AN: Sorry about this being late. Had this done and meant to have it out half a day ago, but unfortunately my internet decided to tank on me again. Not much I could do about that, so I hope you all understand the delay.
The Olympian God of Destruction:
Chapter 15: The Titanomachy VIII
Atop Mount Othrys…
"So, my son, how goes the recruitment of those allying with us against the upstarts?" Iapetus asked pointedly from within the Titans joint throne-room as he massaged his beard.
"It has gone well, father." Atlas nodded with a somewhat pleased look. "Almost everyone we expected to fall in line and support our side in this has done so. There're only a select few that remain which haven't yet. Though I am hopeful they will make the right choice, and not side with Kronos' wayward children over us. The same sadly cannot be said for some of those who didn't agree with how we did things, as Pallas has unfortunately brought to our attention with his wife Styx and their children's allegiances. I can only hope that others of a similar mind do not make the same mistake that she and his spawn have and keep themselves out of this conflict, for Tartarus is the only thing that awaits those warring against us. Should they avoid our lord's deadly scythe, of course."
"And what of those neutral to this already? Have any shown some sway in their opinion? Like Hyperion and Theia's kids for example?"
"Not that I'm aware of." The musclebound Titan shook his head. "If any of them had, I'm sure that either my uncle or aunt would've hurried back here to warn us by now of a strange occurrence with them. For their parents especially, it'd be quite easy to tell if any one of their three children had come down to the Earth while they're out flying through the heavens. As for others, besides Lady Gaea, who we're certain is helping the other side conceal themselves at this point, the other protogenoi have still not made so much as a peep of support to either our side or theirs. It's safe to assume they'll continue to remain neutral for this too, as expected. And we both know what your eldest brother thought on aligning with us when asked."
"Yes…" Iapetus seemed to cringe slightly, recalling the emphatic refusal his brother had given when they'd asked of him to join them, once he'd confirmed he had nothing to do with hiding Beerus and his siblings away from them. The Titan god of the endless ocean making it clear his feelings towards his fellow Titan kin was no different than it was all those millennia back when he'd refused to join them in taking down their father. Tethys was no different either, considering the silent but unimpressed stare she'd given them upon asking. "A part of me, I must admit, feels a bit of shame that Oceanus and Tethys are still refusing to cooperate with us, but then again, I can't really say I expected much else from them." Iapetus sighed. "They've pretty much made it clear they want nothing to do with us anymore and would rather be left alone in their kingdom far beneath the ocean floor. About the only good news out of that, is that they want no part of the conflict period."
"Yes, I agree. For as much as you, Lord Kronos and my other uncles have railed on him for not joining you in the overthrowing of your father, it cannot be denied that if he alone were to get involved and side against us, that would become very troublesome." Though most of them referred to their eldest brother in particular as a coward for not joining his father and uncles on that fateful day, the one thing that couldn't be denied, even by Kronos if asked, was that Oceanus held immense power that easily rivalled his brethren, and Tethys wasn't far behind. If the two of them got involved, it could spell some serious problems for them, and perhaps even sway the opinion of some of their other allies to switch sides, which was why it was a bit of a blessing all the same that neither wanted any part in the war to be had.
"Troublesome indeed." His father agreed, as he gained a somewhat consternated look. "Though not quite as troublesome as what occurred last week. I must say, I did not expect our father's brief return, and his words of blight to Kronos have drummed up his perturbation even further than it was before."
"Mhmm. Indeed. I don't think I've ever seen Lord Kronos look so enraged and fearful at the same time." Atlas looked away uncertainly for a moment. Their Lord had done his best to hide the latter emotion from them, but none of his brothers or he had failed to catch the flame of fear in his eyes after what he'd described as a 'cloudy visit' from Ouranos. He'd looked ready to lash out at just about everything around him after the primordial god of the heavens had spared him some, sufficed to say, unpleasant words.
"I'm sure that our bastard father was just trying to get in his head. It's quite clear that he favours the newer generation over us purely because their victory would mean Kronos dethronement, and no doubt a trip down to Tartarus where he would prefer we all were in right now." Iapetus spat balefully, having not a slither of love or respect for their 'heavenly father' that'd helped in their inception, and then tried to shove them down into the pit's deepest depths out of disgust at them, despite their mother's pained protests. "I personally don't buy his so-called 'prophecy' even for a moment. I'm sure it was just a tactic of that senile old fool to scare Kronos and make him doubt himself. Nothing more."
"We couldn't agree more." Father and son turned as Koios and Krios entered the throne room with curious expressions. The former of which being the one to speak. "Speaking of our little brother though, where is he? Me and Krios have been meaning to discuss some things with him, mainly pertaining to what our plan of attack will be in case our enemy is able to build themselves up enough to be a genuine threat to us."
"We felt his presence leave Othrys a few minutes ago, and we were just wondering if either of you knew where he went?" Krios asked, looking more so towards Atlas then his father, given he'd felt the younger Titan's presence being closer to the Titan Lord's before vanishing suddenly without a trace.
Atlas's expression became one of confusion then, as he regarded both his uncles with a light scratching of his beard. "No. I can't say that I do. My back was to him when he suddenly dematerialized. I didn't think much of it though." He shrugged before gaining a more neutral look. "He's probably just gone somewhere to ease his mind and he'll be back soon enough. My guess is he's probably with a nymph that's caught his fancy. I do recall him telling me a while back that he had an Oceanid he had grown a particular interest for named Philyra who lives in Mount Pelion, so he's probably gone there."
"He left that suddenly to go and sample a nymph?" Koios rose a brow. It didn't sound completely out of character for Kronos to do so, given he laid with his fair share like they all had, but to go and do so in a situation like this without saying anything first? "If this were any other time, I could see that happening. But now? When he's been so determined and laser-focused on finding his eldest son and the rest of his and Rhea's children? That seems a tad bit too unlikely, Atlas."
"As I said, he could've gone to clear his mind. All this stress that I can tell has been adding up on him since that bastard Beerus punched a hole through in his stomach, to more recently with Ouranos' visit? It wouldn't shock me if he needed to have a little fun in order to calm himself after everything he's been dealing with so far." The musclebound Titan maintained his position, believing it to be a fairly solid explanation. He then gained a somewhat cheeky grin as he crossed his arms. "I'll put it to you this way, if he comes back here as a stallion, then he's definitely been with that Oceanid I just mentioned. That's the form he came back here in last time he'd been with her."
"Hah! Oh yeah, I remember that." Krios laughed, recalling that day with some mirth. "I believe he said he'd taken that form to avoid Rhea annoying him if she managed to catch them in the act, and a horse was just the first thing he thought of while he was taking her from behind. Apparently left that Oceanid in a pretty delirious and messy state by the time he was done."
"Hmm." Iapetus cracked a very small, almost unnoticeable, humoured smile on his pale visage. "Not entirely surprising, given the state he's left Rhea in, in the past. Perhaps with her off the table, he may well have just gone down to this other mistress of his for another round. He has been fairly wound up as of late, so I can definitely buy what my son suggests."
Koios seemed to relax a bit at that, though didn't seem fully convinced. "Alright then, I guess I'll just wait here for him to-"
In that instant, golden specks coalesced near the four gathered Titans, and before long, the Titan Lord reappeared in the room. And once he did, the smiles that almost everyone had had fell away immediately once they saw how tense he was. His divine aura waving frantically over his body and making space-time warp arrhythmically around him in a mixture of red and gold, with his trusty scythe clutched in one hand that was gripping it like a vice. His eyes were glowing a furious shade of red, but there was an undeniable sign of panic on his face, and perhaps, a hint of horror.
"Gone… They're gone!..." He shouted violently after a moment, putting his three brother and nephew on high alert as his power flexed harder, making the whole room warp around him as space itself spasmed under his temperament.
"Gone…?" Atlas blinked, remarkably the least effected by Kronos's power surge despite being the youngest there. There was clear befuddlement on his features, as there was on his father's and uncles faces. "Who's gone, my lord…?"
No sooner had those words left his lips, did Kronos snap his molten, red-eyed gaze right to his face, as he glared at him with gritted teeth. Almost snarling like a beast as his voice boomed throughout the entire stronghold. "The seal that I made to keep those ugly bastards in the pit has been broken!"
"You don't mean…" Iapetus caught on quick as to whom his brother was referring to before it was even said, and Krios and Koios weren't long to follow either, as their expressions took a steep downturn. Though theirs were more like a grimace compared to the downright infuriated and slightly fearful look etched over their youngest brother's features.
"I felt it disappear mere minutes ago and flashed down to that damned pit as fast as I could, but all I saw when I arrived was the headless body of that useless monster Kampe I left to guard them, my barrier destroyed, and worst of all…" Kronos looked like he wanted to scream as veins popped out of his neck and around his face. Rage swirling through him as much as space and time were swirling helplessly around his shimmering frame, as the rumbling of the sky picked up again. The sign of Ouranos disembodied laughter echoing around him as he delivered the news that made him want to tear his own skin off. "The Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes were gone. They've been freed from Tartarus!" And the worst part was, he knew… he just damn well knew who was responsible for such a thing.
Iapetus summed up the thoughts of those who knew what that meant, particularly when it pertained to their hundred-handed giant brothers, with just the utterance of a single word. One packed with about as much exasperation as had probably ever been heard coming from his mouth by his kin. All while looking up at the ceiling as if he was boring a hole through it to his body-less father and glaring right at him as though he'd played a part in it.
"Fuck…"
Back on Crete… Later that day…
"Guh!" A fist ploughed right into Poseidon's sternum, breaking several ribs with a harsh CRUNCH as the tanned fledgling god was sent hurtling back, bouncing off the ground and ripping chunks of earth off as he went. Ichor spilling in rivulets from his maw as he careened a good mile back in under a trillionth of a second before a purple-hued frame flashed right in his path and grabbed him by the face with a single hand. The action halting his body's momentum and making his tree-trunk thick legs fly up uselessly behind the toned, muscular arm of the one who'd stopped him, before he was unceremoniously slammed down skull-first into the hard, magic-infused ground. The back of his head forming a deep, wide crater that spanned out a solid fifteen feet around and ten feet gaping down as the entire Isle shook from the impact.
"Not good enough Poseidon! A defence that pathetic will get you nowhere!" Beerus almost growled, looking thoroughly pissed off as he wrenched his dazed brother out of the crater, hopping up into the air as he left him dizzily floating before spinning around so fast, he looked like a tornado before he drilled him in the chest with a vicious kick using the sole of his foot. The younger of the two feeling every bit of air and sputum mixed with ichor getting knocked out of his mouth as the bones of his chest were caved in before his ribs, or his skull for that matter, even had time to recover. A large shockwave billowing forth as he was yet again sent flying away with a deep dent around his sturdy chest.
The tanned god groaned when his body came to a stop after smashing hard into the mountain they slept inside with an ear-popping THUD. The impact almost hard enough to bring the whole thing down on him, Gaea's durability-enhancing magic be damned. His frame forming a body-shaped crater in the centre of a much deeper one that sent splinters and cracks all over the section of the quaking mountain he'd struck into with his back.
"You'll need to be a lot sharper than that if you want to make an impression on me. I think your recent luck with our mother has made you a bit too cocky for your own good!" Beerus barked with a none too pleasant air, as his form flickered into existence just a few short metres in front of him. Poseidon managed to slink his way out of the crater he'd been smashed into, falling to his knees immediately with a rough, bloody cough.
If it wasn't obvious enough already, Beerus was keeping to his word and giving each of his siblings a spar against him. The first of which, rather unfortunately for the second youngest sibling of the lot, was him. Unfortunate, because he was getting his brother pretty much right after Hera had pulled her little stunt on him, and Beerus clearly wasn't in a good mood about it. One he hadn't made any better to be fair.
Following Hera's little 'get back' as she'd called it, Beerus had left them all for a short while with an expression stuck between weirdly horror-struck and downright furious. Although the latter was more so at himself it seemed, what with the fact he'd been glaring daggers down at the huge tent that'd formed after Hera had basically given him a snog so strong and inflamed that it made sounded as raw and raunchy as it looked. When he'd returned a little while later after storming off like with Demeter before, he'd come back with a similarly ill-tempered expression, though a good bit more controlled. Like he was calming down after what'd happened, and already looked to have set his sights on Hera for the first spar.
That was, of course, until he'd caught wind of his stupid mouth muttering with a snicker behind his hand in response to Hades after he'd remarked on their brother's behaviour with some concern for how perturbed he looked even after coming back shortly from whatever he'd done. Something that Hestia as well had been quick to double up on, seeing his severely off-put visage. And then there'd been him, the one to catch his brother's attention with a joke he regretted uttering, given Beerus had heard him. One where he'd quipped, and I quote, "Probably was just too hot and bothered after what Hera pulled on him and stormed off to 'relieve himself' away from any prying eyes." He'd even been bold enough to insinuate with a subtle gesture of his hand by his crotch exactly what he meant by 'relieve', thinking the whole situation Hera had caused with him, and his following reaction, was pretty humorous. Just as he had with his brother's previous reaction to Demeter's little kiss.
Sufficed to say, he didn't think Beerus had ever bored a hole through him with a glare so potent before, making it clear that he hadn't seen the humour in it at all. And before he knew it, Beerus had selected him as the first of their siblings he'd spar with. The others being moved to a different area after Beerus had made it clear that they'd 'need the space'.
The spar had been going on for a couple minutes at this point, with Poseidon mainly going with some decent usage of dematerialization and hand-to-hand to start off. So far it hadn't gone well for him. And well, he called this a 'spar', but really, so far, it'd just been Beerus countering anything he'd tried with ease and then trouncing him for his mistakes before making a snapping critique on what he should've done better. Basically, a more extreme version of what he'd done with Zeus, but without Poseidon actually getting any of his own back yet.
Though quite nervous now, the younger brother didn't let this deter him and shot up from his kneeling position right at Beerus, already sending a sharp punch sailing towards his face. One that the purple-haired deity narrowed his amber eyes on before skilfully batting it away with one hand and then sending a punch with his other toward Poseidon's exposed cheek. The younger brother actually anticipated a counter like this though, and quickly shape-shifted into a small bird in order to float right over the skin of his knuckles. Beerus' hand from before then snapped back up to slap him away, only for him to time it just right and teleport to safety. He then reappeared right above his head in the form of a majestic white horse, with his two front hooves poised to stomp down on his brother's skull as his now bulky equine body glowed with a sea-green aura.
Beerus however, was by no means caught off guard by this smooth transition, turning his body to face the dropping horse-form of his little brother and ducking his head to avoid the stomp with ease, showing a level of speed Poseidon wasn't quite prepared. His own body glowing with a dark-purple aura as he brought his index and middle fingers together before shooting them up in rapid succession, striking six different points in the under belly of his equine sibling, before flashing to the side in one graceful movement. His horse-transformed brother collapsing rather harshly to the soil with spittle and ichor flying out again with a neigh of shocked pain, stumbling and failing to get up on his legs after whatever his brother had done to him.
"Decent reflexes and an alright plan of attack, but much too telegraphed to ever actually work against me." Beerus complimented in a rather backhanded way, as he glared down at his brother's form just as it shifted back to his normal state. "Shit like that only worked on me back when I wasn't used to that kind of fighting, and I was holding back enough that Zeus could land despite his shoddy fighting technique at the time. You're better than he was then in terms of technique, I'll give you that, but not by much, and certainly not enough for you to land something like that on me."
"Ugh… Noted…" Poseidon wheezed, not missing the highly irritated tone Beerus held, as his body healed enough that he could move again. "Mind telling me what you just did?" He asked curiously, as he managed to get back up to his feet.
"Pressure points." Beerus replied, before reappearing right in Poseidon's face with a fist cocked back. "And before you ask, no. I'm not in the mood to teach you that!" He then struck out fast and furious, with Poseidon, perhaps through a miracle, managing to bend back and narrowly avoid having his face bashed inward.
The younger sibling then tried to rally back by barely slipping under his brother's next punch and getting into a brief, but insanely fast exchange of punches and kicks with him afterward. The latter easily avoiding, parrying and blocking the former's, while the former struggled to do the same to the latter. Eventually though, Poseidon thought he saw an opening, and ducked low under one of Beerus's cutting fists, before popping right up like a wound spring and aiming an uppercut right for Beerus' chin. Just as it whizzed up at blinding speeds however, Beerus, for the first time since they'd started, actually shape-shifted himself into the same bird Poseidon had and easily swerved his now small, avian body over the blow. Then before the tanned fledgling god could fully process what he was doing, Beerus shifted again, this time into a bulky stallion himself, only coloured a deep shade of purple, and in the exceedingly short period of his brother's surprise at being copied, shunted his already pulled back front legs forward.
A sickening CRACK followed, alongside a booming shockwave as his hooves smashed directly into his little brother's chiselled face, the force slamming him hard into the ground and burying him beneath his brother's pressing horse-feet, as his skull was completely crushed into paste. The ground beneath him exploding outward as perhaps the biggest crater that'd been formed from a training session yet came to be, being almost 10 metres wide and nearly as deep, with Poseidon's momentarily limp body laid at its centre with Beerus literally standing over him.
"That is how you pull off that little combo you tried on me properly." Beerus said cooly, without a lick of remorse, still in horse form, as he hopped right out of the crater, showing his brother's head reduced to a bony and brain matter mixed mush by his vicious stomp quickly mending itself back together. "Next time be snappier with it and move faster while not telegraphing your moves so much. If I see you being that predictable when trying something like that on me again, I won't be so merciful next time. You're honestly lucky I wasn't cruel enough to relieve myself on top of your mushed head after that flub up. The prospect of getting you to eat shit as you healed was quite tempting. After all, it'd certainly match how much of a foul mouth you seem to have."
"Nghn… Okay…" Poseidon groaned as he felt beads of divine sweat rolling down his features once his head fully mended itself. Beings like them didn't need to relieve themselves in that way, he knew almost instinctually, however he was pretty sure they could do so if they wanted to, for whatever reason. And sufficed to say, Beerus choosing to do so on top of him as a freaking horse was far from a pleasant image to be given. "I get the message…"
"Do you now?" Beerus, now having shifted back to his normal form, asked pointedly as he placed his hands on his hips. His amber eyes still holding that same glare down on him from above the crater. "And what would that be?"
"That I've still got a lot to learn… and that I should watch my mouth in the future?"
"Good. It seems that thick skull of yours is capable of learning after all." Beerus said snidely. His irritation only calming down slightly. "And for the record, no. I wasn't relieving myself in the way your perverted mind was thinking of you idiot." His eyes narrowed sharply, making Poseidon shrink in on himself. "Never insinuate that crap about me again."
What he'd actually done, was gone through with his angered and disgusted thoughts following Hera's act, and genuinely ripped his cock and tongue off before destroying them. The pain had been fleeting, since they'd just grown back instantly. Thankfully without the taste of Hera's spit in the latter, and the former not being embarrassingly and disturbingly hard as steel. An image he'd had to bury away when just the thought of that rancid, recent memory of Hera's act caused his traitorous new member to tingle in a way it absolutely shouldn't have been doing.
By his former Lord Zeno's robes, this body of his truly was strange in all the wrong ways when it came to how it was reacting to that kind of shit. If he didn't figure out why that was soon enough, he may well lose his sanity long before he dealt with that prick Kronos for good.
"In any case, putting your stupidity aside," Beerus continued. "we can continue if you want. I think I vented enough there to get my point across." And he'd be bringing something similar towards Hera when it was her turn. Which was soon, given thanks to her, he'd had a change of heart on how the timing of these spars would go. His patience was thinner than it appeared right now, after all, so he felt like speeding this along. She'd be last, but certainly not least, after he was through with the others. And he'd be sure to run her through the wringer extra hard for doing that with him and making his confounding new body act the way it did. With Demeter, he'd been more flummoxed than anything else. Hera's felt more like a slight against him that he couldn't let go. And he wasn't about to shy away like he had last time with that blonde sister of his. Oh no, not this time. "I'll go a little easier from here, if needs be."
Poseidon shook his head, showing a bit of backbone that Beerus actually liked to see, as he rose to his feet. "Nah. As frightening as you can be going in this hard, I think I'd feel like an absolute chump if I accepted you taking it easier on me."
"Well, you are a chump as of right now, but I appreciate the guts all the same." A ghost of a grin almost formed on Beerus' features as he sniped his brother down with a hint of amusement, though the annoyance was still firmly present. "Come at me then, and we'll see how you do."
"Alright then…" He nodded, barely even wincing at Beerus's jab at his abilities. It was quite clear in terms of skill and technique, he was way above their mother, that much was certain. Thus, the offence wasn't that high. He then paused for a second, before gazing up at his brother with a tad bit more hopeful look. "Before I do though, you in a mood to teach that pressure point thing to me now?"
Beerus deadpanned at him with a thoroughly unimpressed look, as if to ask without words if he was really stupid enough to have just asked him that. Then he remembered this was Poseidon he was dealing with, who clearly wasn't the brightest out there given the gall he'd had in getting him to level his fresh ire on himself when he should've been able to tell he was in a bad mood after Hera's stunt. He then shook his head as a sigh passed through his lips, deciding to throw him a bone. "If you can manage to impress me with something as we spar, then I'll consider it. Now stop wasting time and come at me!"
The younger sibling didn't need to be told twice and did so immediately, launching right at his brother with renewed vigour. Their spar continued on after that for another half-hour, which to them was basically ages passing by, with Beerus holding back but using enough power to push Poseidon to the brink and beyond multiple times over. The latter not impressing his elder with any moves he pulled in that time they fought, but sure did impress with his tenacity and ability to learn on the fly if nothing else. Both of which that easily matched Zeus's, as he soaked up every bit of advice, no matter how harshly it was delivered to him every time he got pounded and throttled all over the area for a mistake like a sponge. And by the end, he was sat on his ass taking a break after the beating – ahem, sorry, the training – that Beerus had graciously put him through. Yes, that was what he'd meant to say there.
"Not bad overall." The purple-haired deity shrugged, gazing down on him with aura no longer present. "You were pretty decent against me, all things considered. Keep this work-rate up and you should be good."
"Thanks… I guess…" Poseidon breathed, a part of him thankful the manhandling was over, and the other for his brother's guidance, even if crudely delivered. "So, did I impress enough?"
Beerus rolled his eyes, having seen that one coming a mile away. "I'll think about it. No promises."
"Guess that's all I can ask for then." Poseidon sighed somewhat contentedly, much more chilled out now that they weren't fighting anymore, and for the fact that his older brother seemingly wasn't aggravated with him anymore. Or at least he hoped so anyway, as he rose up to his feet. "Suppose I might as well go and join back with the others, seeing as we're done here." He then paused, the idea of asking Beerus why he reacted the way that he did to Hera's action, and he supposed Demeter's beforehand too, crossing his mind. He thought better of it though, and decided not to voice it, given his brother would likely respond poorly to it. "I guess I'll see you around, brother."
"Before you go, Poseidon, I'll have to ask you to send Hades my way. It's his turn now."
"It… is?" Poseidon blinked in confusion, having already turned halfway away from his elder. "I thought we were all going on different days though?"
"Change of plans." Beerus simply said, knowing this would put his own True Divine Form training on hold for a day, but not caring in the least. "I've decided I'll be taking everyone on today to see how they've progressed. Everyone other than Hera that is. I'm saving her for tomorrow." He remarked in a way that left no room for argument.
Poseidon nodded affirmatively and did as he was asked after a small moment of hesitation, holding back the urge to say something smart about him singling Hera out, as he already knew where that path led. He was gone in a flash of golden flecks not a second later.
Beerus took the brief intermission to glance up a way's away from himself, approximately a dozen miles away where the trio of Hekatonkheires with the Cyclopes atop their shoulders were sat in a semi-circle chatting animatedly with the now equally as huge Gaea in the centre between them. All of them seeming to be having a great time now that they were reunited, with big smiles on their faces. Beerus didn't care much for the mushy stuff, but in a sense, he was glad that the primordial goddess was more preoccupied chatting it up with her sons right now, as given that unnerving smile she'd had after Hera's kiss, which he'd barely glanced as he made his way off from everyone, he knew damn well she'd be teasing the crap out of him right now if not for them. A part of him silently thanked the six former prisoners of Tartarus, as they'd basically saved him from that hell for now.
Not a moment too soon, his favourite brother materialised before him through golden specks of his own. And thankfully, unlike Poseidon, Hades could actually read the room as soon as he arrived and made no mention of Hera's little 'get back' at him, nor did he ask why Beerus had changed the initial plan. Though that likely had more to do with the fact that that decision meant he was now getting what he wanted sooner than he'd thought.
"Been looking forward to this, brother." The pale-skinned younger brother gave an eager grin, seeing as he was about to get his spar earlier than expected. Once again, to Beerus' relief, keeping the topic purely on fighting and not wasting time getting into a rough, but acceptable fighting stance, which he definitely preferred. It was no wonder really why he got along so well with him, given he didn't faff about and just got straight to the point. "Looking forward to seeing how I do."
Beerus actually managed to give his little brother a light smirk, given his likeness for him was enough to thaw through his current irritation somewhat, as he propped his hands on his hips. "As am I. Now show me what you've got, Hades, and don't hold back."
"Oh, don't you worry, brother…" Hades began, as he suddenly blitzed right into Beerus with a lunging fist coated in a dark aura that the latter narrowly dodged by leaning back. "I wouldn't waste your time doing something as pointless as that!"
The second spar of the day commenced swiftly, with Hades launching into a flurry against his brother. Most of his punches and kicks thrown being reasonably sharp and precise, with the occasional more wild, less focused attacks sprinkled throughout. All the same, Beerus bobbed and weaved, evading all his brother's opening shots easily enough, before responding with a few blows of his own. First snapping a kick up toward Hades' jaw as he came in, which was narrowly avoided by a torque of the pale-skinned deity's body to the left, which then had to be followed up with a duck down to his knees to avoid a sudden teleport from Beerus into a mid-air sweeping kick. One that nearly decapitated him, as the elder of the two became enveloped in dark purple once more. The younger of the two then teleporting away himself to evade Beerus' following plunge down with a hard fist after twisting his body around in mid-air, which smashed the ground beneath into a sizeable crater that joined up with the huge one he'd made stomping on Poseidon.
Beerus moved without thinking as he got in a crouch, and blocked a punch aimed at the side of his face as Hades reappeared, before quickly snapping up from the ground and swinging his leg forth in a blurringly fast roundhouse kick towards the paler fledgling god's exposed neck. One that Hades shape-shifted into a snake to avoid, while coiling skilfully around the swung appendage, before lashing out seemingly to bite at Beerus's neck. An attack he paid for as instead of dodging or trying to catch him, Beerus struck out with just two joint fingers, landing flush on his serpentine forehead, and making him briefly go limp as he was knocked unconscious. This was followed up by him pulling his brother away from his arm and tossing him away with a throw like that of a baseball pitcher, sending him careening towards the same mountainside he'd indented Poseidon with before.
Just before collision though, Hades snapped awake and teleported away just in the nick of time, reappearing behind Beerus in his normal form and striking out with a hard kick of his own for the spine. Beerus backflipped seamlessly over it when the sole of his foot was merely an inch away and threw a bicycle kick mid-air with enough force to crush Hades' head down into his body. Hades wisely backed away with a well-timed jump, only to be accosted by Beerus just as he touched down, when Beerus teleported before his eyes right into his guard, delivering a strong fist to the gut. One that broke rips and knocked the wind, as well ichor-infused sputum from the pale deity's mouth.
Instead of being launched away however, Hades actually surprised Beerus a small bit, by having grabbed on to his wrist the instant he'd been struck, and not letting go despite the massive amount of shooting pain in his abdomen. Holding on hard, he stopped himself from being thrown back, and despite his momentary pain, clenched a fist and managed to throw a punch right back, which skinned off of Beerus' jaw as his head barely swayed away from the blow in time. This didn't stop Hades from pressing forward though when Beerus pulled back, thrusting his leg up for a flurry of high-speed kicks toward his big brother's abdomen and chest, forcing the latter to block them all with some difficulty using his free hand, before he broke out of Hades' grip.
"Heh, you're one tough bastard to try that on me Hades, I'll give you that." Beerus remarked bemusedly as he jumped back, realising now that Hades actually might've been able to avoid his strike, but chose to take it in order to sucker him in. Now that took some balls.
"I have no idea what you mean, brother." Hades smiled almost ferally, showing his teeth tainted by ichor, as his ribs quickly mended themselves. He was already throwing himself back at Beerus before then though, punches and kicks flying from just about every direction he could send them, as he began teleporting all around Beerus in rapid succession to keep him on his toes.
"Is that right?" Beerus only grinned a little wider at his brother being cheeky with that answer, as his arms and legs flew out, blocking every blow in Hades' twister of attacks with his hands, forearms and knees without losing a beat. "Well then, let's see how you handle this!" Beerus suddenly speared forth in-between Hades' attacks, smacking a pressure point near his shoulder, deadening the arm and making it go limp by his side just as Hades was mid-punch. Eyes widening with surprise, before he could respond, Beerus had already done the same with the other arm, making it fall down around his side like a dangling noodle, leaving him without a guard, as he shot his foot up in a sidekick that crushed his nose into his face, sending small, twin jets of gold blood rocketing out. All as he was sent rocketing back this time followed by an explosive shockwave from the force of the kick, forcing him to flip over in mid-air and press his feet into the ground, digging some wide trenches as he came skidding to a stop about half a mile out from where he'd been struck.
"Ugh… How in the world did he do that…?" The dark-haired deity couldn't help but mutter, having that strange fighting technique used on him twice now, as he dropped down to a crouch. The feeling in both his arms returning soon after.
"Last long enough, and I'll tell you all about it." Hades' head whipped back, as he heard Beerus's oice behind him. His dark eyes widening again as he saw Beerus little over a metre above him with his leg raised up to his shoulder for another attack. Pure instinct more than anything saved him there, as he barrel-rolled out of the way right as Beerus' leg swung down like the axe of an executioner, his foot impacting against the ground and blasting a crapload of debris everywhere, as a ten-metre wide and deep crater was formed beneath him.
"Heh, I plan to do more than last, brother!" Hades shouted out excitedly, bounding up to his feet just outside the newly formed crater. "Better get ready, because I'm making a comeback!"
"Don't you go getting cocky now Hades. I've already got enough of that in my spars with Zeus!" Beerus quipped jokingly, beginning to have a more fun time sparring with Hades, as he leapt out of the hole he'd made and engaged his brother. The two trading strikes in close quarters as they started battling around the area, throwing savage haymakers and brutal kicks in each other's direction. Both mirroring each other for a moment as they formed multiple smaller craters around them from the force behind their blows shockwaves, blocking and parrying what the other dished out, something that was clearly much harder on Hades, but he never so much as grimaced. No mater how many times his divine bones rattled and shook from the strikes he stopped, he simply endured it with an expression so stony it almost made even Beerus believe he wasn't getting affected somehow by blocking his clearly more powerful blows.
Of course, Hades couldn't quite keep this up and eventually disengaged by hopping back before one of his limbs snapped like a twig. He wasn't out of the woods though, as Beerus almost immediately reengaged him in good old fashioned hand-to-hand. Hades again kept up well enough but did let a few strikes sneak past him this time as Beerus exploited his imperfect guard, being sure to throw out the occasional bit of advice every time he punished him for a wrong move, though certainly doing so a good deal less crudely than he had with Poseidon. Mostly because the former hadn't done anything to annoy him.
The spar would go on for about the same amount of time that his previous one had, and in that time, unlike Poseidon, Hades actually did manage to land two incredibly well-timed blows on him as he soaked up everything he told him about his weak points. One being a nice kick to the body that knocked some wind out of him, and the other being a sharp elbow to the chin that seemed to be just as surprising to Hades as it was to him with how it came out of nowhere as he was being pushed back.
In the end though, Hades was still outclassed and was on the backfoot for pretty much the majority of the spar. Regardless, Beerus was rather satisfied with what he saw from Hades as they finished up. He'd dare say even a little proud of how his favourite brother was coming along in his training, as he thanked him for the spar and dematerialised with a content, pleased expression. Promising to fetch him the next of their siblings to test themselves against him.
That turned out to be Demeter. Unlike Hades, she actually did ask him why the sudden change from what he originally said, all whilst having this baffling look to her as she eyed him. One that actually looked envious for some silly reason, as he heard her mutter under her breath about Hera going 'further than she did'. He probably couldn't have tuned that gag-worthy drivel out faster before he had an aneurysm over where that conversation would probably lead, and got her to focus more on sparring, and less on talking about something he'd rather not discuss. After all, he'd probably get a full dose of this cringy shit he'd unfortunately got roped into when he finally had Hera herself in front of him with how smug she probably was right now.
As for the spar itself, when Demeter finally put her thoughts on other subjects Beerus wanted no part of mentally to the side an actually engaged him, two things became apparent. The first, was that she was craftier than he'd given her credit for, as she used shapeshifting for her attacks and combos more than either of his brothers did combined and came dangerously close to getting him plenty of times given how much he was holding back. The best example being when she dodged away from one of his kicks and transformed into an eagle to fly close and claw off his face, then changing into a snake to slither around the arm he brought up to swat her away, before changing into a fly to avoid his grabbing hand. All of which got her right in his grill as she transformed back to normal in mid-swing of a beautifully executed, mid-air dropkick that Beerus was genuinely forced to use teleportation to escape from. Quite the feat considering he preferred using his own natural reflexes over teleportation, so getting him to use that in defence rather than offence was worthy of a small bit of praise.
The second thing that became apparent, was that while she was much better focused when actually in combat, Beerus could still spot moments in their spar where Demeter became victim to that absent-mindedness that still seemed to plague her. Even if it was nowhere near as bad as it had been earlier on, it was clearly still there when her mind seemed to wander off for the briefest of instants in combat whenever she couldn't seem to break through his defence. Something he made her pay for each time with either a stunning or clobbering blow to either her torso or legs, and on the most egregious of these occasions, he'd strike a pressure point on her forehead to knock her out for her carelessness. Something he'd only gotten to do twice, though he'd prefer it if he didn't get the chance to do that at all, as he made sure to accost her for those errors and explain how she could improve further from what she was doing.
By the end of the third spar, which was also as long as the last two, he gave her a small compliment for her efforts, since she'd overall done fine against him outside of that character-flaw she still had that was somewhat of a detriment to her. She gave him a quick hug of gratitude in return following it, which almost turned comical when she tried to sneak in another kiss somewhere on his face, he didn't care where, and he'd caught her shoulders and spun her around before she could this time.
"It's probably best if you go fetch Hestia for me, now. We wouldn't want to keep our dear sister waiting now, would we?" Beerus told her fast, not about to deal with anymore kissy-face crap if he could.
"Fine…" He caught the disappointed pout she'd given at not getting to kiss him again, and quite frankly, he didn't want to know how far she'd go with it if she did, as just the thought alone made him mentally cringe. Doubly so when his bastard crotch tingled again from it like some damn teenage mortal brat's that had his blasted hormones all over the place. "I'll see you later then, Beerus!" She said, seeming to reinvigorate herself with some form of determination, and he dare not want to know for what it was for concerning him, as she blew him a kiss with her hand before leaving.
Good grief… As she disappeared, he was starting to think self-castration might end up the norm for him if his body kept being stupid like this without any real reason behind it that he was aware of. Any such thoughts of that he put on the backburner though when his twin sister, and frankly his favourite sibling Hestia, appeared before him a moment later. Her smile just as kind and pleasant to see as it always was, though it was tinted with concern for him.
"Are you doing alright, Beerus?" She asked with her hands clasped in front and below her waist, not letting the smile slip, but her worry was clear in her voice. Just as it was in her glowing eyes. "You seemed… rather off-put after Hera's, uhm… 'get back' as she called it." The 'eldest' of the seven spawn of the Titan king and queen blushed a little, as she coughed into her hand.
"I'm fine, Hestia. It's nothing for you to worry about." Beerus assured her, and technically he wasn't lying. Mentally he was scarred, but physically he was completely fine. His asshole of a sexual organ notwithstanding. The former GOD of Universe 7 unable to get irritable with her despite her bringing Hera's 'payback' up even if he tried. He just didn't have it in him to do that to her, which was funny if one looked back at his past and saw all the planets he'd blown up without a care for the people that perished, yet just the thought of snapping at her and potentially upsetting her had him feeling like his stomach might twist into a knot. Like somehow that alone felt more egregious to him than any of the screwups he'd made in his past life.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am. After all, she was simply… 'rewarding' me for my efforts, as she said. And I'll be sure to return the favour tomorrow when it's her turn to spar with me."
"Well, if you say so…" Hestia replied, not sounding wholly convinced, but choosing to drop it regardless, as it was clear that her dear brother wanted to leave it at that, and she was nothing if not respectful of his wishes. "Be sure to let me know if you ever are feeling off-put though, alright? I'd be more than happy to lend whatever help I could to cheer you up if you needed it."
"Hehe. You're too kind, Hestia." Beerus actually chuckled slightly in earnest. And he meant that, truly. At this point, he was honestly beginning to wonder if Hestia even had a single selfish bone in her body. Seriously, he'd never met anyone who came across this pure. She wasn't even using that aura of hers and she was already making him feel more at ease. It wouldn't last once he got to his final sparring partner out of the pack, but he was inwardly grateful for it, nonetheless. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Now then, how about we get down to business?"
"Right." She nodded, maintaining her beatific smile as they changed subject, and she got into a but of a defensive stance. "I'm ready when you are, dear brother."
Out of the four spars he went through, this one had to be the most unique in his mind. Leaving aside that even he had to force himself to go and strike at her, since like Rhea, or everyone for that matter, the idea of hurting her sickened him, she proved to be a fairly adept fighter. One that was made dangerous in her own peculiar way, as he found out, when she actually started using her normally tranquil and homely aura against him in a more aggressive manner. Something that had led to her getting the upper hand on him multiple times throughout the spar, surprisingly enough, as she sapped his will to attack in an instant with her soothing aura, before whacking him in the face with a palm-strike or hitting him with a practised combination of palm-thrusts and the occasional kick. In essence, before he figured out how to counter what she was doing, she managed to land more blows on him than anyone so far by a mile. Heck, she'd probably landed even more than Zeus had in their first spar with one another.
That had changed quick when he'd finally managed to push through that unique ability of hers. After getting tripped up by her impressive power a good few times, he'd figured out its weakness. If one's willpower was strong enough in the face of it, as in, stronger than hers, then it could be outright resisted if one so chose to. Normally, under any other circumstance, he wouldn't have, as he loved that calming, warm sensation it brought over him. However, the purpose of these spars was to check how good all his siblings had gotten, test them, and then give them his best advice for improvement when he found their flaws, so he railed against her aura on this occasion. Pushing past it with some difficulty, as he pressed forward and started pressuring his favourite sibling.
The rest of the spar from there was just standard fair once he'd broken through her ability. She was about the same level as Hades was, if not a little above, without that power of hers from what he could surmise, which was quite impressive in his mind. Of course, he had to hold back an intense cringe every time one of his attacks landed home on her after that point, and he heard her bones crack or break from the force he put into them, as he had said he wouldn't go easy on her. To Hestia's credit though, she never screamed in pain and simply took it all on the chin, recovering when she could and going right back into the scrap with him, taking in all the feedback he offered along the way. Something that earned her even more respect from him than she'd already had.
When the spar eventually came to an end, Beerus allowed Hestia to give him a hug too, only this time he didn't have to worry about a non-familial snog coming his way, as his twin kept it to a simple, but relaxing embrace. She left not longer after, waving him goodbye with that sunny smile of hers as she then dematerialised back to their mother and the others, sans Zeus probably.
It was cutting into evening time now and wouldn't be long before the night draped over the sky. Beerus was about to start pondering if he should just call it an early day today and catch a nap before he took on Hera tomorrow, or if he should try and get a bit of True Divine Form training in before night fell, when he was met with a loud thud behind him. One that had him turning around and meeting gazes with one of the Cyclopes that he'd saved earlier, who was grinning at him in a friendly manner, as he rose to his full height at over twenty-five-feet tall.
"Heh, you're a pretty good teacher, Beerus. Got a lot of fancy moves to ya too from what I saw, and this big old eye of mine has seen quite a bit before I got thrown down into Tartarus, let me tell ya." The Cyclops, who if Beerus recalled right was called Arges, complimented genuinely, looking more than a little impressed with his moves, apparently.
"Hmph. Thanks for the praise, I suppose." Beerus shrugged, not all that surprised that one of Gaea's freed sons might've actually started watching him at some point after he'd glanced in their direction earlier. "What brings you to me though? With how animated you all were before I'd have thought you and your mother would be talking each other's heads off until dawn."
"Heh, funny ya mention that actually. While you were having your spars, ma filled us all in on the details of what's going on. Every last one of them." Arges nodded with an astute look as he crossed his arms over his broad, sturdy chest while gazing down at his and his fellow brethren's saviour. "And I gotta tell ya, me and my two brothers, Brontes and Steropes, we got the perfect way for us to pay you back in no time."
"Is that right?" Beerus rose a brow, intrigued by the Cyclops.
"Yeah. Ya see, me and my one-eyed brothers aren't really fighters per say. Don't get me wrong, we can fight, it's just not the thing we gravitate towards, unlike our big boy brothers Briareus, Kottus and Gyges. Those guys will be a huge boon in open combat, but as for me and my fellow one-eyed siblings, we like to think of ourselves as craftsmen. Don't matter what you want built, we can make it." Arges explained dutifully with confidence. His tone alone making it clear he believed every word, and that it wasn't just a mere boast.
"Hmm… I see. Mind telling me how that could be useful?" Beerus asked inquisitively, as he propped his hands on his hips yet again.
"Gladly." Arges' teeth shined as he gave a toothy smile. "I assume you know about your prick of a dad's weapon of choice?" Beerus nodded at this. While he hadn't personally seen the scythe for himself, Gaea had mentioned it in passing, and what it was capable of. "Well, it just so happens we know the kind of material used to make it, and the magic that goes into forging an item like that. What would you say if I told you me and brothers could forge you and a couple others some similar items with their own unique powers to level the playing field?"
"Well, I'd say you have my attention, at least." Beerus replied with a smirk, one that Arges easily mirrored.
"Heh, well how's this for an attention grabber then. We can also build you a proper base of operations in a more secure location. One that neither has to worry about Kronos's 'all-seeing gaze' and with our help, is less likely than this place to get found out by that punk Hyperion if he manages to find his way back here."
Okay, now the former destroyer of the seventh universe was quite interested indeed. "Go on. I'm listening."
"It's a massive mountain several hundred miles away from here. It's the only mountain I'm aware of in the whole universe that's bigger than Othrys, in fact." He went on. "Its peak pierces far into the heavens. So much so, that its entirely out of Kronos' range using our bastard father's throne. That thing only allows him to look down upon the infinite expanse of the earth and the boundless sea, due to him not being able to use its full potential. No one other than our father, or someone bonded to the domain of the sky can have absolute vision everywhere with it. Something he just doesn't have, even now, according to ma."
Well, that answered his question as to how Arges knew this, anyhow. Beerus held his tongue from there and allowed the Cyclops to continue, which he happily did.
"As for Hyperion, well, just give me and my brothers a few days over at the mountain in question and we can construct something that should keep him at bay, even if it can't stop him from finding you lot eventually." The creature's single eye then seemed to twinkle. "Oh, and don't worry about the new venue not being as durable for any training you want to do. Even without ma's assistance on it, from what I remember, this mountain was tough enough on its own to tank a hard punch from Kottus and not break from the impact. Add a bit of help from ma on top of that, and this thing will be essentially unbreakable from top to bottom. Heck, I doubt it'll even start shaking slightly until you get close to busting out a True Divine Form for yourself."
Once again, Beerus heard nothing but absolute confidence from Arges' tone when speaking. Not a single waver to indicate he might be lying or not know what he was talking about. He was being truthful. And although a small part of him wondered why Kottus had punched this mountain in the first place back in the day, he honestly didn't care enough to ask about it. All he needed to know, was that apparently it could withstand a blow from one of the Hekatonkheires without added protection from Gaea, which considering the immense power that he sensed within each that dwarfed his own currently, that was quite the feat.
"So, what do ya say, Beerus? You willing to swap out the scenery for what I just told you about, or would you prefer to just hunker down here instead and continue as is? It's up to you. Either way, we'll still be forging those tools for ya when we can, so you don't have to be concerned about that if you refuse."
The purple-haired god pondered over this briefly, before shrugging once again as he came to a decision. One that, if given all he'd just been told was accurate, made this choice obvious to him. "I'd say I'm game, so long as this place is as you describe."
"Trust me, it is. You won't regret relocating there. Just give me and my brothers a couple days to set things up for ya, and you should be good to go."
"I assume you have a way to get over there and back without getting caught?"
"Yeah. Just dematerialise up to the mountain's peak, go about our business, and then materialise back down here. Easy as can be, Kronos won't see a thing."
Ah. Fair enough then. He should've guessed that. Whether it was someone else doing it for them or them doing it themselves, teleporting back and forth was the most logical course of action there. "Alright, guess that's that sorted then. So, what's the name of this massive mountain, assuming it has one anyway?"
Arges merely uttered two words in response, which to Beerus' ears, seemed to carry a hefty amount of weight behind them as he spoke the name of their soon-to-be new home. One that though he didn't know it yet, would go on to become his family's one true residence for an eternity to come.
"Mount Olympus."
AND CUT!
That's the end of this one. Hope it was a decent read. And yeah, I've moved Hera's spar to the next chapter, where it'll be the first part of it. It was supposed to be in this one, but I couldn't think of where to put it that seemed to fit in my head, so I saved it for the next one. Feel free to throw out your ideas as to how this'll go, lol. As for the rest of it, I'm looking to fit quite a bit into this one chapter, so expect it to be on the lengthier side.
I won't give any dates for when any release, but just know that the four chapters are coming this month, and I'll see you when each of them releases!