Long ago when mankind was at the age of sword and bow, when myths merged with reality, when the forces of nature were known as magic...
And when the Gods ruled over the universe and decided of his path.
There were those who wanted to help mankind, like Athena who led them with her wisdom, Apollo who inspired them, and Demeter who made their planet nice and fertile.
And there were those who wanted to make them suffer just for the fun of it, like Eris who created mayhem and havoc among humans, Ares who caused many wars, and Hades who provoked death and despair.
This was a dark age, an age where humanity couldn't choose their own fate, where every human was a slave of the whims of Gods.
But strangely, one day, the gods decided to stop interfering with the destiny of mankind. Instead, they decided to sit and watch how humanity would live without them, and for centuries that's what they did... until now.
Because many gods and goddesses, even the most humble of them, thought that as gods they should live in a higher dimension instead of the mortal plane, they created together a new realm called “The Great Infinite”. A great, luminous void with different planets, each being the house of god and one big central planet that was a sort of neutral land where gods could discuss friendly and organize different events.
Since long ago, no events were organized, no friendly talk was done, and all gods were alone on their planet minding their own business.
But one of them was tired of this loneliness and boredom, she wanted to do something fun, to create a new event that the other gods and goddesses could enjoy… She needed a new kind of game…
And she had just the right idea, an idea that no other gods would have ever thought of.
~The Great Infinite, Date unknown~
In a strange and deformed palace, a lonely lady dressed in a dark purple robe sat on a bizarre sort of chair, drinking what looked like red tea with a bored expression on her face. Her red eyes in a sea of yellow stared at nothing, her long black hairs waving in a calm breeze.
She was Eris, Goddess of Chaos.
And she was freaking bored... like really freaking bored!
“*sigh* who was the stupid dude who said that immortality never gets old already? Because now I know it does.”
She sighed again, still staring into space as if a jester would pop out of nowhere for her entertainment.
'How long has it been since I did something interesting? Two thousand years? Maybe more, I can't even remember since I'm SOOOOOOO BORED, and I can't think normally when I'm bored... Where is the fun when you need it? Ah yes, He's gone since we all agreed to let the mortals alone!' She groaned internally.
'And for what?! TWO FREAKING THOUSAND YEARS OF BOREDOM?! THIS IS THE DUMBEST DECISION EVER MADE!!!'
She slammed the table on her side, trying to control her wrath. She stood there for some minutes, glaring angrily at the floor as if it insulted her, said floor emitting a whimper upon sensing its mistress' fury.
And then she suddenly fell back in her chair, sighing in resignation.
Pinching her nose, her look became very concentrated as she started getting more and more ideas coursing through her head in an effort to find a solution to her absolutely despicable boredom.
“Think Eris think, they must be a way to have some fun without interfering with mankind's affair.” She said to herself.
Then suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle all fell into place.
'Mankind... Not the mortals, but mankind's affair... that means…'
A smile came over her face as she let the scenario play in her mind, all the pictures respecting the laws made.
“THIS…IS...PERFECT!!!” she exclaimed loudly with a smile that would make the Cheshire Cat shake.
'Now I just need to prepare all of this... and of course, tell the others, Oh this will be sooooo fun, I don't think I've got a such good idea in ages.' She thought with pride.
~Later, in the neutral planet~
The central planet was not only the biggest of all but also the prettiest, all gods and goddesses participated in its creation, merging the best of their creativity together to be sure that all of them could appreciate this place. Since they decided to cut all contact with mankind, all of them stayed in their personal domain, letting the neutral planet (which is still unnamed) completely empty for ages. And for the first time since these ages, all gods and goddesses, without exceptions, were assembled in this place.
“Heeeeeeyy Ares how you're doing bro?” Said a god with blue flames for hairs.
Ares the god of war, clad in a gigantic armor that seemed to naturally smell blood, shrugged an eyebrow when he saw the strangely cheerful god of death, Hades, approaching him with a sort of flower collar, black goggles, and a weirdly colorful shirt.
“So tell me, what incredible quest have you done since our last meeting?” Said Hades with his still strangely cheerful smile.
Ares continue to stare at him for a moment, and then he pointed to Hades's strange attire with a finger.
“What's that?” He groaned.
Hades looked at what he was talking about for a moment and simply laughed.
“Oh, that! It's just a gift from a cool place I've been, you should do the same sometimes you know?”
“The only gift that I keep are the heads of the defeated.”
“mmyeah but isn't it a little boring over time? I mean, I know I like collecting skulls too but you know-”
“Shut your mouth Hades, you're giving me a headache, and I just want to listen to what the crazy witch has to say and leave.”
“Eris? Yeah, I'm curious too, but I'm sure she has a great idea, she always has great ideas.”
Ares chuckled a little when he heard that.
“Like the famous, make the undead sing spooky songs, moment?”
Hades' face fell when he heard that. He then slowly put his hand on his face, an unamused groan coming from his mouth.
“Don't talk about that please, I've just managed to forget this damned song and I'm sure that if I think about it, it will haunt my dreams for one hundred years more.”
“Eh, it was fun though…”
“Yeah yeah let's just go listen to Eris now”.
Like all living creatures, gods have a chief, Zeus the god of the sky, and master of thunder and lightning. The god of gods was standing in the front of the scene, staring anxiously at Eris who seemed to scribe something on a notepad she was holding.
Now he wouldn't consider himself someone chicken-hearten, but if Eris suddenly called all gods saying that she got the best idea of the millennium, one that would not interfere with any laws they made but still be funny, he would indeed be worried. After all, she was the goddess of Chaos, which says pretty much everything.
He just hoped that it won't be something too horrible for mankind, the best would be that it has nothing to do with it, but he didn't have great hope about that, the worst being that she found a hole in the laws, which could lead all the “bad” gods to ravage earth anew.
Maybe with a chance this game will take them sufficiently occupied to not try something, he didn't want to restart all the ancient wars that the laws have stopped.
“Okay that's good, now that... and this... oh yes this too! Good, I think I've got everything!” Eris muttered before turning to the audience.
'It begins' Zeus thought.
“ATTENTION TO ALL GODS AND GODDESSES!!!” Eris shouted. Everyone shut themselves to listen. “First of all, I want to say thanks to everyone for coming, I promise none of you is gonna be disappointed!”
Zeus raised an eyebrow at that, he didn't know what she was planning but he surely wasn't going to enjoy it.
And as if she was listening to his thoughts, she turned herself to face him with a big smile. He frowned.
'What is she up to?'
“What are you planning Eris?” His brother, Poseidon, asked.
“It's very simple, everyone remembers the laws which keep us from doing anything with mankind right?” She asked the audience.
a variable amount of nods and growls responded to her.
“And what if that I told you... that I found a hole in these laws!” She shouted happily.
Zeus immediately gritted his teeth, this was just what he didn't want to happen. For a moment, all he could though about was to go here and shut her mouth before she told the gods what she exactly found.
But then, a strange thought entered his mind.
'If she found a hole in the laws, why does she tells everyone? Knowing her, she would prefer to keep it to herself so what is the big idea?'
“If you really found such a thing, why do you tell us about it? Wouldn't you keep it a secret?” Hermes asked as confusingly as Zeus was.
“But how I would make you participate in my game if you don't know about it?” Eris responded with her signature smile.
'Of course, she planned something like that. Let's just hope this isn't too terrible, but first of all…'
“What kind of hole in the laws have you found exactly?” he asked with a serious look, while all the other gods went silent, waiting for the answer.
Eris smiled, she was just waiting for that moment.
“Well like I say, that's very simple: the laws keep us from interfering with Mankind's affairs, but if we just take one or two or even more humans, it's not mankind as a whole, especially if we act secretly. That means we can do something with the mortals as long as we don't draw attention to us!”
Zeus' eyes widened at that. 'Dammit! I hadn't thought of that, they always prefer being flashy and having as many people notice them as possible!'
“Wait wait wait! Do you mean that I could go take one human secretly, keeping my identity hidden, and I wouldn't break any laws?!" Hades asked happily.
“Yup! But it's not for that I brought you here.” She said with a cocky smile.
“So what? Tell us already!” Ares shouted, losing his patience.
“I brought all of you here... For a game. A great marvelous game that I just imagined yesterday. I called this game, THE SUPER POWER LOTTERY!!!”
A collective “What?” resonated for an answer. Usually, her games were more explicit. But now that she said she only did that for a game, Zeus was a little reassured.
A little.
“Here is the concept: You know that there are other gods with their own universe but also natural universes with no gods where we can do pretty much anything we want?”
“yes, but what it has to do with the game,” Poseidon asked, just as worried as Zeus was.
“I'm getting to it. So the game is like that: I invented a magical device that gives five random superpowers to humans, the powers are limited to five but if the human chooses to get fewer of them, then the probability to get a more powerful ability will increase. What we will do is simple, I created a false lottery on earth where you will choose a human and make sure that he obtains a winning ticket, then it will be taken to the device where he will get his powers, and then he will be sent to a natural universe I choose for the game. After that, you just sit, watch and enjoy what happens!
Everyone stared blankly at her, not knowing what to do after hearing that.
Zeus was especially annoyed. 'This is one stupi-'
“THAT.IS.AWESOME” Hades shouted even more happily.
“Why thank you Hades, I take it that you like the concept?” she asked with a pleased smile.
“If I like it? That's the coolest idea ever!”
“Excuse me but how watching a super-powered human could be fun?” Ares asked.
“Oh you see, the device will also increase the natural chaos of the human a bit, which will increase his sense of adventure and action so I promise it will be fun to watch, trust me,” she responded.
“Really? Now that's interesting...” He muttered pensively.
Immediately, the enjoyment spread like fire on gunpowder and everyone started to talk friendly about what kind of human they will choose while Eris responded to some questions.
“All the humans will be in the same Universe?”
“Yes and No, they will all be in the same universe but not in the same dimension, they will be separated from one to another, except if you want to associate some of them of course, you decide.”
“What kind of powers they could have?”
“Anything except the most powerful like those which begin with Omni-, Meta-, Absolute, etc. Nothing too game-breaking.”
“The increased chaos won't be dangerous?”
“Nope, I made sure that it doesn't do anything aside from increasing their taste for action and adventure.”
Zeus decided it was the moment to have a little chat with her as he quickly advanced forward. Sensing him like a snake (that she surely was) she met his eyes with her own, her smile never leaving her face.
“Oh Zeus, I'm glad you came to hear me. So what's up?”
“We need to talk Eris.” he said
“Yeeaaaaah, no.” She responded.
“Eris...” He growled, not wanting to lose his already underway patience.
“Alright alright! What's the big deal? Do you think I'm going to do some mischief while you're all playing? I've already said that I'm not here for that. I will participate too you know?” She said, quite annoyed.
Zeus sighed “I know I know... maybe I should be more forgiving, you just want to play a game after all...” he responded with a little smile, he looked much older at that moment.
“Well... thank you,” she said happily before leaving.
Zeus sighed again. Maybe it wasn't so bad, he could afford a little relaxation for now. And who knows, playing this game could be fun.
'I wonder who has she chosen.' He tough for a moment.