Annabeth eyed Clarisse with a raised brow and said, "You sure you're up for this, Clarisse?"
Clarisse cracked her knuckles and grinned sharply. "Don't worry about me, Chase. I went back into the Four Doors and got some awesome tricks of my own."
Annabeth nodded slowly, trusting her confidence. "Alright, if you're confident… so who do you want?"
Clarisse flashed a wicked smirk. "Obviously I'm taking the Amazon. Be careful with the elf chick, though. She might seem meek, but I can tell she's packing some real power."
Annabeth nodded again and replied with a focused look, "Yeah, I can tell too."
Without hesitation, Clarisse and Tione charged each other, meeting with an explosive clash in the center of the arena. Sparks flew as their weapons collided with brutal force and the fight erupted into a frenzy of steel and fury.
Annabeth turned her gaze toward Lefiya, watching closely, waiting for the elf mage to make the first move. To Annabeth's surprise, Lefiya instantly launched a magic blast in her direction. Annabeth dropped flat onto the ground, dust spraying as she barely avoided the glowing projectile whipping past her head.
Springing back to her feet, she spotted Lefiya sprinting around the arena, chanting a spell with growing urgency. Annabeth's stormy eyes sharpened. She tightened her grip on her fountain pen and quickly scribbled two words across the air.
The first word flew behind Lefiya. The elf spun around only to crash face-first into a giant manifestation of the word WALL, framed like a square barrier. Dazed and reeling, Lefiya staggered in confusion.
Annabeth didn't waste a heartbeat. She hurled the second word down at Lefiya's feet. The elf stumbled backward with a yelp before tumbling into a huge pit shaped by a massive version of the word HOLE, the center forming a real drop straight into darkness.
Not taking any chances, Annabeth wrote the words KNOCKOUT and GAS, smashed them together into one, and tossed it into the pit with Lefiya. A faint hiss rose up as the magic took effect.
She scribbled again, this time forming the word LID and dropped it over the hole like a heavy seal. Time ticked by. The crowd chattered nervously. Annabeth stood there with her arms folded and an intense stare fixed on the cover.
After a few minutes, she lifted the magical lid. The gas inside slowly cleared. Once visibility returned, she peered down and saw Lefiya completely unconscious.
Satisfied, Annabeth hopped into action. She reached down, grabbed hold of Lefiya, and dragged her limp form out of the hole and drug her out of the arena.
---
Back in the arena, Clarisse and Tione were going at each other with fierce intensity, clashing on surprisingly equal terms. The crowd roared as each strike sent shockwaves through the battlefield. But unfortunately for Clarisse, due to Tione's Berserk skill, the longer the fight dragged on and the more damage she took, the stronger she became. Bit by bit, Tione slowly began to overpower Clarisse.
With a brutal kick, Tione knocked Clarisse's spear out of her grasp. The weapon tumbled and skittered across the arena floor far out of reach. Smirking confidently, Tione charged in for the finishing blow, certain that victory was hers.
Clarisse's lips curled into a stubborn, wild grin. She slammed her boot down hard on the ground and thrust her fist forward with a roar of defiance. The earth beneath her obeyed. A jagged ripple of rock burst forward and smashed into the charging Amazon, sending Tione flying backward in shock.
Seeing her opening, Clarisse didn't hesitate. She continued her fierce movements, channeling her power through every punch and stomp. The ground shifted at her command, rising and falling like a living beast. Pillars of stone shot up, walls closed in, and uneven mounds locked Tione into a rugged cage of earth.
Tione thrashed and struggled, muscles bulging, teeth bared. She grunted, yelled, and tried to force her way out, but the formation was too solid. Eventually, she sagged in defeat and let out a deep sigh. "I give up! No way I'm getting out of this."
Ganesha leapt into the arena with booming excitement, raising his arms high. "And there you have it, folks! Clarisse and Annabeth are our winners!"
All the demigods erupted in cheers. Clarisse raised her fist triumphantly and shouted, "YEAHHHHH!"
Ganesha cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um… Miss Clarisse? If you don't mind, could you fix the arena?"
Clarisse paused, blinked, then looked around at the rocky mess she created. "Oh. Oops." With a sheepish chuckle, she stomped the ground again. The stone instantly crumbled and smoothed back into its original state, the arena restored as though nothing happened.
A flash of light shimmered across the battlefield, and Annabeth, Clarisse, Lefiya, and Tione were all teleported directly to Tet's box, leaving the arena behind.
-----
Now in front of Tet and the other gods, the four girls stood nervously, eyes flicking between the divine audience as they waited for someone to speak.
Apollo finally pulled down his sunglasses with exaggerated flair, pointed straight at Clarisse, and said, "Since when is this one an earthbender?"
Clarisse puffed out her chest proudly. "It was my reward for completing the first of the Four Doors of Mystery, Lord Apollo."
Tet snapped his fingers as the memory hit him. "Oh yeah, I did set that up. I thought it would be cool to see how well you'd get along with Toph."
Apollo raised a hand again, baffled. "Okay, follow-up question. How is the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender something you casually have domain over?"
Tet stared at him with an expression halfway between amusement and disbelief. "Because there are games of it. Seriously, you need to grasp this concept. If it's in a game, I can use it. You have no idea how many cartoon and anime characters I can casually summon because of that. I could have brought out Goku and destroyed the entire competition, but that would have been boring."
Artemis blinked. "I'm sorry… who is Goku?"
Both Hestia and Tet slowly turned to Apollo with a dead stare that screamed, Really?
Tet pinched the bridge of his nose. "Apollo. What the hell, man?"
Apollo lifted his arms defensively. "I know, I know! But getting her to sit still and watch anime is really hard! I've tried. A lot."
Tet coughed into his fist. "Alright, moving on. Ladies, show me your back."
Tione shrugged with zero hesitation and casually walked forward, turning around so Tet could reach her falna.
Lefiya stared, eyes wide. "Wait, Tione, you're okay with this? But… what about our familia?"
Tione paused, looking back at her with a surprisingly calm but bittersweet smile. "I lost my attachment to it the minute Loki decided to gamble my sister. And as attached as I was to Captain Finn… he never really responded to my feelings anyway. So… a fresh start might be what I need."
Tet carefully finished the ritual, converting Tione to his familia. She put her top back on and rolled her shoulders with a confident smirk. "So, boss, I assume since you're able to go to other worlds, your familia has the same privilege?"
Tet smiled with pride. "Of course. But you got one thing wrong. It's not my familia. It's Hestia's too. And before you get confused, I mean the one next to me."
Hestia waved with a warm, motherly grin. "Hello, dear. Welcome."
Tione blinked in surprise. "I've never heard of two gods sharing a familia. How does that work?"
Tet folded his arms proudly. "Well, my ichor is used as the catalyst, but me and Hestia made the falna together."
Hestia nodded eagerly. "If you need more proof, Lefiya dear, please come show me your back."
Lefiya gulped nervously but stepped forward and knelt, pulling down her dress just enough for Hestia to work. Hestia placed a single glimmering drop of ichor onto her back, and the same familia emblem as Tet's bloomed into existence.
Tet admired it with a thoughtful hum. "Overall, I'm happy with the design. Though I'm still not sure about the heart blooming in the hearth—"
Hestia immediately pinched his cheek. Hard.
"What was that?" she said with an adorable yet threatening smile.
"Ow ow ow!" Tet flailed, voice cracking. "I said it's cute and I love it!"
Hestia released him, very pleased with herself.
Off to the side, Apollo coughed the word, "Whipped."
Artemis smirked just a little. "At least I know we'll never have to worry about a second coming of Zeus with Aunt Hestia as our Queen."
Tet rubbed his cheek, still stinging. "That aside, you four ladies can go enjoy the rest of the festivities. That said… I think I'm gonna speed things up again. This is getting boring. Next time I take over a world, I hope it's something more exciting than a tournament."
----
Over in the opposite box, Loki was absolutely freaking out, clutching her hair in both hands. "I lost three of my members!"
Freya leaned back in her seat, arms crossed and expression cool as a winter breeze. "I told you to stop, but no. You just had to get revenge for your favorite. And now not only have you lost three members, your entire familia has been humiliated. Those last two he sent out were actual children."
Loki jabbed a finger in Freya's direction, face red with frustration. "Yeah, well, at least he hasn't won yet! There's still three matches left!"
Freya raised a brow, unimpressed. "Out of six, he's won half of them. Plus two bonus rounds. By rights, we've already lost."
As they argued, Ganesha entered the stands quietly and leaned down to whisper something to Ouranos. The ancient god let out a tired sigh and said, "Tell him yes. That's fine. Let's end this farce. I have been humiliated enough."
Loki and Freya both snapped their attention toward him, eyes wide.
"What was that about?" Freya asked.
Ouranos folded his arms. "Tet just said to send out our three remaining fighters all at once. To finally end this once and for all."
----
Down in the arena, Ganesha's booming voice echoed across the stadium. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's been fun, but it has been decided that the final match will be a three-on-three battle to wrap up our little tournament!"
The crowd roared as the first fighter stepped into the arena: a young man with black semi-long hair, sharp brown eyes, black cat ears twitching atop his head, and a matching tail swaying behind him. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with a single iron pauldron, black pants tucked into iron greaves, brown boots, and sturdy brown gloves. In his grip, he held a long black-shafted spear.
Next came a tall, intimidating man with brown semi-long hair, dark eyes, and brown beast-like ears. His muscles strained against a sleeveless black shirt, and he wore gray pants and rugged brown boots. A red bandana tied around his head fluttered slightly as he hefted a massive greatsword onto his shoulder like it weighed nothing.
The third to enter was a blonde-haired elven woman with sharp green eyes. She wore a white shirt beneath a green cloak, fitted green shorts, and brown thigh-high boots that clacked confidently across the stone. At her hip hung two glinting daggers, and in her hands she carried a long wooden sword that somehow still radiated danger.
Ganesha raised his arms dramatically. "Give it up for Sir. Allen, Sir. Ottar, and Lady Ryuu!"
The arena exploded in cheers at their arrival.
Ganesha raised his arm again, excitement booming in his voice. "And representing Lord Tet are these three!"
Into the arena strode a lazy-looking man with long brown hair tied into a loose ponytail and a short brown beard shadowing his jaw. His brown eyes looked half-asleep, like he would rather be napping than fighting. He wore a green tunic decorated with gold embroidery, a fully armored gauntlet wrapped around his right arm, and a brown leather wrist guard strapped to his left. White pants and brown boots completed his attire, along with a black shoulder cape hanging casually across him. Resting over his shoulder was a long black-shafted cross spear with a golden spearhead that gleamed menacingly under the arena lights.
The next to enter marched in with fiery energy. A young woman with wild blonde hair tied into a high ponytail and bright green eyes full of defiance. She wore a red top with gold accents, red and gold sleeves, a matching collar, a red and gold skirt, black and red stockings, and boots to match. A silver and crimson longsword rested confidently in her hands.
Lastly, the arena floor trembled slightly under the presence of an elderly man who walked in with the calm dignity of a lifelong master. His short, slicked-back grey hair framed a face set with quiet resolve. He wore a long red robe that flowed behind him with each step, black pants, black shoes polished to a shine, and sunglasses that gave him the impression of a deadly sage who'd seen centuries of combat.
Ganesha threw his hands high as the crowd swelled with cheers. "Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Sir Hector, Sir Mordred, and Master Li Shuwen!"
The crowd on Tet's side erupted into applause, stomping and shouting in wild excitement.
----
Up in Tet's box, Apollo yanked down his sunglasses, eyes wide. "Oh shit. So much for holding back."
Tet stretched casually in his seat and replied, "I got bored, and this was starting to drag on."
Artemis tilted her head slightly, brows furrowed in confusion. "I do not remember Mordred being female."
Tet nodded toward the arena. "Different universe."
Artemis processed that for a second, then accepted it with a simple nod.
Hestia leaned in with a soft sigh. "While I am a bit disappointed that you decided to just end them, I can understand why. They've been poor sports this entire time."
Tet smirked. "Yep. Everyone but Freya. She's been able to see the strength of every fighter that's stepped in the ring. She knew from the start they were doomed." He folded his hands behind his head, eyes sparkling with anticipation. "Let's just enjoy the show."
(Authors Note: Do the short line breaks help at all I add them to emphasize scene change and I'd like to know if their enough)