727: Waterlogged

"Do you think we should get in the basement or something?" Naota wondered. He used a hand to brush his soaked brown hair out of his eyes. "It's like a bloody monsoon out there." His clothes were dark and dripping with water, and he was wet to the bone. He'd only stepped out for a moment to get the newspaper, only to find that the rainwater had not only floated it down the street, but disintegrated it to all but a little scrap as well.

"We should be fine inside," Yuugata sighed, glancing out a window. "So long as no tornados strike, that is."

"This house could withstand a tornado," Shinji grunted. "The basement is for real emergencies, Naota-nisama; please don't joke around with me."

Naota gasped as he pulled off his sopping wet hoodie. His shirt clung to it and came off as well, leaving him shirtless. Izumi wadded up the wet clothing with a curl to her lip and tossed it into Shinji, who was forced back by the weight of the wet ball.

"Izzy," Naota complained, shaking out his hair.

Izumi shrugged her shoulders and said nothing. She threw Shinji an even look as the boy pulled the wet clothes off of himself. It left his entire front damp. Beside him, Mattie giggled. Shinji threw her a look, but she ignored it. Even Yuugata smirked.

"I'll just go and wash these…" Shinji decided. He slid off the couch and walked away as quickly as possible with the clothes in hand.

Naota turned to Yuugata and sighed, "Seriously, though; that's not right out there. It's been going on all night, and it hasn't stopped."

"It won't," Yuugata told him. "Not until the one who created the storm decides to stop it, that is."

"Well, who created it?" Naota demanded. "We've got to get them to stop – all of Japan will be flooded at this rate!"

"You can't reason with Zeus when he's pissed off," Altaïr warned as he walked into the room. "And he's really pissed off."

"Wait, this is Zeus's doing?" Mattie breathed, her eyes widening. Altaïr nodded, and she whimpered, "Oh, my…"

"He's just having a little temper tantrum over the Titans, that's all," Altaïr scoffed. "This is nothing – I'll agree with him, though. I'd be upset if the assholes I'd spent so much time trying to imprison have suddenly been released, too."

"Aren't we going to help him get the Titans back in where they belong?" Naota wondered.

"It ain' none'a our business," Izumi growled. " 'S a Gods task."

"Hate to say it, but she's right," Altaïr grunted. "There isn't much you guys can do without pissing off all of Olympia."

"Can't Tarot talk to him, at least?" Naota wondered. "Get him to stop?"

"Tarot can talk, but the likelihood that Zeus would actually listen is slim," Yuugata reminded him. "Gods in general are stubborn and proud… but the Gods of Olympus are known for not accepting help, especially from us mortals – no offense meant, of course."

"Please," Altaïr scoffed, "like I care. I know I'm proud."

"Simply put, our offer of aid wouldn't go over well," Yuugata went on. "But I have no idea what Kidd's thoughts on this matter are."

"Does he think we should fight?" Altaïr wondered.

"Like I said, I don't know," Yuugata replied.

"I think we should," Altaïr growled. "If the Gods wanted to protect Earth and the other world they should have been doing it all along, not leaving it up to Protectors. They've proven themselves too lazy to care about our worlds. If anything, they just want to put the Titans away as quickly as possible so that they won't have to do work later."

Mattie sat up and frowned. "But… Al-kun… you're a God, too… Aren't you just insulting yourself?"

Altaïr flicked an ear. "I don't deny that I'm a God…" he said, "but I know I'm nothing like them."

Mattie put her arms at her sides, looking a little more reassured. Still, though, she asked, "So, what're you going to do?"

Altaïr crossed his arms and said, "Well, if Kidd wants to fight, then I'll fight with him. I can take on Gods a lot easier than the rest of you. I'm sure I can take a couple Titans. They're powerful, but not insurmountable. The only enemies that I've faced that I've never been able to defeat are Death and Az."

"Will AA even help us?" Naota wondered. He leaned over and knocked some water out of his ear. "Better yet, can he even help us?"

"My brother won't fight unless he absolutely has to," Altaïr told them all. "Honestly, he could take down all the Titans and more with a swipe of his sword, but he's never been so outgoing with his powers. If he does fight, step back and let him – he'll do his best to get them to return to Tartarus peacefully, but if he can't then they're done."

"I'd take 'em 'part if'n I knew 'ow ta control the atoms'at make Gods," Izumi put in. She pointed at Altaïr and said, "I ain' never seen nothin' like it – yer bodies're made'a compounds 'at I ain' never 'eard of."

"Do you think you could figure it out?" Yuugata wondered.

"Pfft," Izumi scoffed, "if'n I didn' 'ave no interruptions, I'da figur'd it ou' by now."

"Izzy, you need to sleep just like everyone else," Naota said sardonically. "Don't complain if I'm trying to keep you from working yourself to exhaustion."

Izumi rolled her eyes and snapped the fingers on her left hand. The moisture disappeared from Naota's body, collecting in a sphere above his head and leaving him dry. Izumi took the moisture in her left hand, the water not expanding from the little sphere she'd put it in, and she snapped her fingers again. The water bubbled and turned to steam, disappearing into the air.

Naota rubbed his dry hair and sighed, "Thanks, I guess…"

Izumi only used her left hand to neaten up Naota's hair in reply. She smoothed it out and into its normal shape.

"Ya don' gotta worry 'bout me, Naota," Izumi told him. "I'll be fine. Jus' worry 'bout yerselves."

Thunder and lightning boomed and flashed outside, dazzling everyone for a moment. The light from the lightning passed across Altaïr's face, making him look haunted and strange. His golden eyes flashed and he curled his lip.

He opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off.

"Don't," Loaño said quietly, stepping off the stairs and into the living room. She was in her pajamas – a white tank top and shorts – and she looked tired. Yet the way her silver eyes flashed made it seem like she was more than awake. "I'll handle it."

"You'll handle it?" Altaïr wondered skeptically.

Loaño nodded and walked to the front door. She reached for the knob, but Mattie said, "Loaño-nesama, you're not wearing enough! If you go outside, you'll get a cold!"

"Don't worry about me, Mattie," Loaño said kindly, looking over her shoulder. "Zeus is being really annoying, so I'm going to go and shut him up, OK? It'll only take a minute."

"I'm not letting you go alone," Altaïr snapped.

Loaño's eyes flashed to him and she said evenly, "Stay here."

Altaïr's tail twitched back and forth, and his ears flattened. "Fine. I don't know what the hell kind of game Az is playing now, but I'll be at your side at the first hint of trouble."

"So will we," Naota declared.

Loaño nodded to them all before she turned the handle and stepped outside, into the deluge.

"This rain is terrible," Amaterasu complained, shaking out her direwolf's white fur. When the water was done spinning from her snowy pelt, she was left looking like someone had fluffed her fur up a bit too much. She sat down and began smoothing out her fur, her tongue rasping to and fro.

Coyote had already cleaned his coat from his earlier walk in the downpour and was sitting down to dry. The storm had covered up the night sky and made it nearly impossible to think with its clamorous thundering – but Coyote had gotten his thinking done.

He knew what he needed to do.

Sobek approached and chuckled, "I don't mind the rain; I just wish it were a touch warmer."

"Please, it's not rain," Loki the Trickster chuckled, "its Zeus spitting on us!" He laughed loudly at his own joke, but the others didn't find it so funny. Konohanasakuya-hime gave a politely halfhearted chuckle, but that was about it.

Quetzalcoatl slapped the Norse prince with the end of his tail and hissed, "While I agree that this is the work of Zeus… don't you all think this is a bit excessive?"

"He's clearing his throat," Amaterasu growled. "Puffing up his chest. He's trying to let the Titans know just who their boss is."

"Please!" Sobek snapped his jaws together. "That will not do. The Titans will laugh at this display – if they aren't already! Someone needs to talk some sense into that fool Zeus."

"Someone will," Konohanasakuya-hime promised.

"Yeah; there's always an idiot willing to get electrocuted ready to talk back to Zeus," Loki the Trickster chuckled. "Where I'm from, if one misspoke to my father Odin or my brother Thor, they wouldn't leave without having bloodied the dinner table! It made dinners in Asgard very interesting."

"That's because you Asgardians are nothing but a bunch of savages," Quetzalcoatl retorted, flicking his tongue.

"And you Mayans are better? With your blood sacrifices and -"

"Enough!" Coyote barked. His bark echoed throughout the room and silenced all the quarreling Gods. They turned their heads to him and awaited his words. "I've made my decision."

The Gods looked amongst themselves. "Well?" Sobek wondered. "What is it?"

Coyote felt a tingle down his spine and he replied, "We've no choice but to accept Apollo's aid… no matter what that might be."

The other Gods looked at him in astonishment.

Coyote flicked an ear in annoyance. "What, isn't this what you wanted?"

"We didn't think you'd actually listen to us," Loki the Trickster laughed.

"You hate Apollo more than I've seen you hate anything else," Sobek put in.

"Yes, he's betrayed me once," Coyote growled, flicking his tail, "and I despise him for that…"

"So you're going to forgive him?"

"Hell no!" Coyote snapped. He lashed his tail from side to side and growled, "Just because I'll agree to work with him on this issue doesn't mean that I'll trust a hair on his sun-loving head!"

Amaterasu flattened her ears and nudged Thief with her nose. "Don't get your tail in a bunch, Coyote; we understand. But we need his help. Whether you forgive him or trust him or not, that hasn't changed."

"You were friends once," Quetzalcoatl mentioned.

"Once, but no longer," Coyote snapped.

"So, who will go and find him?" Sobek wondered, opening his great jaws in a yawn.

"I could," Loki the Trickster said, smirking.

"We need him alive, Loki," Coyote growled. "No, I would like you, Ammy, to get him. Where he is, I don't know; he's probably with that Oracle lover he had not too long ago, or his daughter. If he's not there, try elsewhere. But hurry."

Amaterasu flicked her tail, looking irritated at being put out into the rain again. Her form was fearsome when upset, but Coyote had no reason to fear her. She turned and bounded out of the building and into the slashing rain, her white form disappearing into the woods. Lightning and thunder flashed more outside.

"Not even my brother is this noisy," Loki the Trickster complained.

"Speaking of, where is Thor?" Konohanasakuya-hime wondered. "Is he still helping the Protectors?"

"Perhaps, I don't know."

"He should get here as soon as he can; with all your little Asgardian friends," Sobek sighed, moving his big tail. "They'll be useful."

"Don't worry; my brother is ever the overachiever," Loki the Trickster said with a smile. "He'll be here."

Coyote looked out to where Amaterasu had disappeared. Yes, he thought, I don't doubt Thor. But what is he doing that is taking so long… and will he be here in time? So many delays… when we can't afford a single one…