Another night passed, at least Palutena thought it had been a night since she fell asleep after an emotionally draining discussion, it was difficult to tell in the void.

Stretching and letting out a short yawn, Palutena looked over her Lovers, sleeping contently as their chest rose and fell as they breathed. Smiling Palutena carefully got out of bed and crept over to the kitchen, it had been over a millennium since she had cooked anything and decided that she would make her girls a thick stack of pancakes for breakfast for each of them.

Palutena conjured a carton of large eggs, a gallon of milk, a bag of caster sugar, salt, Baking powder, flour and butter.

She put on a pink frilly apron and started humming randomly as she turned on the cooker hob, set it to medium heat and placed a stainless steel non stick frying pan on top of it. On a second hob she had a pan on a low heat, in it she melted the butter.

She sifted the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl she lightly whisked together the milk and egg, then whisked in the melted butter.

Pouring the milk mixture into the flour mixture Palutena began using a fork, to beat it until she had a smooth batter. She then let the batter stand for a few minutes.

She came back to her frying pan she had heated over a medium heat and added a knob of butter. When it was melted, she added two ladles of batter to the pan. The thick batter slowly inched across the pan, Palutena then waited until the top of the pancake began to bubble, then turned it over and cooked until both sides were golden brown and the pancake had risen to about 1cm thick.
She repeated this until all the batter is used up. By the time she had finished she had over a fifty pancakes that she was keeping warm in the main oven.

Palutena sighed with a self satisfied smile, when she turned around she saw something she had only seen in cartoons; Celestia and Lumi were floating on the air following the scent off her pancakes, flapping their wings. Palutena shook her head in bemusement, when Twilight and Luna had entered the room in a more sensible manner. Palutena cleared her throat to get all of their attention, “sit at the table. I am almost done,” she ordered as she went back to the oven. They all sat down as Palutena set the table, Luna and Twilight to the left side, Lumi and Celestia on center and right respectively.

“Oh this is a first, I finally get to try your cooking!” Celestia commented with excitement,

“To be fair dear, I haven't needed to, what with the palace or temple kitchens,” Palutena explained as she set a stack of ten pancakes each, Celestia and Twilight licked their lips, while Lumi and Luna cautiously started to eat. Palutena turned off the cooker and removed her apron before she conjured and placed maple syrup on the table.

Lumi and Luna started shoveling the rest in as fast as they could.

“Don't choke you two,” Palutena remarked as she smirked at them. Palutena made her way over and sat down and started eating. Twilight and Celestia took more measured and slow bites, but if the noises of pleasure were indication, her pancakes were met with great approval.

The TV screen turned on, “another match eh?” Palutena remarked with interest between bites of her breakfast. “Good morning, Gods and Goddesses, today’s A group match is between Aqua, goddess of water, versus lord of the underworld, Hades” Dollette announced.

“Well that is just cruel,” Palutena remarked idly,

“How so?” Luna asked in between bites,

“Aqua is a poor excuse for a goddess, she is catnip to the undead and demons, barely has any attacks, most of her spells are support based, she’s an idiot, a drunkard, is vain and an attention whore. She tries to do good and most of the time causes more problems than helps, she is gullible, believing others do not lie, is lazy and scared. To be brutally honest the poor girl is better off not being a goddess. Her one virtue is that she's honest to the point that she is incapable of lying.” Palutena rattled off the list of qualities of the anime goddess, causing Celestia and Luna to frown.

“That's a damning indictment, Palu. Don't you think you're​ being too hard on her?” Celestia asked her.

“Oh no, it gets worse. What make her worse, is the fact she is so high and mighty, while also being a jerk despite her weakness, then the moment she's in trouble she goes running for her allies crying, whining and begging them to get her out of it.” Palutena snorted in disgust, “don’t get me wrong, she's a bitch, but up against that version of Hades, I can't help but pity her.”

Aqua stood on stage waving to the crowd as she soaked up their cheers. Her hair was long and blue, with a single hoop held in place by the atomic symbol of H2o, she was humanoid in appearance with sapphire blue eyes. She wore a navy blue frilled two tier miniskirt with a yellow stripe running along the hem of the top tier, and the bottom tier was made of a sheer blue fabric.

Her top was a navy blue waistcoat with white accents down it where the coat closed and flowed down the hem of coat, and was also around the sleeveless arms. The collar of the top was in the shape of a white star and bordered with navy blue. In addition she wore a pair of white sleeves, on top border by a yellow and blue flare at the top and a pure navy blue around the ends of the sleeves. She wore thigh high white socks with a navy blue border around the tops and over the navy blue over the knee square heeled boots, that curved up and away like a parting wave from her knees and bordered with yellow.

The ground shook, as black smoke gathered opposite Aqua, and the smoke gathered into a tornado of smoke and flame. It was so strong that it pulled on her, as she barely held her purchase.

It eventually dissipated eventually forming into a tall deathly pale man, with a receding hairline and long greyish black hair. He stood before her, from his appearance he looked old and frail, his breath came out raspy and smoke clung to him lovingly as children to a parent and formed a black cloak on his back. He wore black intricately engraved armor, a full black beard on his face and his eyes where a dead grey, sunken. “This whore is my opponent?” came the raspy question from Hades, he looked at Aqua with open disdain, “You fools have survived on mortal love and worship, while I had to live off their fear, and look how weak you’ve become.” Hades continued, pointing at her as he glared at the water goddess.

“Wait!? I have to fight him, I don’t want to do this anymore Kazuma!” Aqua complained tears already forming as she whined.

“You are not only a whore, but a coward as well? You are a disgrace to the title Goddess! I shall remove you before you sully it further!” Hades launched a fireball at the whining Aqua

“Kazuma!~” Aqua wailed as she dodged out of the way of the attack, the explosion sending her flying, her arms flailing she got to her feet again as Hades kept launching fireballs at her as she ran away from the angry god.

“Stay still whore! You’re only making this take longer than it needs to,” Hades rasped out as he dissolved into smoke, and reappeared in front of her,

“Stop resisting me!” Hades demanded in anger,

“No!~” Aqua cried as she threw a punch at Hades, “God blow” Aqua cried as she closed her eyes in panic, Aqua’s hand glowed a myriad of colors, but Hades disdainfully caught her right hand,

“So you are not entirely a coward? Still this is not enough… What!?” Hades exclaimed and recoiled away as he held his left hand which had caught her fist, its skin was no longer a pallid color and now looked more healthy.

Aqua threw her hands up as glowing water gathered around her in a spiral and blue light glowed beneath her, “Answer my request, my prayer, and show the world thy power!” water bubbles floated around the spiral of water as she continued, “Sacred Create Water!!!” Aqua cried as she threw her hands forward at Hades, the spirals became straight and a wave washed outwards sending the bubbles in all directions, the glow of the spell intensified adding a lavender hue to the edges of it. Above the ring a glowing blue portal created a navy blue hole above them, clouds gathered around the ring and a large gush of water fell from it to the ring below, a flood of water of biblical proportions engulfed a confused Hades as the water filled the ring hitting the shields. Hades was rammed into the shields and sunk to the floor outside the ring.

Dollette stood in the ring unmoved and sighed, and she uttered an unintelligible word, causing the water to dissipate, Hades was found out of the ring groaning as he looked completely healthy now and his hair was no longer grayed. He threw up from the sudden water ride and collapsed.

“Winner Aqua!” Dollette announced,

“Yay! Kazuma, I won!” Aqua exclaimed as she jumped up and down in excitement, “Did you see? Who's a stupid goddess now? You stupid shut-in-neet!” Aqua shouted as she celebrated.

Back in their room, Palutena was holding her fork frozen in place in front of her mouth as if she was going to eat it, utterly speechless with her jaw hanging open.

Celestia leant over the table and shut her mouth with her right hand which caused Palutena to gulp down the saliva that had collected in her mouth, the action seemed to return Palutena to reality, “How in the hell did that just happen!? How much dumb luck can a person have…” Palutena shouted waving her fork in the direction of the TV screen, sending her piece of pancake flying, which Celestia promptly snatched from the air with her mouth.

Palutena turned to look at her and Celestia had the presence of mind to blush in embarrassment as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck and giggle innocently, which was ruined slightly by the blush still on her cheeks.”

“Called it,” Gilgamesh said as he took another shot of rum.

“Well I’ll be. I thought she was too clumsy to win,” Luna said as she levitated the glass over and sipped her red wine.

“She might be klutzy, but she’s also water and holy powered against an arrogant darkness and fire powered enemy. In addition, she’s a lot stronger than she looks, which could easily throw her opponents off guard. Really, it could’ve gone either way.”

“So, do you know who’s next?” Luna asked.

“Susano-o, full title Susano-o-no-Mikoto. Shinto god of storms and seas. Powerful, boisterous warrior, and quite a bit of a hot head as well. Maybe he’s cooled off a bit over the eons, though.”

“Ah, a kindred spirit then,” she joked.

“Oh! Madam, you wound me!” he joked as he mockingly gripped his chest in pain.

She laughed back at him, but then her expression turned a bit grimmer. “You… You’ll be alright, won’t you? These are gods you’re fighting after all.”

Gilgamesh took another shot of rum. “What is a god? An untouchable being? Something of infinite wisdom? Someone to be feared and never questioned?” He poured himself another shot. “I’ve seen the looks our subjects give me, especially the Changelings. I saved their whole species from extinction, which on paper sounds awe inspiring. But it really was a combination of luck, skill, and information. I was fast enough and had the right guide to help me complete my task. It’s nothing special.” He downed his next shot. “If all it takes to be called a god is to have the power and performing an impressive deed, then our armies are filled with gods.” He got up and headed over to grab his spear and naginata. “These beings forget they can be killed, or at least brought down to a pathetic state they can never recover from. A new generation is coming, and they need to understand that there are many who would see them as impediments, and have the means to remove them permanently. They can join hands with the ones that still respect them, or they can be destroyed by those that would take their powers and status for themselves.” He started heading towards the door before turning to wink at her. “Besides, we’ve still got a lot of work to do when we get back from this little vacation. What kind of rulers would we be if we just forced our work on those below us?”

Luna smirked. “Well, try not make it look like you’re talking down to them.”

“I’ll do my best,” he answered before exiting the door.

“Welcome to the fourth match Gentle Gods and Goddesses, today we have a treat for you. You may have heard of him, and his ceaseless quest for fights and for weapons, the one and only Ronin of the multiverse. Gilgamesh!!! And his opponent this fine morning is an ancient Shinto god cast down to the mortal realms, famed for the slaying of the vicious Yamato-no-Orochi. Susano-o!!! Today these titans of combat, these peaks of athletic prowess… and my what peaks they have,” Dollette said as she waved a fan in her lust rouged face exaggeratedly.

“Yes, he has,” Luna muttered from her seat in the stands, licking her lips.

“Come together to fight for the right to progress into the next rounds, so let’s see a fight worthy of these two legends!” Dollette continued uninterrupted.

Gilgamesh looked over the crowd before taking the Freddie Mercury rage pose, soaking in the cheers he received. On the other end of the arena Susano-o floated down on the winds. His skin was very well bronzed, wearing only a necklace made from bones on top. He wore golden bracers on his wrists, and wore white baggy pants with a green and purple cloth belt tied around his waist. His shins were covered by golden greaves, and he was barefoot. Around his forehead was a golden circlet with an ornate flare like a sun cresting over the horizon, some magatama shaped earrings, and some black markings on his cheekbones. His eyes were a golden yellow, and his black hair flowed wildly behind him all the way down to his waist. He held the Ama-no-Habakiri broadsword, a silver blade with several spikes jutting from each side and making it look like a lightning bolt. He tossed his hair back as he landed before cracking his neck. When his eyes landed on Gilgamesh, his brow furrowed and he smirked.

“Are you ready combatants?”

Susano-o twirled his weapon before taking a fighting stance, Gilgamesh unclipped his naginata and shield and took his own.

“Fight!”

at the same time back in Palutena's room.

Palutena dropped her fork with a clattering as it bounced of the table to the floor, when she heard who was fighting, “Gilgamesh!? I have to fight him now!?” Palutena groaned, “welp, I’m boned.”

“Hey don't talk like that. I am sure you can beat him!” Lumi encouraged, while Celestia and Luna nodded in agreement,

Palutena looked up at Lumi, “A man who has bested armies, gods, dragons, Armies of dragons, other displaced and most likely some void dwellers as well? Pray tell, how I stand a chance? Don't get me wrong, I plan on assimilating more of my opponents, I need to consolidate my power,” Palutena paused and then sighed at what she had just said, “Look at me, so scared of death, worried for the lives of my loves, my family and my friends... of loss. That I would even think to do such atrocious things,”

“Palutena, these are perfectly normal fears. Anyone can have them, it’s a blessing, as much as a curse. Relax and let the worries fade away,” Celestia advised as she held Palutena.

“I can't relax, too many ponies rely on me, need my help. I need to be strong….” Palutena visibly sagged and laid her head on the table, her voice taking on a heavier tone "I…need help. I am so very tired girls. And I don't mean in the physical sense of the word. This feeling is deeper, ever since I escaped. I have only had one actual peaceful break. I must continue forward, unrelenting, until I can be sure that our children will be old enough to take some of the burden. Is that selfish of me Celestia?”

“Of course it is,” she replied with no bite or accusation in the tone of her voice, however Palutena still wilted at her response. Celestia pressed forward, “ but that doesn't make it wrong, dear.”

“It certainly feels wrong, 'Tia. Perhaps I can find a way to just take their aspects without also absorbing them.

<<Lux is that possible?>>

[Maybe, we never tried it before, so we don't know what will happen.]

<<So first is that Aqua girl, we can relieve her of the burden of goddesshood.>> Palutena replied in slight exasperation.

Gilgamesh and Susano-o clashed, unleashing massive gales of wind, dodging in bursts of speed, and and clashing metal on metal. Eventually, both their weapons caught against each other, sparking.

“It’s nice to finally meet another master of storms,” Gilgamesh said. “And one that does more than stay back and spam aeroblasts, too.”

“Hah! You compare yourself to me? Aren’t you the arrogant one?” Susano-o replied with a smirk.

“Hello pot, my name’s kettle, have we met before?”

“Fair point!” Susano-o snarked back before unhooking his blade and kicking at him, Gilgamesh blocking with his shield, the force causing a shockwave and a massive “Clang” to ring throughout the arena. They then began pelting each other with several types of wind attacks, from funnels of sharp winds to blasts of air. The explosions of force from them colliding was great enough that even those in the audience had a hard time keeping their eyes on the match, their movements reaching speeds unheard of by most non wind or speed related gods.

“What is Dollette up to, last I saw Gilgamesh was mortal, extremely powerful but still mortal,” Palutena muttered to herself, then in a flash of inspiration Palutena blinked, “no she wouldn't, she couldn't be planning to do that! You sly bitch.” suddenly off to her side, sat a grinning Dollette in two places at once.
“Why thank you, for the compliment. Young godling.” Dollette said before leaving.

After a few more blasts Gilgamesh held out his hand. “HOLD!” he called, causing Susano-o to stop in confusion. “As much fun as this is, at this rate we’ll be here for months. Let’s make this more interesting.” He removed his helmet as well as his breastplate, then undoing the kimono underneath, causing many of the goddess to cheer at seeing his body on display. He then took off his shoes. “There, now I don’t have anything you don’t.”

“What, that’s all?” Susano-o asked with a smirk.

“Hold on, I’m not finished.” He then stuck his naginata into the arena floor, and threw the shield down hard enough that it imbedded itself upright. He then summoned a flail, claws, a one-handed axe, and the Caliburn broadsword before tossing them into the air landing in the center of the arena. “Let us settle this not with our power of winds, but instead with our skill with weapons. I’m sure switching back and forth on the fly will give everyone a show that’ll have their eyes glued to us.”

Susano-o smirked and grunted, tossing his Ama-no-Habakiri into the center as well. “Fine by me. This could actually be exciting for once.”

“Mind if I choose the background music?”

“Ha! Go ahead! Pick whatever theme you’d like to lose to!”

Gilgamesh snapped his fingers, and the arena was filled with the oriental music.

Gilgamesh ran forwards, grabbing his naginata and slashing at Susano-o’s head, who ducked under the blow, grabbed the flail, and swung it up in one fluid motion. Gilgamesh leaned back to dodge before stabbing at his opponent’s legs a few times, Susano-o parrying the attacks with his knees before swinging the flail at Gilgamesh’s head, then continuing the spin and swinging at his chest, Gilgamesh having to take several steps back to avoid the attacks before stabbing at Susano-o’s chest. Susano-o sidestepped the blow and wrapped the flail’s chain around the staff before pulling. Gilgamesh let his weapon go before reaching down to grab the claws with his left hand, kicking the axe at Susano-o as he did. Susano-o parried the attack by swinging the naginata in front of him before tossing it aside, then grabbing his Ama-no-Habakiri in his other hand. Gilgamesh caught the axe as it was deflected back at him, charging in and using the axe to push the broadsword out of the way before stabbing at Susano-o with the claws, which he leaned back to avoid before retaliating with a swing from the flail, which Gilgamesh also leaned back to dodge.

All of this happened in less than two seconds.

“This Gilgamesh, he is quite skilled. Palutena, in hindsight, We wish that We had taught thee in martial arts afore we came here. We know thou art more a Commander, Strategist and Support combatant, and thou doth not normally get involved in frontline skirmishes but perhaps 'tis something to think about in the future, so thou wouldst have a better chance against such opponents,” Luna commented earning glares from Twilight, Celestia and Lumi.

Palutena sighed, “It's a nice thought Luna, but a bit too late in retrospect, don't you think? And even when I could be using the memories of all the fighters I have absorbed, it doesn't help that they are a jumble of conflicting information and preferences. Perhaps you can help me with sorting through them after the tournament?” Palutena asked only to hear an adorable squee of excitement from her sister in law. Palutena smiled at Luna’s response.

Gilgamesh and Susano-o continued to exchange blows until the Ama-no-Habakiri suddenly began to produce lighting. Susano-o swung it down, Gilgamesh dodging to the side as it smashed into the ground, producing and explosion of force and lightning. Gilgamesh dropped the axe and grabbed Caliburn, the massive sword lighting on fire with his touch, and attacked. Susano-o dodged the first blow and the blocked the second, both swords producing their respective elements and an explosion of force. The two rapidly attacked and parried each other’s attacks, each hit producing another explosion of elements and force, to the point where no one could really see anything happening in the ring. After a few minutes of explosions going off as rapidly as machine guns, then two leaped away from each other, smirking in enjoyment.

“Wish I was less busy. We could've gone at this for days,” Gilgamesh said.

“Ending it so soon?” Susano-o asked.

“I’ll keep your pride intact,” Gilgamesh replied as both of them took their stances. They held completely still, neither moving an inch for several seconds. Then they both dashed forwards and struck, so quick that many of the gods literally blinked and missed it. A moment later Gilgamesh spat blood as a cauterized wound appeared upon his chest. Susano-o, meanwhile, screamed in pain as he was suddenly engulfed in flames before falling to the floor. The fire went out and the storm god groaned in pain.

As Susano-o fell to the floor, Dollette announced Gilgamesh's win and then said a few words unintelligible to non void dwellers. A spark of light lifted from Susano-o’s body and hit Gilgamesh despite his attempts to slash or block it, it hit him and disappeared making him glow slightly.

“What the… What just happened!?” He asked aloud, watching as the glow faded.

“Welcome Kid, to the ranks of the Gods,” Dollette said with an inequine grin, “enjoy your reward,”

“What!? Wait, what about-?” He asked before rushing over to Susano-o, checking him and happy to see he was alive. “What did you do to me!?” He asked as he glared at Dollette.

“A little qualification exam,” Dollette explained unfazed by the glare sent her way, “Susa-chan wanted to give up his Godhood so he could live the life of a mortal, unfortunately an aspect needs a host, so he needed to transfer it to someone who could beat him in fair combat. I merely facilitated the transfer.” Dollette explained with no hint of remorse or moral conflict.

“WHAT!? NO! UNDO THIS, DAMN IT! I DID NOT COME HERE TO DETHRONE ANYONE! I REFUSE TO BE WORSHIPPED!”

“Then don't, granted you would have to step on others’ freedom to stop them doing so,” Dollette replied as if it was the most obvious​ thing in the world, while she was picking her earwax. How she managed that with hooves would require a cost in sanity.

“YOU-!”

“It is alright, warrior,” Susano-o interrupted, groaning as he pushed himself up. “I have grown weary of the responsibilities and expectations of godhood. As she has explained, I could not simply abandon my title, so I sought a worthy successor.” He grabbed his sword and offered it to Gilgamesh. “Here, take my sword, warrior. I have no more need for it, and it would be much more useful in your hands. The Ama-no-Habakiri is now yours.”

Gilgamesh hesitated, but eventually sighed and took the weapon. “If you ever wish to have your godhood back, you need only ask and it is yours again. I wish you a happy mortality.” He summoned his medallion token and handed it to him. “Keep in touch.”

“I shall. I would much enjoy a few rounds of sake with you,” he said before walking away.

Gilgamesh turned to Dollette who still watched impassively. “Alright then, you want to change the status quo? Oh, I’ll change the status quo,” he muttered before walking back to his waiting room.

“There is no such thing Godling, only slowly winding changes,” Dollette said and vanished.

Gilgamesh flinched as he heard the voice seeming to come right from next to him, his heart pounding in shock. Then a malicious smirk stretched across his face. ”I suppose that’s one way of thinking of things. I, however, have seen the ultimate truth: all things end even your position isn’t safe.”

Author's Notes:

Crossover with For Glory! For Equus! For Epicness!