"Rebuild Olympus?" To be honest, Clark was stunned. Why would Ares suddenly want to rebuild Olympus on Earth? But then Clark remembered—Ares had mentioned that Olympus had once been destroyed. So maybe this decision wasn't all that surprising.
"Yes," Ares said. "I plan to build a new Mount Olympus. I believe there are still many people like me—those who didn't die during Olympus's fall, but are scattered and struggling to survive elsewhere. So I want to rebuild Olympus—'Limpis'—as a way to call them home."
Earlier, while Clark was fighting the Hulk, Ares had stared at the ground beneath them and remembered the time when the Olympian gods walked among mortals. He thought—even though Olympus was destroyed, that didn't mean he couldn't build a new one.
So, Ares planned to create a new sanctuary for the Olympians scattered across the universe. He knew that one day, more Olympians would return to Earth, and if he had a new Olympus ready by then, he could reunite their lost kin.
"I support you," Clark said. "But where exactly do you plan to build the new Olympus?"
"I want to go to the Aegean Sea, in Greece. That's where our original stronghold was." Ares didn't hesitate—he clearly had a plan in mind.
"When are you planning to start?"
"Now!" Ares looked up at the sun and answered with certainty.
"Now?!" Clark was surprised at how eager Ares was.
"Well, we have to do it eventually, so why not now?" Ares said while waving his hand and walking in the opposite direction of Clark's home.
"How do you plan to get there—on foot?" Clark called out after him, curious. From what Clark had seen over the past few days, Ares didn't seem capable of flight.
Just as Clark said that, Ares paused mid-step. Right. How was he planning to get there?
Clark sighed. He could tell Ares clearly hadn't thought that far ahead. "Never mind. I'll get someone to take you."
And who better than S.H.I.E.L.D.? Asking anyone else would involve favors, but with S.H.I.E.L.D., he'd be giving them valuable intel. After all, if a literal god wanted to rebuild his divine kingdom on Earth, S.H.I.E.L.D. would definitely want to keep tabs on that.
Clark figured, despite how busy they were, transporting Ares shouldn't be a problem for them.
But when Clark called Coulson, he could hear the surprise in Coulson's voice over the phone. He had just gotten over the shock of Thor's situation, and now Clark was throwing another bombshell at him: a Greek god wanting to rebuild Olympus on Earth.
This news genuinely startled Coulson. While he wasn't entirely sure how powerful the gods of Greek mythology were, if they were anything like Thor and the Asgardians, their power levels would be comparable.
So for such a powerful civilization to have been destroyed—just like that—was mind-boggling. Coulson couldn't help but wonder: If the people who destroyed Olympus turned their eyes toward Earth... then what hope would Earth have?
That thought alone was enough for S.H.I.E.L.D. to immediately call an emergency meeting after the phone call ended.
But none of that had anything to do with Clark. After hanging up with Coulson, he returned home with Ares and Banner.
"So Banner, where do you plan on going next?" Clark asked once they were back at his villa.
"I don't know," Banner said, pouring himself a double glass of water. After the Battle of New York, all of the Avengers had become heroes—including the Hulk.
So Banner felt maybe people were no longer afraid of the Hulk, and he hoped to return to city life. But to do that, he first had to control the Hulk within. At the very least, he couldn't let anger cause sudden transformations.
"If I could control the Hulk," Banner continued, "I'd probably go to Tony's. His mouth is sharp, but he's decent. Plus, he has all the research facilities I'd ever need."
"If not," he added after a pause, "I guess I'll just go back to Calcutta. The people there are simpler, kinder." With that, he downed the rest of his water.
"For now, why don't you just stay here? I've got plenty of rooms." Clark offered.
"Won't that be a bother?" Banner asked, glancing at Diana.
"…No." Clark twitched slightly at Banner's assumption. His relationship with Diana wasn't quite what Banner seemed to think it was—though Clark did wish it were.
Clark then sneaked a glance at Diana to see if she was interested in staying over…
But Diana seemed to pick up on his thoughts. She looked at him with a half-smile, half-smirk, causing Clark to quickly look away in embarrassment.
Ten minutes later, while the group was chatting, a Quinjet landed in the parking lot outside Clark's home. Clark didn't get many visitors, and he only had one car, so the lot was wide open—plenty of room for a Quinjet to land.
Watching it descend, Clark gestured toward Ares. "Your ride's here. Let's go."
"Coulson's assistant?" As the Quinjet landed, Clark saw Coulson step out, accompanied by an Asian woman.
"Melinda May," Coulson introduced. "One of my team members. Director Fury's tasked me with building a new Rapid Response Tactical Command Unit, and I've been recruiting. But once I got your intel, I dropped everything and came here."
"Honestly," he added with a shrug, "this might end up being our team's first real mission. I haven't even found everyone yet." Coulson then introduced Clark to the woman beside him before offering something unexpected:
"Clark, would you be interested in joining my unit?"
"Nah," Clark said with a shake of his head. "I'm not interested in working under you—or S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Yeah, I figured," Coulson said, unfazed. He hadn't expected a yes anyway—the offer was worth a shot, nothing more.
Then he turned his attention to Ares. The Greek god was still dressed in full warrior attire, making it easy for Coulson to guess who he was.
Coulson stepped forward and extended his hand. "Phil Coulson, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. My team and I will be escorting you to the Aegean Sea in Greece."
Ares looked at Coulson's outstretched hand. He had been to Earth before—he knew this was a customary Earth greeting. So he extended his own hand and shook.
"Ares," he said, "of Mount Olympus. Si."
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