"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT!?"

Ra's eyes widen as he hears Tyr accept Wukong's deal for a break. "Tyr! What is the meaning of this? I would like you to kill him. He is weakened is he not? Do. Your. Duty," He demands and Tyr scoffs.

"I already said that I have little interest in Ragnarok. Wukong has proven himself a worthy opponent. So I will fight him at his best, whether that means I must wait for an hour. A day. A week. A year. Does not matter to me. I have plenty of time. But know this: When we fight, I will best him. It is that simple."

Ra taps his staff. "That is NOT how this works! Heimdall. Explain," He glares at Heimdall making the announcer shiver seeing Ra staring at him.

"W-well… there… is no set time limit. A-and it is my duty to… be perfectly neutral. So I cannot say anything except… this is entirely within the rules of Ragnarok," He says and the gods all erupt in anger.

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" "Get a move on!" "Kick that Monkey's ASS!" "We're not here to WASTE our time!"

Wukong picks his ear a bit. "And like I said before. If you've got a problem with it. Come down here and MAKE ME move!"

Tyr nods. "And this time, you will have to contest with me as well. Go ahead," Suddenly the gods all start to murmur amongst each other. "Thought so. So how long do you plan to stall, Monkey King?"

Wukong shrugs. "Till I get bored, then we fight and I'll show you some new tricks,"

"Sounds good with me,"

Izanagi grips the ends of his throne. "That monkey! He DARE waste our time!?"

Yu Huang heartedly chuckles. "Thus is the nature of Wukong. There is nothing to be done. Say… while they relax, what say you three to a trip to the Jade Palace for some tea and food? If you wish"

Izanami claps. "My that sounds just lovely!" She glares down at the arena. "We will hopefully return to something more exciting."

Yu Huang strokes his beard. "I have quite the expensive Oracle-sphere so we can watch from there as well if you so wish,"

Tsukuyomi stands and gently hands Yu Huang his white drake back. "I would rather watch it in person. I can learn much from these two, I believe, uncle," Yu Huang picks the drake up, setting it on Tsukuyomi's shoulder and it nuzzles his head. "This is not… Very well," He pokes it's nose and it sneezes a little white flame.

Ra looks over at the Shinto trio and Yu Huang leaving. "How droll. Osiris,"

Osiris leans forward. "Yes, lord Ra?"

Ra leans on his fist. "We are leaving. Take me to the Duat," Osiris nods and Ra's servants pick up his throne to carry him away. "I will not forget this, Tyr. I am Ra. You do not simply deny ME," He mutters.

-In the Akashic Records-

Pandora and Icarus suddenly feel the entire arena shake and Pandora grabs hold of Icarus' wing to steady herself. "Whaaaa!? W-what was THAT!?" She cries out and Icarus looks around, tapping a button on the records bringing up the arena.

"It's… the fight it seems? Wait… isn't that…?"

Pandora nods excitedly. "The guy who watched Sun Tzu and Hachiman's fight with us! Wukong! He seemed SUPER strong!"

Icarus nods. "Yeah… he went to ANNOY Ra afterwards… who does that?"

"Someone strong!" She looks to Icarus with sparkling eyes. "Then we've got PLENTY of time to come up with a great plan!"

Icarus blushes slightly seeing her look so excitedly at him. "Y-yeah. A great plan… I guess… we should think of who we want to fight each match going forward… right?"

Pandora looks up at her roster with a nod. "Yes."

- Saito Musashibo Benkei

- Ludwig Van Beethoven

- Ivar Ragnarsson

- Muhammad Ali

- Sun Tzu

- Arthur Pendragon

- Ichiko

- Erich Hartmann

- Blackbeard

- Harry Houdini

- Adolf Hitler

- Dante Alighieri

- Icarus

"Let's start with… you!" Pandora points to Icarus after looking over her roster and Icarus almost jumps back.

"M-me!? Why me!?"

"Well… you're right here. If you had to choose who you'd fight… who do you think you'd stand the best chance against!?"

Icarus looks over the available gods. Thoth, Michael, Tsukuyomi, Sobek, Yu Huang, and Fenrir and… he knows he's on there as well. "I guess if I had to say… Sobek. My partial flight and general nimbleness should… work well against him," He says, trailing off slightly knowing he's just lying to her. He's not going to fight anyone of the gods after all.

Pandora nods. "Alright sounds good! Then we can allocate our powerhouse to someone else… I'd say… Fenrir! Come on let's go ask!" She grabs Icarus' arm and they rush off.

"O-oi hey! Where are we going!?" He frantically asks stumbling a bit before getting his bearings. She's so excited…

"We're going to see our power-house! BENKEI!"

"Benkei…?" Icarus is not familiar but soon enough they stop in front of a door with an ornate japanese Torii-gate around it and a wood carving that appears to be in the shape of a bridge with cherry blossoms around it. "This is his door?" Icarus looks up. "Isn't this a little…" He measures the door to himself. "Huge? What kind of person is this Benkei?"

Pandora grins and tries pushing the door open. "He's… hnnnnnn… a monk."

"A MONK!?" Icarus angrily grits his teeth. "You picked a person from a group known for being peaceful… to fight?" He helps her push the door open nonetheless and as it budges the door they step into a large outdoors-like area with a small temple at the back and a zen-garden aesthetic. There are TONS of people here from all kinds of time periods. Some working on the zen-garden after the shake, feeding the koi fish, sweeping and others are meditating. "Which one… is Benkei?" Icarus asks and Pandora points to the small shrine at the back of the room. In front of it is an incense burner burning some incense and in front sits a man, presumably Benkei, crossed legs seemingly meditating. He's wearing a large monk's robe which is white at the top and black at the bottom and a bit of armor over it. His hair is black and short, held in a tight bun.

"Excuse us! Can we speak with Benkei for a bit?" Pandora calls out stepping inside, feeling glaring eyes on her. But… only for a moment. The next everyone moves out of the way in almost… odd unison. "Huh…?" She has never gotten THAT reaction before!

Icarus steps forward towards him when he doesn't respond. "I think he's sleeping?" He closes in. "Heeeey?"

Suddenly the man opens his eyes. "Benkei was not sleeping. Benkei was thinking," Icarus jumps back as he stands. Sitting down Icarus was easily taller but… why does he keep rising?! Icarus gulps as Benkei stands in front of him, nearly four heads taller than Icarus. A MASSIVE man. He didn't really notice when he looked at his simple clothing but… he's BIG. REALLY big. Both in height AND muscle. "What may Benkei help you with? Benkei is busy with many things."

Icarus takes a few steps back to stand next to Pandora. "Wow… you're… really big,"

Benkei crosses his arms. "You heard Benkei was a monk, and underestimated him, did you not? Then allow Benkei to answer in kind!" He holds out his arm, raising his foot and stomping the ground. "Strike Benkei with all your might! Benkei shall not fall!" He yells as the whole room practically shakes and Icarus takes a small step back again. All the people inside cheer in unison briefly before getting back to work.

"N-no that's… I'm good. I take it back. This guy is… a good choice," He says, a bit surprised that Pandora would choose someone THIS strong. He doesn't even have to fight this man to know.

Pandora excitedly jumps around Benkei. "It's so cool to finally meet you! You're even bigger than your stories make you out to be!" Benkei picks Pandora up and laughs.

"Buwahaha! Benkei is glad to meet you as well! Now what do you need from Benkei at this moment?"

Icarus steps forward. "Well we were making a plan. And we were wondering if there's any particular god you'd prefer to fight?" They show Benkei the list of choices Ra has made.

"Hmmm… Benkei does not particularly care whom he will battle. Benkei will never fall. That is all. But if you must create a proper strategy like this for ALL of us Einherjar, we suggest you go ask Sun Tzu. When it comes to tactics he will be able to help much more so than Benkei," Benkei says and Pandora pokes her lips.

"Alright. Can we just hang around for a bit. Your room is so… relaxing,"

"Benkei cannot tell you what to do. Only suggest. Benkei will go back to thinking. Do not worry about the others. They will not stand in your way. Benkei has ensured it," Benkei looks to Icarus and briefly narrows his eyes. "Hmpf…" He sits back down and almost instantly falls into the trance he was in when they arrived.

Pandora grabs Icarus' hand. "Icarus… walk with me?" She asks and the two take a stroll through Benkei's zen garden, which seems to already be back in pristine condition after the shaking from Wukong's God-crushing Spear, all of the workers moving out of their way when they approach.

Except one they bump against, who quickly lowers his straw kasa. "Oh. So sorry. Let me get out of your way," The monk says quickly stepping aside, Icarus looking curiously after him as he walks towards the middle square.

"Icarus…" Pandora starts looking a little nervous, fidgeting with her hands a bit. "You've been acting a bit weird for a while now. And I'm sorry,"

Icarus' eyes widen. "You're… sorry?"

"It's because… you don't think I'm cut out for this isn't it?"

"That's… that's not it. It's something else. I'd… rather not talk about it. But… why do you think you're not cut out for this?"

"I dunno… because… Ivar and Ali… they're gone… because of me. I chose them. And they lost. W-when Raijin showed up at the gym…" Tears start forming in her eyes. "Shouldn't I have realized Ali would lose!? Isn't that what… what Brunhilde would've seen!?" She asks and Icarus looks down at her confused.

"Hey hey… You couldn't have done anything differently! Raijin and Cthulhu were just… too strong,"

Pandora nods. "Yeah… but even with Sun Tzu… I wasn't really in charge there… he chose himself. So… only Beethoven came out on top because of me,"

Icarus nods. "Yeah and… what a win that was. R-right!?" He's not entirely sure why he's trying to cheer her up.

Pandora sobs a little. "I just want to save humanity. I love them so much. They're always moving forward, always challenging themselves… always dreaming of such grand things, trusting each other with their ambitions. The gods… can't DO that."

Icarus takes a deep breath, looking to the sky. "Yeah… humans will do whatever it takes to protect the ones they care about. Carry those people's dreams on their back,"

They stop in front of a koi-pond brimming with carps. "..."

"..." There is a silent comfort in the air now. Pandora has wiped away her last tears and Icarus looks at her cute face as she looks down at the fish swimming around. He looks down as well and suddenly his wing folds out and wraps around her a bit. "You're doing just fine, Pandora. Benkei is a great choice," He adds and Pandora grabs his wing with a sniffle, holding it in front of her mouth.

"Y-you mean it?" Icarus blushes and swiftly retracts his wing to cover his own face.

"I do. Now… come on. We have to go see Sun Tzu right?" He asks and Pandora nods as they head out.

Pandora waving at Benkei. "G-goodbye for now, Mister Benkei! We will be sure to contact you when your turn comes!"

"Benkei is always ready," One of the gardeners says as they leave. He tips down his cap over his face and walks through the main area towards the shrine. "Oh Benkeeeeeeeeei," he says, Benkei opening his eyes. "What did you think of that Icarus boy? Strange huh?"

Benkei opens his eyes. "You… are not one of us," He says and the gardener looks a little shocked. "Identify yourself, or Benkei will strike you down," He says as the others all turn in unison rather eerily to glare at the monk who looks shocked.

"Wha!?" His shock turns into a chuckle. He flicks the robes off, standing in his white suit. It's Houdini. "How'd a guy like you figure THAT out, I wonder,"

Just as fast as the group of monks had turned to glare, do they go back to their work. "You are Harry Houdini. What do you need from Benkei?"

Harry smirks. "I'm going to the library to read a book. I need someone big and strong to help with the heavy lifting,"

"Hmmm…"

Harry twirls his staff around. "Oh? You can't do it?"

Benkei stands and is handed a giant Naginata as tall as him. "Lead the way then."