Last chapter, Prósopsi had a brief meeting with Aora which was interrupted by a call from the known Hopian Army associate, "Mrs. Magic". She informed him about the alliance between Quilline and Metallica's group, and her husband took over the call after Prósopsi accused Mrs. Magic of indirectly causing the alliance.

Afterwards, Prósopsi used one of the Hopian Territory's old teleporters in order to train with Aphrodite on an uninhabited world, where he would not have to worry about holding back.

Prósopsi's P.O.V.

"Whatever- let's go." Aphrodite says unenthusiastically as she raises her finger- instantly causing a piece of stone to slam up into my feet from below- ow!

A little while of training later...

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"Hiya- oop- got you- nope, wow that didn't completely suck!" Aphrodite calls out as she hits me with a barrage of kicks and punches- they're all sloppy but she sure is fast and hits like a superpowered truck.

Worst of all though I've only been able to dodge or block about a tenth of the-

*POW!*

Oh crap! I manage to swing my arm up just in time to block one of her kicks! That makes Aphrodite float backwards and land on the ground.

"Yeah yeah ok- I'll admit that was pretty good, seems like you're not AS much of a clutz anymore." Aphrodite says to me with an eyeroll- guess I was smiling more than I let on.

"Thanks, and then after that- to counterattack I'd grab your leg with my other arm, and throw you probably." I say as I snap my fingers.

"No- incinerating me at point blank would be your best bet, course I'd never let you though. If that was Metallica's kick you just blocked though- yep that would be a good strategy. Or I think so- we know like nothing about him..." Aphrodite says with a sigh.

"You ok?" I ask with a sniffle.

"Eh? Yeah, obviously. Just more worried about that dumb Metallica and all, now that that Quilline girl is with them... she'd be able to teleport you around too. Could give Metallica even more of an edge." Aphrodite says as she brushes some hair out of her face.

"Our plan so far is actually fairly good to stop her. I'd throw the teleporter to this planet down at Metallica from above, then use my fire to create a flamescreen to block Quilline's sight, and finally zoom down through the portal myself to chase after him. Would sure be nice if we could just chuck him through the teleporter and just shut it right away though." I say with a small chuckle at the end- I did make the flame part up on the spot though. But I think it'll work regardless.

"I guess. Your odds may not be super high even just against Metallica though." Aphrodite says as she puts her hands behind her back- which makes me tense up a bit. And rightfully so, a giant piece of stone comes flying up at my face from the sand-

*FWOOSH!*

Dodged it! Mostly- it did scrape my face pretty bad though...

"Not terrible, but that sure wasn't good either. One lesson learned here- almost everyone in Habram's universe has some sort of giveaway that they'll use their powers. Like me with my hands, Ontarus with his gross screeching water, other people who call out their Blessings names- you get the point. Metallica will probably be the same." Aphrodite says which confuses me for a sec. Of course that's obvious... but... hm. Guess it's good to put into perspective.

"Alright- enough pummeling for now. You've been stuck near weak people for so long now, that you've always had to hold your power back. So go on. Test out your full "magical" strength, you're sure gonna need it to come out of this situation alive." Aphrodite says as she puts her hands on her hips and looks into my eyes.

"Wow- 100 percent, huh? Well... I guess you have a point. Isn't there a chance I could make this planet uninhabitable though? Even for me?" I ask- not sure if she'll be able to answer that though.

"You're not THAT strong- it'll be fine. A guy I knew called Ares told me about how a long time ago in my universe, a massive war against these Titan things happened. And Zeus used his full power to beat them there. If he can use his full power without destroying a planet, I'm sure you can too." Aphrodite says which surprises me- since from what she's told me Zeus is pretty much her universe's Habram.

"Sheesh... must've been a bloodbath then. Alright- move out of the way please." I say, as Aphrodite skips behind me.

"Go my summoned, shock them with infinite-voltage!" Aphrodite shouts out and mimics a summoner from Xioas IV, which makes me laugh out loud-

"Wha- when did you even see that show? It is a classic though." I ask as I turn around to see her grinning.

"I don't really sleep so, I've got a lotta free time on my hands. Now go!" She commands with a pointed finger, cheesy but I respect her dedication to accuracy- I needed a mood booster.

I turn back around and start raising my arms, already starting to see lightning flashing and thunder booming in the clouds above us.

I hold back on letting it loose, in order to charge up more lightning- and the thunder starts booming so much that it starts to hurt my ears.

More... more...

"Hm!" I swing my arms down on reflex after Aphrodite pokes my hip, causing thousands of massive lightning bolts to slam down into the sand at once. I squint my eyes at the blinding lights, and just barely hold back the urge to cover my ears as horrific thunder booms all around us.

I open my eyes a few seconds later, and I get confused as I can see thousands of massive branches of solidified sand sticking up from the ground.

"It's like a forest of dead trees... is there one for every bolt that hit the ground?" I think to myself with a whistle as I realize that the perimeter of the branch-zone is at least a kilometer out on both sides. No clue about the science behind that though.

"Pretty. And pretty strong too. But- you're only fighting one bot, we don't need the bolts that spread out. But again, lucky you, I'll be helping you aim during the fight- which should let us condense the bolts into one spot. Ish." Is all Aphrodite says as she floats  in front of me with a shrug at the end there.

"Ok, good point. Also I can still use the lightning generated from my hands right?" I ask.

"I guess? It's gonna be a LOT weaker than lightning from the sky though, especially since there's so many clouds on this world." Aphrodite says which does remind me of something,

"To be fair though there's a bunch of different regions around this planet. Think one of the other scientists told me that some regions have less cloud coverage." I respond.

"Oh right, we haven't exactly decided where you'll fight Metallica. Actually... I think you'll need to whip out the "cursed" power Prósopsi. So far you've got Gaia, Hercules, Zeus, Hephaestus, Hades, and Aeolus. But. I know you hate using it, but it's time for H-"

"Hermes. Ahhhhh damn it. But you're right, it would be stupid not to use it. You chucking me around everywhere to chase Metallica wouldn't be ideal. Can you teach me, please?" I respond with a frown... every time I've used his powers it's been a disaster, ranging from horrible dizzyness to crushing myself after running or flying into a wall.

"Yep. It would've been way better if you weren't so stubborn and let me teach you before, but better late than never. We'll start with flying." I say- holding back a barrage of insults. The last time she tried to teach me about the power of Hermes she was awful, constantly switching from screaming at me for being useless, and laughing at me after hurting myself or throwing up.

"O-K." Is all I say to respond- and close my eyes and launch myself up into the air to let out my frustration.

"Crap!" I cry out as I realize how bad of an idea that was- I'm spinning in the air now and stuck in the dark clouds above us, can hardly breathe and I'm getting shocked left and right!

"Look at where you want to fly!" I hear Aphrodite call out to me- would be helpful if I could actually see where the heck I am!

Regardless I open my eyes, guess where down is- and use the power of Hermes to fly in that direction.

I feel relief as the darkness fades- but groan as I realize that the clouds are below me now- like a sea of darkness. And above me is even more blackness- AKA space. The view's actually neat, but not being able to breathe much I look down- and fly back down through the clouds headfirst at breakneck speeds.

I lose control pretty quick though and start spinning once I get past the clouds- and I can hear Aphrodite shouting at me, can't tell if she's trying to help or not- too late now-

*CRACK- BOOM!*

...

"Auuuugh... ahhhhhhhahhhhaaaaaAA!!" I wail in pain- why couldn't that have knocked me out, I don't even know what part of my body is intact anymore!

"Aphor- aph- asshhhaaa!!!" I gurgle out blood as I try to cry out her name to fix me- what is she doing?!

"Sorry- I left you injured for a bit to build your pain tolerance." Aphrodite says as the pain finally fades, and my body reassembles itself. I grit my teeth to stop myself from yelling out nonsense at her. I need this pain.

I unfold myself from the curled up position I was in before, and slowly stand back up as I cough to get some sand out of my mouth. "T-thanks. So. I obviously have a lot to fix with my flying. Let's keep it going." I try to say in a confident tone- I am shaking though...

"Nicely done- and oh yeah you were going waaay too fast there, I should be able to teach you how to fly with more control. I think so at least." Aphrodite says with a nod as she crosses her arms.

A few hours of crashing later...

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"3, 2- GO!" Aphrodite calls out to start our flying "race" (which is happening near the ground), and she flies a bit ahead of me- meanwhile I take it slow and start hovering forward. She can't go too far after all, otherwise I won't be able to use her powers. Anyways- a second later I lean forward more to gain more speed, and another second later I lean even more. Doing that gives me a pretty massive speedboost- I knew this would make me more aerodynamic!

I can already see myself catching up to Aphrodite ahead- but suddenly she makes an abrupt stop and spins around to face me. She raises her finger, huh? Oh no-

*CRASH!*

She summons a giant block of rock from the ground in front of me- but just in time I activate the power of Hercules, which lets me fly right through it without being too injured- my flight didn't stop much either!

I see Aphrodite pull her hand back as blue flames start floating in her palm-

"Range is too wide, can't do sides- up!" I think to myself just as Aphrodite throws her hand out- flying up as a wave of flame blasts at me just below my- AH!

I grit my teeth and hold back tears, as I struggle to float in the air after realizing my legs have been completely incinerated. I fall down to the earth after a second though with a thump- but at least I don't scream in pain... but damn it, this hurts so SO much... don't cry... don't...

...

"Ah!" I cry out in relief after I finally get healed.

"You're doing way better than I thought you would. Guess the stakes are higher, maybe that's why. But yeah- you need to learn how to dodge while flying. Also your turning needs work, as well as your backwards flying- oh- and your fly-downs or whatever you wanna call it." Aphrodite says as she puts her finger on her chin.

"Ah haha- I did play some flying simulators before, maybe that's why? Thanks for the help." I say as I wipe some sweat off of my forehead- that's new...

"Yep. But yeah- I'm pooped. Healing big injuries of yours is super draining- and I've already done it at least 20 times here. We can finish off with practicing your punches maybe?" Aphrodite asks, and I open my eyes wide once I realize just how long we've been out here for.

"Crap- I was supposed to be back in office a while ago I think, no need- training's over!" I think to myself as I shake my head and look at the clouds above- in the far distance I can see the white portal floating in the air.

I use the power of Hermes to make me float- then lean forward to give myself a massive speedboost as I fly above the sand- I'll make it there in no time! No- faster, I lean forward more until I'm parallel with the ground, I'll be there any secon-

"Slow down dummy!" Aphrodite calls out but it's too late- I slam into the ground and roll over and over in the sand like a ball... I open my eyes though, and at least I made it underneath the portal...

I groan and brush myself off, that wasn't a terrible crash actually. I'm making real progress here- being able to fly is going to be HUGE.

But yeah- not wanting to test my luck anymore, I very, VERY slowly fly up towards the portal. Aphrodite gets impatient however- and grabs my arm and throws me up into it.

...

...

"Ah! Welcome back Head Commander. I was getting worried there, the portal can only stay open for a max of, eh about six hours you see... I hope you enjoyed your stay." The same scientist as before says with a bow, as he stands above a small foldable metal chair that he was probably just sitting on.

"You deserve a better chair than that, considering how much you've helped me here. After this is all over I'll get you a big leather one." I say to the man with a confident smile- which makes him blush.

"Will do, sir!" He calls out, and I nod and start to walk out of the room, and into a plain looking steel hallway.

"Gonna be boring going from flying today, to constant meetings  tommorow... and that dinner with Mrs. Magic's husband. Blegh. I shouldn't complain too much though- Domino's going to be devasted tommorow... he deserves to know the truth, though." I think to myself as I zone out while continuing to walk...

A/N: Thanks for reading!