Prism Girls 3 – Tomorrow’s Destiny

“I don’t want to be here!” Artemis yelled.

“But…” Athena looked at her sister apprehensively. “I understand your fear, but…”

“I have a wife and daughter!” Artemis exclaimed. She twitched and grabbed at the wound in her arm taking deep breaths to ease the pain. “I’m… I’m not dying here because of father’s stupid ego! I’m going home and protecting my family!”

“Where will you hide!?” Athena argued. “Do you think you’ll just out run him!? Do you-”

“I don’t know!” Artemis snapped, tears streaking down her face. “But I can’t just give up! I can’t just let myself die here!”

“But…” Athena hesitated as she looked over her battered sister. The battle had taken its toll on both of them, but surely they couldn’t...

“Look around us, Athena!” Artemis waved her good arm towards the mountainside beside them, bloodied bodies of all sorts, human, demon, demigod, even their fellow Olympians and other gods lay dismembered. “What the hell do you think we can accomplish here!?” Athena glowered. She gripped a wound in her own stomach, failing to stifle the pain that had been gnawing at her for the past hour as they and their allies tried to pursue and curtail the invader god’s progress.

There was a sudden rumble. The pair looked up at the mountain, witnessing the blue light of distant runes rupture from a pillar of cascading light. “That was Odin’s…” Athena muttered. She took a deep breath and looked at her sister who bit her lip in anguish. And sighed, unable to run away from their failure any longer. “Let’s go.”

“Athena?”

“I’m not letting you go alone. There’s no victory to be found here.” Artemis smiled as she nodded. Athena approached her and took her hand as the two readied to leave their proud mountainous home behind forever.

“Where do you think you’re going!?” a voice boomed. They turned to see a tall muscular man with a long white beard approach them. Their eyes narrowed as Zeus angrily stared them down, the body of a fallen enemy dragging behind him.

“F-father…” Athena’s voice shook. “I… we… we’re leaving.”

“What?” he asked with a dry quiet rage filling his voice.

“There’s no use trying to defeat him. He’s won, and… at least if we live, we may be able to-” she took a sharp breath as pain shot up her leg. She looked down to see blood dripping from seared flesh.

“Athena!” Artemis screamed as she grabbed hold of her sister.

“F-father you…” Athena stammered as her gaze fell upon the bloodied body in his grasp. She trembled with fear as a horrible realization clawed at her. “A-Ares…?” Artemis looked back at their father, her own eyes widening with realization.

“No… you didn’t… You…”

“Failures!” Zeus barked. “When push came to shove, this useless brat broke down crying about some nonsense about wasting his life.”

“That… that was worth killing him!?” Athena growled.

“Don’t you dare pretend as if you don’t know of his other sins,” Zeus snarled. “But no…” His face twisted with a disgusting grin. “I had a much better reason.”

“W-what are you…?”

“That winged bastard. He didn’t simply come into his own power. No… he stole it. Stole if from the other pantheons, and stole it from us,” he laughed. “It’s ingenious frankly. I’ll admit, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it myself.” The sisters stared at him in horror. “I’ll be taking back the power I gave you two now.”

“Stay, ba-” Artemis shouted as she reached for her bow. But it was too late. She stumbled as the cost of her exhaustion took its final toll and fell to the ground as she stared at the javelin in her chest. She stared upon her father and killer. “I just wanted to go home… I just wanted to...” she whispered as Zeus drew closer. Athena looked upon her father in horror as the man lorded over him.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make far better use of your power than you ever could.”

* * *

Athena tried to steady herself over the console, her tears dripping onto it. It only took those few words from Zeus to summon the horrible thoughts to her mind. Before she knew it, her body began moving on its own, reaching for the communicator.

“Carmen,” a voice like her own called into the device. “Are you there?”

“Athena? What’s up? You sound…”

“Jasmine, actually,” her partner answered with their voice. “Athena’s not feeling well.”

“What’s wrong?”

“She was listening in on the others’ battle with Zeus. You’re getting close, right?”

“Yeah. Is something wrong? Are they in trouble?”

“They are. Hurry up and help them. And I need you to listen carefully to me on this. Keep the goddesses away from him! He’s after their power!” Jasmine said. There was a silence. “Carm? Carmen, answer me!”

“We’ve lost their signal!” Medi called out.

“We… What!?” Jasmine shouted. “How did we…?”

“Zeus is a lightning god,” Agent Roth noted. “We hoped they’d be strong enough to counteract his power, but his power up must be causing enough interference that we can’t communicate with them now.”

“Dammit!” Jasmine yelled. “I… we… we have to do something! I’m going…”

“You’re not going anywhere!” Medi said as she slithered beside her.

“I’m not abandoning my sister again!” Athena shouted taking back control from Jasmine. “I lost her once because of him! I’m not losing her again! Especially not when-”

“Thena!” Medi gripped her hands. She looked the goddess in the eyes. “You trust her, right?” Athena blinked. “Your priestess is there fighting beside them. You trust her, right?” Athena frowned.

“...I do.”

“Then trust her to save them.” Medi smiled.

“Still though,” Agent Roth interjected. “We should go talk with Ami and Isis and consult with them. I have faith in those girls, but should things get too far, we need to be prepared.”

“Right…” Athena agreed. She looked to Medi who nodded at her. They began to make their way to the hallway when Athena looked back at the communicator and sighed. “Vivi… I trust you. I trust all of you.”

* * *

“Still can’t get in contact with them?” Thermia asked.

“Nope,” Carmen grumbled. “Dammit. She sounded pretty freaked out about whatever it was too… ‘Keep the goddesses,’ what?” she wondered aloud.

“It won’t do us any good to worry about it now,” Ceridwen stated. “We need to get to them as quickly as we can.” She said as they approached the entrance of the Fort Newton.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure all of us together can stop him!” Riri said triumphantly. “I can’t imagine he’s that much more powerful than Pops.”

“You’re probably right…” Ichika muttered.

“Is something wrong, Chi?” Sue asked, noticing the girl’s complicated expression.

“It’s just… we’re thankful for the help, but…”

“This is supposed to be our mission!” Wisp argued. “We’re supposed to win with our power of friendship!”

“I probably showed her too many magical girl shows, huh?” Carmen chuckled. “But she’s right. You all said that you wanted us to decide our destiny by our own merits right? We’re glad you helped us out, but let us take care of things ourselves.”

“Wow! Such a cool speech!” Riri cheered. “I knew I got the best priestess!”

“I don’t know about that,” Ceridwen chuckled. “But she is right. I do want to help you all until the end, but you’re right. This is your fight.”

“You all may have promised that, but I didn’t make that kind of promise,” Thermia stated bluntly.

“Thermia…” Riri grumbled.

“What? That asshole manipulated me and left me to become Odin’s personal monster slave! I’m not just taking the high road and giving up after that! Besides after what he did to my goddess…” she groused as they entered the facility. Her eyes widened as she beheld her quietly sitting on a nearby desk, her legs kicking in the air. The goddess of war turned to look at them and smiled.

“So, you’ve all finally arrived. I’m…”

“Ares!” Thermia rushed to hug her. “I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“Huh?” Marina squeaked. “What are…” she mumbled. “Wait… this warmth. This energy…” She looked at the goddess. “Is that really you, Gunther?”

The woman chuckled. “It is… I...My name is Thermia now though. And… I… uh… kinda became a goddess…” Marina smiled back gently.

“Gosh. I knew you’d taken in my power, and I could tell you were changing, even from here, but… wow… a goddess? Really?” she giggled. “My priestess is a goddess. I kinda lucked out, huh?”

“Yeah,” Thermia chuckled. “I’m glad you’re safe, Ares.”

“Um… I… I’m going by Marina now, actually. The one pink girl, Vivi, she helped me out a bunch, and I want to use that name again.”

“Of course, Lady Marina.” Thermia said with a graceful bow.

“That sounds like something Viv would do,” Carmen chuckled.

“Big sis is so cool!” Wisp cheered.

“She really is,” Ichika laughed. She then looked at the war goddess. “By the way, do you know where she went? We need to find them. It sounds like they might be in trouble.”

“That’s not surprising,” Marina stated. “The lights have been flickering a lot, and I can feel father’s energy growing stronger. I think he might be siphoning off power from the building.”

“I see. We should probably take care of that.” Ichika commented. “Do you know where they are?”

“No,” Marina shook her head. “Father didn’t trust me with that kind of information. Lilith and the red one seemed to be able to figure it out though."

"I see,” Carmen sighed. “I think I can figure out where they are too, but…” she glanced towards the goddesses.

“Go help your friends, Carm,” Riri interrupted. “I already figured out where the generators are.”

“Wait, how do you…?” Marina looked at them confusedly.

“Thunder goddess and her cool as heck priestess,” Riri gloated as she summoned Mijolnir and posed proudly. “That sound good?” she asked looking to the other goddesses who nodded back. “Thermia, why don’t you come with?”

“What, but I…” Thermia frowned.

“Come now,” Sue urged her. “Let the girls take care of him. You two can pitch in and stop his unfair advantage while staying out of it. Meanwhile, Carrie and I will stay here with Marina."

Thermia sighed. “Fine, whatever. You win. I’ll go with you.” She looked at the three magical girls. “You better keep him intact. I want my fair shot at him when this is all over.”

“Right,” Ichika giggled. “What about you two?” She looked at Ceridwen and her own goddess.

“If any of you need help, we’ll come running.” Sue smiled. “Good luck.”

“Right!”

“Let’s go! Big sis might be in trouble!” Wisp declared.

“Right behind you!” Carmen declared as she and Ichika chased the small fairy girl.

* * *

Electricity arced within Zeus’s hand, congealing into a solid mass in his palm. A sharp spire of metal began to emerge, splaying out to form a golden sparking sword. The girls watched on, bewildered by his declaration and sudden spike in power as he cackled with delight.

“Oh, I’d forgotten how good this felt,” Zeus stated.

“You… stole our divinity?” asked the man scrambling on the floor. He stared at the god with horror. “You… we were supposed to be partners. We were…” Zeus snapped his fingers, lightning striking the man, leaving nothing but a singed husk behind.

“You… killed him…” Vivi muttered in shock.

“If I hadn’t he’d simply get in my way and try to steal my power,” Zeus said nonchalantly. “And a human who believes himself to be a god is nothing but a blight anyway.”

“Why…?” Tiamat questioned. “What’s the point of this!?”

“Didn’t you hear me earlier? I need enough power to confront the God of Heaven.” He grinned.

“The God of Heaven?” Annie repeated. “You mean…?”

“The people of your era have an obnoxious tendency to refer to him as simply God, yes,” Zeus scoffed. “That upstart bastard was nothing more than some minor deity of a wandering tribe of angels and humans. He had the gall to attack his superiors, myself included. It made no sense how he’d managed to secure enough power to over power us.

“I realized too late last time. Such a weak and feeble creature gained such power because he stole it. He consumed other divinities to grow stronger. He stole our power and position like it was nothing,” Zeus snarled before sneering. “But I have since realized the reverse is also true. I can become even stronger by consuming divinities as well. If he was able to become our equal like that, then imagine what a true god above him could do.” He looked down upon the five, his gaze lingering upon Lilith and Tiamat. “Our reincarnation must mean he has lost our control over our power. Therefor, by gathering enough now, I can finally overthrow him and reclaim my rightful place above these worthless mortals. Your powers shall become a part of something greater.”

“If you needed divinities so badly, then why not take Odin’s? Or heck, why wait to take Marduk’s!?” Tiamat demanded. Zeus simply grinned.

Melody cringed. “You didn’t see them as acceptable sacrifices, did you?” she speculated. “You didn’t intend to take them because they were your equals, but goddesses who oppose you? They must be convenient targets for you.”

“Oh-ho? It’s rare for a woman to be blessed with such intelligence. You really would’ve made a worthwhile trophy.” Melody cringed as Annie stood before her. “You are correct. It is only right for these goddesses to surrender to their superior and give me their strength.”

“You… you’ve done it before, haven’t you?” Vivi asked.

“Ah, your petty empathy powers told you that, did they?” Zeus chortled. “Yes, that’s correct. But it wasn’t enough last time. Those three were hardly enough by that point.”

“Those… three?” Vivi repeated.

“That’s right. My son and two daughters.”

Melody gasped as Annie glared at him angrily. “You mean… Athena, Artemis, and Marina, don’t you?”

“Marina?” Zeus sighed and turned his gaze towards Vivi. “The All-Father told me… I had already assumed you were responsible to dispelling my hold on him, so I assume you’re also responsible for convincing him to slip back into that nonsense?” He asked the young succubus. “Well?”

“You killed them…?” Vivi asked. “And Marina… You...”

“Hmm? I only did what was necessary. And as for his delusion…”

“HOW DARE YOU!” Vivi snapped. The ground rumbled and quaked in answer to her voice as a large root erupted from the ground. It tore through the ground as it lunged at Zeus. “You’re their father! You’re supposed to support and protect them!”

Zeus grunted as he braced himself, catching the root with his sword. “Obnoxious little brat, aren’t you? And support and protect? Don’t make me laugh,” he huffed. “They exist because of and for me. That is the role of all inferiors, mortal or divine. Which reminds me.” He turned to face Lilith. “I’ll need more than just what Marduk gave me.”

“You monster!” Lilith spat. “We aren’t your toys!” She gripped her fist angrily, her shadows emerging around her, readying to tear the god of lightning apart. As they reached to grab at him, they suddenly vanished, electricity zapping the floor they emerged from. The group watched in shock as Zeus brandished an elaborate looking sword, lightning curling around it. He smirked as his gaze fell upon the demoness goddess.

“Your powers are mighty, but so feeble in your novice hands. Don’t worry, I’ll put them to much better use.” He held his vision of Lilith in his hand and tensed his grip, a swarm of sparks splattering at her. A mighty gust wiped them away as Tiamat stood before the demoness, glaring at the thunder god. “Ah, Tiamat. If you so desire to be next, I'll be gracious enough to accommodate you.”

Zeus slashed at Tiamat, her wing shielding her and batting it away. The lighting god grinned as his body spun from the recoil, his other hand shooting bolts of electricity at the goddesses. The spray of lightning stunned the pair as he landed and wound another swing. The metal hurtled towards the ground hissing with sparks.

A groan of wood met the blade, catching it in place. Zeus snarled with anger as he flashed a glare at the young succubus to his side as Vivi's tail rose behind her as she willed the thick trunk like root to move again, swinging it at the god. He spat in frustration, as he moved to dodge, only to be met by a different blade bearing down upon him. Annie’s flaming sword swept past him as he narrowly dodged her attack. He swung his arm at her in retaliation, only for his power to dissipate thanks to a sudden deluge of water.

“You’re not winning, Zeus!” Melody declared. “Give up!”

He chuckled. “You brats really think you’re clever, don’t you. Fine then.” A quiet repetitive ringing began to fill the room. “I suppose I’ll have to try then.” Light filled the room, forcing the girls back.

Vivi hovered in the air, her top wings curled around her head, covering her eyes, and her hands around her ears. They slowly pulled away as her eyelids trembled before finally cracking open. She blinked confusedly as she processed what she was seeing. She scanned the room, flinching slightly as she pulled her hands away from her ears, their pointed tips twitching as the ringing once again filled them. The room hadn’t changed, and yet, that ringing and… it was as if the air had been tinted with… something, making every thing seem off. She looked at her grandmother and Tiamat who were heaving for air after the attack on them. She gasped as something clicked in her head. Tiamat, her grandmother, even Annie and Melody, their hair had all puffed up, strands standing on end. Electricity had filled the room.

Zeus smirked and once again turned his attention towards the goddesses.

He walked toward them.

Vivi shook her head, refusing his… whatever this was, to stop her. She held her wand and pointed at the ground in front of him and willed the root from before to attack him. The root quaked and groaned as it began to move. It lurched towards him, swinging its mass down upon him, and then…

Vivi gawked in confusion. Her root had completely missed, crashing behind him instead of on top of him like before. Even more strangely, as Melody recovered and tried to slam him with a wave of water, it also missed for some reason. Finally, Annie charged at him again, her flaming sword, glimmering with a true aim. And yet, as the sword cleaved through the air, its trajectory suddenly shifted, jerking the blade away from him and to the ground behind him.

“Wh-what!?” Annie shouted as she pulled at her sword, which refused to budge from the ground. “Why can’t I…?” She gasped. “I can’t let go!?”

Zeus continued to approach the goddesses, ignoring the confusion of the trio behind him. Tiamat growled as she bore her claws and opened her mouth, the light of flame illuminating her maw. She took a deep breath and… With a snap of Zeus’s fingers, her mouth was suddenly snapped shut, much to her shock. In that moment, it was all she could do to feebly block his sword, falling to her knees, which then refused to budge. She inhaled sharply as she realized she’d been anchored to the floor. She could hear Lilith scramble to her feet and rush toward her, only for a rope of lightning to shoot past her and ensnare Lilith without warning.

“W-what is this!?” Lilith yelped as she squirmed in her bindings. “How did you-!?”

“It’s rather impressive isn’t it?” Zeus chuckled darkly. “I already had a great mastery over lightning, of course. But with Marduk’s power, even generating a magnetic field like this is effortless now.”

“A magnetic field?” Lilith repeated.

“Quite unfortunate, aren’t you, Tiamat?” Zeus laughed. “All that iron in your body makes it all the easier to control you.” He smirked. “I wonder, perhaps with this greater power, I could make it so you have to truly obey me now.”

“Don’t you dare touch her!” Lilith screamed. Tiamat’s eyes trembled as she stared at Zeus in horror. “Vivi! Please!”

Zeus chuckled as he lazily waved his hand. He looked to his side to see Vivi’s trunk once again trying to swing at him, flailing about, missing again and again. He snapped his fingers and it began to bloat and creak until it finally burst.

Zeus chuckled as he returned his attention forward. “A servant like you is tempting, but… Hmm… Perhaps after I take your power, assuming there’s anything left.”

“Tiamat!” Lilith screamed.

Zeus moved his hand towards Tiamat, a spark filling his grasp, until it matched the one that stole Marduk’s power. Tiamat’s body trembled as she tried to move only to remain firmly stuck to the floor. He willed the spark forward. She watched on helplessly as it floated towards her, the attacks of the others failing to connect.

Zeus smiled victoriously.

The spark advanced towards its target and then vanished. Tiamat looked at Zeus in horror as she feared what came next. And then his face began to twist with confusion and then anger. Another snap tore through the room and a bolt of lightning struck at Zeus. He stumbled back as his eye twitched.

“First Marduk, and now Odin!? Am I just surrounded by incompetents!?”

“I don’t know, does a corpse count?” a smug voice answered. Prism Yellow entered the room. She winked at the demoness goddess, willing her bindings away as she moved to shield Tiamat. “Gotta say though, your little team of god guys sucked ass.”

“Carm!” Ichika huffed. “Language! Wisp is…”

“Yeah! They sucked ass!” Wisp echoed enthusiastically. Ichika sighed as Carmen sheepishly scratched at her cheek.

“Carmen!” Lilith called out to her. “His powers have grown because he consumed Marduk’s powers. He’s gained some kind of power over magnetism.”

“Magnetism?” Carmen repeated. “Huh? Right, electro-magnets and stuff. Well, if that’s the case…” She smirked.

“NO!” Zeus snapped as she held her hammer in front of her. The god rushed at her, sword in hand when a spire of ice erupted from the ground, catching his blade. “Dammit! You won’t-” He threw his hand forward to unleash another attack when his hand was suddenly forced downward by a jet of air. He glared at the two offending cyan and green magical girls.

“I see,” Carmen said. “He’s giving off a strong magnetic charge to mess with everything, and magnetized the floor. Then if I…” She smacked the ground with her hammer, liberating Annie and Tiamat. “There, looks like we’re on an even battlefield now.” Zeus glared at her.

“Oh please, Carm,” Ichika chimed in. “This is hardly fair.” She stated as the others gathered around, readying to fight the god.

Zeus clicked his tongue.

* * *

The large metal door slammed on the ground, Riri and Thermia emerging in a large room filled with the low groan of machinery, a series of dim screens illuminating the room. The light traced the silhouette of large rumbling mechanisms in the back room. The two advanced, scanning the room for clues.

“So, what are we looking for?” Thermia asked.

“I’m not sure.” Riri shrugged.

“What do you mean you don’t know!? Coming here was your idea!”

“Yeah, but it’s not like I’m an engineer,” Riri shrugged. “Before this I was just a high schooler.”

Thermia sighed. “How is it by the way? Sharing your body with…”

“Oh, I don’t have a headmate,” Riri stated.

“Headmate?”

“It’s what Athena called it. She asked me about it too. Not much to say. I woke up, realized I was Thor and that’s kinda it,” she explained. “It was a bit weird at first. Remembering being… well in a body I didn’t like before, but really it just made me appreciate who I am now even more.”

“All of this stuff is weird,” Thermia grumbled.

“Heh, I get the feeling people will adapt,” Riri chuckled. “Humans are pretty adaptable. I mean, hey, a bunch of us were suited to become gods, right?”

“Yeah,” Thermia said with a smile. “Hmm? There’s a window over here.”

“A window? But we’re underground. What could it possibly…? Wait! Is that…!?”

“Zeus…” Thermia grimaced. “Well, it seems like the girls are on top of things. Guess we don’t really have to do anything, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess… not…?” Riri’s voice trailed off as she looked at the machine.

“What’s wrong?”

“This generator… It’s getting louder.”

“Is it revving up?” Thermia asked. “Wait, could that mean…?”

“No, that can’t be possible,” Riri argued. “Unless…” She gasped and ran back to the console. “Shit! I thought the glow was just from the monitors, but there’s a rune here!”

“A rune!? What’s it doing?”

“It’s turning everything on! Which mean…”

“Zeus is about to get a lot stronger, real fast! Riri, can you stop the rune?”

“Not a chance! It’s one of Dad’s pieces of work. I’m guessing you didn’t inherit his knowledge on how to work with these?”

“I… think I have some, but not enough to dismantle one of his runes.”

“Back up plan then,” Riri grumbled. “Maybe if I can siphon off the electricity…” She reached towards the console and the generator and took a deep breath. Electricity began to spark and surge from the two and into Riri.

“Good job, Riri, you’re doing great! I’ll head down and…”

“Urgk! Riri coughed.

“Riri!?”

“Something’s… wrong…” Riri gasped. “This… This feeling… Dammit, we’ve been played!?”

“Riri!?”

“Zeus… he’s…” Thermia looked out the window to see Zeus drawing electricity from a console in the laboratory. Electricity sparked around the room, the glass of the windows rattling and exploding as the lightning grew stronger. “He’s siphoning my power…” Riri grit her teeth. “Thermia…”

“Zues…?” she repeated. Her hand curled into a fist as she glared out the window watching the man begin to grow in power, using Riri, her friend’s power. His insidious words echoed in her mind. The exploitation, the selfishness, the arrogance, all the ideas that ate away at her mind and led her into a miserable shell of malice.

“Th-Thermia…?” Riri said as she watched the woman’s body ignite into flames. She watched as his lightning stormed through the room, Ichika moving to shield the others with her her mirror and Carmen doing her best to draw the additional energy. He grinned as he readied to attack the women who accepted, despite all she’d done. Despite the horrible person she knew she’d become due to Zeus’s manipulation. She readied Gungnir and charged forward, her flames propelling her through the window, shattering the multiple panes like it was nothing and then moving to plunge the spear into Zeus directly. The thunder god’s eyes went wide as her spear bore down upon him.

He skidded backwards as he processed what had just happened, his eyes lingering upon the blazing goddess. “This power… This intensity… It’s the All-father’s… and yet…” He grimaced. “I should’ve dealt with you when I had the chance, Gunther.”

“My name is Thermia!” she declared. “And I will destroy you!” She thrust her spear forward. The god barely managed to deflect it. He readied to counter attack when only to realize the spear had been a feint. Thermia’s fist crashed into his stomach. “That was for abusing me.” She grabbed at her spear and plunged it down at Zeus, who managed to dodge out of the way, a grin on his face, until the ground began to glow, the ground warming up until a geyser of flame erupting from the ground.

As the flames dissipated, the others stood there and gawked, shocked by Thermia’s sudden interference. As the smoke gave way, they came to see Zeus’s scorched body standing there, his jacket scorched and in tatters. Thermia grinned. “And that was for Marina, my goddess.”

“You…” he huffed. “Little…” he panted. “UPSTART!” he roared as he grabbed at Thermia’s face. Thermia prepared to dodge when she felt a tingle cross her body. She flinched as Zeus grinned, an electric pulse coming off his fingertips. Before anyone could move in, he’d grabbed at her head. “You will give it to me!” he roared. “GIVE ME YOUR DIVINITY!”

A surge of lightning arced through the room as Thermia’s body went limp. “N-no…” she chocked. “You…”

“Yes! The all-father’s power is wasted on you, but I can…” he stopped short and let her go as a blazing sword slashed at his arm.

“CARM!” Vivi called out as one of her roots lunged at him.

“Right!” Carmen answered, swinging her hammer at him. Zeus dodged, leaping into the air and hovering there. “Dammit!”

“Are you okay, Thermia?” Ichika asked, the goddess could only cough in pain in response. “Melody!”

“I’ve got you!” Melody answered, using her water to help Ichika pull Thermia away from Zeus’s range. The god simply floated there, glaring at the two women who dared to end his feast prematurely. He sighed.

“That is hardly enough,” he chuckled. “However…” He snapped his fingers, lightning acring from his body into the machines around and behind him. “It’s time we finished this.” The girls stared at him. Their gazes of resolve began to warp, widened and twisting with confusion as the silver tear behind Zeus began to grow. “Welcome, mortals, to Gaia.”