Perseus and his friends had just finished several hard fought fights against hired thugs of MacGonagall who all had their own Armatus. There was a defining silence after all the enemies were defeated before the sound of footsteps on the metal catwalk echoed through the building and Gregory MacGonagall walked out from the shadows, clapping slowly. “You did well to get this far. I'd commend you if not for the mess and how much of my product you've ruined. So now that I have no other option but to handle you myself… tell me. WHO THE @#$& ARE YOU GUYS WORKING FOR!?!?”

  Perseus stepped forward. “We don't work for anyone. We're just some well meaning citizens who are in the know and want to put an end to your abuse of your power to sell drugs in the three cities area.” There is a pause before Gregory starts to laugh. “Hahahaha. No seriously, who do you work for? My father get lucky and hire you without knowing you and your friends were special? Did Mister Olympic send you to finally take full hold of the area? One of my father's competitors maybe? Though they too would have to get lucky.”

  Perseus shook his head. “Nope, we're free agents acting on our own.” Gregory grumbled before jumping down. “I suppose it doesn't matter, in the end I still have no choice but to take you down. Now come forth, Sickles of the harvest god. Ceres!” Two metal farming sickles manifest out of water, earth, and plants. “I guess that's enough of the formalities.” Gregory then boosted himself at Perseus who was forced to block, everyone else gaining distance since they no longer had the energy to fight. Perseus did his best to hold his ground but despite having his energy restored and his wounds healed he still felt somewhat physically drained.

  Perseus pushed hard with a boost from his energy, sending Gregory far enough back to create an opening to strike but Gregory gets pulled away from the attack by a vine that rapidly grew out of one of the boxes. “Sorry there holder of Poseidon, but you are unfortunately outmatched in every way.” Perseus grumbles before charging in melee, only for his boosted attack to be blocked by vines and Gregory to no longer be on the other side when Perseus cut through.

  Perseus immediately spun around to block an attack aimed at his back. “Seriously? Almost everyone tries the “distraction to attack from behind” tactic. It's not much of a surprise attack if everyone does it.” Perseus then finds his feet bound by vines, he has to generate ice spikes at his feet to cut them and escape. “(Crap, he's using the plant control to attack from multiple angles at once like what we do with the sprinklers, and I think those thorns might be poison because my leg is on fire.)” Perseus looks at the floor that was mostly dry after the fight with Apollo’s holder and the sprinklers had stopped working during that fight.

  Perseus started using zoning tactics and firing ice spikes from a range while fishing and cutting vines, trying to buy time while he thought of a strategy to win but with Gregory constantly pressing the attack it took everything Perseus had just to play defense. His allies were out of energy, he couldn't do any shenanigans. It looked like the only way Perseus could do this was to fight it straight. No tricks, no traps. It was strength versus strength, and Gregory had the home field advantage.

  Perseus went from defense to rushing in once more, cutting through vines and ending with a big boosted overhead swing that was blocked by Gregory. Although the attack was blocked, Gregory l’s arms shook under the might of the strike and the concrete beneath him had cracked beneath the force of the blow. “Ugh. Okay, you're a lot stronger than you look. This might be a problem.” Gregory struggled to push Perseus back and gain enough space to make movements again.

  Perseus decided to press his current advantage, and stomped on Gregory’s foot. He yelped and nearly crumpled before managing to get away from Perseus enough to start attacking with vines again. This time adding earth and water attacks from his sickles. Perseus was once again forced on the defensive and fought from a range. “This is getting repetitive.” Perseus grumbled as he tried to counter with water and ice. However, having to also contend with vines that he had to cut to avoid getting entangled.

  “(The vines are mundane, so cutting them isn't hard. They're just a distraction mostly but they can grab me meaning I have to respond or I'll be restrained and open to attack. I can't hold back.)” Perseus started glowing faintly as he started drawing from his weapon directly. “Alright then, it's time to get serious.” Perseus’ attacks became more intense and fierce as he started pushing back again. “(Conserving my energy doesn't make sense anymore anyway since I was saving it for this fight. I'll hit him with overwhelming force)”

  Perseus made his way back into melee range striking at Gregory who was barely able to block. Gregory in turn also started to glow faintly. “I can match you, blow for blow and then some. Sure, my vibes may stop being effective at higher levels of effort but I outmatch you in experience, power, and most importantly tactics. You've been at this for less than a year, your body shouldn't even be able to handle the amount of power I can draw on.” Gregory’s aura started glowing more intensely as even his eyes started to glow. Gregory was using Unity.

  Gregory once again started to push back and regain the advantage as his output quickly outpaced Perseus' once again forcing him back on the defensive once more. Perseus let out a frustrated growl as he looked at the manifestation of Neptuna at his side. With a light nod shared between the two she grabbed the weapon and in a flash of light the two became like one. Perseus' eyes started to glow blue. “Although it only manifested less then a year ago this power has been part of my body my entire life. It's more than adapted.”

  The battle seemed to move like a sea-saw as the two moved back and forth, switching who had the advantage and who was putting out more energy. The two clashed weapons and powers over and over again as the air itself started to stir and rage. The rest of the group could only watch in awe as these two people fought since they still didn't have the energy themselves as it took a while to recuperate.

  Perseus felt himself drawing out more and more energy to match the level of output Gregory was giving off. Not only was Gregory able to use Unity, but his body seemed to be used to drawing on the power and has likely been using Unity for a long time. Compared to Perseus who only used it a few times and even then his synchronization wasn't the best. Gregory on the other hand had a stable synchronization.

  Perseus began to question why Demeter would have such a high synchronisation with a mob boss who sold drugs. Was a green thumb all it took? Perseus assumed there needed to be similarities in personality, mentality, morality, and other things. He assumed the level of synchronization was based on how much one had in common with and how good of a bond they had with the god in the weapon. The more in common and the stronger ones bond the better. Like the ability was directly tied to how good of a friend you could become with your weapon.

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  Then again, Perseus did witness someone who viewed their Armatus as nothing more than a tool or weapon who used Unison. “(Is there something I'm missing? Some piece of the puzzle I don't have?)” This was not the time to think about that though as Perseus was still in the heat of battle. He just barely dodged a hew attack from all directions with vines, earth spikes, and water jets but since he's easily able to break through the vines he's able to get through gaps he himself made in the attack.

  Perseus slid high speed across the ground, freezing it with his feet as he launched himself forward with water jets from his legs. Once in melee range again he made a series of powered up slashes with ice and water coming off the ends like a slash extending the range and hitting Gregory who tried to dodge backwards. Perseus finally landed a hit, and it was the first hit of the fight. “If I'm so outmatched MacGonagall, then how is it I drew first blood.” “Lucky hit!” The man shouted, clearly angry as a slight Irish accent became noticeable.

  Gregory pressed harder, drawing more energy till he couldn't draw any more. Now fighting at one hundred percent he made his own set of slashes with both weapons. Earth and water came off the weapons, not mixing to mud via some magic, and suddenly Perseus was again on the defense as having two weapons allowed more rapid fire of ranged slash attacks. Granted the slashes were also smaller and weaker but then coming faster made it harder to block or dodge.

  Perseus was gaining a better understanding of how his opponent’s weapon worked and how his opponent preferred to use it. Gregory started to notice Perseus Dodge and block better and faster without drawing on more energy. Either Perseus couldn't draw out more to match Gregory or he didn't need to as he was somehow getting better at avoiding and deflecting attacks while still being at his current level. “How are you getting faster and better without drawing out more power to match my output?!”

  Perseus smiled almost smugly. “Because I learned to read your attacks. I'm dodging faster because I'm not just reacting to your attacks anymore. I'm predicting them.” Gregory let out another frustrated growl as his attacks became more intense. The earth spikes started sprouting vines and thorns as they passed Perseus, getting several glancing blows and leaving cuts on Perseus' body and new rips in his outfit. “I can adapt to a situation too, trident boy.”

  Perseus scoffed. “Boy? I'm a full grown adult of legal drinking age.” Perseus continued his narrow dodges but those dodges slowly became less narrow as he took a gash to his side. “(I'm getting slower? The thorns are poisonous. I can deal with that but that'll take energy away from combat. I'll just have to power through for now.)” Doing his best to ignore the burning pain in his sides, Perseus started putting on even more pressure. Eventually he regained the upper hand and had Gregory on the defensive.

  Gregory now has to focus entirely on dodging, blocking, or parrying Perseus' attacks as they came even faster and harder than before the poison started affecting his system. “How are you still moving like that after taking so many hits?! The poison should be wearing you down.” Perseus clashed his trident with the sickles, practically pushing Gregory into the ground forcing him to give it his all just to stay on his feet. “Sorry Greg, but I simply can't allow myself to lose here. This pain… is nothing compared to what I've been through.”

  Gregory grumbled and growled in frustration as he tried to push back but was forced to drop down and slide himself out of the way if a follow up attack. He then pushed himself off the ground with his power. “You are one stubborn man.” Perseus smiled. “Ah, so you've acknowledged me as a man now. Just in time for me to end this.” Perseus raised his weapon up and pointed it to the air, swirling it in the air and generating an icy whirlpool at the top of the trident. “Now be swallowed by the night of the sea!”

  Perseus made one last sliding charge at high speed with the weapon in the air. He swung it down with the collective force of a whirlpool with such pull that Gregory could not escape it. Perseus spoke with two voices overlapping. “Unison Attack: Kharybdis Abyss!” The attack collided with Gregory’s weapons but he couldn't keep on his feet. He was knocked to the ground and sent flying behind Perseus into a crate, breaking right through it. Gregory tried to get up but flopped back to the ground with a cough.

  Perseus lowered down his energy levels back to normal, and nearly collapsed. “S-shit. That's definitely not something I could do more than once in a fight.” He then stumbled his way over to Gregory. “Alright drug kingpin, time to face the music for your crimes.” Gregory laughed, then groaned from the pain. “You naive idiot.” He coughed a few more times. “Getting rid of me will only make things worse. My group keeps the worst drugs out of the three cities and keeps us safe from things like heroin and cocaine. When's the last time you've heard about a crack overdose in the area?”

  There was a moment of silence as Perseus twirled his trident before sending it away. “... He's… actually got a point. I remember my older brother talking about a cocaine epidemic in New Haden back in the eighties that was going on when he was really little. The area was filled with thuggish gangsters. Then that all started getting pushed out by MacGonagall as his origination took territory. We also have to consider the possibility of a power vacuum situation. With Gregory no longer the top of the underworld here every thug in the county would be looking for a slice of the pie.”

  Victor gestured at the beaten drug kingpin. “So after all that work, you're now saying we leave this guy in power?” Perseus hummed and hopped onto a crate to sit on it. “Unfortunately bringing him to justice would create more problems then they would solve. This started as a defensive measure when he sent Apollo's holder to attack me but that likely started from him interpreting our intrusion on his warehouse. He presumed we were working for the opposition as spies or worse and acted accordingly. Our best option might be to call a truce and clear the air.”

  Perseus helps an injured Gregory to his feet. “Hector, use what little energy you've regained to patch him up.” Hector sighs as he moves over to heal Gregory a bit. “From now on you and your's leave me and mine alone and we'll do the same. Your crew starts leaning into harder drugs and we'll come down on you. I'll also take any information you have on different Armatus holders.” Gregory groaned. “Yeah, sure, fine. Truce. I'm just glad you're a calm and reasonable person. I'll provide you with any information and aid you may need. Trust me, you'll need it. Thanks to me a majority of holders that exist know about you. They'll be looking to either challenge you as a way to prove themselves or to kill you. There are holders with a Highlander mentality. You know, there can only be one.”

  Perseus groans. “So you're telling me that some Armatus users will come after me because they want to prevent me from Ascension so they can be the first and only?” Gregory nods. “Some “I want to be the one true God” energy bull crap. So yeah, as long as you leave me and my business alone, consider any information I have at your disposal. Just don't expect me to provide you with physical backup if you find yourself in a bind.”

  Gregory goes to his office to collect some folders and hands them to Perseus. “Here's a physical copy of everything I have on every Armatus holder I know of. I know this isn't all of them but it's a good chunk of the ones that exist.” Perseus grabs the folders and nods. “Sorry for all the mess, I guess we both considered this a form of self defense. Now that everything is cleared up I should introduce myself. Perseus Yates. Everyone calls me Percy.” He extends a hand to shake that Gregory meets. “Wait… Yates? Like… as in Chrysaor?”

  Perseus sighed. “He's my idiot older brother, unfortunately. He doesn't have an Armatus as far as I know. I don't talk to him much because of his stunts.” Gregory nods. “Ah, understandable. I won't hold you accountable for any issues he has or may cause me.” Perseus smiled slightly. “Good, because he's a moron who never learns. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if he worked under your organization as a drug grunt.” Gregory shook his head. “I don't deal with amateurs.”

  Perseus finally asks something that's been bugging him the entire fight. “Dies Mister Olympic have an Armatus.” Gregory shrugged. “Not that I know of, but that doesn't mean he's not in the know. No one outside the know goes that out of their way to collect occult artifacts.” Victor then pitched in. “Wait… does that mean Hitler had an Armatus?” Gregory had a surprised “oh shit” expression on his face. “It would explain some things. His high charisma could have been with the help of Aphrodite or his desire to stir up a war could have been driven by Ares. But unless you find a holder that had a past life back then as a holder there's no way of knowing for sure.”

  Perseus let that sink in before giving a final nod. “I'll see you around, but hopefully not too soon.” Perseus and his friends all started walking out the warehouse and went to their homes to get some much needed rest. Although it seemed Perseus' struggle wasn't yet over, at the very least he had one less problem to worry about. Things should be quiet for at least a while, but the peace would not last forever. This story is far from over, but for now this is…

  To Be Continued