Icarus and Ra clash in midair, sword to staff. “You truly believe you can defeat me? When you are this WEAK!?” Ra easily pushes Icarus back. Ra holds his free hand out. “Behold the power of a TRUE GOD!” He blasts a massive beam of sunfire at Icarus. The young boy recovers from the push and is instantly putting up his shield to block, the beam pushing him back against one of the floating audience platforms. Icarus grits his teeth, before slowly rising above the platform, as Ra focuses the flame on him. As he rises above the platform, Icarus SHOOTS off into the sky. “Bothersome pest…” Ra scoffs as he sets off in pursuit.
Icarus spins in the sky looking down at Ra. He’s panting and heaving, his sweat slowly starting to evaporate the closer Ra gets. “I really could use a plan right about now…” He mutters under his breath before shooting down towards Ra!
The sun god stops mid-air on a dime, pointing his staff forward. RA’S BLINDING RAY! The sunfire collects and once more shoots forward, far faster being channeled through his staff rather than his hand! Icarus swerves around the beam even as Ra corrects his aim. However as Icarus approaches him using this strategy Ra smugly smirks. “You are naive…” He grins sadistically as he grips the staff tighter and the beam widens in an instant, swallowing Icarus up within it.
Pandora gasps. “ICARUS!”
Ichiko growls angrily. “Grrrr! Sun is meant to be bright and NICE! Not evil! Bird is evil!”
Wukong pats Ichiko on the head. “You got a real way with words, pup. But yeah… That Ra is no joke…” Icarus shoots out from the beam, flying away from Ra, out of control and plunging towards the ground. “Woah woah wait… is he… unconscious?”
Pandora’s eyes widen. “N-no… Icarus?” However as Ra breaks his beam and shoots towards the young boy, Icarus seems to wake up and shake his head back to reality. He corrects himself just in time for Ra to wind his fist back, taking aim at the emblem on his chest. With only a split second to react, Icarus simply LAUNCHES himself as hard as he can further down, Ra striking him in the stomach instead and sending him hurtling towards the ground even faster!
Ra, continuing his pursuit, holds his arms back as he shoots down! Behind him a trail of sunballs begin to form. Icarus corrects once more, RIGHT before hitting the ground beneath the arena! Gritting his teeth and firing himself back into the air. If he touches the ground he loses. He CAN’T allow that! Ra stops his charge, as if using his momentum to swing his staff, sending the 50 or so sunballs that have trailed behind him down at Icarus.
Icarus pants and heaves as he shoots himself up and away dodging and cutting the spheres as he does!
Up in the arena the crowd is muttering amongst themselves. “This is… brutal. That kid really doesn’t stand a chance anymore does he?” “He should just give up…” The gods mutter. “Yeah but also… he kind of kicked Ra’s ass before.” “I’ve NEVER seen Ra use this transformation power. Didn’t even know he had it.”
“Ra really got pushed this far by some random human?”
Another spectator shakes his head. “No he’s not a random human. Remember when that human tried to fly to the top of Olympus? By flying? That was him. I’m pretty sure anyways…”
“Well… still. Ra might not be as powerful as he seems.”
In the shadows Osiris stands in dead silence, a dark expression fallen over his face as he looks at the screens of the fight. “... Hm,” He suddenly steps into the light and raises a fist. “YOU DARE think such lowly things about THE Ra!? The mighty King of the Duat!? His heat-wave alone would have been PLENTY to defeat ANY previous member of humanity’s chosen! But Icarus CHEATED! That emblem on his chest is absorbing all of the heat! If he did not he would be ASH!” He declares with vigor and righteous fury!
However the gods look back and forth. “Well yeah. But he’s got it… and Ra hasn’t taken it off of him yet.”
Osiris scoffs. “Suit yourselves. However when Ra wins this bout you will ALL be in for it!”
Suddenly both fighters zoom past the audience stand Ra lands on the arena grounds again, Icarus continuing to soar. Ra looks up at Icarus who circles the arena like a vulture. “Such a nimble little gnat…” He grumbles as he grips his claws into the floor crossing his arms. “So be it. If you truly wish to feel the full-” However a voice cuts through the crowd.
“GO, LORD RA! DESTROY HIM!” Osiris calls out and Ra’s eye twitches.
Ra suddenly points and a small sunball forms on his fingertip, firing past Osiris’s head and burying into the seat behind him, luckily missing the audience member who ducks in time. “You DARE order me around, Osiris!? You think I require a CHEER!? You think I care about the words of this foolish audience.”
Osiris nervously laughs and sculks back into his seat. “N-no of course not, Lord Ra. How foolish of me. Please. I beg your forgiveness.”
“Tsk. I was about to destroy this annoyance regardless,” Ra aims into the air and begins rapidly blasting sunballs into the sky! Each one floating around and forming a veritable minefield for Icarus to navigate. Eventually collecting his hands, Ra forms another large ball in his hands and fires it at Icarus. “GET DOWN HERE, YOU WORM!”
Icarus zooms around in the air. ‘I’d really love to! But I can’t get close right now… I need a plan… something… anything! There HAS to be a weakpoint to exploit!’ He glances to Naucrate looking for an answer but finding nothing.
Ra furiously screeches as Icarus keeps expertly dodging his attacks… even when he’s struck he just won’t fall again. Ra stops his attack and prepares to shoot into the sky after him again, but he pauses.
The voice of the audience once more in his ear. “Mommy I’m worried for mister Icarus… will he be able to win?” “That bastard Ra. How bottomless is his power!?” “Ra would even attack his most faithful advisor for annoying him?”
A creepy smile forms on his beak. “Hmmm… I see…” He thinks back a little. “Get down!” Icarus’s voice echoes in his ears. “Lord Ra. might I ask you… refrain from disturbing the audience?” Heimdall’s voice repeats as well. “Hope of Crete… fighting for the sake of others. Hmhmhmh. HAHAHA!” Ra laughs out loud.
Icarus pauses in the air hearing Ra… laugh. “What’s so funny!?”
Ra however doesn’t answer, simply holding his hand out towards Icarus forming a sunball, larger than the small mines he was placing. Icarus prepares to dodge it when suddenly Ra aims to the side instead. Straight at the audience. “Your weakness… has been staring at me this entire time,” He fires the sunsphere at the audience, Icarus’s eyes widening and he zooms down as fast as he can! The humans all shield their loved ones before Icarus stops the attack with his shield.
Ra follows up the attack with a barrage of sunballs! Icarus slashing at the sunballs with fervor using his sword, deflecting with his shield. A few of the spheres striking him, feeling to him like solid spheres of metal being thrown at high speeds.
Ra smiles cockily. “You truly are predictable. And weak. I do not even need to aim at you like this. You will simply fly into the way of my bullets. Watch,” He then fires at the next platform over, filled with gods. Icarus once more shooting from his perch to block the attack, not quite making it in time to block with his shield, throwing his wings in front of them instead, gritting his teeth as he stands on the railing.
Ra unleashes another flurry of attacks at the platform, forcing Icarus to block, dodge or allow them to strike him, lest they strike the audience who have nowhere to go due to the platforms floating away from the exits!
“... Everyone alright back there?” Icarus mutters as more blood drips from his body than before. The parent of a young god in the front row, who was shielding his son, looks up from their ducked stances only to see Icarus still in front of their platform, shield and sword in hand, both with plentiful scorch-marks, Icarus himself having a few burns on him. “He… protected us?” He mutters under his breath.
Icarus wipes the blood off his lips. “You scumbag… You really don’t have any integrity do you?”
Ra holds out his clawed hand collecting tiny sun-spheres on the tips of his claws. “Integrity? What for? Those weaklings you so foolishly protected? Why should I, a mighty chief god, concern myself with the well-being of those beneath me!? But since you care SO VERY MUCH-!” He clenches his fist and the five spheres form a bigger one around his hand. He holds it towards Icarus who quickly flies up and away from the audience. “Then I see no reason not to exploit such failings!” His aim breaks from Icarus and instead points towards the human audience who all panic and try to move away, but the arena is densely packed and people are tripping over one another.
“YOU-!” Icarus launches from his spot as fast as he can, intercepting Ra’s beam with his shield, forced to stand on the railing to hold back the beam, the shield slowly but surely bending and distending from the heat, melting away. Icarus jumps forward, travelling up the beam with his melting shield until he reaches Ra who takes a swing at him with his staff! At the same time Icarus goes for a spinning kick to the head, both landing their strikes, but only Icarus goes flying, recovering as he hits back on the arena ground! “Every time I think you can’t get lower… you start digging,” He growls in annoyance taking small hops back, slicing apart the sunballs with his sword.
“The judgement of a human, nay, ALL humans, all gods. It means NOTHING to me. THEY mean nothing to me! Only their subjugation matters,” He blindly points to the audience once again. Icarus, through gritted teeth jumps in the way again. “What FOOLISH heroic instincts. They will be the end of you. AHAHAHA!”
Pandora and the gang all look on in horror as Icarus is forced to suddenly expend all his energy protecting the crowd! “This is bad… those fireballs-” Sun Tzu starts.
However Pandora interrupts him with a quick twirl. “Ichiko! Come on!” Ichiko quickly jumps off his perch to follow.
“Yes Friend Pandora! We go! … Where are we going!?”
Pandora stomps down the hallway with purpose. “We’re going to go help!”
“How!? I wanna help!” Ichiko calls out with an affirming bark.
“I don’t know just yet…! But we have to DO SOMETHING! That’s NOT fair!”
However Houdini is on the other side of her. “Wait, we don't have a plan? We’re just… going?”
“Houdini!?”
“Yeah? And the others too obviously!” Pandora looks behind her as she runs through the halls seeing the rest of her present company following behind her.
“At your command, general!” Wukong says with a boisterous laughter. “But… please make a plan!”
“Benkei and his legion of followers are at your command,” Benkei adds stoically.
“I… I have an idea! Wukong! Ichiko! I need you two to-”
Hephaestus looks down at Pandora’s determined look as he strides after the group. “... you really have grown a lot in such a short time…” He whispers, feeling a single tear trickle down his chin. He feels something against his foot and looks down seeing Beethoven giving him a reassuring pat.
“ON IT!” Wukong calls out, speeding ahead, Ichiko leaping after him, followed by Benkei.
“I will save everyone, Friend Pandora!” Ichiko barks.
Houdini splits off from the main group. “Mister Hephaestus. With me, please.”
Hephaestus blinks in confusion. “Me? Very well. Pandora!” He calls out and Pandora looks over her shoulder, walking with Beethoven and Sun Tzu. “Please take care, my dear.”
“Of course! But I WILL save Icarus!” She calls out, before disappearing around a corner. Hephaestus follows Houdini, easily catching up to him given the sheer size-difference.
Icarus floats in front of the audience, panting as Ra has been striking him with his sunballs over and over. Even if he has struck most of the spheres and beams out of the air… he cannot deflect them all and has had to take some of them on his body. His sigil is fine. He taps it. “Haaaah. Is that… the best the Almighty Omnipotent Ra can do? Hold the audience hostage? You’re pathetic…” He mutters silently.
“ME!? Pathetic! It is YOU who is the pathetic one! I am Ra! If you wish for me to stop taking it so leisurely on them! Then I would like you to beg for my mercy!” The sun god focuses his power on his staff, a massive sunball forming on the tip of his staff. He fires it to the side, Icarus pressing a button on his gauntlet and Naucrate whirls up, blasting several pods out, one of which intercepts Icarus as he lands on the attacked platform, folding around his gauntlet into a gigantic metal shield. PROJECT NAUCRATE: POD 41: SHIELD OF PALLAS! The shield expands with extra plating into a near towershield which Icarus uses to block the giant sunball. “Hmpf. As expected but…” Ra points to the other side. “What will you do if I fire a second one?” He hovers the second one at arm’s length with a sadistic grin.
Icarus grits his teeth. “Please… Ra… they have nothing to do with this…”
“A good plea. But… Not. Good. Enough.” Ra smugly says, firing the second EQUALLY large one at another audience platform, Icarus gritting his teeth as he can barely hold this one back.
He feels a tear forced from his eye from the pressure as he finally manages to flick the sunball above the audience. “I’m… sorry…” He whispers almost timidly looking at the other platform about to be struck.
“Do not be sorry, Boy!” A voice suddenly erupts as a loud CRASH falls onto the other platform. “Steel your heart! And place your trust in US!” Benkei stands tall reaching both hands out, CATCHING the sunball with his bare chest and hands. “Just as we have put OUR trust in YOU!”
“B-Benkei?!” Icarus calls out looking up at where he came from seeing Ichiko rushing down from his flaming flowers. “Ichiko!?”
Ra scoffs. “You interfere with the fight!? You DARE!?”
Benkei scoffs. “Nay. Benkei merely stands here. And will continue to stand here.”
Ichiko perches himself on another platform. Ra angrily grits his teeth at the sight of the sun-wolf. “YOU?!”
“ME!” Ichiko proudly says howling. “And US!” As Ra attacks another platform, it suddenly MOVES out of the way.
“Hello Hello? I really hope that worked? Had to hack into the arena controls. Sorry Heimdall. I got this done a while ago,” A voice echoes over the speakers. Houdini’s.
Ra grits his teeth. “What… is this?”
“This is… the Einherjar,” Icarus says feeling a wave of relief washing over him.
A bunch of chariots suddenly arrive, driven by Pandora, Sun Tzu, Beethoven and various monks from Benkei’s legion! Parking near some of the platforms. “Everyone who’s injured. Get on board! Let’s get you out of here!” Pandora calls out and some of the humans and gods alike get onto the chariots.
Ra’s breathing intensifies. “Haaaaah!? YOU?! Little Pandora!? YOU DARE!?” His hands are covered in intense flames and he BLASTS a beam at her, but she doesn’t even flinch just glaring at him with an intensity that makes his eye widen. “That look…” His gaze to Pandora is interrupted by Icarus appearing in between them and blocking the attack with his new shield. “No matter… YOU CANNOT STOP ME! Even ALL TOGETHER!”
However a new voice joins the fray. “We don’t need to BEAT you together! Little Birdy’s got THAT covered. We’re just making it FAIR!” Wukong calls out as he falls from the sky on his cloud along with someone else! “Sorry I’m late! Had to go PRETTY far to get this guy!”
SHIELD OF VANAHEIM! Tyr lands on one of the godly viewing platforms, next to Ichiko, enveloping it and all the others in his shields.
“TYR?! You dare betray me!?”
Tyr sits down and focuses on his magic. “This is no betrayal. It is a favor. For Wukong. The man who allowed me to prove myself. Young wolf. If you would?” He says and Ichiko nods, instantly sitting down and Tyr pats his head gently. Ichiko glows brilliantly. SHIELD OF VANAHEIM: SUN-PROTECTED!
Ra grits his teeth and collects another massive ball. “SILENCE! THE LOT OF YOU! I AM RA! I AM THE SUN HIMSELF! AND YOU WILL NOT CHEAT ME!” The sphere explodes into countless smaller spheres, that begin to rain down all over the arena. RA’S RAIN OF GLORY! However they all strike Tyr’s shields making them all shake and tremble but the shields hold strong with pained grunts from both the war god and sun-wolf but they hold firm. “TSK!” Ra grits his teeth looking around frantically to the Einherjar helping out the audience, Tyr and Ichiko holding up the blockade. He prepares a massive sunball at the tip of his staff as his eye lands on Pandora! Outside the protected shields. “PANDORAAAAA!! You DARE OPPOSE ME THIS BRAZENLY?! THEN PERISH!”
However LONG before he can launch it, the sun god feels a fist connect with his cheek, sending him tumbling back in the air. “Hey! Remember me!?” Icarus calls out. “It’s just you and me now! As it should be!” He looks back at Pandora who is helping an old lady up on the chariot. “Thanks…”
Pandora smiles at him. “No problem! Go get him, Tiger!”
Icarus turns back, revving his wings. “ON IT, GENERAL!” He calls out, reinvigorated as he feels the warmth from behind him, and the searing glare from Ra in front of him.