Pandora and Icarus went back to the Akashic archives. However, Pandora is sitting on the couch clutching at her heart. "He died, Icarus. He died for NOTHING! I-I sent him out there. I gave him my power, and he died. I gave him hope he could win! I-I wanted him to win! I killed him!" She cries out, her face somehow still looking perfect even while she's crying.
Icarus looks to the screen. "Pandora. I get it. But let's not… Ivar lost, but… GAH!" He says taking a quick little walk around the room. "What the hell am I supposed to say!? We lost the first fight! We'll make up for it in the second!" He says hearing Pandora's sobs as he looks the screen over. "I guess I'll choose the next fighter?" He says stepping in front of the screen.
Pandora sniffs. "No… I should pick them. I know more about humans than you do. A-and I'm the one who gives them the power to win," She says getting up and tripping on the way to the screen, Icarus shooting forward to catch her.
"Hey hey. Careful will you!?" He says getting her to her feet. "We'll get through this. Humanity is strong. We've beaten the gods before. But the next fight should start any moment. So we need to-" Suddenly a large intercom turns on with Heimdall's voice entering the room.
"Um… this thing on? Due to some… unforeseen complications, we're going to take a break between the first and second fight. That is all!"
Icarus sits Pandora down. "Oh… Guess we've got a bit of time then? Want to… build our roster then? So we don't have to worry about who's going? But just… who goes next?" He suggests and Pandora nods.
"Let's do that. And let's make sure these guys are as tough as they get! I don't… I don't want to send more of them to their deaths! I have some ideas already. Let's do it!" She says getting up and moving to the screen, with Icarus standing beside her, as the two discuss who they're going to choose, mostly Pandora going bright-eyed as she talks about how awesome these people are.
-Meanwhile-
"HaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!" Zeus says staring up at Ra with a twisted, angry expression on his wrinkly face. "I'm CERTAIN I misheard you, Ra. Did you just imply that I, the god among gods, is unfit to choose our fighters?"
Ra leans back in his seat, leaning on his fist again. "That I did, Zeus. And I would like you to comply. Your judgments for the previous fights left much to be desired. Need I remind you of the death of your own brothers, and the fact that we, the almighty gods, were defeated?"
Zeus' body begins growing with muscle, dwarfing his head. Ra's dancers have stopped dancing and are instead looking quite afraid of Zeus' grotesque form. "I'd watch what you say next, boy. I don't like your tone!" He says as he steps forward when suddenly, the entire room begins warping as Zeus feels himself get dizzy all of a sudden, falling onto his knee with his fist against the ground to keep steady, the dancers and him beginning to sweat.
"Zeus. When speaking to me, I would like you to address me properly. Need I remind you of who exactly YOU are speaking to?" Ra stands, grabs his staff, and walks down the steps as Zeus bites his lip in anger, drawing blood as he feels himself heating up the closer Ra gets.
"Alright. I understand, Ra. I have little desire to fight you anyway," he says shrinking down as the room begins cooling down again. "Let's see if your judgment is any better than my own then... kid."
Ra stands right in front of him, looking down at the god among gods. "There is no doubt."
Zeus turns on his heel to leave, placing his hands on the giant doors. "But I'm warning you, Ra. Humanity is stronger than you think," He says pushing the doors open with such immense force that the golden, incredibly heavy gates fly off the hinges, down the glass bridge. "Oops," He says with a jubilant little skip down the hall. "My baAaAad," He sings as Ra smirks.
"What a childish attitude to take for someone so ancient," he looks to the two giant guardians who opened the doors for him. "I would like that fixed," He sits himself back on his throne. "You may dance," He orders his dancers. "Now then, little Pandora. Let's see if you have the resolve to go against me," He says bringing up a large screen as he leans back on his throne. "And MY thirteen combatants. Zeus. You senile old fool. So favorably choosing your Greek Pantheon. I, however, have no such qualms. Strength isn't decided by your pantheon after all." He looks them over and chuckles a little, before going into full-blown laughter. "They will lose seven to nill!"
- Raijin
- Cabrakan
- Michael
- Tsukuyomi
- Sobek
- Cthulhu
- Thoth
- Hachiman
- Yu Huang
- Icarus
- Fenrir
- Sett
- Tyr
Ra puts a finger on his chin looking over his list with clearly malicious intent. "Now Osiris? Be so kind as to fetch our next combatant," He lets on a smirk as a man walks out from behind his throne. A green-tinted quite feminine man with a white robe and long black hair a golden ring around each of his thumbs and big toes, holding an ornate crook in one hand. He has various tattoos around his body including one around his eyes making it appear he's wearing eye-liner on one eye.
"Of course. Right away, Ra." He says suddenly disappearing.
Ra swipes onto a certain god. "Let us see. Pandora. Little Pandora. How you handle one of the all-time greats," He says snapping his fingers as four gigantic men come through the doors and slowly but surely pick up his pyramid. "His battle is one I must be close to. Especially if 'they' will be there."
-Akashic archive-
Meanwhile, in the archives, Icarus looks intently at the list, as if scanning it for something specific. Pandora slides in a final picture. "A-Alright! For now. Before we have more time to choose them! These are our fighters!" Pandora declares looking up at the screen with only 12 faces.
- Saito Musashibo Benkei
- Ludvig van Beethoven
- Ivar Ragnarsson
- Muhammad Ali
- Sun Tzu
- Arthur Pendragon
- Ichiko
- Erich Hartmann
- Blackbeard
- Harry Houdini
- Adolf Hitler
- Dante Alighieri
"Do we… hand this over to Heimdall?" She asks and Icarus shrugs.
"Honestly I'm not sure. But it's dumb to have empty slots. What if we end up in fight 13?! Then you won't have anyone left!" He says shaking his head and Pandora gulps.
"Y-yeah. I know but- I don't know who else to choose! I have plenty of time to think anyway! I promise you, I will come up with someone." However, she is interrupted as suddenly there's another voice over the intercom.
"Good evening, gods and insects," Ra's voice says making silence fall on the arena and Pandora looks up to the speaker as she notices Icarus clenching his fist.
"Ra..." He simply says, Pandora tilting her head a little. Does he know Ra?
"I would simply like to let everyone know this. Zeus has retired from running this tournament," He explains and in the arena the humans all seem happy, looking at each other.
"Alright! If Zeus isn't running things maybe we have a chance right!?" "Yeah! Zeus was definitely responsible for some of those unfavorable match-ups!"
Meanwhile, the gods are in disarray. "WHAT?! Zeus has given up on us!?" "Impossible!" "Yeah! NO ONE wants to kill those damn humans more than him!" "Well, there's-" "NO! No one talks about HIM!"
"Instead, I, Ra, would like to supervise the gods' team from this point forward," And with those simple words, as if by magic or divine intervention, every god, not one deviant, became silent.
"Well… if it's Ra then we will be fine," "Yeah. Let's get on with this tournament then! The arena's fixed so what's the holdup?!" "Probably that damn Pandora! Not able to choose!"
Pandora meanwhile looks to Icarus. "You know him? You're trembling?" She asks as Icarus suddenly spins on his heel folding his wing around himself.
"Whatever. Let's just… choose who's next!"
"This message is for little Pandora. I would like you to know who our next combatant is. Hachiman of the Japanese Pantheon. Do not disappoint." Ra adds with a smirk so clear on his face that it can be heard through his voice.
Pandora looks at their own screen the panic more than clear on her face. "HACHIMAN!? T-THAT Hachiman!? But… who could possibly… take him on?" She asks frantically swiping over her current roster.
Icarus crosses his arms. "Against THE God of War? I think we ought to pick someone as big of a war nut as him. So it has to be…" He starts, pointing to the screen. "HIM!"
Pandora gulps. "But… he's a monster. T-the only reason I put him up there was… I dunno."
"Well, he's probably good?"
-In the arena-
Heimdall once more holds up his horn. "With damages, taken care of, and tensions running through the roof it's time for the next match! After such a bloody and wild battle, let's see if these two fighters can bring us something as spectacular! Now with the great Ra in the seat of choosing our fighters we can surely expect some strong picks!" He calls as the gods cheer for Ra, who sits atop the gods' spectator area, on his throne still, watching over everything with a confident smirk on his face. The mere sight of him gives humanity a worried look as if this is a sign of things to come.
Heimdall points to the gods' hallway. "One such pick is this god! Across all nine realms, when his blade rings through the air, creatures large and small shiver in fear! Of all gods to ever exist, none come close to his skill with the sword!" He starts as the slow steps of metal geta sandals echo through the hall as lights begin to shine around the man. "Long ago he discarded his position of God of War to become a simple farmer, being the only god in history to ever grow tired of his position! Was it foolish or was it simply necessary!? YOU DECIDE!"
The god is revealed as he steps into the light, dressed in an old rather ragged samurai uniform. It is a mat red, designed only with practicality in mind. Large loose shoulder armor made from the sturdiest bamboo. His head is adorned with a Kabuto helmet with a bright white crescent moon design adorned onto it. His face is covered in a menpo with a large hole around his mouth showing off an impressively thick and straight mustache growing horizontally from his face as well as azure eyes right above it, piercing Heimdall straight through. "Whatever the case may be for this god it is clear that now that he is here we will get to see it! The legendary battle skill of history's oldest deity of war! The god who has single-handedly ended as many wars as he has started! The definition of a one-man army!" He yells out as Hachiman puts his hand on his sword grip. His blade is kept safe in a pure black sheathe, the grip is a pure white with purple diamonds engraved into it.
"To guide the great war of Ragnarok into the favor of the gods! To guide the humans lost in the fog of war on Earth! To slay those who cower in the face of true battle! To live and die by the sword! THUS HE HAS LIVED! None shall escape the cut of his eternal blade, Kimo! GODS AND HUMANS ALIKE! Behold the legendary oldest and most powerful war god to ever walk the heavens! The one-bladed army! THE CRIMSON ONI! THE EIGHT BANNERS OF WAR! HACHIMAN NO MIKOTO!" Heimdall screams out as the entire gods' side of the arena erupts into a mix of cheers and laughter.
"BAHAHAHA! He shows his face does he!?" "The only god to ever openly disgrace himself!" "HEY! He's a LEGEND!" "Yeah! A legend who gave up on BEING a god!"
Hachiman however does not get mad. He hardly stirs. "Such a rowdy bunch of children." He merely comments looking around. Heimdall scoots closer very subtly.
"S-say Great Hachiman. Would it be possible to get you to… sign my Gjallarhorn?"
Hachiman glances down at him with a soul-freezing glare before crouching down to Heimdall's size, taking off his menpo mask, revealing that the mustache is his own and not one attached to the mask. "Very well. You have something to write with, my boy?" He asks and Heimdall gets a signature written in calligraphy on his horn reading 'war'. "There. That ought to suffice, child. It is good to know SOME children nowadays respect their elders," He says patting Heimdall on the head like a loving grandfather almost.
Heimdall blushes as he springs back to the middle of the arena. "Hell yeah! Now let's get on with this! FOR THE HUMANS!" He says holding out his hand as suddenly a bunch of soldiers up front unveil two large banners. Red with a swastika on them. "In his own words, this man is a man of purity! In the words of the rest of humanity, he is the definition of impurity! Said by the gods to be a remnant of the world they left behind! He may not be the most prolific tyrant of mankind! But this man needs little introduction!" He calls as a man steps out from the shadows. Tall and pale, wearing a light-green military uniform with many medals strung across the chest, with a mustache much smaller than Hachiman, merely a single stripe under his nose. "This man has single-handedly crushed humanity's chances to appease the gods! After the second world war, with this man in the center, the gods decided to end humanity! So in a way! THIS MAN can be said to be the cause of Ragnarok!" He continues as the man walks closer to the middle as the soldiers all call out.
"SIEG! HEIL! SIEG HEIL!"
"He is one of the most despicable individuals in all of humanity! The darkest mind of all of humanity! Modern times' most vicious general! THE GENOCIDER OF THE JEWISH! THE GERMAN EXTERMINATOR! ADOLF HITLER!"
Hachiman straightens his back as he steps a little closer to the human. "I hope you will entertain me, child."
Hitler scoffs. "This will be over before you know it," He says as Heimdall looks the two men over raising his hand.
"Well… LET THE SECOND MA-" He starts before suddenly, without warning, a gunshot echoes through the arena. No one saw a thing. But suddenly… Hachiman is standing behind the dictator, having drawn his blade. Heimdall suddenly catches something falling into his hands. He quickly drops it, however. It's Hitler's head! He looks at the human's body, seeing the smoking gun in his hand fall to the floor. "W-what HAPPENED!?" Heimdall yells out. "You people really need to listen out for when I actually start the fights! B-but with that… I guess… the second match is conclu-" Heimdall says before Hachiman suddenly screams out and spins to face the gods, specifically the screen which Ra is watching from.
"RAAAAAAAAAAA! I was promised a battle worthy of my name!" He cries out and suddenly a sight not seen on many gods appears. Tears. "This man… this man was no general! Let alone a warrior! PANDORA!" He says gritting his teeth, spinning on his heel to the other side, pointing his crimson red sword at Pandora. "I DEMAND a proper battle! This will NOT be my first and only fight in MILLIONS of years!" He yells striking his blade into the ground as the body of Adolf Hitler turns to dust behind him.