[ WP ] You are a god that hunts other gods

“ Sir, we ’ ve captured her. ” 
 
 It was a large office. Great view of the city, large desk, and a high, vaulted ceiling. 
 Some might jokingly call it a throne room and they would be closer to the mark. I, after all, am the ruler of the world, though only a select few know it. A smile stretched my mouth into a shape I ’ d long ago forgotten. This was the last one. I hit the intercom button to reply. “ Bring her in. ” 
 
 The door opened. Two men in riot gear stepped in sharply, a woman draped between them. I let out a deep, satisfied breath. Despite the bruises, cuts, and a bone sticking out of her leg, she was still just as beautiful as she had been all those years ago. 
 
 “ Leave us, ” I ordered. The guards saluted and stepped out. The woman raised her head, face taut with pain. 
 
 “ Prometheus, ” she spat out. 
 
 I raised an eyebrow. “ Athena. ” 
 
 She tried to stand. She tried to summon the Aegis, her great shield gifted to her by Zeus. She tried to do anything but lay there on the ground before me. She failed. I nonchalantly stepped behind my desk and pulled out a colt revolver. 
 
 “ Anything you wish to say? ” I asked, loading it. I slid each bullet in one at a time. I would never get another chance to do this, kill a family member. I ’ d killed plenty of other gods and goddesses, Tiamat was an especially fun challenge, but it was always special when they shared some common blood with you. 
 
 Her steel-grey eyes bored into mine. Despite myself, I felt the urge to look away. There was power in them still. “ Truly, ” I said, “ you deserved her position as the goddess of war. It was what has kept you alive for so long. No matter how advanced they get, the humans need someone to plan their battles. ” I held up the 
 Colt revolver. “ But this, see, this is my power. ” 
 
 “ Fitting, then, that it is a simple hunk of ugly metal, ” she said coldly. 
 I chuckled. “ Don ’ t patronize me. I slew Ares with simpler weapons than this. ” 
 
 “ Oh? Do tell me. I ’ d always heard you cheated. ” 
 
 “ Not cheated. I evolved. ” I snapped the first chamber into the firing position. “ In medieval times, a man who had trained for one afternoon with a crossbow could kill a knight who spent his life training for war. Ares was a great warrior, but that ’ s all he was. A soldier ’ s rage was his weapon, but the rage of one man is useless against the oncoming wrath of a.44 magnum. No matter how ‘ great-souled ’ or ‘ honorable ’ he is, it will not shield him from the future. ” I aimed and fired. With a surge of strength and just a little bit of supernatural speed, she flung herself to the side and the bullet only grazed her shoulder. She winced, but refused to cry out in pain. 
 
 “ So it was with Apollo, ” I continued, “ Let ’ s see, he was god of the sun, disease, poetry, and music. He was much harder. I had to work to ensure he never realized it was me who was after him. But as mankind became masters of nature, as they learned to defeat disease, and as they forgot the art for which he was the patron, he became weaker and weaker. ” My second bullet struck her in the hip. “ Until one day his golden chariot fell just a little too low. Then I snagged him. It may interest you to know that his body is down in research and development. They are using it to study diseases. By the end of the decade, we should have a cure for AIDs. ” 
 
 She was trembling now and barely could support herself with her arms. My third and fourth bullet pierced each of her palms and she collapsed. “ Progress, my dear. That ’ s what you lot never understood. You thought you could rule the world. You thought you could keep them in the dark forever. But you stood still too long. Now they have overtaken you. Which means I, their patron, am supreme. ” 
 
 My fifth bullet buried itself in her unwounded shoulder. She cried out. I walked over and placed my gun against her temple. Tears appeared in her eyes. 
 
 “ And as for you, my dear, you alone tried to adapt. Wisdom, that is something which never goes away. However, you could not compete with the tidal wave which struck you. When the world became a community, when there was no longer one single way to interpret anything, when the question was no longer ‘ how do we decide which good thing to put first ’ but rather ‘ what even is good ’, then you fell. ” I pulled back the hammer. 
 
 “ Why… ” she said, “ Why did you turn against us? You were one of us! You supported us before. ” 
 
 I stared down at her coldly. “ I was never on your side. I was always on theirs. ” 
 
 So died Athena, last of the Theoi. 

