Divine Interference: The Olympics

This is the last caption I am uploading manually until moving is completed. Hopefully the automatic uploader works as intended.

TEXT

Loki wandered around the Olympics, bored out of his mind. Like most of the gods, he now lived among mortals and only used his powers every now and then. That was the agreement so that all out armageddon wouldn't happen among the differing realms of all the various gods that Humanity had dreamed up. Loki sipped on his soft drink as he made his way through the crowds, heading into the stadium where the foot races were going to take place. His current body ached with age as he trundled up the stairs into the stadium, and he bemoaned the rules that kept him from just healing his current body back into perfect youth.

The Norse god of mischief chuckled to himself as he found a good seat. The gods themselves were creations of the humans...But the humans would never realize it. And eventually as the human race swelled in population as it advanced, more and more gods came into existence and soon the ephemeral plane was packed with gods for every little thing the humans found sacred. Celestial property was at a premium and there was very little wiggle room for even the eldest of the gods, and tempers had been flaring rather significantly. But war among the gods would destroy humanity and in the end, destroy the gods themselves, so a compromise had been made. The gods would give up their all pantheons and kingdoms and live as mortals, among the mortals and only use their powers sparingly and not interfere with each other or their 'subjects'. Loki himself had lived dozens of lives as all different kinds of people all across the globe. Male, female, young, old, it didn't really matter to a immortal being. And it had been a couple of decades since he'd caused some good old fashioned chaos. Mainly it was the fault of the 'modern' religions and their gods taking up all of humanity's faith and attention, but there was still enough of a population out there that could be useful, especially with the Internet and the very strange sense of humor humans had now. Said sense of humor was strange to most of theo ther gods, but ones that were like Loki, and he himself, loved it all.

So why not spark a little trouble in one of the events that those utterly stuck-up, pretentious Greek gods held sacred? That's why Loki had spent this mortal body's entire life savings to come here to Athens, the very heart of the Greek world, where the Olympics were being held. And now the god of mischief just had to wait until he found a good target. It had to be someone prominent and central to the events, and it had to be, well, interesting and most importantly, asked for. He could take no action if he wasn't beseeched first. Another rule, of course, but one that had the most room for creative opportunities. Loki sat there in the huge mass of humans and let his consciousness stretch out as he felt the minds and desires of the humans around him. Most, of course, were Greek and off limits and most of the others were focused on petty, trivial material concerns. Wait. There! Loki sensed the small prayer as if it were a signal flare, and he focused in on it, his mind's eye swimming through the crowds, lower and lower until he was on the track of the stadium itself! And there, stretching her muscles, was his instrument.

Annika was very, very nervous. She was to represent Norway in women's track running for the Olympics! It was a massive honor and she had trained so hard to become the top (for women, anyway) track athlete her snowy country had! But despite the praise and glory she already had just by being here, she couldn't shake her nerves at the possibility that she might fail and not only miss getting a gold medal, but any medal! That would be the worst shame of all, and Annikia honestly didn't know if she could live with that. She sat on the sidelines of the track, watching the stadium fill up with thousands upon thousands of people that she was going to race in front of, and she couldn't take the pressure anymore. If she failed she'd be forgotten, a nobody. She HAD to win, not just for the glory, but for her future. She bent her head and clasped her hands together, and muttered a prayer that no one could have possibly heard underneath all the noise.

"If anyone is out there, please, please PLEASE help win the the gold! I want to be the biggest star of the Olympics! I wan-" Annika's haphazard prayer was interrupted as she heard a sinister giggle next to her, but when she turned to look, there was no one there! And then the world began to get...Smaller.

"Anything for a champion of Odin..." The voice said as Annika quickly out-grew the small chair she had been sitting on.

Annika's body BURNED! It was as if she'd been working out at the gym for far too long, and she let out a loud cry as her bones began to creak loudly as they were...as they were growing! Annika's cries of pain grew louder and louder as the horde of people and athletes around her all stopped to stare as the once 5'9 female was quickly passing ten feet! A medic and her manager ran to her side, but a flailing, swelling slab of muscle that was Annika's arm effortlessly batted the two away as she continued to grow, and grow, and GROW. Loki sat back in his seat and chuckled at the chaos unfolding around him. All the mortals were pulling out theri phones, taking videos and pictures as the poor athlete passed twenty-five feet, her voice stating to become the dominant sound as her cries of pain began to echo off of the stadium walls. He munched on the delightful mortal confectionary known as popcorn, reveling in it all. He'd have to make his escape soon because this would clearly draw the ire of the Olympian gods, much less the others, but for now he couldn't help but watch as his victim's body continued to stretch beyond any mortal means.

"PLEASE HELP ME!" Annika's voice boomed as she writhed on the stadium floor. Her enormous legs, now more like American sequoia trees, kicked and battered at the stands around her, luckily cleared of most individuals who would have been crushed by her wild, unpredictable movements. Her arms were like great birdge cables as they smacked against the earth beneath her, and Annika's finers dug up the track like great, pink plows. Her hair was like thick leather whips, lashing at the fleeing stadium staff as they retreated from the giant woman. And finally, when Annika felt as if she couldn't take it anymore, the pain ended. Her body was covered in great liquid boulders of sweat that thundered to the ruined floor of the stadium, and heat radiated off her body. She struggled to her knees, her mind still fogged by pain, before rising to her feet. She TOWERED over the rest of the stadium, of which was still filled with now very tiny people that were either fleeing from her, or staring up in awe and wonder, phones still snapping pictures and videos of the truly enormously tall woman that was now dominating the Olympics.

Annika gulped and simple stood as still as the colossus of Rhodes, wondering what was going to happen next, and in the back of her mind, realized that regardless of what happened next, she was now indeed the biggest star at the Olympics.