The God of Gravity part 2: Olympus

Cleopatra Versus Hammad

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Hammad kneels on the sand after taking the punch from Cleopatra that sent him a mile away from the oilfields to the south. He gets pain in every breath but it was gone after a second. "That was a good punch for a woman," he said before standing up, wiping the blood from his lips, and smirked.

At the distance, Cleopatra got a radio call from her golden earpiece that is disguised as golden earrings for fashion. "My lady," said a man. "I'm sorry to report that Hyun, the God of Blood has deserted but we are ready to send an airstrike if you-"

"I appreciate the help but I'm fine," she said as she walked on the sand barefoot. And like a painfully slow avalanche, the sand gathered behind her and followed her. "I can handle this and I will be back in no time."

The man on the radio stammered, "A..a.. as you wish, my lady."

At the western oilfields on a rocky hill where Sayuri and her companions observed from afar, they saw the long trail of airborne sand after Hammad got knocked away as it slowly settled down and getting blown by the wind from the north. Sayuri is paying attention to the fight after the display of strength of Cleopatra that piqued her interest.

Jack noticed her so he removed his goggles and said, "Use this to see from afar, my lady." She grabbed and put it on. Then her view zoomed in and she can see the tall moving wave of sand where she senses Cleopatra behind it.

Hammad lowered his stance in preparation and caution as she held out her hand into the air then the sand above her turned into needles. Like missiles, they flew swiftly toward Hammad. With his scimitars, he sliced them and dodged most of them. That's when the sand below him suddenly turned into a spike that rose up but he dodged in time. More of the sand below him became spikes and at the same time, he dealt with the sand spike mostly with his Sword Breaking. Then he swung his left scimitar behind him and it crashed against the right fist of Cleopatra. The shockwave destroyed the sand spikes and the flying needles.

He attacked with his right scimitar but she blocked it with her arms fortified with Sword Breaking. Then he aimed to slice her leg with the leading foot with his left scimitar and she used Sword Breaking again. He pulled his right scimitar and lunged the tip to her chest but she slides down punches him in the stomach. This time he was able to use his Sword Breaking so it didn't hurt. And with both of his scimitars above him, he went to stab her but then he was stopped when she shifted the sand below his feet, making him lose balance. Then with another punch, she knocked him away but he anchored his feet on the sand to brake until eventually, he stopped.

That's when the giant lizard from earlier attacked her from behind but she didn't flinch as a sand spike impaled its head from its chin and to its brain so it died instantly. "I am begging you to give up, Hammad!" she yelled from the distance. "You are my brother too! We are the children of Ra!"

He just smirks as he says, "What do you know about brotherhood, huh? You've been living inside that 'Haven' city of yours and knew nothing about our suffering. Every drop of water is not spilled, if it does, we lick it before the sand absorbs it. Living in this desert is hell but we survived it, didn't we? We survived without your help! And all that you say about 'helping' is a lie. I know who you truly are, you ignorant woman." He pointed the tip of his scimitar at her and she narrowed her eyes. "By removing all of your golden shiny jewelry, your clothes, your flesh, and bones, what's left of you is just a naive soul fooled by the lies of Olympus - who themselves did this to the innocent people of Ra."

"Olympus is not lying!" she disagreed. "There's a new King on the Throne and he cares for the people. What's done in the past is not the fault of the people who are born in the present!"

He laughed. "If they truly cared, they would've done that a long time ago, knowing that innocent children are dying in starvation in this desert as we speak! Olympus has the greatest number of gods with power that can change this continent into a fertile land where the children would never have to worry about starving! Since you never lived with us, you will never understand!"

"I am already trying to help everyone on this continent! I know how they suffer outside Ra City and I sent people to help all of you but you killed them all!"

"Then did you know how they treated us? They looked at us in disgust the first time they saw us! And they treated us like savages and not worth their time! When they discovered the oil under our lands and the rare stones in our mountains, they tried to force us to move as they sent in their evil machines to destroy our home so we defended what is our own!"

"No! I- that's not what they told me..."

Hammad shook his head in disappointment as he looked upon the confused face of the goddess. He inhaled and exhaled slowly then said, "You never knew it, didn't you? They fooled you and turned you to be just a mascot for them so that they can get filthy rich."

She got disturbed by what Hammad said. "No, they would never do that to me! My father said that nobody dares to betray the person who shows kindness and goodness all the time. You are mistaken! They will never betray me!"

"Now that you have said it, I understand why you're so naive and easy to fool..." He threw his scimitars away and with his eyes glowing yellow, he turned into a humanoid lizard. His scales were the color of the sand, he has a snout with teeth, he has a long neck, his body is like a human, his muscles are bigger than before, and he has sharp claws.

He charged and closed the distance between him and her in a fraction of a second. She crossed her arms to block his punch that knocked her away but with the help of her sand she stopped. He came under the sand below her with an uppercut but luckily she sensed him before he even got to the surface so she dodged. Her eyes glowed yellow and hundreds of sand spikes struck him from below but didn't pierce his scales with help of his Sword Breaking.

He charged with a right punch and she leaned to her left, dodged the punch, and countered him with a heavy punch on his stomach for she can't reach his head. There was an explosion like a meteorite struck the desert. It blew away the sand as well as the two away from each other. What's left under and around them is a hard landscape that once was under the sand. Hammad quickly stood on his feet as her punch didn't hurt him. He saw the goddess gathering sand around her body and floated above the ground with her eyes glowing.

Like giant swirling worms, the sand rose around the crater, and from the sky, they struck upon Hammad. Sayuri and the others felt the ground shaking after seeing the destruction from miles away. Then a second later, the sandy wind blew on their faces and they could hear the blast.

"Woah!" exclaimed Jasper. "I never knew that she's this powerful even though I already know that she is."

"Witnessing is different than knowing, is it?" asked Jack.

"Precisely!"

Sayuri didn't mind them as she continued to watch closely at the fight while feeling uncomfortable as she looked at Cleopatra floating above the huge sand cloud. She cleared the cloud and Hammad was not there then she created a sand shield on her right arm and blocked Hammad's punch from above after appearing out of nowhere. She landed softly on the ground and he landed cracking the ground beneath him far away from her. It gave her time to charge and went to kick him. Then he just absorbed the powerful kick with his arm that even though he used his Sword Breaking, he felt pain.

She kicked again and again until he gave up and got kicked on the face after she jumped to reach him because of his long neck. He took the damage and got knocked away into the distance, destroying the ground beneath him along the way. He knelt after he stopped and felt his arms and face aching.

He growled while clenching his sharp teeth and extending his razor-sharp claws. He charged in a blinding speed and she dodged to the left and barely dodged as the ground he strode on was turned into shreds. It took a second for him to brake as Cleopatra used that time to charge at him faster than what he did. He blocked her right punch by clasping her fist with his big claws. She tried to pull it all the while, sending her left foot to kick his side and he absorbed it. With his other claw, he scratched her and she used her left arm to block with Sword Breaking. Then like metal against metal it sounded and sparked before he threw her away.

Sayuri from the distance, and with her superior senses noticed a change from Cleopatra's presence.

Hammad smirked as a lizard as he walked at a slow pace towards Cleopatra while she stood up with her left arm with four shallow scratches that hardly bled. Her flawless hair got disarranged and shrouded her face. He is about to kick into a burst of speed again but he noticed that she growled. He gritted his teeth in surprise when she's already in front of him and punched his stomach with her left fist.

He felt the pain as his feet left the ground for a second and her right arm is surrounded by sand as she said, "Death by Sand: Sand Fountain!" He blasted away from her with an explosion that sent him into the air and flew westward as the stream of sand kept pushing on his stomach where she punched him. His scales got sanded down until it reached his flesh. There's a hole on his stomach and blood is pouring out of it as he crashed near the village where Sayuri and her companions came from.

The crash made a tremor so the villagers were startled and made the children stay inside their homes as the men went to check what is going on.

"Stay inside!" said the man to his son.

"No, the lady taught me how to fight earlier!"

"This is not the time to play, my son! Go inside now!" he pushed him into the door and shut it while he joined the others.

Hammad is panting and he can't see well because he is a step away from fainting. But out of his will, he stood up and covered his stomach with his claw to stop the bleeding as he frowned in pain and saw the village that is just a step away from him.

"Lord Hammad?!!!" exclaimed Doctor Allen when he saw him gravely injured.

He approached him in haste but Hammad yelled, "No!" while panting and grunting in pain. "Get away from me!"

"You helped us in any way you can so let us help you, my lord!"

"No! You'll get caught up-" then he collapsed on the sand face-first and passed out as he returned into himself.

The humans helped him just as Cleopatra caught up to him. "Give him to me," she said with a dark tone while walking barefoot on the sand.

"My lady!" exclaimed Allen. "We will, my lady but first I have to treat him or he won't make it alive when you take him to custody!"

Then she looked at him with hollow eyes where not a single emotion in it but dread. "He will not be going to prison."

He is so unsettled because everybody knows how merciful she is in her past battles. "What do you mean, my lady?"

She showed her scratched arm to them. Then after a few seconds she spoke, "He damaged my skin."

Allen saw that it is just a minor scratch so he smiled as he says, "That's all, my lady? I am a doctor and I can fix it." He is sweating not because of the sun but out of the uncertainty he faces.

"You think your garbage will be able to fix my skin?" she mocked and he widened his eyes in the realization that the goddess is not in her right mind. She walked closer to Hammad but Allen got on her way.

"Yes, I can! I have ointment to prevent scar-"

"Please, my lady," said a little girl who went to face the goddess.

He looked at the girl and gasped. "Anfisa? You should be in your home!"

She didn't listen to Allen and just looked at Cleopatra with her eyes just like how she looked at Sayuri. This is the eyes that entranced Sayuri. Any deity would fall in love with these mere but sincere innocent eyes of a child. The kindest of goddesses and gods will be weakened before them. Cleopatra's face shows that she does as she looked at the innocent eyes of the girl when she stirred and smiled.

Sayuri gasped at the sight of a large volume of sand that got knocked up into the air with trees, roofs, and people with it. "AAAARGH!!!" she cried as she burst into tears as she saw them with striking detail using Jack's goggles.

"That's where the village is, isn't it?!!!" exclaimed Jack.

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