Would you look at that, I managed to actually update two weeks in a row! I'm telling you, 2019 will be different. I say that knowing I've probably lost a fair amount of you by being so inconsistent, but that's not the point! My mojo had returned, and I'm making the most of it!

Also I got a chapter of Homecoming out the other day, and I intend to finish it this week! Make sure you're there for that!

Enjoy!

Katsuchi knew that his spine was broken, mostly because he couldn't actually move any part of his body without intense effort. That being said, he was still able to move his head towards the battle to see if Tetsu was okay.

He couldn't really figure that out once he was able to see.

Tetsu stood across from Hephaestus, but it barely even looked like his friend at all. Wings of iron had sprouted from his back, and horns from his head. Hephaestus looked shocked to his core, gritting his teeth.

"Damn you Hades," He heard the man say. "What have you unleashed?"

Tetsu's response was a bone chilling screech. He launched forward with the power of his wings and raised his right hand, which turned into a serrated blade. With one fell swing he brought it down on Hephaestus, who tried his best to dodge the attack. It still managed to slice through his ankle, severing his foot easily. Tetsu didn't let him get away, easily grabbing the mans leg before he could get away. He swung Hephaestus over his head and brought him down into the earth, creating a massive crater. Hephaestus recovered easily and backed away, swinging his hammer down into the ground. Lava sprung forth again and raced for Tetsu, who ignored it. Just as the lava reached him he disappeared, having taken off into the sky. His arms turned into axes as he bore down on Hephaestus without warning, the two clashing with their weapons. It seemed only the hammer in the older mans hands was capable of not being sliced up by Tetsu's weaponry, but Katsuchi had no idea why that was the case now. Hephaestus swung for Tetsu's head, but the attack was easily deflected by the iron man as he countered with his axe. Hephaestus dodged and backed up, swinging his hammer down on the ground again. Lava sprung up around him to protect him, and the man laughed.

"I should have known this was a possibility," he said. "I'd let myself forget that Hades did this to you kids. And I was dumb enough to gloat you."

Tetsu gave him no response, which should have been expected honestly. After all, he was just glaring at the other man angrily. Hephaestus just laughed at the silence.

"Well, I still can't waste my time with you idiots." A screen popped up on the mans forearm, and he played with it for a moment before a loud beep filled the clearing. "I'll leave you to my army. After all, wasting time here means you lot might actually be able to protect her. And Lord knows I can't have that." Once the screen disappeared, it was like the forest around them came to life. Red lights came from the darkness around the trees, and soon the same robots as before launched themselves out of the darkness at Tetsu. It distracted the man enough for Hephaestus to slip away, leaving Katsuchi where we was on the ground. He could do no more but watch as the man slipped away, cursing his own uselessness. He got the sense Tetsu was powerful enough to deal with this himself now, but why? What had Hades done to them exactly?

Ultear had been following Dionsyus for what felt like years, and honestly at this point she felt like the man was just going in circles and drinking. Despite all the of the sounds of combat around them, Dionsyus managed to avoid all of it and keep Ultear wondering why was she even attempting to bother with this guy. After all, he wasn't even doing anything! Why had she been relegated to dealing with the drunkard?

That was, of course, until the tree she had been hiding behind started to burn away. Crying out in surprise, she jumped away from it, the purple substance swallowing the wildlife whole. Dionysus was watching her with a confused yet drunk stare, so she climbed to her feet and prepared for a fight.

"Who're you?" He demanded in a slur. "Whyya followin me?" Ultear made a face at this. She presumed he had asked why she was following him, although it was hard to decipher.

"You're the enemy," she replied. "And I was tasked with dealing with you. So, I followed you to see what you were up too." Her answer just seemed to confuse him, so he turned slowly to face her.

"Do whatever ya want," he said. "I got a job ta do."

"I'm supposed to fight you, you moron!" Ultear shouted, already losing her patience with him. Dionsyus just looked even more confused.

"Why?" He demanded.

"Cause we're enemies! You want Luna, and I don't want you to have her! That makes us enemies!"

"Oh," Ultear felt her blood boiling at every response the man gave her, and if it continued this way she may actually just let him leave. "I suppose that makes sense. Well, we can fight if you want." He lifted the jug he'd been carrying to his lips, taking a massive swig.

After that, everything was a blur.

Ultear barely had time to react before Dionysus disappeared, his drunken burps giving his position away. Twisting her body, she managed to get away from the mans body slam from behind, which created a crater where she had just been barely a moment ago. Once she got back to her feet the man disappeared again, and this time she felt a fist connect with her side, sending her careening into a tree. She was barely able to recover in time to dodge the next attack, a kick out of left field that destroyed the tree she'd hit.

What the hell is this?! There's no rhyme or reason to this! Is he attacking at random?!

Turning herself into water, Ultear allowed the mans next few attacks to phase through her as she became a puddle of water. She dispersed herself into the air as Dionysus looked around for her, confused again.

"Where are ya?" He asked. "Why'd ya go away?"

"What the hell was that?" Ultear asked, her voice echoing thanks to her bodies displacement through the air. "You're clearly wasted, but I got hit so badly."

"Well I'm tha God of Wine, so." Dionysus replied, taking another swig. "My wine gives me all sorts of power boosts. Well, that and it makes me so drunk I can't see straight but-" He burped again. "-That's not really important." Ultear was thankful that he was so drunk he answered her outright, instead of just waiting until she figured it out on her own. That being said, it didn't give her any ideas as to how to beat him, which was sort of the problem.

Well, I suppose I could always do this.

Ultear brought her body back into one piece and reached out, feeling her magic encapsulate the jug. In one fell swoop she froze the liquid inside, turning it into a giant liquor Popsicle. As Dionysus raised it to take another drink, nothing came out. He frowned at this, hit the bottom of it and tried again. But, again, nothing happened.

"What did you do?" He demanded. "My wine is gone."

"I froze it," Ultear replied. "So now you can't drink it and power up to-"

Ultear was cut off as the man waved a hand around it, a sloshing sound coming from the jug. He successfully drank from it this time, making her gap in surprise. Well, maybe she deserved that for telling him exactly what she'd done.

"I don't like cold wine," the man said as he wiped his mouth, "But it'll hafta do I guess." He disappeared in a blur again, a punch being delivered right to Ultear's gut before she even had a chance to react. Turning back into water she dispersed once more, groaning as the pain from the hits racked her. As it stood now, she couldn't do anything to this guy. A one on one was a loss, no way out of it. But, of course, she had to be the one to be sent off by herself. She was going to give Juno hell for this is she survived. Had she practised Arc of Time on more physical objects, it may have helped her in the long run. Sadly, she'd only really used it as a defence against magic.

Then again, didn't wine get more potent if you aged it too much?

All in all, this was a seriously shitty situation.

As he escaped into the forest, Hephaestus gave himself time to think as to how he was going to fix his missing foot. Right now he was just hopping around, but he'd have to fix it eventually. He knew that his robots weren't going to hold off that kid for long, so he needed to make as much distance as he could and figure something out.

Well, he have if he didn't feel a body rocket into him, sending him flying into the ground. Rolling out of the way of the follow up attack, Hephaestus watched as Tetsu whipped a destroyed robot body at him, clearly as a distraction. Hephaestus swatted the robot aside and connected with Tetsu's swords as he swung them at him, his hammer creaking from the force the young man exerted. Had he seriously caught up this quickly? Just what had Hades done to them?

"Get away from me, you runt!" He shouted angrily, forcing him back. The two engaged in a close quarters fight, hammer against Tetsu's assortment of weapons. Every single strike from the younger man brought Hephaestus' weapon closer to it's limit, as there was no way his weapon outmatched the man made of them. At this rate, he'd have to use their secret after all. This early though? Were these kids seriously this tough?

Tetsu backed up, giving him enough space to swing the flails that formed on his arms. The weapons missed their first few strikes, giving Hephaestus enough time back up and create another wall of lava around himself. He needed a plan, but at this rate he couldn't think of one. He couldn't fail like this. Zeus was expecting them to succeed. Everyone was.

He knew he had no other option now. Growling, he increased the size of the lava wall, much to Tetsu's dismay, and began to concentrate. This wasn't an ability he used lightly, nor was it one that came without it's own risks. But thanks to Hades; insane experiments, he'd been given no option.

"It's a simple magic fortification technique." Athena's voice rang in his ears as he began to intake ethernano. "It will fortify your strength for a short while, but it won't take long before your body gives out under the effort. Use it wisely."

He really hoped this qualified as wisely.

"I call upon the power of the forge!" He shouted, ignoring Tetsu's enraged screams from outside his wall. "Hear my cry and give me power! My name will become Vulcan! Imbue with the power to defeat my foes!"

Had a third party been there to watch, they'd have watched Hephaestus begin to glow with light. Tetsu landed and shielded his eyes with his wings, growling the whole time. Soon enough the light faded, and Hephaestus was standing tall. He would have been anyway, had he still called himself that.

Vulcan stretched his metallic body, which now gleamed darkly. His blacksmiths hammers was covered in flames, and his hair had begun to glow like a stoked fire.

"I will defeat you," he proclaimed. "I have too." Tetsu's only reply was a growl.

And with this, the two engaged in combat.

Vulcan flung himself at the boy demon, raising his fiery hammer over his head. Tetsu raised his arms to block, and the sound of metal on metal reverberated throughout the entire forest. Tetsu growled and forced the older man off of him, turning his arms into rapiers. Using his wings the demon jabbed at Vulcan at an incredible speed, all of which were blocked by him. He didn't give up, turning his left arm into a hammer and swinging it hard at Vulcan's side, sending the older man flying into a nearby tree. He recovered immediately and took off into the sky with a wisp of flame, Tetsu flying right after him. The two's weapons met again in the sky, Tetsu still purely overpowering him. Growling, Vulcan placed a hand on Tetsu chest.

"Forge Flame!" He shouted. His hand began to glow, and the heat soon spread throughout the demons entire body. Tetsu didn't give an inch, still applying pressure to their locked weapons. Vulcan didn't give up, applying more and more pressure as the boy's body heat rose. Soon enough an entire pillar of flame shot out the back of his body, having been forced out by Vulcan's power. Using the momentary lapse in force, Vulcan grabbed Tetsu's head and as they came back down to earth, slammed him into it hard enough to create a crater. He didn't stop there, doubling back and slamming his hammer into the boy repeatedly, deepening the crater as he went. Tetsu was still blocking with his arms, but it was clear with every strike he was losing some of his power. Bringing the hammer down one more time, flames erupted from the crater as well. Tetsu was silent during this, but Vulcan knew he had to have done him in.

If only he had been right.

A hand burst out of the flames and grabbed him by the face. Eyes widening, he watched as Tetsu got up still engulfed in the flames. He looked worse for wear, but he still got to his feet again. He swung at Vulcan with a mace, which was just barely blocked after the man recovered from his surprise. Using his other hand, Tetsu swung his bare fist at him and landed a hit square in the face. This knocked Vulcan onto the ground, and he was immediately grappled by the demon. Using his claws, which had turned serrated and sharp, Tetsu clawed at every piece of Vulcan's body that he could. This began to shred at the outer plating of the mans body, leaving his weaker inner tech exposed. It didn't stop there, though. Tetsu grabbed onto the eye that Vulcan had implanted himself, and firmly ripped the apparatus out of the socket. Sparks flew violently as he tossed the eye side, delivering a sharp punch to his face at the same time. After this he brought the man to his feet and glared at him angrily.

"How?" Vulcan demanded through the pain of having the circuits in his head sparking. "I powered up and everything! How're you still alive?! How much did Hades do to you exactly ?! Are you really as strong as a Demon Lord?!" He got no response from the boy, who watched him with anger leaking from his very form. Just after this, Vulcan felt himself get impaled by the mans next attack, a blade driving itself into his stomach. Thankfully he was mostly robotic, so it wasn't a fatal blow, but it was still going to prevent him from some basic functions. This blade grew extra blades out of it's side, all of which impaled him as well. Leaving him like a shish kebab, Tetsu raised his other hand and severed both of Vulcan's arms, and then both of his legs. The holes in his form began to spark and leak oil, which was pretty dangerous. Without a word, Tetsu leaned back and flung him high into the air. The man, now only a head and a torso, flew into the air.

Hades...You said the experiments were failures. This doesn't seem like a failure to me.

He could see the boy charging a breath attack below him, clearly intent on finishing him. He wouldn't die form it, he knew that. He had backup measures in place, of course. But still, he knew this was the end of him for this fight.

I'll get you back for this, you underworld bastard.

Hades watched as Hephaestus, now in his Vulcan form, was engulfed by a black pillar of iron shrapnel. He knew that the blacksmith had his ways to escape death like that, so he wasn't really concerned. That being said, Zeus looked positively enraged.

"That's three," he hissed. "Three of us have been taken out by mere children."

"Well, all three were close battles," Hades tried, unable to wipe the smirk from his face. "Demeter got blown up, Ares got blown up, and Hephaestus-"

"Lost because of you!" Zeus thundered as he stood from his desk and glared at him. "You said the Devil Advocate experiments were failures!"

"I did," Hades replied. "And I was right. "Tetsu isn't controllable right now. He'll lash out at anyone and everyone. Is that what you want? A soldier who'd attack his own? Not only that, but he only entered that state because Hephaestus nearly killed Katsuchi. He knew that was a possibility, but he still opted to fight them both. For being our smart guy, Hephaestus sure was dumb."

"He was up against someone comparable to a Demon Lord in strength," Poseidon said from his own seat in the office. "This crushing defeat does not surprise me. He will have to be more careful in the future." This didn't seem to make Zeus happy in the slightest. As a matter of fact, he still looked positively pissed.

"One more," he threatened. "If one more of us goes down, we go to the battlefield ourselves. Is that clear?"

"About time you gave that order," Hades replied with a smirk. "I've been meaning to fight these kids for a while but you wouldn't let me."

"Understood," Poseidon answered much more simply. Zeus turned his gaze back to the lacrima vision, as did Hades and Poseidon. As the three watched on, Hades' smirk widened.

Yeah, I'm really sorry about that one Zeus. But who could have guess these two would show up on the battlefield?

...

Who indeed.

I can't help but get the sense that The Olympians have been underwhelming so far, although maybe that's because all three who're down got destroyed by big powerful stuff. You know, Rocky took Demeter down with his end all attack, Simon used Sema, and Tetsu transformed out of rage.

Although maybe that was my plan?

Don't worry, the battle isn't close to over yet! I hope you all enjoyed, lave a review! Let's try and get five!

Chapter 326: Drunk on Power