The Dreadnaught was very slowly, aimlessly, drifting towards the south; clearly no longer being actively steered; as Gabriel carried Eyeball back to the Enterprise. Gabriel frowned. "What the hell is going on? You kill Thomes, you kill Thompson... is this La Famiglia's bid to take the world?"

"Thomes isn't dead. I made him play dead against his will for a few, but he should be up and around before we get back. You'll see in a minute. I... well. I left it so I could kill him remotely if I needed to, but figured I wouldn't. I needed to be sure."

Gabriel stared down at the carrier; then back at the dreadnaught. He'd half assumed this was going to be a combat drop; but the soldiers on the deck didn't have their weapons raised. They didn't look happy, but they didn't look prepared to fire, either. "Sure of what?"

"What if the Emperor of Iron was actually going to be good for the world? The sort of powerful, benevolent tyrant that could save us all? If Nicky, or Thomes, had his sort of power... Well. I had to leave the option open. The outcome wasn't really decided until he told me how many people he wanted to leave alive at the end."

The two settled on the flight deck. Two marines stepped forward; rifles aimed downward. "Sir. If you could come with us."

Eyeball chuckled. "Sure, sure. I suspect your boss wants to talk to me." He turned back to Gabriel. "You want to come along? Probably best leave those swords here."

The golden, glowing angel jabbed the two swords into the metal frame; one of the marines started to comment... then shook his head. "He's in the infirmary. This way."

***

Thomes looked... young. Healthy. Alive. And... exceedingly angry. Blood had dried onto his flesh, and the faint trace of metal could be seen beneath the skin of his left arm as he lay on the bed in the infirmary. A single medic was checking over the wound on his shoulder, and the marine backed up against the wall as Eyeball and Gabriel entered.

Thomes shook his head. "You bastard. Do you have any idea how much that hurt? They've got me on goddamned morphine right now and it still feels like hell."

Eyeball shrugged. "Sorry. Plan A was non-viable, so I switched to plan B, and thankfully never had to resort to plan C. Plan D would've been an absolute bitch."

"...Still. The railguns wouldn't have worked?"

"No. They'd have dug in most of the way to the core... but then it would have sealed up, and he'd start diving. The cycle rate on these big guns was just too slow. The front of that monster was over a hundred meters thick. I think you'd need to pick just the right spot to hit, even with a nuke. Honestly, couldn't have won the direct way unless he just floated in midair and let us shoot him for a while."

Thomes lay back... the anger seeming to drain out of him. "... If I'd died, here, the next in line wouldn't have been clear. Might have had a civil war as the country died. Can we kill it now?"

Eyeball grimaced. "... We could. But its crippled. It'll take them hours to even start steering and avoid crashing into Antarctica. Days to get back to Africa. They can work the guns and missiles well enough to kill us, but if we don't start shooting, they'll just worry about getting home. And, well. I think them having that thing would be a good counter-balance against the militaries of us, you, and China... once they have it running without Thompson."

"... So. I take it your boss told you to end the Emperor by whatever means were necessary?"

Eyeball glanced at Gabriel. At the marines in the room. And sighed. Might as well rip the band-aid off now. "Apparently word got to her that I can see the future; its been spreading about enough that it isn't really a secret anymore. Aside from a few seconds of guidance, I have this... instinct... about what the best way forward is. She asked me to follow that, and try to get La Famiglia into the best position going forward. If the family, and the world, since that little island kinda needs a civilization out there to be worth anything, would be better off with you, save you. If it would be better off with Thompson, to kill you."

The president shrugged; and gave a low hiss of pain, squeezing his shoulder. "You could have lied there, you know. Tell me that you were gonna back me no matter what, as a loyal soldier. I appreciate the honesty, granted."

"When I walked into his throne-room and the Emperor casually talked about how his ideal ending to this was a handful of enclaves, maybe three hundred million people left alive, all those who'd sworn loyalty to him, and letting the rest of the world burn? I mean, this red-scale stuff is gonna kick our ass, and the angry zombies might be a problem. But... There's still billions of people out there. If we don't fuck around, we can save most of them. Maybe I'm not a super-hero, but the thing about us rogues and mercenaries is that we kinda need a civilization for there to even be a point. Maybe we'll be enemies next year. Maybe we'll be friends. But I'm never gonna want the country gone, you know?"

The man seemed to think about his words. "Well. Today, you saved me, and the fleet. And likely the future of the United States. I owe you. The country owes you. Again. Are you aiming to collect like you did after Ascension?"

Eyeball chuckled. "For the most part, no. We'll need to work together to get through this... Granted... I could use a ride back to the coast. My bird got shot down by the Jotun; though I heard Engineer managed to bail, and should be coming this way."

***

When he stepped back out onto the deck with Gabriel, the two came to a halt. A brilliantly glowing white orb had settled onto the carrier... and a door opened on the side, settling down into a ramp. At the top... a woman. Hera, once more. Her arms crossed, glaring down at him.

"Well. It seems it's time for your trial. Come along."

Eyeball blinked. "Ahh. For Apollo?"

The woman shrugged. "Among other things. We're either going to be killing you, torturing you for eternity, or offering you a place among us. I can force you to come along, or you can come quietly."

He studied her. If he shot her, he could hit. He'd need to distract her, first. She was faster than him. Stronger. Insanely durable. Not a genuine speedster, but even if he popped reflex, she could keep up, so might as well be. Was this what thousands of years eating Ambrosia did to you, or was she a metahuman before that? He would win, if they fought. In seconds, even; the tenner.. Titanslayer the gun, apparently... would wound her, and badly, with each shot. He could play out the eight-second-long fight in his head.

One grenade to momentarily blind her. She'd dodge, expecting to be shot while blind, and advance, likely planning to dispatch him with a single blow. Two shots in the achilles tendons to slow her down. Three... Three! In the head, to kill her; she would actually dodge so quickly that, no matter where he fired it, the first round couldn't reach her eyes and pass through into the brain; she'd need to be stunned first. Good lord, she was tough.

Hera glared at him. "Yes, yes, you could do it. You would not long live to regret it, however. For all your martial prowess, all the tools at your disposal, if you were to harm me, you would have all of Olympus called down on you."

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Eyeball chuckled. "I couldn't seriously do it, to be honest. I've met Odin, and Zeus, and Hephaestus now. Would you believe Hephaestus is the one I would actually stand no chance against?"

"...Not Odin? Admittedly, my husband is a powerful man, but I'd always thought Odin was the most dangerous of us."

"I'd likely die in the process, but I could take him, as it stands now. Hephaestus, though? That armor of his is scary. And whatever weapon he'd use if I attacked him... no dodging, no planning, no avoiding. Just death." He didn't mention the how, of course. For Odin, he would need to drop one interdimensional space into another; shoving the cylinder of his 40mm revolver into his artificial hand; and if he picked the right spot, he would go to the void... along with half of Odin. Then, most likely, he would starve to death in the endless void between dimensions.

That... wouldn't work on Hephaestus for some reason.

She studied him for a moment. "So. I take it you're coming willingly?"

"Will you drop me off at La Famiglia after?"

"Only if you are offered the role, and decline. The other options are, well. You stay with us for good, or you wish you'd never been born."

His instincts strongly suggested going with her. So... hopefully an easy trial? "Sure. I'm in."

***

From above, Olympus didn't look like much. In fact, it looked like a burnt-out old stone fort overlooking a devastated wasteland; Greece had been hit by one of the nukes only days before, and smoke was still rising from the ruins. As it approached, however, the vision changed. Massive, ornate buildings of white stone and gold, impressive, beautiful; pillars of marble, parks, people in a wide variety of clothing walking... and at its top, a circular structure.

Eyeball looked out over the viewscreen.. which completely surrounded the inside of the white orb; and glanced at Hera. "Holographic projection?"

"To an extent. A powerful shielding device. The illusion effect is secondary. We.... tried to get the nuke inside before it went off. If we had, it would've only burned Olympus, rather than Greece herself." She looked down at the ruins, as the orb settled down. "Just not enough time. It went off in the air, as soon as it detected itself veering off course."

He nodded. "...I'm surprised you're bothering with this now. I thought you were helping recovery?"

"Its the law. With one exception, if someone assaults or kills an Olympian, the trial must be held as soon as practically possible. We didn't want to let one of us attack another, and then delay the trial for aeons to avoid punishment... or to delay a trial of some mortal until they had already died of old age."

As the hatch slowly slid up, Eyeball chuckled. "I get that. What's the exception? Self-defense?"

"If that were the case, you wouldn't be here." Hera began walking out onto the clean white stone, heading up the hill. "The exception is Zeus."

Eyeball walked along behind her, admiring the buildings; mostly of an ancient style, but there were clear elements of modern construction here; including electrical lighting. Or magical. "So Zeus can attack and kill without penalty?"

Hera started laughing, and almost fell over, putting a hand on Eyeball's shoulder to support herself. "Oh, no. My husband offended so many men and women over the centuries with his ridiculous escapades that we carved in an exception for his victims. If you slap me, you get a trial. If you slap Zeus, we assume Zeus deserved it, and move on." She sighed. "I'm in charge of the trials. So whenever I'd show up at the home of some man whose wife had slept with Zeus, and he'd tried to kill him with a pitchfork when he caught them in bed, to haul him off to trial... well. Lets just say that the myths don't treat me well, even if these people generally returned home after."

The building up ahead was... enormous. Open to the air; and had a ring of various forms of chair; mostly large, comfortable; a few of them ostentatious. The figures seated in them were... remarkable. Odin, he'd met; and gave him a nod as he glanced his way. The most surprising figure was the dark, furry form of what was almost definitely Anubis, who was deep in conversation with, probably, Set, beside him. While Anubis wore a modern suit, Set wore ancient white robes that left her long legs mostly exposed.

In any other setting, he'd simply assume they were a pair of meta-humans with dog-like and cat-like features. But here... he chuckled, as Hera guided him to a smooth white stone platform in the middle of the circle. "Weapons, please." She extended her hands.

Eyeball frowned, looking around. Yeah. If he aimed his weapon at anyone, three of the gods would be on him before he pulled the trigger. He gently removed each from the holster, and extended the 40mm and the tenner both to Hera; who snapped her fingers; the tenner vanished, while a loud, angry buzz filled the air and the revolver remained in her hand.

Hera blinked. "Oh. Extradimensional space, like Odin and Hephaestus? You've progressed so far..." She looked the revolver over closely for a moment; as a loud cough sounded out from a pillar behind her. She turned to look at it; leaving... the silver, ornate dagger laying atop it visible. "His hand is also a dimensional storage space. Disarming him is pointless unless you take the hand."

She chuckled, and turned, walking around the pillar; setting the weapon beside her own chair, an ornate, feathered chair beside Zeus's own marble and gold throne. "As it was Apollo who was slain, Zeus will be allowed to conduct the trial. Husband?"

The massive, bulky figure rose from his throne, and stepped up to the white pillar, and the silver dagger. "This trial is, for the most part, a formality. I doubt the votes will be in question, and we all want to get back to our work helping the world recover from Ragnarok. Dagger of Apollo, you lay within a circle of truth. Do you contain the soul of my brother Olympian, Apollo?"

"Yes, yes. We all know this. I foresaw my death, made this dagger as a hopeful backup. If Hephaestus can figure out a way to get me a new body, I'd certainly prefer that."

"This man here, Jason Bennet, also known as Eyeball, slew my brother. Apollo. What were the circumstances of your death?"

For a moment, the dagger was silent. "I woke up in an escape pod in the jungle, alone with Eyeball. He was unconscious. I took one of his guns, and tried to figure out how to get his other gun out of the holster, but it was locked on with some sort of gadget. When he started to wake up, I aimed the gun at him. I asked him some questions... and then he killed me, with a gun built into his artificial hand."

Zeus nodded, leaning against the pillar, casually. "And you had a gun pointed at his face at the time?"

"Yes."

Zeus looked around at the gathered gods, all of whom were listening with interest. "Had he ever tried to kill you before? Such as when he had the opportunity earlier, when you were unconscious on Prometheus station at his arrival, and when it was descending to the ground, leaving the two of you alone together until impact knocked him out?"

"He didn't have much of a chance to; but he could, in theory, have killed me while I was knocked out. Or even put one of those... pale one... controllers in me while I slept. He didn't have much time, though, and in many of my predicted futures, the two of us came into conflict, often ending with my death."

"Still. In the actual events that occurred, he had a chance to kill you, did not, and when he woke up you had a gun to his head." Zeus smiled, looking around at the assembled gods. "While we can ask the mortal for his side of the story, I feel that, as we have the victim's own words, the result is clear enough. Even if he had animosity against Apollo, he let his desire to fight the Jotun take precedence; until Apollo threatened his life. I move to declare mister Bennet innocent; his actions were in his own defense; by unanimous decree. Does anyone disagree?"

The gathering was silent. After a moment, a figure wearing a long, multicolored robe rose to his feet. It looked... strange. When the robe lifted away, he could see that the handsome-faced human had... an extra pair of arms, at the waist. Six limbs wasn't unusual. He'd met a few with extra limbs at La Famiglia; most often tails or wings. But... this didn't look like Shiva, or any other multi-limbed god he'd heard of. "As much as I'd like to throw things into question with some last-minute interference, I agree. Like Zeus said. We all want to get.. g..." He frowned.

"We are all going to get back to saving the mortals, regardless of what we actually want to do." He sighed, and sat back down. The rest of the gods nodded, or simply mumbled their assent.

Zeus turned to Hera, gave a short bow, and took his seat. Hera rose back up from her own chair, and stood before Eyeball. "Jason Bennet. You are judged innocent, and are now free to go. However. In the event this occurred, two gods have put forth a sponsorship; to place you among the Olympians."

She glanced around the circle as a variety of angry murmurs began. A few even began to rise from their chairs; but Hera raised her hand. "Once Apollo has a new body, it will not have the same foresight as his old one did. Duplicating it is believed to be... implausible. As impossible as our attempts to copy the powers of Cronos, or Titan. Having someone with such foresight could be of vital importance in the future."

Eyeball raised a hand. "Ma'am." He reached up; and removed his helmet, taking a deep breath. "May I speak?"

Hera nodded, and backed away; but did not take her seat. "My foresight... doesn't work how Apollo's does. Did. I don't get vague imagery of next week, next year, next century. I get very precise images of the next few seconds, and just... subconscious instinct, telling me the best choices to make from there. I would not be as valuable to you as Apollo was. Perhaps if I have kids, they'll get something more impressive. But... considering if I joined you, I wouldn't be allowed to fight beside my friends... I don't think its a good idea. For you, or for me."

"So be it. The sponsorship is declined. I will return you to your home... and we can all get back to our work."