Well, it's that time again. A new chapter is set to debut right at the final days of 2024. I hope you find some enjoyment in this one.

Corey arrived at the next traffic light where he waited the next few seconds. Something caught his attention on his hand, and he looked to see the symbol of Zeus shimmering in white light. Corey examined the mark closely, pondering the meaning behind it. Before he knew what happened next, screaming could be heard a short distance away. He glanced ahead toward the intersection and saw a few people running down the road completely heedless of incoming cars. More people came running, screaming a scrambling over each other to get away from something terrible. Looking at the mark on his hand, Corey was quick to determine what was happening and gunned the engine of his bike.

Racing straight toward the chaos and rounding the corner, Corey had to weave through the steadily growing mobs of people running away for dear life. He came to a sudden stop and found the source of the chaotic scene. A decidedly large reptilian creature with three heads was rampaging through the street, chewing up vehicles or outright crushing them under its massive feet. The creature let out a hissing noise that would've made anyone's blood freeze from the mere sound of it.

Corey spun his bike and raced off, but he wasn't trying to run away. He needed a place concealed from prying eyes so he could transform into his Incarnate form. He made it to parking garage nearby. Nobody was there as far as he could tell. Parking his bike, Corey surveyed the area once more before focusing on the mark. For added effect, or perhaps for show, Corey held his arm close to his chest and crossed them into an X-shape before shutting his eyes. It only took a moment for the transformation to take place, and by that point, Corey had gotten the hang of it. He opened his eyes, and small lightning streaked out of the pupils. His silver armor formed on his body and a surge of lightning swirled around him before dissipating just as quickly.

"Corey!" a voice called out just as Corey finished his metamorphosis. It was Athena perched nearby.

Corey looked up at the white owl and said, "Let me guess; the Hydra."

"Yes, and another of the Twelve Labors of Hercules. You know what you must do." Athena said in response.

Corey rolled his eyes and muttered, "Here we go again!"

The Hydra continued its rampage through the town, two of its three heads wiping around and slamming into oncoming cars that tried swerving away. The primary head of the beast, with its prominent frills and glowing sickly yellow eyes, unleashed a sort of plasma-like blast that vaporized anything within its line of sight. A fire truck approached the scene, but it was quickly blasted by the Hydra's attack and flipped onto its side. The firefighters on the truck survived by some small measure of luck, but their luck began to dwindle as Hydra approached.

Those who were either uninjured or had only minor scrapes worked hastily to free their comrades from the overturned truck. The Hydra was almost on top of them, hissing and shrieking loud enough to potentially shatter their eardrums. It prepared to vaporize the firefighters with its plasma attack, only being stopped by a sudden blast of lightning from out afar. The lightning knocked the Hydra off balance, while the firefighters looked toward the source of the attack that saved them.

Standing near an inverted car was Zeus, and he bellowed to the firefighters, "Get out of here! Go, now!"

The firefighters didn't waste another second in confusion and hastily recovered their friends. The Hydra began to recover and stalk the firefighters. It only drew a few feet closer before it was suddenly halted by something pulling on it from behind. Zeus had the beast from the tail and held on to it for as long as possible. The Hydra hissed and quickly lifted its tail before Zeus had a chance to react, and he sent flying into the base of a street light. Zeus fell in a heap while the street light itself dropped to the sidewalk and broke apart. The Hydra ignored the firefighters and turned its attention on Zeus, who recovered just enough to stand back up and face down the monster.

Zeus weighed the situation he faced; the Hydra was the three-headed serpentine beast which the Greek hero Hercules once slayed, doing so by cutting off the main head. It seemed relatively simple. All Zeus had to do was cut the main off the multi-headed snake. But, he had to contend with the other two heads. One thing at a time, he thought. First, he had to determine which head the main head. Thankfully, that didn't take long once Zeus determined that the head with the large frills was the his target. He just needed a weapon, something sharp enough to cut through the scaly skin of the Hydra.

As if on queue, the symbol on his hand glowed and light seemed to actually extend outward. The light began to feel solid and quickly manifest into a sharpened Greek-styled double-edge sword that gleamed in the sunlight. A hilt of pure silver and gold rested firmly in the grip of a bewildered Zeus. That bewilderment quickly diminished, and Zeus felt a wry grin forming on his face. He glared at the Hydra as it stalked toward him and hissed, its three heads wiping around every which way. Zeus readied himself; the main head with the prominent frills was his target. All he needed was one clean strike.

The Hydra made its move, lunging straight at Zeus with all three heads stretching forward. Zeus answered the charge with his own. One head attempted to take a bite at him, and he quickly ducked below the neck before continuing his push. The second head do much the same as the first, and Zeus managed to leap over it and still kept moving forward. The main head reared back and unleashed a blast of plasma. Zeus rolled out of the way of the blast, though he could almost feel the searing heat from it. He was unprepared when on of the false heads whipped right into him. He slammed to the ground, nearly dropping the sword he'd only just acquired.

Zeus stood back up and rushed forward again, avoiding the false heads as he did the first time. The main head fired off another plasma attack, but Zeus managed to avoid it again. This time, when one of the false heads attacked, Zeus jumped up and used it like it was a springboard. The momentum carrying Zeus upward and airborne, and he then came back down. The Hydra fired another plasma blast which Zeus dodged. He was within striking distance; one strike was all he needed. Just as he reared his sword back, one of the Hydra's false heads threw itself in the path. Zeus was too late to pull back and he sliced the false head clean off.

The false head dropped to the ground and Zeus dropped down next to it with a look of anger in his face, cursing himself for his mistake. Matters grew worse when the severed neck seemed to convulse before two new heads sprouted forth. Zeus had no time to worry as another false head came right at him. On instinct, Zeus cut the head off as well, and it quickly grew into two more heads. It was in that moment that Zeus knew he was in trouble.

Meanwhile, people continued running away from the chaotic scene. One person was doing exactly the opposite, and that person was Brad. He stopped to help a young woman up to her feet and said to her, "Don't panic. Just head for the shelter or the police station."

The woman nodded and rushed off, while Brad continued on toward the epicenter of the initial attack. He found his way to the scene, and his eyes widened in disbelief. A large, multi-headed creature was on a rampage, and it was apparently fighting a guy clad in silver armor. Brad knew instantly that the guy in the armor was Zeus, and he never expected to see him in action. He also didn't expect to see Zeus having so much trouble against the monster with many heads. Brad's thought process was to turn around and run, and that was when he noticed the faint red glow on his hand again.

Perhaps against his better judgement, Brad picked a fallen metal rebar and made a break for the Hydra. The Hydra, which by that time now had six heads, spotted Brad coming and hissed in his direction. Zeus noticed as well, and he launched forward passed the Hydra. Brad was nearly within reach of the monster when Zeus stepped between them and unleashed an explosion of lightning. It was just enough to drive the Hydra, giving Zeus time to grab hold of Brad and get him out of danger.

They hid behind the downed firetruck that was now clear of its previous occupants, and a stunned Brad said, "Holy shit. You're the real deal."

"You got to get out of here, Brad. It's too dangerous." Zeus said.

Brad was even more surprised by Zeus calling him by his name. "Wait a sec, you know me?"

Zeus, or rather Corey, instantly knew he screwed up and tried to change the subject while the Hydra was recovering. "It doesn't matter," he said. "You have to leave now."

"But I can help," Brad insisted as Zeus prepared to challenge the Hydra again. Standing up, Brad again claimed, "I can help you fight that thing."

Zeus was just about to turn away from Brad to face the Hydra again, and that was when he saw the mark on Brad's hand. He knew exactly what needed to be said. "If you're going to be a hero, be the kind of hero that the people need most."

Brad's eyes narrow in confusion that quickly gave way to realization before Zeus spun around and bolted right back into the battle. "Mercer?"

Not realizing that Brad had spoken his real name, Zeus rushed for the Hydra with renewed determination. He was going to behead that monster one way or another. All the while, Brad stood in confusion, but also with a sense of purpose he didn't realize existed in him. He looked at the mark on his hand as the reddish hue deepened and the glow seemed to expand. A call of a bird could be heard overhead, and Brad looked up to see a white owl landing before him. As odd as it was for a seemingly stray owl to confront hi, Brad was even more stunned when the owl suddenly changed into the ghostly image of a woman in ancient robes.

"Brad Hendry." she said.

"Who the hell are you?" Brad asked in wonder.

"I am the Goddess of Wisdom Athena, and the time has come for you to awaken as an Incarnate."

Brad looked toward the ongoing fight between the Hydra and Zeus, whom he now determined was actually Corey, and then he looked at the mark on his hand. "Incarnate? You know about this mark, and about Mercer."

Athena floated closer to Brad, pointing to the mark. "You are the Incarnate of Ares. This symbol confirms that you carry within you the unbridled fighting spirit of the mighty God of War and master of fire. You need only focus every ounce of your being to bring out that power, for it is the only way to defeat the Hydra."

Brad thought for half a second about protesting, except that he didn't because his instincts told him that Athena was right. Looking towards the carnage and seeing Zeus, seeing Corey, struggling against the Hydra, Brad knew what he needed to do. He shut his eyes as tightly as humanly possible, balled his marked hand into a fist and concentrated. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but Brad didn't quit. He brought his fist close to his face and focused harder, all while thinking his brother Jimmy's words to him before his death; 'Be the kind of hero the people need the most. Brad focused hard, eyes shut tightly and straining until the mark on his hand glowed bright red. Then, Brad opened his eyes as they shared the same color as the mark before he was engulfed in a vortex of fire.

Meanwhile, Zeus was in a losing battle against the Hydra, which had by that point had ten heads snapping at him time after time. The damnable mythic beast had outsmarted by repeated throwing its own false heads into the path of every one of Zeus' attempts to behead it. Zeus was on the defense as the false heads of the Hydra whipped and snapped at him. They were practically trying to goad him into slicing off more, but Zeus knew that would only result in more heads. The main head of the Hydra rose up above the false one looked down at Zeus, almost as though it was laughing at him. The other nine heads surrounded Zeus like a pack of wolves and effectively trapped him.

The main head of the Hydra reared back and lunged forward. Zeus braced himself for the potentially fatal blow when, from out of nowhere, a burst of fire engulfed the Hydra. The beast screeched in protest and pain as did its many false head before it back away. Zeus was stunned and looked toward the direction from which the fire came. He couldn't believe his eyes when, from out of a wall of fire came a figure clad in crimson red armor with ash gray trimming and a fire themed crown. The Hydra recovered to hiss in the newcomer's general direction and unleashed a plasma attack. The newcomer answered with a blast of fire, which seemed to engulf the plasma and strike the Hydra again. The beast was pushed back and still screeching in anger while the newcomer turned to Zeus, keeping the beast at bay all the while.

Then he spoke in a familiar burly voice, "Hey Mercer, you need a hand?"

So this chapter was shorter than previous entries, but it serves the overall purpose of introducing a new hero in the mix. Leave some feedback and I'll be seeing you next year. Happy New Year 2025.