“Peace, chéries. A simple question of the lady of the hour.” They huffed, but listened in anyways. Remy LeBeau pointed back at his two half-brothers. “Dynamo, Scott and Alex said you Opened their Mindswords. Can you... do the same for me?” he asked, rather reluctantly, as if I was going to ask him to pay me.

“A point, LeBeau. I didn’t Open them. I showed them the path they had to take to Open themselves.” I steepled my fingers as I looked up at him. “You’re a Summers brother, LeBeau. Judging by your Aura I assume you haven’t been pushing yourself, maybe because you’re scared of how powerful you are, but if you are ANYTHING like them, you’ve got a freaking massive Core inside you.

“Did they also tell you how long it took, and how bloody much it hurt?” I inquired of him.

He blinked once. “They may have skipped over that little detail, cheri,” he murmured.

“Big Core. Little meridian going from their gut, up to their shoulder, down their arm, and out their palm. Really goddamn powerful Core, means you have ONE chance to do the Open, or your own power solidifies it up, and you’re stuck.

“I can help you with it. You just need to be ready to scream.” I smirked despite myself. “It’ll be a lot easier to con people without them eyes you have, right?”

“Cherie, you wound me,” he responded instantly. “I would never take advantage of beautiful women that way!”

“Especially since you wouldn’t be a natural mindbender that way,” I laughed at him. “Yes, LeBeau, I can and will do that for you. Just be prepared and bring a friend to pick you up when you fall, because you’re going to remember this for the rest of your life... not the least because you’re going to be doing it several times as you Level up off on the psion side of things.”

His face had an odd mixture of fear and anticipation. “Thank you, ma cherie. I will come back when I have some time, and my masochism levels are at their best.”

I laughed and waved him off, making him grin in relief. “Alright, get back there and enjoy yourself... or get back to work. You’re falling off the Larceny List, you know?”

“I found something far more valuable,” he replied deftly, oddly-gloved hand dismissing the ranking. “My uncle is at #6, so the Guild is represented!”

He’d been at #4, so that was saying something. Deft fingers, naturally enough with a kinetic controller...

“Which Guild?” Peggy Carter demanded, leaning in on me as LeBeau walked away, and interested eyes followed him.

“Thieves’ Guild of Orleans,” I answered promptly. “He’s the adopted son of the Guildmaster, the real son of Corsair over there, and one of the most natural thieves and rogues in the world.”

A bunch of very curious eyes turned on him again. He grinned again, smiling just right, and waved at them all.

“That definitely takes a special type of person,” Carol Danvers murmured, but had the same half-a-smile as most of the other women around.

“Tricksters,” sniffed Brunhilda, but there was a knowing light behind her eyes. “They have their uses and moments.”

“And then they steal your favorite sword for the privilege of you having to put up with them!” Sif pointed out, and everyone laughed. They trailed off when I pointed, and she looked back at where he was seated. The warrior goddess of Asgard swore when she saw her Sword leaning against the back of his chair.

I TK’d it back between the tables and to her hand, and nope, she wasn’t embarrassed, nope-nope.

We all laughed again.

Hercules would be up in a few minutes.

---------

The watching atmosphere was different from the previous matches.

Everybody had known that Champion would win the earlier matches, and it was just how long someone would last. This match... maybe there was a chance?

The money was on Hercules losing. Champion just had too much behind him, and Hercules hadn’t shown them anything that would make them believe otherwise. Indeed, his seeming lesser defenses compared to many of those lower than him on the match list definitely counted against him.

Well, I didn’t know how many gods of Strength they’d seen fight, but ones who had actually been trained to a merciless degree like him couldn’t be that common. In other realities, maybe Herc had some skill, but he’d depended on his strength to tide him through things.

In this place and time, Hercules was one of the most awesome open-hand fighters on the planet, in both Stats and Skill.

The plates on the floor creaked as he walked out. That was basic 100-ton Heavyfoot with every walking step, not even showing off, it’s just how it was.

From everything I’d seen, Herc was a Five-Way user, all four greater Dragons, and the Moon to balance them. He focused on Ocean and Crystal, as they came the easiest to him, but Storm/Thunder was a total natural for a Good god, and the exuberance of Fire wasn’t foreign to him.

Really, Moon would have been the hardest thing for him to learn, and probably what made him so unique.

He had his trademark smile on, anticipating a good fight regardless of who gave it to him. I saw the golden Runes on his hands, and knew his Hands as Weapons, tied to his golden Mace, was totally active. I was sure his Way of Water was all the way to V. I wasn’t sure of the rest, but was sure that Philosopher’s Might was at VI, and oh, was Champion going to be facing something he wasn’t expecting.

They exchanged boasts, Champion relating some of the gods he’d bested in the past in proper bombastic fashion, and Hercules listing out some of the legendary creatures and characters he’d beaten down, which also included a few gods and demonic entities.

Showmanship and flexing over, the referee called “Fight!” and promptly retreated as far as he safely could in the hundred-meter-wide arena.

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There's a minor little fight up in reality here, too...

If you're not reading this on Royal Road, you're helping pay a thief. Please read it in its original home, it's still free! You get the foreword and afterword, author comments, and comments from people with questions! I have not given permission for this story to be posted ANYWHERE ELSE.

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The first thing Hercules displayed is that their disparity in natural reach meant absolutely nothing. His feet moved with speed, fluidity, and solidity all at once, gliding and skating at the same time they were anchored like oaks, and he had plenty of experience fighting things bigger than himself.

Champion seemed surprised by Herc’s foot speed as the fists began to fly at closer distance than he was comfortable with, and yet even so, he pounded down at the smaller god.

Herc’s wall of fists and palms met them all.

Despite myself, I hissed at that hand speed, and the strangely light sounds of impact as his fists and hands met Champion’s blows, keeping up with the rate of attacks and force of them... and then he started exploiting Fire’s Mastery of Opportunities, sliding into every opening as they traded blows, attempted locks and grapples, and their feet rattled the plates of the arena with the speed and ferocity at which they were moving.

Crystal Stand: Attack of Opportunity anytime someone within your reach shifts position, 1/round per person.

Riposte: AoO if someone attacks you and misses. Parries counted, as did Elusive Target’s 1/rd redirect.

Defensive Sweep: If someone adjacent to you did NOT move, Attack of Opportunity 1/round.

Close-Quarters Fighting: AoO if someone attempts to Grab or Grapple you.

Double AoO: When getting an AoO, spend another AoO use to get another one at -5 to hit.

Deft Opportunist: AoO Attacks are at +4 to hit.

Sidestep: 1/rd, 5’ step when taking an AoO, or any number of times instead if you spend the AoO to take the step.

Sneak Attack of Opportunity: Add Sneak Attack damage to your AoO’s.

The Penultimate of such ferocity was the Karmic Strike: Take -4 to your AC and +4 to damage against you, and you were allowed an AoO directly after every blow from the chosen target against you. It meant you got all their attacks, plus all of your own.

The Ultimate was using Stormguard Warrior to convert all those AoO into to-hit and damage bonuses for a blurring combination that would completely exceed an opponent’s defenses. You almost never saw it because fights between mortals never got to that level.

Stand Still: Hit with an attack, and make it REALLY hard for an opponent to move from their location, Reflex Save equal to damage dealt.

Perhaps Champion had seen such combinations and tactics over his long life, but backed with the kind of power Hercules was using? And Way Masteries like this?

Divine and cosmic power were definitely contesting out there, and Champion’s incredible Luck wasn’t availing him against Hercules’ Strength Domain casually offsetting it.

Way of Storm, +2 per Tier of Way to hit against ethereal defenses, like Wisdom bonuses to AC, deflection, luck, insight...

Way of Fire, +2 to hit per Tier of Way against Dex/Dodge bonuses.

Way of Ocean, +2 to hit per Tier against Armor and Natural Armor.

Add Penetrate Damage Reduction at 20 from that Melee Attack Bonus of Herc’s, and suddenly Champion was taking an almighty pounding he wasn’t expecting, while Herc’s wall of hands was soaking in the power of Champion’s own attacks.

Champion moved right into combination attacks, nerve strikes, and seemingly boneless blows and moves coming in from all angles, while still contesting the footwork game with kicks and stomps back and forth.

“Ripperfish Swarm!” I blurted out as the first five punches came out, albeit in a different starting position from when it had been used on me. Twenty-six punch combo, setting up odd bonus damage resonances as they landed and wove through Hercules’ defense.

Hercules, unlike me, had the opportunity to see the Stance and Set of the move ahead of time, and reacted with a subtle defense that was to be expected, except it wasn’t a defense.

It looked like the Ripperfish attacks were swarming past his blocks, but that wasn’t what was happening as Hercules hit the blows with touch attacks, taking some of the lesser hits while not landing anything impressive of his own despite the explosive speed of his own hands. This lasted for thirteen of the twenty-six attacks, taking one crusher of a blow on his shoulder in the meantime.

But that hadn’t been a weak defense; that had been a Karmic Strike Stance, with all the Attacks of Opportunity expended uselessly as nothing but ‘empty moves’... but they were setting up an awesome retaliation of his own.

And then Hercules shifted to Stormguard Warrior, right in the middle of the combination Champion was still unleashing, and Hercules wasn’t defending against.

Because he now had another +42 to hit and damage as he took up the offense. THUNDER, BABY!

It was early to pull out an Ultimate, but there was no way Champion was expecting it, so focused on getting off his blizzard of attacks he didn’t realize what was coming his way until it was too late.

Hercules’ blows came in to exactly follow the combination raining down on him in the openings they provided. The first impact went into Champion’s floating ribs, and I’m pretty sure broke them. The rest followed, one after another, as Champion tried to build and finish his Combination, and was horrified as the slamming impacts followed each blow he was delivering even faster and harder than his own Combination could possibly land.