"This is weak," Ares protested. "Hero? Come on! He's got some tyke barely out of her swaddlin' clothes, and he's got to make a warrior of her?"
"Aye!" Tyr grumped. "We've got here a mighty Champeen o' Justice, with a mighty Fist o' Vengeance, and he's cuddling some kiddy! Where's the heroic violence!"
"Ahem," Cupid coughed quietly. "I do believe that I won the betting pool."
The war gods grumbled and sulked amongst themselves, a single, "Stupid Nodoka taking away that awesome sword of Damocles."
Cupid coughed quietly again, and looked away. "Hehe," he managed. "Good thing she ... er ... loved her son so much."
"Good for you," Bishamon growled, the great wheel of fire behind his back swirling and ablaze. "A bit ... convenient, don't you think?"
Cupid began to sweat; most war gods were pomp and bluster. Bishamon was also something of a poet and a scholar. Tactics usually did not take into account how much a mother could love her child ... but if anyone could truly know Nodoka's soul, it would be him, among all of the wargods.
His eyes flashed fiery for a moment, and he grinned, taking the wheel up in one hand, and setting it aside, raw glory streaming from it, and momentarily blocking Kami-sama's view. Or at least, they thought it would, and it amused Kami-sama to allow them to think their plots snuck past him.
"I think you'll need to let us slip something in to liven things up a bit," Bishamon whispered, grinning. "Just to say the bet was ... fair."
"Uh ... contract. Um. So, you can act at sunset," Cupid said. "For now."
"We'll work out further details later," Bishamon grinned, as the wheel rolled back behind him, rising into the air and radiating a flush of bright power. "Father! Cupid has relented, and allowed us to move, and test this new hero! We may strike at sunset." Then he turned to the other war gods. "How shall we act?"
"He is mine," Ares thundered. "The star of war has always shone upon him, and it is the violent kind of war, mine, that he is embroiled in! A swarm of the undead should rise from the earth to challenge him."
"Nay!" Tyr protested. "Within him shines a search for great justice, and a respect for rightness. It is in my name he fights! He should defend his stead and home from a pack of dire wolves, as the ancient protectors did."
"You are wrong, for he is a warrior of refinement," Hachiman said, smiling softly from his position near Bishamon. "He has grace and subtlety, thus it is our cause he represents. He should deal with opponents who challenge him in the ways he excels; his enemies are only held at bay by Cupid's blessing for the moment."
"Come on!" Cupid protested. "You guys always get to play with Ranma! Why don't I get any fun?"
Kami-sama coughed, and flicked the channel to an alternate timeline, which was largely lemon-oriented. Cupid meekly backed away, and Kami-sama changed the channel back.
"He fights," a deep voice grated out, causing all of the other war gods to look up in alarm, "against ... the cessation ... of all things. His challenge ... fire-lions."
"Huitzilopochtli," Bishamon said flatly. "Personally, I was thinking of just choosing a good anti-hero to stick to him. But let's put it to a vote. No one can vote for themselves."
The gods voted, and grumbled when the winner was:
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(Posted Sun, 17 Jul 2005 02:06)
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