A new age of Divinity: Theomachy

God speed

The group ran out of Hephaestus' forge and up the stairs back to the main mountain. Clouds began to roll in, thundering and crackling with lightning... but without any rain. Clearly, Zeus was just playing around and none of the Demigods were having any of it. They ran to get the blood... only for the door to the chamber to be locked.
"Wait... what the hell?" Mikayla asked, "Hephaestus didn't say anything about a door."
"Hold on, let me try something." Kenneth began to move so fast that for any normal door, he could've moved himself through it... but it just knocked him back "Uh... okay, that is weird."
"We put that in as a safety precaution." They turned around and saw Hermes standing behind them "Athena figured you would want that... I see why now."
"Dad, please. Let us in," Kenneth begged.
"Unfortunately, I can not," Hermes sighed "Athena has this place under her thumb, and yet few seem to understand that."
"Yeah, we know her plan. Take over Olympus and become the true queen of the Gods," Beth told Hermes.
"And none of you stop her, why?" Eden asked, not disrespectfully, just out of curiosity.
"Most of us are too lazy and she is smarter than almost anyone. Her intelligence matched with her power makes her more of a threat than most Gods. Zeus has always favored her, so he only strengthens her."
"So... you will not help us?" Kenneth asked his father.
"Not directly... but I do have an idea."
"That being?" Eden sighed.
"A race... but with a twist," Hermes explained as he took a key out of his pocket and snapped it into four pieces "You have at most one hundred laps around the mountain. To win, you have to get all four pieces..." He put them in his sandals and in his wrist bracers "If you do not, you must leave without what you came for."
"So, you're sentencing us to death if we lose," Mikayla pointed out.
"While I do not know who you mean, yes, yes I am," Hermes agreed "Now... follow me to the starting line." Hermes began to walk to an archway and stood beneath it "Alright, now let us-" Kenneth suddenly kicked him from behind, slamming him into the archway "Augh, what in the-"
"We do not have time for this, father," Kenneth told him "I will do whatever I feel is necessary to win this, even if it means cheating."
"Heh..." Hermes got back up and cracked his neck and shoulders "Clearly, your mother's son." Kenneth sighed and nodded, then they both got to the starting point.
They each got into position and Kenneth told his father "Say the word."
"Run, Kenny... run!" They began to run and spiral down Mount Olympus... and then Kenneth remembered what he needed to do "So, what did she actually do to the camp?"
"She burned it to the ground, killed everyone there," Kenneth explained, then when Hermes tried to use a flying kick on him, he jumped over his father, and landed a few feet away "I know we can not revive those who died, but we can restore the place itself. That is why we need the Gorgon blood." Hermes continued racing around the mountain and Kenneth got back into his running stance "And I refuse to let my still living friends down!" He jumped away from a Hermes strike, then when his father ran away again, Kenneth began to chase after him.
Their game of tag took them all throughout the city of Olympus as Kenneth chased Hermes. The latter of the two slid underneath a low arch way and Kenneth hopped onto it. Kenneth bounced off of the arch and tailed his father from above. He leapt up and then slammed down at his father. A cloud of dust was kicked up by Kenneth's impact and Hermes came out first. He looked back at the dust cloud, but Kenneth was nowhere to be seen. He checked himself out to make sure he still had all four keys... and then tripped when Kenneth swept him off of his feet. He yelped and caught himself on his hands, then front hand sprung over a rock. Kenneth had gotten back up and ran over the rock, still chasing his father to the ends of Olympus. Kenneth took the high ground again and when Hermes saw this, he knew how to avoid his next attack. Kenneth jumped down at him and tried to grab one of the key pieces, but Hermes stopped, and sat down under his son. Kenneth groaned and landed, then began to run away, thinking that he may just be able to beat his father in a straight race. Hermes was instantly right behind him again and the name of the game became the keys once more. Kenneth saw a pole a few yards away and knew exactly what he needed to do. He jumped and swung around on it, then swung his legs into Hermes' chest. With the speed and force, Hermes was sent flying into a nearby building. Hermes groaned as he sat up and his son rushed towards him again. Hermes ran toward him as well and tried to hook punch Kenneth, but the younger deity ducked the attack. He spun around and elbowed his father in the chest, then while he was falling, snatched the left wrist bracer.
"There, I got one," Kenneth told his father as he sat up again "If you want it back, then come and take it!" They rushed toward each other again and knocked each other back.
Both rolled back up to their feet and Hermes ran at Kenneth, but he leapt to the side. Hermes glared back at his son, then ran at him again. Kenneth got cocky and ran a few feet behind his father, reminding Beth that before her, Kenneth was, and still is, Nate's best friend, so it made sense for him to pick up some of the cockiness. The two began running alongside one another again and Hermes jumped at his son. He swung a flying spinning roundhouse kick at his head, but Kenneth ducked under the attack. They ran toward a beach on Olympus... which was more just the sandy shore of a lake near Demeter's garden. They stood in a face off for a moment before Hermes ran toward his son again.
"It seems you would like to turn this race into a brawl," Hermes told his son "Fine by me."
Hermes did another front handspring and launched himself into the air toward his son. He did a front flip before he began to fall, then directed his fist straight at his Kenneth's nose. Kenneth rolled behind his father and when Hermes looked back, the younger of the two swung both legs into his father's. Hermes spiraled in the air for a moment and Kenneth rolled onto his back. He sprung back up and kicked his father in the chest with both feet. While his father was incapacitated in the air, Kenneth jumped after him. He tackled his father and snatched the sandals off of his feet. Kenneth pushed his father down to the sand beneath them and while the latter tumbled to the ground, Kenneth landed on his knees and a fist.
"It should not have been," Kenneth said as he pushed himself up and kicked his current shoes off "Because these are mine now." he slipped the sandals on and turned back to his father "Now for the last."
Hermes scrambled back to his feet and panted "I will not make it easy."
"It would be in your best interest to."
They began to run throughout Olympus again and even passed through the throne room. Zeus and Hera were there, for once not at each other's throats, and neither cared about what had just happened. If Zeus needed to take care of it he would, but he also knew Hera could deal with most threats on her own. A few Gods could actually see their movements and had gathered to watch the spectacle. The girls were not in that group and in their view, the two had not left. It seemed like they were still in their running positions, which was super strange. Even when the two speedy divine men ran past them, the wind didn't hit them until they were miles away. Hermes was ahead of his son, but Kenneth was so close that if he reached out, he could just barely touch his father. This wouldn't be enough to get the last key fragment though, so Kenneth kept running. They crossed paths and collided a few times, but their momentum kept them moving forward despite their difficulty staying on their feet.
"Alright, kid, if you think you can foresee everything I can do..." Hermes said as he began to run in literal circles around his son "How about you counteract this?" After a few seconds, a tornado began to twist around Kenneth, which made Hermes confident that he had won... too confident.
"Really, father?" Kenneth began to do the same thing and created an even more powerful tornado by running in smaller circles "You taught me this over seven years ago."
Kenneth knocked his father out of the dual tornados and he followed quickly after. The twisting storms dissipated and launched everything that they had sucked up in every direction. Kenneth bounced off of a building and fell down toward his father with an axe kick. He landed behind his father and grabbed the foot that wasn't on the ground, then hoisted him up into the air. Hermes did a front flip, then found his footing on a wall, and ran on that for a moment. Kenneth used his father's shoes to run on air and when Hermes jumped off the wall, he tried to tackle him. Hermes backflipped under the attack and did a gainer before landing on the street. They ran through a nearby alley and Kenneth leapt at his father, he tackled him into one of Olympus' public baths and they continued fighting in the debatably hygienic water. In the struggle, Kenneth managed to get the final piece of the key, and sped out of the water. Hermes followed him back and just because he could, Kenneth decided to do one full lap around Olympus. When he got back to the door, Hermes watched as his son fixed the key.
"Uh... wait, did you even leave?" Mikayla asked as they turned to face him.
"Yeah, a while ago," Kenneth replied "Why?"
"You- oh. I guess you did." Mikayla looked back at where she had seen Kenneth and Hermes standing "Wait, how long was it to you?"
"Uh... I dunno, two minutes-ish, why?"
"It's been like less than a second."
"Wow... I guess we are much faster than I had expected."
"You undersell yourself." They all turned around and saw Hermes standing there "You did well, Kenneth, but can I have my shoes back?"
"What? Oh, yes. Sorry, dad." Kenneth tossed him his shoes and Hermes tossed Kenneth his, which the father had gone back to get once Kenneth had grabbed all the key pieces "So... we can just take it?"
"Um, no, there was one other thing that Athena had put in place."
"And that would be?"
"A security force of sorts... However, as she is watching, I can say no more. Good luck, my son... I believe you will need it." He turned and ran away up into the sky... and then had a thought "Perhaps I should go down and see the damage. Thanatos has already brought so many Demigod souls down to the Underworld, so I should not have any work to do."