AN: Chapter 2 is here, hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I have no rights to Spider-Man or John Carter.
Chapter 2
A Princess of Mars
Dejah Thoris was running, running from her father, from her kingdom. She was extremely disappointed with her father. 'How can he even think of doing that to me, to his own daughter?' She pondered as eyes threatened to fill up.
It all began this morning, when she called her father, Tardos Mors, to her laboratory…
A few Hours earlier
She was so excited; she had finally discovered it, a way to make the Ninth-Ray work. Finally, after 10 years of hard work and research, she and her fellow scientist had discovered it. She was going to demonstrate it to her father and his councilmen in a few moments.
She was sure that they were going to win the war against the Zodangans.
The Zodangans had been enemy to Helium for thousands of years. They had been fighting each other for so long. Well no longer, as soon their army will have a legendry advantage, The Ninth-Ray.
She saw her father enter with his several councilmen. Dejah looked over herself to see that she was properly dressed. She was wearing a formal silver dress with some blue bands around her waist. She wore a circlet to signify her royal blood.
"Father" she said as she nodded her respect. "Councilmen, Welcome to Helium's Institute of Science and Technology, if you will follow me, please."
She led these men towards the objects of demonstration.
"Respected Councilmen, this is the machine that you were brought here to see. This is the object that will lead us to victory against the Zodangans." She said as she pointed at the spherical machine.
"What is its purpose?" asked one of the councilmen.
"This is a Ninth-Ray generator" she answered.
There were several cries of outrage.
"What? That's absurd" said one. One of them came forward to inspect it.
"Well, no longer. This machine is designed not only to generate the Ninth-Ray, but also manipulate it" replied Dejah.
"My dear daughter, would you care to demonstrate" asked her father.
"Of course, Father" she replied.
She strode towards the machine and activated it. A few blue sparks were ignited and a blast was heard.
"Huh, you should have tested it first" a councilman mocked.
"But I did. I tested it and it worked" Dejah said, her mouth left agape from the unexplainable failure of the machine. She clearly remembered the machine working from earlier.
"Dejah" Tardos said to his daughter "It is clearly not working and the next time you call upon the council, make sure it is for a good reason. Now, councilmen if you will excuse us, I have something to discuss with my daughter." The Councilmen left muttering about their waste of time.
"What is it, father?" She asked clearly disappointed with her invention.
"The Zodangan Monarch, Sab Than offered a truce between the two cities." Her father acknowledged.
"What! Why would he do that?" she questioned her father.
"That is yet unknown. But we know that it is our only chance at peace" her father said.
"Well, if it is accept it then, why are telling me that?" the princess of helium asked again.
"I wish it were that simple but there is a condition. He asked for your hand in marriage" the King revealed.
Silence reined the hall for several minutes.
"No, no, Father you know I can't. I cannot marry him" Dejah replied, breaking the ice.
"I am afraid, we have no other choice. You must marry him. If not for yourself, at least do it for your people." Her father answered calmly.
"Father he is vile, abhorrent, and ill-mannered. He holds no respect for women. His treats them like some vermin. He thinks combat and violence is the solution to everything. To him, science is waste of his valuable time. Please father, I don't want to marry him." The princess pleaded, as temper rose.
"I am afraid it's our only chance at enduring this war, or else we lose Helium. I think it's the better choice and as princess it is your duty to your people." Tardos said sternly.
"But father…" she tried unsuccessfully to argue.
"No Dejah, You will marry him and that's my final word on the matter" the monarch of Helium said, rather fiercely before striding out of the chamber.
Dejah stood there shocked. Her own father was going to offer her to the enemy just for a so-called treaty. Sab Than won't even think twice before voiding it. 'No I won't let that vile animal ruin my life' thought the Princess.
She went to the study table and scribed something on a piece of parchment.
"Tulia" she called for the maid." Ask the guards to deliver this message to General Sanos." She said, while handing the parchment to the maid.
"Yes, my lady" said the servant.
(-0-)
An hour later
Helium's Central Sanctuary
General Tagan Sanos entered the sanctuary through main gate. He had been summoned by the Princess. However, He could not think of reason as to why had the princess summoned him here. He saw the princess standing in middle of the great hall. What surprised him was that the princess was not wearing her usual robes but standing in the uniform of a Heliumite soldier.
"Welcome General" greeted the princess.
"Princess" Tagan said as he bowed in respect. "May I ask the reason of my summoning?" he asked respectfully.
"Don't be so formal, Tag. We've been friends since I was five" Dejah said to her longtime friend.
"Then tell me why did you asked for me?" her friend asked.
"I need your help" she answered honestly.
Tagan noticed she looked rather worried. "My help with what exactly" he asked curiously.
"Have you heard about the truce between Zodanga and Helium?" a Princess of Mars inquired.
"Yes, not in detail but yes" the general answered.
"Well it's only going to happen if marry their Ruler, Sab Than. But I don't want to marry him and father won't hear to my plea." She informed her friend.
"Oh, I can certainly see your reason for denial" said Tagan as he grimaced. "Well what do you need from me?" The Heliumite General asked.
"I need your fastest ship and a crew" she responded.
"What! You are running away from this?" asked the general, his temper rising to see his friend running from her responsibilities.
"What other choice do I have?" she asked fiercely. "Should I marry someone whose hobbies include nothing but violence and slaughter?"
"Of course not, but I don't think running away from your duties will do you any good, Dejah. There are other ways of avoiding that situation. But if you run away from it there will be consequences." Her friend said.
"I know but I don't think I have any other choice. So are you going to help me or not?" she asked stubbornly.
"You are my friend Dejah; I will always help you but know this I don't think you are taking the decision." Tagan said as he stormed out of the temple.
(-0-)
A few hours later
Heliumite Battleship
The Ship had taken to air a few minutes ago. The ship's Captain was Droto Drak, Helium's best commanding captain. He was intrigued, when General Sanos asked him to commandeer a ship for the princess, but did not ask any questions.
He went towards the princess and asked "What is our heading, Princess."
"Head East" Dejah answered simply.
The shocked captain asked "But Princess those are Tharks Lands and …." He didn't get to finish his sentence as the princess replied "I know where we're heading. Just do as you are told."
"Change directions, head east, full speed ahead." The confused captain ordered.
The huge ship turned in midair, heading east. Even the princess of Helium was not sure what fruit will their journey bear.
(-0-)
Meanwhile
King's Chambers, Zodanga
The mobile city of Zodanga crawled along the deserts of the red planet, under its two moons. Sab Than, Monarch of Zodanga, entered his personal chambers, tired from the meeting in his courtroom.
He was about to change his clothes, when a servant entered the chamber.
"I told you not to…" he tried to say but silenced when he saw the servant's face morph into that of Matai Shang.
"Well, look who finally decided to show up" the ruler of Zodanga said sarcastically. "I thought you had abandoned me after showing me your perfect plan to conquer all of Barsoom."
"I came here with some news." The thern said ignoring the rude comment. "I thought perhaps you will like to hear it. You have been deviously deceived into thinking that Princess Dejah, your betrothed, has gone to Helium's Mountain Sanctuary; while in truth she is heading east towards Tharks Lands." The Thern informed the King.
"Well, it was your plan for me to marry the princess and claim the Helium after her demise. I never wanted to marry her. I always thought it would be better to just conquer through war" Sab Than claimed.
"Then you would have no claim to Helium's throne. There will always be individuals to oppose you. You will be better off marrying her." Matai Shang said calmly.
"So what do want me to do? Chase after her like a love sick fool? If you think I am going to do that, you are mistaken" Sab Than challenged.
"You are going to do just that if you want to remain an ally to Issus. The goddess doesn't want you ruining her plan for all of Barsoom" the thern retorted.
"Very well, but this better be worth it" the Zodangan ruler groaned as he went away to inform his Commander-in-chief to prepare a small fleet.
Matai Shang stood there, for a few moments, staring at the two moons of Barsoom through the window as he pondered about the future of this planet. He was a busy person, after delivering this message, he had to go the Great Eastern Desert and investigate a strange thing. Something had triggered a Ninth-Ray detector. He had been successful to sabotage the princess's machine, then how did it happen. None of his colleagues claimed to have teleported to and from the Great Desert.
'Whatever it was, I have to tread carefully. There may be an unknown enemy or perhaps another scientist's futile efforts at developing the Ninth-Ray. Nonetheless I have to investigate It." The Thern thought and seconds after he vanished into the thin air.
(-0-)
?
Peter Parker woke up to find himself staring at the sky. He sat up and held his head in his hands due to the intense pain. The last thing that he remembered was the fight with the Goblins, him trying to reverse Doc's machine and something hitting him.
A few minutes later, he stood up to inspect himself. He found his suit torn from many places and his Web-Shooters completely wrecked. 'Oh thanks God, that's all I needed' he thought sarcastically.
Suddenly he heard a shout. "Ava" he whispered, horror striking him as he ran towards the source.
To be continued…
Another chapter's up. Please comment and tell me if liked it or not.
