Chapter 5

Pono stretched out her legs after waking up, looking over at the young girl that she shared a hotel room with. They had eradicated a couple of cities so far and made their way down to the heart of California. They were in the city of Red Bluff, apparently known for their livestock and farm produce. Therefore, it was even easier to eliminate the entire city. Something was awfully strange, though. There has never been an opposing force that tried to stop her. No gods. No deities. Nothing, nothing tried to stop. That honestly unnerved her and made her uncomfortable. Well, as uncomfortable as someone who could get that killed over thousands of people can get.

Lyssa was thinking similar things but wasn't focused on it, rather focused on fun facts about the city. Tete and Apep were expressing their thoughts, talking about and being creeped out by the lack of opposition. She sighed and went inside the hallway, seeing the scattered bags and leftover luggage. Heading down the stairs to the hotel's lobby, it was part of the Holiday Inn brand. Expecting to see the same ruins as before with a semi-destroyed shop wasn't presented. It was something strange. Everything went back to normal and like before. She sighed, knowing that her luck finally ran out. Pono summoned Lyssa and felt the annoying goddess's presence behind her.

"Didn't you ruin this place? Why is it all fixed?" She stated the obvious. "I don't feel any godly presence, so why are you getting concerned? You would've felt something too." Lyssa quickly stated. That's when they felt the air pulse. Once, then twice. The air suddenly smelled like alcohol and sex. She was hearing multiple slot machines and dice rolling. Pono gripped her head and felt her body sway, trying to stay upright. Her eyes felt heavier and she could tell Lyssa was feeling the same way.

"They're both here? What the fuck." The goddess muttered, "You're not ready for either of them. Even if you were ready for one, you can't take on both." Lyssa stared at her with panic in her eyes, "If they kill you, I'll be seen to the deepest pits of Tartarus. If they even keep me in my pantheon! Knowing the chaos we caused, they'll most likely send me to the Christian one!" She whined.

"You're overreacting. We're not that bad." The voice was smooth but had a slight huskiness to it. "I've always wanted to say this." giggling to himself but clearing his throat and stated in a booming voice, "You're trying to leave so soon when the party just gett-" The man was cut off by an audible smacking noise then whimpering followed right after.

"Shut up, you drunkard! Act like the god of wine you are." A woman's voice screeched, "Learn how to be Dionysus and follow your superior's lead, the goddess of chance Fortuna!" Fortuna preached.

"Just because you guys won the war means nothing." The drunk god reminded, "Walk up to someone on the street and they'll name someone from our pantheon first and will struggle to think of someone from yours." Dionysus snapped back.

Pono turned around to see the interesting sight in front of her. There were four figures, two of them clearly being the bickering gods, and the ones in front must have been their champions. Focusing on the champion of Dionysus was strange. They radiated the definition of a stereotypical college frat jock. Curly brown hair wearing a backward cap with heavy freckles and black eyes. They wore a short-sleeved shirt and shorts with hairy legs. With olive skin, they wore a confident smile with a posture.

The girl on the right standing in front of Fortuna was a disheveled mess. Tangled ginger hair that seemed to be attached to each other and parts sticking out. Their eyes seemed to have a permanent slouch with deep bags underneath them. The clothes they were wearing seemed baggy on them barely fitting. Looking over to see Fortuna finally finishing the argument after the quick analysis.

"Let's agree to disagree, we will argue about this later." Fortuna conceded "We have a cheater that requires our attention anyways." Leveling a glare at the duo in front of them.

Crouching low, swaying to the side, she prepared to fight. However, the girl spoke this time. "You will not fight, at least not physically. Your mind hasn't been put through the wringer yet." The girl spoke, her voice is raspy like a smoker but with the confidence of a casino underboss.

A scowl crossed Pono's face and spit near the both of them, "My mind has already been through the wringer because of this goddess." She didn't bother to acknowledge the offended gasp. "What can you do to me that the gods and champions haven't tried?"

It started with a snicker, then turned into laughter, before everything got significantly worse. The smell of alcohol and sex became more potent, dice rolling and slot machines constantly getting louder. It was a struggle for the pair of them to even stand up with no problems. Then Fortuna's voice rang out all around them. "You're not feeling good. Why is everything okay?" She mocked, "Let's play a game. You'll be able to play a game, right?"

Pono went to refute but was cut off by the frat bro. Finally, speaking with his stereotypical jock voice, "I'm in the mood for beer pong. I would ask if that's okay." He spoke confidently before the entire scene changed. Her heart raced as she tried to figure out her new surroundings. The hotel lobby shifted into a large living room that reminded her of her college days. Then she frowned, there were people here. She could hear their voices. It was so many at once. Blood pooled around her right arm and slowly turned into a sloppily made spear and got into a throwing position. A finger wagged in her face.

"I wouldn't recommend that if I were you." Fortuna's champion taunted before she faked a gasp. "We didn't introduce ourselves! My name is Mallory. A pleasure to meet you." She chuckled, "Don't you have a game to play with our friend Dylan." Pono felt her body jolt forward and thrown in front of a large table set up in the stereotypical beer pong formation. She attempted to move her body to slay the surrounding people but couldn't, she won't be able to focus on this damn game.

Dylan grinned while Dionysus laughed manically behind him. "Are you ready to play our game?"

A scowl crossed her face, manifesting a dagger made up of blood. She gripped it tight, getting ready to throw it at Dylan. Then she felt the dagger slowly fall apart in her hands and drip onto the floor. Fury ran through her veins as she glared at the person in front of her, "What the hell did you do?"

"Don't worry about all of that. Just play our game." The grin was sharp before ping-pong balls were thrown her way.

Lyssa spoke for the first time in a while, probably because she was enjoying the feeling of being drunk. She leaned over to her partner and spoke normally instead of the attempted whisper. "I will try my best to help. Our connection got stronger since we first met. They'll be cheating, anyway." She muttered the last part to herself.

Not bothering to ask, Pono went first. It was only fair since ladies should go first. She prepared to aim the ball before a person bumped into her, causing her to miss her throw. Her nails instinctually sharpened and tore out the throat of the person who bumped into them. Expecting that voice to stop in her head, it only got louder. Red smoke slowly emitted from her pores before the bloodlust came next. What." Pono picked up the ball. Her bloody tear dripped onto the table. "Is?" She prepared to throw the ball, but Lyssa blocked the approaching person. "This place?" Screeching as she tossed the ball toward the middle cup.

It seemed to almost go in before the purple beer slapped it away. Purple beer? Beer isn't normally purple, wine is. She frowned before feeling a pinging in her right leg then it went numb, causing her to almost collapse. If it wasn't for her quick reflexes to make multiple blood spikes to keep her standing, she would've fallen.

"My turn!" Dylan spoke casually, trying to hide the excitement in his voice. He prepared to aim towards her cup, Lyssa subtly preparing something. Eventually, the champion finally threw the ball aiming for the one above the middle. A very small gust of wind attempted to blow the ball off course but it still managed to land in the cup, and more pain shot through the same leg.

"What the hell is this? What game are you playing here?" Pono wanted to scream but felt vile entering her mouth.

"No Idea what you're talking about." Dylan had a cruel smile on his face as he spoke.