrecking ball barreling their way. Though it soared above their head, Prometheus, Pandora and Göll soon felt the heat of Ra's flames searing their backs, as an explosive "CRASH!" shook the entire arena to its very foundation. The fireball had collided into a wall, shattering and reducing marble into rubble within seconds, leaving behind an enormous hole and allowing the sun's natural light to grace the torn up corridor.

As Prometheus helped them back to their feet, Pandora and Göll paled at the sheer destruction one fireball had caused, while the titan glared furiously at Ra. The Sun God brushed past them with a self-satisfied smile, as he stepped over the rubble and debris of his own making.

"That," Ra said, stopping for a moment to look back at the trio with a condescending smirk, "was a real fireball. You have become sloppy Prometheus, even an amateur at pyromancy would have yielded better results. Though like I have already said, you never did know when to quit for your own good, did you?"

Taking his leave, Ra chuckled to himself upon hearing a small ding ring out from Prometheus' pocket, as he rounded the corner and disappeared from the trio's view. Standing straight, Prometheus fished his tablet from out of his pocket, opening the screen to see what he had just been notified about.

"What is it, Prometheus?" Göll asked as the titan's expression hardened, handing over his tablet to the valkyrie for her and Pandora to see for themselves. Göll paled as she saw what was on the screen, Raphael's name emblazoned in big bold letters, indicating that the archangel would be the next representative of the gods.

"No… not Brother Raphael… not this early." Göll muttered as she passed the tablet back to Prometheus with shaking hands.

"M-maybe he'll defect to our side?" Pandora piped up hopefully, "Or at the very least… go easy on our fighter?"

"If only Pandora," Prometheus said, beginning to walk away with a resigned look on his face, "but Ra is not Zeus. Unlike that old fogey, the Sun God is bound to keep his fighters on a tight leash, ensuring they do as they are told. He would ensure they more or less stay in line, unlikely to rebel, much less pull a 'Buddha'."

"But the archangels have defied the Duat before!" Göll argued, as she and Pandora struggled to keep up, "Not only that, they actually managed to win! Who's to say they won't be able to do it again?"

"Ra wasn't in charge of the Duat then, but not only is he now Chairman of the Valhalla Council, he has both the Aztec and Shinto Pantheon at Egypt's beck and call. To pull a stunt like defecting to our side… Raphael risks incurring the wrath of three of the strongest pantheons currently, and the destruction of his own. That would be too great a cost for even one so selfless as him, to bear.

"S-so what's your plan now, Prometheus," Göll shivered, the uncanny feeling of deja vu running down her spine.

The titan grimaced, "It's like your sister once said, Göll. When faced with divine benevolence, we must answer with the darker side of humanity. For Jack the Ripper, it was malice, but for our next fighter…"

Pandora and Göll shuddered at the dark glint that shone in Prometheus' golden eyes,

"It's a deep-seated VENDETTA."

…

Meanwhile, Earth:

It was around noon in Singapore on a weekday, and for the residents living in one of the many apartment flats that littered the island nation. This time of day would bring relative peace and quiet to the neighborhood, with all the adults at work and the children still in school. However, on this particular day, one particular level located in an undisclosed block, found that not to be the case.

"Alright, gotta take this, definitely gotta bring this along… Oh can't forget to take this either!" From within a flat that had its door and gates wide open, the sound of someone rummaging through their cupboards, closets and shelves could be clearly heard down the long corridor it and many other flats were located on.

"Going out, Mr Wu?" A lady in her mid forties asked, poking her head out of her flat to see what the commotion was about.

"Yah, Ms Lim!" Wukong replied, appearing in the entrance of his flat's door, back in his human disguise and in the midst of stuffing various items in a carry-on sack. "It's a long trip, so there's bound to be a bit of preparation."

"I see, I see." His neighbor answered, "Have you finished the fried rice I gave you the other day?"

"Of course! Your cooking's the best, you know. I'm even bringing the leftovers to eat on the way!"

The lady waved her hand dismissively with a grin, "Small thing, especially after you helped tutor my son for his exam, he went from Cs and Ds to As and Bs! Its the least I could do in return."

"No problem at all, just make sure he practices while I'm gone, I don't want to come back hearing that all my effort went to waste!" Wukong's words made his neighbor laugh,

"Of course, of course. But where are you going Mr Wu, overseas?"

"Something like that, Ms Lim." Wukong grinned, tying his sack around the end of his staff, "I am meeting with some old acquaintances outside of Singapore. But don't worry, I'll definitely miss you and everyone else here!"

"I'm sure you will! Have a safe trip, Mr Wu!"

Bidding his neighbor a final farewell and carrying his makeshift bindle behind his back, Wukong descended from his floor down to the void deck of the building, whistling as he made his way over to an empty parking lot devoid of any prying eyes. Standing in the middle of the lot, Wukong turned to give the block of flats one last farewell as he shed his mortal disguise.

"Man, I'm gonna miss this place… though with any luck, I'll be back by Chinese New Year! Alright old buddy," the Monkey King called out to the cloudy sky above, "Haven't used you in a bit… But, Somersaulting Cloud! I summon thee once again!"

Immediately on cue, a wooly nimbus-like cloud separated from the billow of clouds, soaring down quickly and landing next to the Monkey King's feet, allowing him to hop on before it rose into the air above once again.

"Whoohoohoo! Just as fast as I remembered, and the view is still as spectacular as ever! Now, head towards Valhalla!" Wukong cheered as he pointed his finger higher, "Actually, wait no, scratch that…" The Monkey King muttered, scratching his chin, "There's still a few places I wanna go before I leave, I probably should have made a list beforehand… Oh well, it's not like I don't have time to spare! Guess I'll just head to whichever place comes to mind first, and THEN…!"

Sun Wukong pointed his finger again with renewed vigor, as he blasted off into the horizon atop his Somersaulting Cloud,

"IT'S ONWARDS TO THE HEAVENS!"