Hell everyone! I apologise for being so slow. That being said, in my downtime I've been thinking of trying writing an extended crew One Piece story, what with having writers block. I've finished the first chapter, and what can I say my creative juices got flowing. I probably won't post it any time soon, but let me know if any of you are interested in that! Let's get this up boys!

Heads up though, I may be slow to update for the next little bit. Still working past that aforementioned block. Apologies.

Enjoy!

"Fire God's Inferno!" Katsuchi watched as his attack seared towards the massive cyborg, and engulfed him in flames. He waited with baited breath to see if anything had happened, but it seemed that it resulted in the same as usual; nothing.

Hephaestus had become massively resistant to both his and Tetsu's attacks, his new body seemingly impossible to penetrate with either flame or iron. What exactly was he made of?

"Is this really all that a couple of God Slayers can manage?" Hephaestus asked as he picked away at some soot on his body. "I really was hoping for something more intense."

"I guess it makes sense that a talking dumpster talks so much trash!" Tetsu shouted, having come up to him from behind. Katsuchi watched as his friends blades bounced off the mans body harmlessly, not able to do a thing to him. Hephaestus looked over his shoulder, like he was being bitten by a small insect.

"Oh, I'm sorry." he said as he raised his hammer over his head. "I forgot there was two of you." He brought the weapon down on Tetsu, who blocked with his armoured arms. Katsuchi watched as Tetsu was forced into the ground, a crater being created by the force of the impact.

"What're you waiting for, Kat?!" Tetsu shouted. "Attack the bastard!" Gritting his teeth., Katsuchi lit himself alight and launched himself at Hephaestus, bringing his power to his hands.

"Fire God's Death Scythe!" He drove the weapon down onto the titan of a man, only for it to barely sear his back. Not willing to give up, he dissolved the weapon and grabbed at his steely back, funnelling as much of his power into his hands as he could. He watched as the metal began to glow, obviously becoming much hotter than before. Despite the clear heat increase, he couldn't force his fire through the mans body.

"Ah," Hephaestus said through the screaming of pressure. "That heat really helps with my sore back, I appreciate it kid." Lifting his leg, Hephaestus kicked Tetsu away and turned in one swift motion to deliver a similar motion to Katsuchi. Both men were forced away and stumbled to stand.

"Got any ideas, Kat?" Tetsu asked as he got to his feet. "Cause I'm really starting to get ticked off."

"I'm working on it, man." Katsuchi replied. This just earned them a robotic laugh from Hephaestus.

"It was foolish of you to assume you could defeat me, children." He said. "Our cause is not only righteous, we are strong enough to carry it out."

"Yeah?" Katsuchi hissed as his anger began to bubble to the surface. "That way you fired a massive weapon upon a city of innocents? For your so called righteous cause? Bullshit! You killed so many people!"

"Strange," Hephaestus said. "There seems to be a critical lack of evidence for such a claim."

"Excuse me?" Tetsu demanded. "Did you see the ruins yourself, or is that robotic eye of yours defective?"

"I can see just fine," Hephaestus replied. "I did not see the body's you claim exist. After all, I've been here longer than you two. I know the extent of the damage." Silence fell upon the trio at this, and Katsuchi could feel his magic leaking out of him, causing his hair and clothes to ripple.

"Hey, Tetsu." He said.

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm through talking to this asshole, you agree with that?" He didn't get an answer immediately. he just watched as Tetsu turned his arms into razor sharp katanas.

"Agreed. Let's cut his mouth off first."

"Elise what the hell are you doing?!"

"I don't know, I'm not in control of myself!" Azzie growled and dodged another swing from Elise's sword arm, and glared over at Aphrodite, who was just been standing there watching so far.

"What did you do to her?!" She demanded. Aphrodite laughed.

"Not much," she replied. "Just made it so her body doesn't obey her." Azzie didn't have time for this. While they sat here fighting each other, Nashi was still unconscious and in danger of being kidnapped by this woman. She really couldn't let this happen.

"Just get out of my way, okay Elise?!" She demanded, her hand glowing. One touch to the shorter girls head and she collapsed, panting heavily. Azzie wasted no time in running past the girl towards Aphrodite, who looked fairly irritated.

"I really needed too not run into you," she hissed as Azzie approached her. "You really do make things too difficult for someone like me."

"I suppose that only helps me then!" The beautiful woman just smirked at this.

"Better watch your back though, nobody should get so cocky so easily." Azzie's eyes widened, and she dipped to the side just in time to avoid another swing from Elise.

"What the hell?" She asked as she landed. "I dispelled your magic!"

"For a time," Aphrodite replied. "I reapplied it. After all, it doesn't take much pressure for me to simply take control of someone." Azzie dodged another attack from the Iron Dragon and growled, doing her best to figure out what to do. If it really took that little to reapply another charm to Elise, than this fight was going to go nowhere fast. She needed to get to Aphrodite and fast, but that wasn't going to be possible with-

"Oho, what is that I see? Did you really deliver my prey right to me?" Azzie's eyes widened as the woman made for the transport, where Nashi was still out cold. "How kind of you, Azzie!"

"Stay away from her!" Elise shouted, clearly struggling against the woman's control. "I'll kill you!"

"And how do you plan on doing that from back there?" Aphrodite demanded as she hopped aboard the transport. "I think I'll just take this girl for myself and-!"

Azzie's eyes widened as an explosion of flames burst from the transport, causing it to explode violently as Aphrodite screamed.

"What just happened?" She asked weakly.

"I-I don't know..." Elise whispered back. After a few moments of silence, Azzie watched as someone appeared from the smoke, running forth towards them.

Nashi came forth from the flames, panting heavily as she doubled over.

"I-I didn't know I could do that..." Azzie heard her whisper."

"Luna!" Elise shouted. "You can still use your magic?!" The pinkette looked up at this, confused.

"Elise?" She asked. "Uh, yeah, I guess I can. T-That was all on instinct. I barely even remember trying to do that."

"Don't worry, you did good!" Elise said with a smirk. "You probably really did a number on that bitch! Quick, let's get out of here before she grabs a hold of you!" The short girl quickly turned to Azzie, who was sort of lagging behind on what was happening. "You good to go, Azzie?"

"Y-Yeah, let's go." she said. "Try to fill me in on this situation while we run, yeah?" Nodding, the three girls began to run off away from the smoking wreck, and hopefully away from Aphrodite.

Those hopes were dashed, however, as Nashi, or Luna as it seemed she was called, yelped in surprise.

"Luna?" Elise turned as both girls stopped. "What's the matt-?!"

Azzie's eyes widened as both she and Elise were engulfed in flames, shot at them by the pink haired girl. Thinking quickly Azzie dispelled the flames to prevent any really bad damage, but Luna's flames really did hurt.

"I didn't try to do that!" The girl cried. "S-Someone made me!"

"Shit..." Azzie hissed. "We didn't get away in time." As if on cue, a laugh pierced through the air. Looking back towards the raging fire, Aphrodite came forth from the flames. Her dress had been tattered and her body was laced with vicious looking burns, but she still stood.

"Did you idiots really think blowing me up was all you had to do? I'm not Demeter!" Azzie didn't really know what that was supposed to mean, but from the looks of things she was lying through her teeth. She looked like she had one foot in the grave already thanks to the explosion Luna caused, but now that same girl was under her control.

"G-Guys, what is she doing?" Luna asked weakly, standing rigid and waiting for a command. "I can't move!"

"Just stay calm Luna," Elise replied as she readied herself. Azzie and I aren't gonna hurt you, but she's using you as her battle pawn. No need to apologise though."

"I really should be grateful the target has woken up for me," Aphrodite said as she stumbled forward. "There was only so much I could get done with a girl who mainly attacks up close. Thankfully fire doesn't need to be used hand to hand!" As if to prove her point, Aphrodite made Luna attacked with a torrent from her hands, which both girls dodged. It seemed Azzie was the primarily target, as Luna was forced to lob more fireballs in her direction. Using her Nullification Azzie was able to dodge them well enough, but with the way this seemed to be going there was no way she could get close enough to make a difference. Plus if Luna was as powerful as she had been back in the day, well, this was about to get ten times harder.

"I really hope the others are doing okay," she hissed under her breath. "Cause this is seriously above my payroll."

"You're getting paid?" Elise asked.

"Oh come now, this is really the best you guys can do?" Hephaestus asked. Katsuchi didn't want to offer him a response, but he felt not saying anything was more than enough of one. Despite trying his hardest along with Tetsu, the two weren't able to even make a dent of Hephaestus' advanced body. Any mark they were able to make was even more demoralising, as it was small and essentially just a scorch mark. This really was not good.

"Kat, you okay?" He heard Tetsu's voice come somewhere from his right. He only managed a groan in response at first.

"I'm alive," he finally managed as he got to his knees. "Got anymore ideas?"

"None, sadly." This only made Hephaestus laugh as he approached Katsuchi, forcing him back into the ground with his foot. Doing his best to not get dirt into his mouth as he was forced against the dirt, Hephaestus let out a chuckle.

"You children are always so full of hubris," he said. "I know it must hurt to not be right all of the time, but sometimes you're wrong. And this just so happens to be one of those times."

"Shut up already, would you?" Katsuchi hissed as he glared up at the man angrily. "I don't give a shit what your reasoning is. It's not excuse for killing innocent people!"

"I fail to see where we did that in excess."

"Are you joking?!" Tetsu demanded. "We've been over this already, you dropped the equivalent to a bomb on Magnolia!"

"And I told you I did not see an excess of bodies." Hephaestus replied, his foot pushing even harder against Katsuchi's back. "I really don't understand what's so difficult to understand." With a bit more force, Katsuchi felt something in his back creaking from Hephaestus' force. The creak soon became a threatening crack, and Katsuchi began to cry out in pain.

"Kat!" The sound of steel on steel caused the force to disappear. Turning his head weakly, He could see that Tetsu had jumped to his defence, finally forcing the other man off of him.

"Oh?" Hephaestus asked. "I figured all of the fight had already drained out of both of you. No matter, I guess one still stands."

"Kat, can you get up?" Tetsu asked under his breath. Katsuchi did his best too stand up at this question, but he was met with another vicious crack from his back, forcing him into the dirt as he groaned.

"No," he hissed. "My back, he messed it up really bad. At this rate I won't be able to stand at all."

"You sure?"

"Yes," Tetsu didn't respond to this right away, making Katsuchi grit his teeth. "If you have to leave me, then do it. I can hold him off as best I can if you want to-"

"Shut up you dumb ass," Tetsu said shakily, his arms turning into spears. "What kind of friend would I be if I left you to die?" Katsuchi watched his friends back warily, knowing full well that behind that statement he was scared, same as him. He was just trying to hide it. Hephaestus didn't seem phased in this false bravado, instead opting to take a step forward.

Tetsu struck first, moving forward and attempting to stab the man through his metal chest. The attack failed, and Hephaestus swung his hammer towards the God Slayer, Tetsu dodged by rolling out of the way, striking at the back of Hephaestus' knees with blades. The attack actually seemed to do some damage, as Hephaestus staggered forward. Using this to his advantage, Tetsu jumped on the mans back and, with all his might, began to pull at the mans head. Nothing came of it, and Hephaestus easily swatted him away.

"That was a violent move," he noted as Tetsu slowed to a stop. "Trying to rip my head off?"

"It's all I can think about," Tetsu hissed. "Once I think about everything you and the other Olympians have done, my blood boils."

"Ah, youth and their speeches." Hephaestus said. "I do tire of this. Blacksmith's Ire!" Hephaestus reared back and struck at the ground with his hammer. This caused it to crack, a bright red glow coming from the earth. The crack raced towards Tetsu, beginning to spew lava as it did so. The man jumped away, but a bit of lava snagged his foot and caused him to cry out in pain. His own iron armour had prevented it from burning him too much until he wiped it away, looking flustered now. Hephaestus gave him no breathing room, pressing the attack with his hammer relentlessly. Katsuchi tried to move again, but it was no dice. His back was seriously messed up.

"Iron God's Bellow!" Looking back towards the fight, he saw Tetsu attempt to gain some space by using his breath attack directly in his opponents face. Hephaestus began engulfed by the black attack, the iron shrapnel tearing apart everything around them.

Except for it's intended target.

Hephaestus' hand reached out of the attack and grabbed Tetsu by the face, forcing his mouth shut. Hephaestus just looked annoyed as the attack faded away.

"Why are all you damn brats so frigging loud?" He demanded. "Seriously, there's just no need for that." Tetsu tried to free himself form the mans grasp, but it proved to be fruitless. He couldn't put enough pressure on him. Stopping this, Tetsu began to rail away at Hephaestus' body with attacks, ranging from spears to swords to maces, he threw everything he had at the man. Save for a few scratches, Hephaestus seemed uninterested. In one swift movement he delivered his hammer directly into Tetsu's sternum, immediately knocking the wind out of the boy and sending him flying through the trees. Katsuchi watched him go weakly before hearing Hephaestus approach him. He growled as he noticed the man standing near him, staring down at him.

"What?" He hissed. Hephaestus just sighed.

"I don't have time for this," he said, once again placing a foot on Katsuchi's back. "I'll just snap your back and continue on my way." Not wanting to just sit and let this happen, Katsuchi aimed his open palms at him and blasted away, putting as much force into the attack as he could. Had Hephaestus been made of literally anything weaker, he'd have melted on the spot. Unfortunately, Katsuchi wasn't that lucky. As his attack failed, he wailed from the force being applied to his spine again.

"Gah! Stop, please! AHH!" His cried went unanswered, save for more cracking and force applied to him. Katsuchi was about ready to black out from the pain, Unable to hear his own bones shattering any longer.

"All you had to do was not come here," Hephaestus said, his voice chillingly low, yet still audible over the cracking. "This is what you get when you cross us. Don't ever consider it again."

"G...Go to hell!" Katsuchi shouted. This was it, his last hurrah.

Using every bit of magic power he had, Katsuchi stored it in the center of his being throughout the beating. Once he felt himself reaching his peak, he ripped the pin from his homemade grenade. Dark fire began to leak from him, the very ether-nano in the air being disturbed. Before long, warnings blared from Hephaestus' metal body, making his eyes widen.

"What the hell is this?" He demanded. "The ether-nano is expanding at an alarming rate...What are you doing?!" Katsuchi could only laugh at the power increased.

"I'm going to send you straight to hell," he replied angrily. "Is this doesn't kill you, I don't know what to do." Hephaestus just clenched his teeth as he stared at him angrily.

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me!" Just as the power finished gathering, Hephaestus drove his heel down on Katsuchi's back.

"Fire God's Self-Destruct!"

"The massive black explosion that followed was making Elise uncomfortable all the way back where she was standing, yet she knew who that was.

"Please tell me that's good news," she said to Azzie, who was also watching the explosion by her side.

"Depends," she replied as sweat dripped down her forward. "If he was forced to do that or chose too."

"Katsuchi?" Tetsu called out into the blackened forest, listening intently for his reply. He'd seen his friend blow up, but he knew the attack inherently wouldn't harm him. After all, it was his own fire that was exploding, right? After walking for what like forever, ignoring his wounded body, Tetsu soon found what he had been looking for.

Hephaestus stood in the middle of a clearing, metal body charred and sparking. Katsuchi's attack had clearly done a lot of damage, but that wasn't what Tetsu focused on.

He focused on the limp from of Katsuchi in the mans grasp, a growing black bruise in the center of his back.

"Katsuchi!" He cried worriedly. Hephaestus looked up to acknowledge him, tossing Katsuchi aside.

"Foolish boy blew himself up," he stated flatly. "I'll admit, that hurt. But it didn't do near enough to kill me. Sadly, I'm pretty sure I've broken his spine. He'll me impaired for a while, and that's only if he's lucky"

Tetsu could say nothing, trembling with rage at the the sight of Katsuchi's limp form.

"After I'm done with you, I'll go after the girl. After all, she's run far enough.

Tetsu could barely compute the world around him, his vision darkening with rage.

"So come boy, let us finish this fight so I can-?!"

Hephaestus did not get the chance to finish his sentence.

It was no secret amongst the ranks of The Olympians that their lower guild Devil Advocate was very true to it's name. In a backup attempt to fight off the prophecy foretold by The Oracle, Hades experimented with creating an army of wizards at Demon Takeover wizard level. Sadly, the experiments failed. The test subjects, consisting of the children Azzie, Tetsu, Katsuchi, Icas and Maya, were used attempt to fuse the power of the legendary demons with a normal human. These tests failed, as no test subject was capable of a 'takeover' unless under extreme emotional distress. These super soldiers were deemed inefficient, and the tests were discontinued.

However, it was unknown to The Olympians that their test subjects had continued to manifest this artificial power. These four children inherited a false power, one that lay dormant for many years.

Until their creators unintentionally released it upon themselves.

As Hephaestus watched, the very either-nano in the air flowed towards Tetsu. It took the form of multi-pronged horns atop his head, and sharp talons on his hands. The wings that formed on his back were solid iron, yet moved with the flexibility of skin. He watched, horrified, as the beast lifted it's livid gaze towards him.

"Damn you, Hades." The man hissed. "What have you unleashed?"

I can't even remember how much of that is new info, but I hope you guys enjoyed nonetheless! I will try to be back for next Monday, but I won't promise anything! After all, I'm still blocked up. I hope you all enjoy, leave a review! Let's try and get five!

Chapter 325: The Iron Devil