Demigod

Julio Orlando stood naked in front of the mirror. The young man admired his body. Six feet nine tall, with dark brown skin and weighing two hundred and sixty pounds. This African-American stud did construction downtown in his parents construction company. It's what he always dreamed of doing. It was his favorite thing in the world. Julio had always been the Gentle Giant, according to just about everyone who knew him. Quite possibly one of the strongest men alive and yet the nicest person in the world.

What people didn't know about Julio is that he was no ordinary youth. No, he was something else entirely. Julio was the half-breed son of Erebus, a dark and frighteningly powerful entity once worshiped as a God in ancient Greece. Erebus was one of the ancient Gods who walked the earth in the Age of the Titans. The Titans were gigantic immortals who ruled the world before Zeus and the Olympian Gods came along. Zeus, the God of thunder defeated the Titans with the help of his brothers Hades, God of the Underworld and Poseidon, Lord of the Oceans. Also helping him in his quest for power were the Goddesses Hera, Demeter and Amphitrite.

The Gods won and built themselves a magnificent citadel atop Mount Olympus. From there, they ruled over the universe. What followed were the great ages of mankind. The time of Hercules, the Hero who destroyed the monsters, fought for the ordinary man and even faced petty Gods and beat them at their own game. It was also the age of Heroes such as Theseus, who destroyed the Minotaur and Jason, the man who led many young Heroes on the Quest for the Golden Fleece in a classic tale known as the Journey of the Argonauts. Later Heroes were Achilles, the invulnerable warrior who fought valiantly for Greece during the Trojan War and was slain by the treacherous Trojan prince Paris's fatal arrow.

The Age of the Gods came and went. History pursued its course and modern times came about. The Olympian Gods and their immortal retinue left the world of modern man and went into a mysterious other realm beyond mortal perception. Erebus was forced to leave the planet Earth along with the other divinities. But he was none too pleased about it. Erebus vowed to return to earth. He did, and even tried to take over in the absence of the other Gods. Zeus caught him and trapped him inside the Underworld. Not even a dark God as powerful and malevolent as Erebus could escape from the Underworld.

Other Gods and Goddesses wisely kept away from Earth. Still, from time to time, they violated Zeus orders and visited the mortal realm. Sometimes, deities such as Ares, God of War and Apollo, God of the Sun had relations with mortal women. Sometimes, those relations resulted in offspring. The offspring of a deity and a mortal was a half-breed creature called a demigod.

Demigods were mortal men and women but they often had amazing powers. The most famous of all demigods was Hercules, the strongest man that ever lived.

Even in the twenty first century, demigods walk the earth. Some of them were good, others evil. One of the most wicked demigods was Lily Gold. Lily Gold was the daughter of Hecate, the Goddess of Vengeance and billionaire playboy Henry Gold. Lily Gold was abandoned by her mother shortly after the birth but this divine offspring grew to be a woman of exceptional power and beauty.

At eighteen, she stood six feet two inches tall, alabaster-skinned and red-haired, with sparkling gray eyes. Another gift of hers was her fabulous IQ. On top of that, she had impressive powers. Lily could move objects with her mind, an ability called telekinesis. It was quite easy for her to life a car simply by looking at it and willing it to move with her thoughts. At the age of twenty three, Lily Gold had a Harvard MBA and was the CEO of Gold Enterprises, her father's pharmaceutical company. This prodigy ran it with an iron fist.

Lily Gold was famous for being ruthless and a well-known man-hater. She had gathered other women of power around her. Among them were U.S. Senator Amanda Hails, Supreme Court Justice Monica Smith and former Governor Julianne Brown. They formed a secret organization known as the

Sisterhood of Power. They wanted to topple men from power and achieve world domination. They were wealthy, powerful and completely ruthless. Any man or woman unfortunate to cross their paths would die a horrible death or be publicly defrauded.

Lily had wandered the world looking for others like herself. She encountered a young woman named Katherine O'Shea. Katherine O'Shea, a six-foot-three,

black-skinned, white-haired WNBA Superstar was a popular female athlete. She was also the daughter of Anansi, the Spider-God of the Ashanti People of Africa. Katherine's demigod abilities manifested themselves as inhuman agility and strength. She could lift close to 4000 pounds and run a distance of 60 miles in one hour. On top of that, she healed rapidly from just about any injury.

Lily Gold asked Katherine O'Shea to join the Sisterhood since they were kindred. Katherine agreed initially, but declined when she saw how much Gold's friends hated men, and the rest of humanity in general. They reminded her of the Nazis of Germany. When she tried to leave, Lily tried to restrain her using her powers but an angry Katherine flung the telekinetic woman across the room. Although Lily survived the encounter, she was forever marred by a limp. For this reason, she carried a cane. Katherine left the Sisterhood, and made herself an enemy of Lily Gold's.

Katherine went looking for other super-humans like herself. In Detroit, she met a young man named Kyle Garrett. Kyle Garrett was a tall, light-skinned young African-American college athlete who had been breaking state records in Track and field since his youth. It turns out that he was a demigod sired upon a mortal woman of African descent by Hermes, the immortal Messenger of the Gods during one of his routine visits on earth. Kyle had inherited some of his father's supernatural powers. He could run at amazing speeds. Shortly after their initial meeting, during a trial run, Katherine determined that the young speedster could run at close to 1600 miles per hour.

Kyle had a twin sister named Karen who also had special abilities. Her powers were vastly different from her brother's, though. Karen had the ability to become invisible, and she could also walk through walls. The twins were very different in psychological makeup. Kyle was a prankster, but Karen was a kleptomaniac who lusted after quick cash, jewelry and sumptuous clothing. This self-styled Super Thief was constantly on the road as she stole from banks and private companies to fund her extravagant lifestyle.

Karen's heists were impressive, but got her in trouble with a fellow demigod named Alan Wilburn.

Alan Wilburn is a tall, good-looking young man who works as a police officer in Detroit. A third-generation cop, he was the son of Thor, the Scandinavian god of thunder. Gods from mythologies other than Greek constantly visited the planet earth while disguised as ordinary men and women.

Alan was a demigod. His special abilities manifested themselves as amazing strength ( he could lift up to 5000 pounds) and near-invulnerability. He had been shot many times and even burned while at work but showed no visible scars or injuries the next day.

Alan Wilburn was strongly dedicated to law and order. His mother, Jennifer Wilburn was once an officer, and so was his grandfather Larry Wilburn. His fiancée, police officer Jane Hilltop was fully aware of his supernatural talents and supportive of the man she loved. Alan Wilburn was on patrol the night Karen Garrett stole three million dollars from the bank. He tracked her down, using his innate ability to detect hidden things and track them down on all terrains. Terrified of being caught, Karen hid at her brother's dorm, and waited.

Officer Wilburn and several members of the Detroit police department came calling. This prompted the first meeting between Alan Wilburn and Katherine O'Shea. Later, the two of them would become fast friends. When they met,

they were on opposite sides of the law. Karen Garrett took advantage of the situation to slip away, and this time, Alan Wilburn didn't catch her. Katherine and the others immediately sensed that they were all bound by a common link.

This was officer Alan Wilburn's first encounter with others like himself and an encounter he would never forget.

The young demigods, both male and female, continued to lead their lives.

Some, like officer Alan Wilburn, aspired to be the protectors of ordinary men and women in an increasingly dangerous world. Others, like Lily Gold believed themselves to be better than all of humanity and craved power and wealth. There were those like Kyle Garrett and Katherine O'Shea who exploited their supernatural gifts to become idols in the eyes of the world.

Others took the criminal route like Karen Garrett. Even rarer still were others with undiscovered talents, such as Julio Orlando. As these super beings continue their journey in this world, only time will tell if they will help humanity...or destroy it.