No matter how powerful an individual is, a well planned trap can always defeat him or her. Score one for dishonor.
-Tarandis
"Come on, Conquest, hurry up with the explosives." The speaker was a man in ancient Grecian armor, his eyes cold and hard. His right hand held a sword dripping with blood, while his left held a SMG. He stood watchfully, his eyes roving around constantly seeking possible danger.
"Just a little while longer, Chaos." The black man clad in standard jungle fatigues answered back, his hands deftly working on several bundles of dynamite sticks. "What do you think are our chances of getting to the extraction zone?"
"Not good." A slightly rotund man butted in, nervously cradling the rifle in his hands. "I knew this was a mistake. A fool's errand. Is this artifact for our master worth our lives? I shouldn't have come here, dammit!" He was on the verge of hysterics.
"Shut up Gecko, you sniveling idiot," A tall blond man in a black uniform emblazoned with swastikas sneered. "You volunteered, remember?" He whipped his sword up at the Earl of Greed. "I am more than tempted to shoot you here before you bungle matters further."
"Forget it, Blitzkrieg." A thin man in a jacket muttered, just loud enough for the other four men to hear. "We need every hand out there if we are to pull this off." He was surrounded by swirls of light, a miasma of shifting images forming and dissipating just as quickly in a curtain of light around his body.
"Remember the plan." Chaos said. "No matter what, we must get the artifact," he tapped the pouch on his belt, "through to our master. But I do not wish for any heroes later. Heroes are needed only when somebody fouls up."
The black man grinned. "You quoted that one wrongly. I'm not gonna correct you here." He handed over the explosives to the Earl of Greed. His expression grew grim. "One more thing," he looked at the thin man. "Edwin, can you do me a favor?"
Surrounded by his holographic images, the Duke of Deception shrugged. "Depends on what that is, Lord Conquest."
"If I don't make it…" the black man recovered his composure, "Please take care of my family for me."
The Duke shook his head, "And how would a media mogul like me ever get to know a career military staff grade officer like you? I'm sorry, but that is impossible."
Baron Blitzkrieg snorted, "Don't waste your time on inferior people, my Duke."
Lord Conquest walked up to Blitzkrieg, his face a mask of anger. "Who's inferior, you loser Nazi wannabe?"
"Why you slave chattel…"
"Enough." Chaos' voice was like a chill breeze. "We will have time to tear one another to pieces later. For now, I only want each of you to remember only one thing. And that is the objective."
The Marshal of Chaos walked towards the cave exit. "Move out."
Ares watched in satisfaction as he fingered the glowing crystal in his hands, while his minions stood gasping for breath on the cold hard floor of his personal palace.
The Marshal of Chaos had used a fireman carry to get Lord Conquest through the portal, while Baron Blitzkrieg had covered them with the last of his ammunition. All five men were wounded badly, but they had come through, and in more ways than one.
The Marshal was the first to rise, settling into a subservient kneeling position in front of Ares, his bloody blade stabbing into the ground in front of him, determination shining from his face. The others followed suit behind him, dropping to their knees in front of their master and lord. The blood from the sword pooled around the tip of the blade.
"Excellent." Ares hissed. "With the Crystal of Calai, I shall soon be able to challenge even Lord Zeus for the throne of Olympus." He nodded once. "I shall grant all of you one boon. Name it."
"The chance to kill your enemies, my Lord," the Marshal answered loyally.
"Very well then. Your next target shall be one of my most hated foes."
"Are your preparations ready?" Ares asked the Marshal of Chaos.
The tall cloaked warrior bowed slightly. "Yes. All my forces are in place. We now await only your order to spring the trap." Ares smiled warily at the news. He still had not decided whether he liked the new garb of his general.
The Marshal of Chaos was clad atypically for a Greek general, wearing a set of flowing black robes without any armor. He had abandoned his armor after the mission to collect the Crystal of Calai, claiming that they were more a hindrance than help to him.
After watching the Marshal handily dispose of Baron Blitzkrieg in under ten seconds in a sparring match, the God of War had realized that the Marshal was right. Armor would simply hinder his fast and deadly fighting style. What need for armor, when an opponent could not even touch you?
Even a few weeks after he had obtained control of Andrew Skye, Ares was still uncovering the secrets of the mysterious warrior he had managed to control. It was already well known that Skye was an excellent shot, but his ability with a sword, or any other weapon, for that matter, was astounding. The blade was almost a living thing in the Marshal's hands, flying past the defenses of his opponents and knocking away their weapons, as in the case of the Baron, or eviscerating them, as in the case of the Myrmidons.
Ares had never seen the style or technique before, even after millennia of existence, and the flow of the blade in the Marshal's hands as he fought seemed to suggest a potent form of swordsmanship never seen before. He considered the loss of several Myrmidons a minor price to pay for discovering this ability of the Marshal.
Ares knew there could be even more secrets buried somewhere inside Skye's mind, but he was already immensely satisfied by what he now had. More than enough to crush the meddlesome Amazon, he thought. With just a bit of his own power gifted to the Marshal, he was sure the Marshal would be able to defeat almost any mortal opponent.
The plans he had laid long ago were coming to fruition. The United Nations diplomats had all been turned by the Duke of Deception to his creed of war and conflict, primarily by heightening their fear and suspicion towards one another's countries. Then he had arranged for Lord Conquest, a general at the Pentagon, to order a special forces unit to rescue the diplomats on several reliable 'intelligence reports'.
Then several innocuous incidents in the Middle East and Asia would slowly raise tensions in the area, forcing more peacekeepers into those troubled regions to keep the peace. Then some of those peacekeepers would be killed, and more terrorist incidents in the cities around the world. And then…
The Marshal knew none of this. Ares was a master planner, and only he himself knew the full extent of his plans. None of his top aides knew the whole plan, only chunks here and there. He had placed the Marshal in charge of subduing Wonder Woman, and that was it. He did not want to run the risk of a minion spouting out a critical part of the plan at the wrong moment. Ares had learnt well from his studies of the way the mortals fought, especially those from the United States of America. Lord Conquest, especially, had provided him with plenty of material from their top war colleges. Oh yes, he had been useful, as had every single one of his top minions.
Ares had filled the Marshal's mind with false memories, removing any trace of his former life as a mercenary and an inhabitant of New York City. It had been a delicate task, but Ares was confident that the illusions in the Marshal's mind would suffice. In any case, he would send for the Marshal each day, and then proceed to engineer some more changes.
Ares admitted to himself that he was still wary of his mind control over Skye slipping at a critical moment. If his suspicions about Skye's true identity and possible heritage were right, then it was only a matter of time before he was forced to terminate the Marshal. The ancient legends were not very clear on what might happen, but Ares knew in his guts that a freed and probably angered Skye might not be healthy to his schemes. But until that happened, he would try to extract as much use out of him.
And first of all would be to remove Wonder Woman and her damnable power of truth from the equation. If anything, her natural ability to discern the truth and to transmit it, further channeled and enhanced by the lasso, was just about the most dangerous threat to his plans.
Ares looked at his enthralled Marshal of Chaos. "Very well, you may carry out your plan. Do not fail me."
"Yes, my Lord." Chaos' eyes glowed deep red with the infused power Ares had granted him, and walked away.
The Marshal strode purposefully through a row of crates.
Yes, it was a warehouse. Yes, the idea of setting a trap in such a place was an old cliché. Yes, very few such traps had ever worked.
But then again, few of those supervillains had the backing of a god. With Ares' support, the Marshal had no doubt of his eventual success. And he felt himself more than capable of subduing the Amazon on his own.
Like all good plans, it was simple and to the point. The Marshal had arranged for a drug transaction with the local mob to take place in the warehouse. A tip off to the police would have them scurrying to arrest the gangsters. The gangsters would then be killed in the midst of the deal, and then his men would set up positions around the warehouse with advanced technology weapons courtesy of Intergang. The police would arrive right into a planned ambush.
The police, pinned down and taking heavy fire, would call for metahuman support, which was just about the only way they could get help in time before they were wiped out. Since there was no other superhero presence right now in New York City with the notable exception of Wonder Woman, it was a foregone conclusion that she would rush to the scene to help out.
And then she would be in his clutches. After that, they would depart the scene with only the bodies of the dead mafia and the police to mark their conflict, leaving no live witnesses to the battle.
He nodded to several minions as they scurried around making last minute preparations. The local mafia would be arriving soon, and the Marshal smiled as he thought about his imminent victory. Yes, it was a good day to gain glory in the eyes of his god and master, Ares.
Diana tried hard not to laugh at Artemis as the red haired amazon came out in another dress, a long green sleeveless number that made her look as if she had been poured into it.
"I do not see why I have to wear such apparel for the opening of our new embassy." Artemis grumbled as she looked at herself in a mirror, obviously unsure of how to decide the appropriateness of her clothing.
"Sister, it's the custom in Man's World. I found it strange at first as well, but years living here has made me used to their strange customs." Diana's eyes twinkled as she added, "Besides, getting a dress might help you get a boyfriend."
They were in a fashion boutique for shopping. Diana had to threaten Artemis into buying something more suitable for a reception to be held at the Themyscira embassy tomorrow, since she judged most of Artemis's attire to be really vulgar.
Artemis snorted. "I have no need for a man. In case you have not noticed, you're the one who men lust after, not me."
Sighing heavily, Diana said. "Not that it has helped me get any, hasn't it? I've not really thought about it now. There's already too much to do." The death of her sister Donna Troy still weighed on her mind, and Diana was trying very hard to ignore it.
"Well, for one thing, I'm glad of that, since that means you can actually be more effective. I know changing the world to accept the ways of peace and equality is not easy," Artemis grinned ruefully as she said this, obviously remembering her own tenure as Wonder Woman, which she later admitted was a disaster, "but you are the best of us all, and if even you cannot accomplish your mission…" Artemis trailed off as Diana's expression changed to one of alertness.
Diana listened closely as the panicked policeman informed her over the transmitters in her earring about the battle at a warehouse. They had arrived to bust up a drug transaction, but were caught in a deadly ambush. It looked like the gangsters had access to B-13 level weaponry from Metropolis.
Artemis waited until Diana looked up at her before asking, "What has happened?"
"The police needs my help." Diana said as she started running, out of the shop, with Artemis keeping up easily. "Want to come along?"
Smiling, Artemis replied, "I thought you'll never ask."
The two heroines quickly flew their way to the ambush site, Artemis notching an arrow on her bow as Diana carried her in the air.
Sounds of a fierce battle grew louder as they approached the warehouse. Diana saw the officers pinned down by heavy firepower from all directions. The gangsters seemed to be well armed with advanced weaponry. The scene looked like something from Star Wars. Plasma rifles, laser cannons, the works.
No match for her bracelets though.
Diana dropped Artemis, the other Amazon rolling on the ground and coming up firing at the mobsters with a steady stream of arrows. They seemed surprised at her entry, scrambling back and screaming for more men to help stop Artemis and her unerring accuracy with the bow. More than one thug fell to the ground with an arrow through a shoulder.
Wonder Woman smashed into the warehouse, intent on capturing and disabling as many of the criminals as possible, and also to open up a second front in the battle. Her finely honed Amazon senses and tactical mind had already sized up the situation, and she was confident that the mobsters would be subdued soon.
No, something is wrong! She realized moments later when she saw that a tall man clad totally in black, his face obscured by a helmet, stood at one corner of the warehouse interior, surrounded by dozens of blank eyed uniformed troopers, each trooper holding a gun with an enormous barrel.
Diana couldn't shake off the sensation that she knew the man in black, but she hovered in midair, and said, "Give up now, and spare yourselves."
There was no preamble, no speech in return from the black clad leader. He did not even speak, but there was suddenly a massive pull at her from below her, and Diana gasped in surprise. She looked down to see a magnet shaped device the size of a truck aimed at her. A tractor beam! She guessed.
The men fired their weapons at the same time, and Diana raised her indestructible bracelets to block, since she was unable to maneuver away with the massive pull the tractor beam was exerting on her. She strained her flight power to the utmost to try to fly up into the night sky, but it was no use. She found herself unable to even hover sideways.
To her surprise, the weapons fired at her were not the usual bullets either, but shells stuffed with some sticky glue that exploded just inches away from her bracelets and enveloped her hands, arms, and then her body.
Diana struggled in midair, her power of flight held in check by the tractor beam. She thought of an idea, and reversed her flight power, thinking to smash down into the tractor beam machine below her. She could remove the restraints on her later.
She went down foot first, the machinery below her being destroyed with a satisfying crunch of broken metal.
But they had apparently been prepared for that as well. Another group of troopers fired at her just as she descended onto the machine, and those were ranged electric tasers of some sort which slammed into her painfully, nearly driving her into blackness.
"I cannot fail!" Diana hung onto consciousness, even as the bolts poured into her, her body jerking uselessly against its bonds, her honed and powerful muscles taut and straining to their limits and beyond. "I must break free!" She knew that if she fell unconscious, she would be at the mercy of these enemies. It had indeed been an excellently planned trap.
"NO!" Diana screamed with as much conviction as she could muster, "I MUST RESIST!"
"No, you will not," said the leader coldly as he aimed something at her, and she saw no more.
The Marshal of Chaos gestured towards the defeated Wonder Woman at his feet imperiously, motioning for his minions to take her immediately though the portal to Ares' realm. Two Myrmidons grasped her by her legs and shoulders, while another placed power restraining clamps on her neck and waist to remove her god-given abilities, in case she managed to recover faster than expected. Every precaution must be taken.
He holstered the taser gun he had used to render her unconscious, and tried to suppress the strange feeling which had come over him when he had laid eyes on her for the first time in person.
He did not know why, but he felt as though he knew her before, an itch at the back of his mind…
He shook his head vigorously. There was still the other Amazon to take care of, and the police. This will be fun, he thought as he drew out his pistol. Killing time.
Artemis stumbled away from the scene of battle, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She gripped one shoulder, which was bleeding profusely. She fled down the streets, hoping to escape the enemy chasing her.
Diana had disappeared into the warehouse, and moments later a man in black had stormed out of the warehouse, leading more than a dozen uniformed troopers as they massacred the law enforcement agents.
This is no run-of-the-mill mob unit, Artemis realized. They were waiting for us. And Diana was likely defeated.
Artemis herself had been defeated by the black-clad leader as he had shot her through an arm and broke her bow with some incredible shots. She had shot first with her arrows, but he was blindingly fast, able to duck her arrows as they flew at him. She had the impression he had allowed her the first attack.
She had managed to run away, something which ate at her honor and conscience. But somebody had to stay alive to report the events. The police had all been slaughtered.Goddess, please hear this servant's plea for aid!
Another bullet whizzed past her head. Artemis swallowed hard, and continued running, her well honed Amazon body capable of great endurance even when injured.
As far as she could tell, the ones now chasing her were just the ordinary troopers, not their deadly leader. Still, in her condition, she was no match for them. She would have to survive long enough to get help.
Jake Kabrinski sighed as he glanced at the clock. It was time to close the shop. Jorge was already upstairs studying, and the last customer had left. It was so quiet that he could even hear the occasional rustling of leaves of the trees outside the row of shops.
Not for the first time, he wondered where Andy was. It was unlike the former soldier to go incognito for so long without telling him. Even if it was business.
Jake admitted to himself that he was getting bored with the life of a civilian himself. Sure, there were perks, like earning honest money, not having to fear for one's life every waking moment(and a few sleeping ones), and time to observe normal people.
But standing at over 2.4 meters and weighing in at more than 300 kilograms, Jake knew he was definitely not 'normal'. And neither was he cut out for a normal life.
He heard footsteps, the steps of somebody running. They seemed to be getting nearer, and Jake had prepared to say the usual words of "Sorry, but we're already closed" when a red-haired woman burst through the door.
His senses started screaming of danger almost immediately, and Jake groped below his counter for several emergency tools, while staring at the woman.
She was very good looking, he noticed, with a firm and conditioned physique of an athlete and a warrior. However, he could see she was in pain, and the sleeve of one shoulder was soaked with blood.
"Please, get me a phone." She gasped out through clenched teeth just as several gray uniformed men burst in behind her, their weapons at the ready and pointed at the woman.
Jake didn't know whether to feel angry or glad that they didn't point their guns at him, but he resolved to change that in a hurry. He swept his emergency tools up from behind the counter. Take me for a hapless bystander, will you?!? Fuck you!!!
Artemis looked in frustration at the enemy soldiers. She had been so close…
"Now you die, Amazon, " one of them said as he aimed his weapon at her.
Then his chest exploded in a fountain of blood and gore as he and his three comrades were literally torn apart, their shattered bodies flying back even as the windows of the shop were blasted open in a shower of broken glass. The shop was filled with the sound of repeating thunder, which ended just as abruptly as it had started.
Artemis turned her head around to look at the shop owner. She had been too caught up a while ago to notice, but she now saw that he was a giant of a man.
A giant of a man cradling a smoking general purpose machine gun in each hand, smiling grimly as he looked at her. "Interesting choice of friends you have there, miss."
Jake threw another belt of GPMG ammunition onto the table as he listened to the woman, who called herself Artemis. She claimed to be a superhero, and even had the membership cards to back it up, but Jake could hardly care less. He was back in action, and that was all he needed. An excuse to get out and kill. If it was for a good cause, all the better.
He had removed the bullet from her shoulder, and even had a backup bow and a set of arrows for her to use, over his protests that she was in no shape to fight. Jake had never been one for such primitive weapons, but Andy used them at times when stealth and silence was required.
While sipping at her cup of coffee, which he had brewed for her, Artemis was saying, "Their leader wore a mask, and it looked very Grecian. I also thought I sensed magic from the warehouse." She sighed, "Are you listening to me?"
Jake shrugged. "Sure. Whatever you say, Ma'am."
"I'm beginning to think we should go back to the warehouse. Since the other superheroes are all too busy at the moment, it looks like I have to do it alone."
Jake raised an eyebrow. "And I don't count? What do you think I'm doing right now?" He asked as he tucked a Desert Eagle pistol into a shoulder holster.
Artemis looked shocked. "You're a civilian, I can't ask you to do this."
"You don't need to ask. I'm coming along of my own accord. I was getting bored anyway." Jake grinned.
Artemis looked at him for several moments, as though measuring him, before finishing off the rest of her coffee with a satisfied sigh.
"Fine, I'll take your help." She put the coffee cup onto the table, before adding, "Just one thing. Don't get yourself killed. I need to know how you brew your coffee when we get back."