Blood And Iron

Epilogue: The Gods.

Down in Greece..  a strangeness was boiling..

For the past few days, after the incident that occurred in Kyoto,  the famous Mount Etna.. a volcano that was once said in myths to be the the place where the monster Typhon was imprisoned, and where the forges of the god Hephaestus was held.. had been smoldering far more than usual.

Mount Etna had gone inactive, as had most of the world's volcanoes, in year 2200, after the Super Hero, Captain Molten, had sealed them in hopes to prevent global catastrophes, such as the possible eruption of Yellow Stone..

However, there was something that was beyond Captain Molten's power, causing Etna to begin to slowly spit magma out again..

And as this happened, and worried many of the public who lived around Greece.. Down, far below the surface of Etna, there was indeed a forge of some sort..

Massive iron mechanisms, operated by seemly inhuman works were covered in cobwebs and dust... and in the center of this, lay several massive coffins of stone in a ring.. 11 in total.. One of them was open.. and empty..

Nearby.. grunting and working at some sort of work bench, was a large and muscular man with a gruff black beard.. wearing a blue Mechanic's outfit that was covered in oil stains..  His skin was tan, and his head was balding, and his irises were a stunning orange..

He murmured and muttered to himself as he used a screw driver to work on a strange spider-like robot that began to click it's metal pincers impatiently.

"Hmph.. hold on ya scamp.. I'm almost done.." the large man muttered.

"Tinkering again? Hephaestus?"

A small girl had entered the chamber.  she wore a goth lollita outfit. black with white lace, and possessed light blonde hair, that was short cut, with a net bow on her head, and a black and white lace umbrella in one hand.  In the other, she held a teddy-bear with a buttoned skull-like face.

"Hmm? Hades? That you?" muttered Hephaestus, looking over his shoulder.

"Who do you think?" Hades said with a sigh. "I had to keep my cover throughout the centuries you know.. it's been eons, but I finally found the perfect form.. nobody suspects a child of anything sinister anymore.."

"Heheheheh! You look pretty cute.." said Hephaestus with a snort.

"Grrr.. DON'T patronize me Heph!" growled Hades. "You think I LIKE being a female? And a SMALL one at that? The lack of anything down in the crotch area STILL disconcerts me.. and the fact of the matter is, this form is PERMANENT.. "

"But I hear it has it's uses.." said Hephaestus.. "You get away with murder pretty easily.. so I've been hearing anyways.."

Hades smirked, licking her lips. "Well.. I guess you're right.. so those idiots are still sleeping? It's nearly time you know.. after centuries of them just snoozing off, while me and you do the work to prepare for the right time.."

"You know your brother and sister.. they're lazy.." said Hephaestus. "Oh.. wait.. hold on.. we've got some wakers! Haha!"

Two of the lids of the stone tombs.. were shifting aside, as two figures rose out and yawned, stretching their arms.

The first was a serene and gentle looking woman. She wore a dress that looked as if it were made of shimmering fish scales, and had sea green hair, and a stoic expression. Her her right hand, she held a large golden trident which seemed to churn and quake with the earth and the distant ocean.

The next was a tall handsome man, with white, neck length hair. he bore a young handsome face, and inspiring eyes that were electric blue in color. He wore a long black leather coat over a set of jeans and a t-shirt that had the band Kiss's logo on it... a silver pin that was shaped like an eagle was clipped to his front pocket.

"Hey! Heph! What the hell am I wearing?" said the young man, looking at himself.

"You told me to give you clothing suitable for the current era that also looked cool.. I delivered. Suck it up Zeus." said Hephaestus.

"Yeah.. but pants!? Really? Pants is for barbarians to wear.." said Zeus. "I mean come on.."

"In this era, pants are considered the garb of civilized people, and tunics, and skirts.. for either barbarians.. or just women.."

"That's weeeird." Zeus muttered. "Hey Posiedon.. feeling alright?"

"I don't appear to have awoken with any abnormalties.." said the woman. "However.. I am curious to why this young girl is here.."

"Hello sister." said Hades with a roll of her eyes.

"OH CRAP! HADES!?" Zeus jumped out of his tomb and began pointing and laughing, with tears in his eyes. "OH MAN!! That is AWESOME! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Hades's left eye twitched slightly. "yeah yeah.. laugh it up Thunder Butt."

Zeus grinned and winked, ruffling Hade's hair. "Well, just glad I finally get the little sister I always wanted.. and cute too.."

"Grrrrrrrr..." Hades let out an ominous growl, and for just a minute.. the shadows in the room seemed to grow fangs and claws.. and the teddy bear's eyes glowed. 

"Anyways.. what's the plan once everyone wakes up?" Hephaestus. "The world's changed plenty.. and we've been stuck here around the surrounding towns.. I doubt even Hades knows much.."

"Well first... we do a little reconnaisance to see if the mortals are still scared of us.." said Zeus.

"And then?" said Hades.

Zeus grinned. "Then.. what else? We rule the world again.. that's what... "

End.. Stay tuned for Book 4, Gods and Monsters.