Hercules for the first time during the auction was excited. His eyes shifted from paddle to paddle to Willam as a bidding war went underway. Foolish mortals, they thought they could be a match for his young master. William seemed more tenacious than ever as the gunshot was heard.

People started to panic, “Herc” ”I know, it will be fine. Can I call my club?” he asked standing and unbuttoning his jacket. ”It might make things quicker.” Svetlana was calling for everyone to calm down and that the guards could handle the commotion. Hercules didn't’ doubt that but everyone needed to know that they were fine in the building as well and what better way than to show them his strength!

“Oh look at that! You can take off a jacket without splitting it!” William rolled his eyes as he took the jacket as it was offered. “If it gets bad call the club. Just try to keep the damage to a minimum. I’ll... go for cover.” lied William as his eyes went to the table where the ‘Stone of Cerberus’ was. No sense of leaving it unprotected right?

The kitchen door flung open as a few men in suits walked in with guns. “Everyone on the gro-grh" before he could get the rest of the words out the chair Hercules was sitting in was launched at the gunmen exiting the kitchen. Three dove out of the way the one that was speaking got sent back into the kitchen before more men exited. “What the hell? A chair? I thought all the guards were outside!?!”

”Truely a fortuitus evening! Here I was wishing for the event to end!” Lay down your weapons and I shall make this quick!” someone shot a gun and the god felt the impact in his chest. It hurt but it would heal, There were mortals in danger and William was nearby. Hercules started to bleed through his shirt then started to pull power from his master after hitting his fist together. He started to glow. ”Very well!” he flexed causing his already tight shirt to rip in several places as he strode towards the gunman as people ran for cover.

His tattoo’s glowed and crawled over his body as he pulled the rest of the shirt away discarding it on the ground. ”I shall be your opponent! Come at me!” he shouted the bullet that was buried in his chest pushed outwards as the god began to heal.

People surged towards the corner for cover, although not in an orderly fashion. Sveta sighed, kicking her heels off as she sat on the bar, and finishing her drink. This was exactly the reason why she had her cocktail dresses custom made. She leaned back, picking up an unopened bottle of champagne from behind the bar. She did have some weapons, but there was no need to waste them right away.

>>“Everyone on the gro-grh"

A chair was launched, knocking the would-be hostage taker back into the kitchen. Sveta barely had to look to see who launched it with such force. Hercules already had his jacket off.

>>“What the hell? A chair? I thought all the guards were outside!?!”

"Clearly you don't know what you're walking into!" she snapped back, hopping off the bar. But whatever she was doing, she was clearly upstaged by the giant man with the loud voice.

>>”Truely a fortuitus evening! Here I was wishing for the event to end! Lay down your weapons and I shall make this quick!”

Sveta yelped as a shot rang out, hitting Hercules clear in the chest. Sh*t. However... he did not go down. Instead, he tore his shirt off, and started... glowing?

He did have powers. Oh, thank f*ck.

>>”Very well! I shall be your opponent! Come at me!”

"We... are not here for you" one of the attackers stated, clearly more cautious than he had been a moment earlier. "Our business is with Svetlana Sergeyeva. The rest of you need not get involved."

"One would think you would have learned by now" Sveta shot back, walking forward "You never win these. Why bother? Do you have a kink for getting your asses kicked or something?"

It was clear the mortals who decided to attack the auction had run into Svetlana before, they knew her by name and she seemed to have bested them before that or she knew they were good at losing from her comment. Slow to learn, good. Hercules liked teaching lessons, ”Well! School is in session then!” he boomed as he flexed in their direction before bringing his hands up in his fighting stance.

Somewhere out of sight Willaim rolled his eyes at Hercules’s trash talk. Did he always sound that cheesy?

”Stay back, Svetlana.” he was closer to the door where the gunman came out but had enough sense to always watch his back in a fight. Most villains such as these fought dirty. Throwing one hand back to cover a little behind himself he boasted, ”Allow me to take care of these villains! Maybe you can reconsider the price of the stone!” bring his hand forward he shouted ”Club!” William shouted from behind the pedestal where the stone was, “No, club!” he felt the surge of stored up magic leave as it was siphoned into Hercules.

It was too late however once called the weapon could not stop until it reached his hand so he looked back towards the source of Williams voice. ”Very well! I shall do this with just my bare hands! Behold the power of Hercules son of Zeus!”

Leaping forward he closed the distance as people started exiting from the kitchen with guns high. The first thing that caught their attention was the blonde then they all looked up as a giant glowing man fell from the sky. Most moved out of the way as Hercules cratered upon his land bashing the ground with his fists. The action caused most of the gunman to stagger backwards in awe as they started firing upon him. Hand guns and a few shot guns, went off and ricocheted off the behemoth’s glowing skin.

It was clear the demi-god enjoyed fighting. ”HA HA! Yesss! More!” one of the grunts charged him with a crowbar.

The thugs frowned and sneered at Svetlana, but despite her taunting, they still looked very much concerned about Hercules. Leave it to the large glowing man to upstage the CEO. Not that she minded much.

>>"Well! School is in session then! Stay back, Svetlana. Allow me to take care of these villains! Maybe you can reconsider the price of the stone! Club!”

"I can actually..."

>>“No, club!”

"What?" Sveta looked, a bit confused, between Hercules and the young man who was yelling from the sidelines. Did he have a power too? Just because someone was in a wheelchair did not mean they could not kick copious amounts of ass.

>>”Very well! I shall do this with just my bare hands! Behold the power of Hercules son of Zeus!”

Seriously, he was taking this shtick way too far. Not that she was one to judge, Red Russian and all... Shots rang out again, and this time, bullets pinged off the man in all directions. Sveta did the reasonable thing on instinct and hit the floor, but it was not long before one bullet hit one of the attackers.

"Stop shooting!" another one yelled. "Take him!"

"F*** morons" Sveta rolled her eyes, getting up from the floor. One guy charged at Hercules with a crowbar, and the others were drawing knives and other brawling instruments. Despite him drawing most of the attention, some of them managed to stay on task, and charged in Sveta's direction instead.

It seemed the thugs had enough sense to know when to stop firing their weapons when one of the bullets bounced back at the attackers. Hercules responded with a flex and a taunt, ”Ha ha Yes!” he shouted as the attackers switched to knives and hand held blunt weapons.

”All shall fall before my might! You picked the wrong day to attack this auction and Svetlana!” he shouted as the attacker with the crowbar swung and hit the giant mound of muscles. It was clear it did little to Hercules and to the attacker he dropped the weapon as if he struck stone or metal with all his might.

”Is that it?” he lifted the man with one arm and flung him across the room before Svetlana and her attackers. ”I said I’m your opponent! To attack an unarmed woman! It’s shameful!” the thug bounced and rolled into a handful of the thugs and they stopped short as the corner of the building caved in.

”You will need all of your men to confront me! I’ve fought armies! Gods! Titans! Don’t insult me!”

Raising his hand he caught the ‘humming’ club something that a bruiser of his stature would wield. From behind the podium where Will was holding the stone. “Use it only if you need it!” he shouted before going back to looking at the stone ignoring most of the commotion. It was clear he had been in a fight with Hercules before. He knew that as long as the big guy was around he was safe.

>>”All shall fall before my might! You picked the wrong day to attack this auction and Svetlana!”

The man was incredibly loud, but did have the powers to back it up. Svetlana had seen super strength up close before, but it never ceased to amaze her. Such a classic. The crowbar pinged off the glowing body.

>>”Is that it? I said I’m your opponent! To attack an unarmed woman! It’s shameful!”

"I'm not actually unarmed" Sveta pointed out as one of the goons charged at her. She spun, going low and kicking his legs out from under him; as he rose, she clonked him on the head with the bottle of champagne. The next one took more of a brawl, and she was in the process of kicking him in the stomach when another guy came flying out of left field.

>>”You will need all of your men to confront me! I’ve fought armies! Gods! Titans! Don’t insult me!”

Geez.

>>"Use it only if you need it!”

So, there was an actual club. More of the men attacked Hercules now, but they were still streaming in like it was a B list Tarantula movie. Sveta found that she didn't mind. She knew that with an ally like Hercules they would prevail eventually, and she did enjoy a good fight. So much cleaner, easier than politics or social engagements.

Sveta took a running leap from a chair, managing to knee one of the goons in the face, then landed again.

"Hey, big guy, how about a power boost?"

To say the god was irritated with the hired goons would be an understatement. They weren’t listening to him. A god being ignored by those he swore to protect. Mortals. Foolish and arrogant, how he loved them so. They were unpredictable to say the least about as unpredictable as Svetlana handling a thug or two of her own in heels no less. Impressive. She might be able to rival Elizabeth with her composure in battle. Fascinating.

”Why waste the champagne?” the legend asked as he hefted another hired man and hefted him with one hand back at the kitchen door where a few of the men were watching and waiting to get into the fight. Why were they not all attacking him at once? Was it the glow? Was he far too intimidating to the mortals? Were they somehow smarter than those he encounter previously?

Someone charged at him with a knife and he summoned the club to his hand once again this time he crouched low to catch it causing the club to zoom under the knife wielding man knocking him off his feet. “Herc!” the voice of his master chastised him for drawing the weapon towards him. He didn’t need it but he felt like he had to show off more than normal. In the presence of the heel wearing Svetlana. He was a god, he would not be upstaged by a mortal!

The words of Svetlana confused him, a power boost? Hercules looked over to see the blonde descend from a chair kneeing someone in the face. ”Where shall I throw you!?!” he turned only to be hit by a hand held taser. ”HA HA!” Yes! That is the tenacity I am looking for!” he boomed through gritted teeth as his glow faded for a moment during the distraction.

Another goon saw his chance and tried to lift the club that was now on the ground where Hercules left it. It didn’t budge.

>>”Why waste the champagne?”

"No one likes champagne" Sveta observed, clonking another man on the head with the full bottle. That guy definitely didn't, anyway. Hercules kept fighting like no one could touch him. Sveta found she was curious how he would deal with the onslaught of goons with a power boost.

>>”Where shall I throw you!?!... HA HA!” Yes! That is the tenacity I am looking for!”

"Throw me?!" Sveta blinked, before she realized he must have misunderstood the boost. It was amusing, since it was obvious the guy could easily throw her if he wanted to. She pulled off one of the long gloves and moved, ducking under a man's arm and punching him in the groin, until she got to Hercules' back. She placed a hand on the glowing skin, wondering what to expect. Would he glow bigger?... Grow bigger?

Another goon ran at her with a knife. Sveta, upon sudden inspiration, grabbed Hercules' shoulder and used his back to pull herself up. "Pardon me." The height difference made it easier to kick the man straight in the face. And something told her Hercules would be able to handle her weight.

That wasn’t necessarily true, the prince of power himself liked champagne. It was fizzy and the bubbles tickled his nose when he drank it. It was an... odd experience for him. One he liked to replicate when going to events such as these. He didn’t argue with her however he was still pretty knew to this era maybe most mortals didn’t like the beverage.

”You wanted a ‘power boost!” he shouted as he removed from the taser, no electricity was enough to knock him on his rear, he was the son of Zeus after all and that meant he had experience dealing with the power. After his teeth were done clenching he backhanded the man with the device and sent him flying. Feeling a soft touch on his back he was about to turn around and smack someone else till he saw the blonde hair and he refrained.

”You can do that later, if you wish!” the god spoke throwing a forearm up to block the next crowbar strike. The glowing didn’t change, neither did his power. Why was she touching him like this? She grabbed hold of his shoulder next and pulled herself up protecting his backside. ”Where did your shoes go?” the good asked seeing her bare foot shoot out behind him.

Chuckling to himself he recalled in the past when he had teamed up with women who were experienced fighters. Was she another descendent from the Amazons? What a fortuitous day! ”It has been far too long since I battled alongside a woman!” he boasted! ”What a Fortuitous day! I need to attend more auctions!”

>>”You can do that later, if you wish!”

"Oh, come on" Sveta rolled her eyes, landing on her feet as she let go of his shoulder. Seriously, in the middle of a fight? Men were men.

>>”Where did your shoes go?”

"Fighting in heels is a b*tch." Sveta explained, turning her back to Hercules so they could face the oncoming assault in both directions. It took her a moment to realize that something else was missing, however: the power boost. Hercules was formidable, but he showed no signs of... being more of it.

>>”It has been far too long since I battled alongside a woman! What a Fortuitous day! I need to attend more auctions!”

Sveta laughed out of amusement, and threw the champagne bottle at one of the goons. She glanced over her shoulder. Still nothing.

"Well... that's strange" she noted. "People usually get stronger when I touch them..."

Svetlana seemed upset to the god by her response, but he didn’t comment further. There was a time and place for that, and on the battlefield was not one of them. Certainty not when William was around either.

Glowing eyes narrowed as one of the larger men threw his gun down and took off his jacket. At last someone to test him. Hercules hoped he’d prove to be a challenge. They weren’t attacking him all at once so he concerned he was going to get bored if Svetlana could continue to handle herself. ”I imagine anything in heels is a b*itch.” he chuckled. They didn’t make heels large enough for the Slayer of the Stymphalian birds he checked.

Shifting his attention quickly he caught a punch closing his colossal hand around it and throwing the man away in a single well practiced motion. He had been doing it for centuries. Looking back to the large man Hercules waited impatiently as he rolled up his sleeves. It was as if he was making a show about this. This was no production! This was a test of strength! A challenge from the god of strength himself!

”Oh?” Hercules asked over his shoulder waiting for the large man to charge him so Svetlana didn’t get surrounded. Her statement confused him. The touch of a woman does often encourage men. Why was she expecting him to get stronger from her touch? Was that why she didn’t shake his hand? Was it a cultural thing? He didn’t want to insult her.

”Are you disappointed with my strength?” he boomed in laughter she almost sounded like his master William when the god was first summoned. ‘Is that it?’ ”What a truly odd era!” he started to pull more power from William who across the room was looking pretty tired as he studied the stone further.

The large man charged and locked hands with Hercules as the man tried to overpower him. Hercules grunted still chuckling, ”Very well! If you want me stronger I shall you what I’m capable of!!!” he roared as William perked up across the and realized what the god was going on about. A surge of power left William as the boy shifted his focus to drawing in more magical power.

The tattoos of his deeds and failures in life glowed brighter as he tapped more into his strength and durability.

>>”Oh? Are you disappointed with my strength? What a truly odd era!”

Sveta didn't have time to roll her eyes again as more attacks came. Hercules was taking the brunt of it, but it kept her busy too, kicking and punching. One of the larger goons made a show of rolling up his sleeves before attacking Hercules. Svetlana knew she was going to savor the moment when that one got tossed across the room.

"I was just curious."

>>”Very well! If you want me stronger I shall you what I’m capable of!!!”

And then he got stronger all on his own.

In a break of the fight, as people were distracted by Hercules, Svetlana glanced towards the guests, still taking cover in the corner. Well, except for one. The kid in the wheelchair, still near the podium, and one of the display cases. Svetlana threw a chair at her current attacker, and made her way to him.

"William, right? You should go for cover. Can I help?"

It was seconds before Hercules broke the large man’s power when he was drawing so much power, showing so much power. ”Witness! The strength of Olympus itself!” declared Hercules as he hefted the man in the air with one hand before throwing him towards a small group of would be attackers. They should blame Svetlana if it wasn’t for her he would have kept his power level lower so they posed more of a challenge.

”You have no hope of besting me!” he continued grabbing and throwing people as they charged him aware that his back was now exposed. Shifting his glowing green eyes he looked around the room to make sure they were all focused on him while Svetlana... attended William! His glow softened as he saw what he was doing to the boy. He was pulling too much power! Curses. He needed more masters to help channel his strength.

“Hmmm?” William looked up, opening his eyes as the blonde approached. His heartrate sped up and he looked down at the stone then shook his head, “Imalright” he said fumbling with the stone. “I wasn’t stealing it. Just looking at it.” he looked dover to Hercules and saw he was glowing less than he was moments before the power drain. Still not too worried about the scene that was going on. If he was in danger Hercules would have appeared next to him.

”Apologies William!” he said dodging another taser jab from one of the attackers. The less he got hit the better off William would be. Someone jumped on his back and he responded by dropping backwards landing on his back. It was all the distraction the goons needed to dog pile on the god. “Get on top of him!” one shouted, “Pin him so he can’t get up!” another one called out as more piled on top of him.

>>“Hmmm? Imalright. I wasn’t stealing it. Just looking at it.”

The kid did not look all right. He looked... kind of out of it. Was he scared? Or ill? Or both? Svetlana was not sure what to do with him, and honestly, she did not give a damn about the object he was looking at. "I don't care, but you need to get to safety." she reiterated, glancing back. Hercules went down, and promptly disappeared under a large pile of goons.

>>”Apologies William!”

>>“Get on top of him! Pin him so he can’t get up!”

"Well, that does not look good" Sveta sighed. "What's he apologizing for anyway?"

There was half a dozen men on top of him and not the way he would have preferred but it was a fight so this was as good to the god. He enjoyed challenges like trying not to pull too much power from William. Maybe he had over done it by showing off. All that power drawn just to lift and throw someone? Well at least he wasn’t getting up anytime soon or the people that the large man landed on.

Willaim shifted his attention from his godly summon and looked back to the blonde who seemed concerned for his well being. She was pretty and intimidating so he tried his best not to make eye contact with her. Thumbing the stone in his hands he looked down to it. Well if she didn’t care about it... that meant he could keep it right? No. Hercules would lecture him about taking things without permission. He couldn’t sit through another two hour lecture about good and evil.

“Him?” William asked, “He’ll be fine.” added not paying much mind to the dogpile on top of Hercules. He could feel the excitement from the god and rolled his eyes. “Ummmm... sorry for getting hit or sorry for showing off?” William asked pretending to be confused by the question. While Hercules didn’t worry about elaborating on their relationship and who he was and how he got his strength William was more apprehensive. He stole the ‘Bracer of Hercules’ someone would want them back and they already sent one hitman to retrieve them.

“I guess you’re right!” William said acting up the part of someone scared. “I’m terrified! Hercules stop them!” he said holding onto the stone and unlocking his wheelchair. “Oh, behind you!” he said pointing to behind Svetlana. A suit ran up behind her and tried to grab at her.

From under the pile Hercules chuckled, ”You hear that? My Master has issued the command.” he started to glow a bit more as he started to rise lifting the half dozen people as he was doing so.