Saw Thor: The Dark World there over the weekend and the opening scene was exactly what I'd been looking for, I'd been stuck on this one scene for so long it had dragged the rest of the chapter to a standstill. Not going to give context right now, just going to go with the scene.
Like always, I really need feedback on these so I can find out what people like/dislike and so I can work out what areas I need to improve on. So please, review. Another chapter, another attempt to entertain you all. I honestly do not have anything else to add, so on with the show!
Thor and all characters from it belong to Marvel Comics.
Justice League and all characters from it belong to DC Comics
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XX, Themyscira: Themysciran City-State, Greece – 965 BCE XX
Otrera, consort to Ares and Queen of his chosen, watched as the heavens were torn apart by another burst of light. From the pillar of light more Northerners charged. The brutes, garbed in furs and leather, crashed upon the Amazonian shield wall with enough force to push back the first three rows. Another burst of light, another wave of barbarians to fall upon her warriors' spears and blades.
Hippolyta, her daughter, was recovering at the temple from wounds suffered against the barbarians and most of her forces had been slain or captured. Antiope, her other daughter, was approaching with forces from the East but sentries said they would be another hour before arrival. Although she would not admit it Otrera was worried, the barbarians had hounded Hippolyta all this way and taken many casualties yet they continued to come like beasts from Tartarus. Unending and without a shred of mercy, decency or culture the northerners embodied everything Otrera saw in the outside world. They were what her love had gathered the Amazons to destroy.
"My Queen, the Royal Guard stands ready." One of her generals informed her over the roar of their archers unleashing a volley. "Give the word and we shall drive the barbarians back!"
"No, not yet." Otrera answered as he turned away from the battle to look upon her most skilled warriors. Each and every woman before her was an original, handpicked by Ares himself to fight in his great army. Those out there, fighting to hold back the tide of savagery, were the converts. Women freed from slavery and the oppression of man who had pledged themselves to the Amazon cause, many would be un-blooded and in need of experience so Otrera would hold off committing her most skilled for a time. Those who fell would be honoured, those who lived with he needed.
The next burst brought something new, groups dressed in golden armour carrying spears. The fur wearers parted to let these new fighters, clearly veterans, reach the Amazon shield wall faster and when their golden weapons met the celestial bronze Ares had commissioned from Hephaestus himself Otrera looked on in horror as the bronze proved useless. These new warriors began to cut a bloody path further and further threw the lines.
"On second thought, order the charge!" Otrera ordered as she silently wondered where Ares was as his people suffered.
X
As the Einherjar cut a path through the enemy lines Volstagg rushed forward to catch up and add to his tally. He'd joined the Princes' army to fight a war so he could earn a name for himself and Volstagg would be damned to Niflheim if he let the older soldiers take the glory. Using his size and strength Volstagg threw himself against the weakening shield wall and broke through, allowing his fellow warriors to pour through another breech.
Smashing enemies aside with every swing of his axe Volstagg and those around pushed further and further into the enemy line, racing to catch up to and pass the Einherjar. As he pulled his axe from the breastplate of a fallen Amazon a mace took the head off a charging foe that had him in her sights.
"Watch yourself." Volstagg's saviour, an outlander named Hogun 'The Grim'.
Before Volstagg could reply Hogun was pushing forward, adding more and more kills to his tally. With a mighty shout, and a tug that freed his axe, Volstagg charged after Hogun and began fighting harder than before. Volstagg and Hogun played against one another, starting a silent competition to see who would reach the enemy's walls first and who could kill the most Amazons. It soon became clear that while Volstagg's axe had better reach and a fiercer bite he himself was unable to match the pace Hogun set as the smaller man charged forward, his mace batting aside any who got in his way. As Hogun got within spitting distance of the wall a boom of thunder rang out, signalling the arrival of Asgard's princes.
XX Gates of Olympus – Present Day XX
Vowing silently to himself that he'd turn that pipe playing pain into goat stew, which he was quite skilled at preparing, Thor did his best to appear relaxed and not hostile as all of Olympus gathered weapons and armour in reaction to his arrival. Unclipping Mjolnir from his belt, and setting the ancient hammer down on the ground before him, Thor sat down and waited. He was waiting nearly half an hour.
"Hello Hera, where is your husband Zeus?" Thor asked as he rose to his feet.
"Pan said you sought the patron of the Amazons, so I have come." Hera answered as she reached the gates. "Why are you here barbarian? Why do you choose to finish your vendetta now?"
"I have need of Zeus, not you fair queen." Thor said politely, he needed to remain calm and nice if he was to get anything.
"I am Hera, Queen of Olympus and Patron of Themyscira, whatever petty reason you have not to hate MY Amazons matters little." Hera snapped, insulted and enraged at Thor's dismissal of her. "Leave. Now!"
"If I leave now, without permission to step foot on Themyscira, then the Gates of Tartarus will open. The Titans shall return and Midgard will be decimated by the resulting 'family reunion'." Thor roared, Mjolnir leaping into his hand and the skies of Olympus darkening. "Now, unless that is what you seek I demand you get that coward you call a brother out here!"
"Zeus Panhellenios is no coward, little Asgardian. And next time you should be careful with your meagre displays of power, or I may take them as a challenge." A voice growled behind Thor. As Thor turned he found himself face to face with Zeus, sky god and King of Olympus. "Now, you claim the Gates to Tartarus are in danger of opening… Following your massacre the surviving Amazons where relocated to the island the Gates sit upon. They guard the Gates and insure none open them."
"Themyscira has fallen, a mortal named Felix Faust seeks the fragments of the Key and those fragments may be on their way to Themyscira as we speak." Thor corrected as he stared down the only Olympian he wasn't sure he could take in a fight.
"What proof have you?" Zeus asked in a tone that was unreadable.
"The word of Diana, princess of Themyscira, and that I have seen the Key rebuilt before my own eyes." Thor answered.
"The Amazons have a princess? I wasn't even aware they had chosen a new queen." Zeus mused before turning to Hera. "Is this true, is there a 'princess Diana' on Themyscira?"
"I do believe that is the name Hippolyta gave the daughter myself and the other goddesses gifted her." Hera said after a moment's thought.
"It is." Another voice cut in as Athena, Artemis and another goddess Thor did not know approached. The speaker, Athena, went on. "She was born from the clay Hippolyta and the Traitor Hades shaped during his wooing of her."
"They made her from clay?" Thor muttered to himself as Zeus' face became a mask of fury and panic.
"Hermes! Hermes I have a task for you!" Zeus bellowed as he pushed past Thor and into Olympus proper. When the God of messengers arrived Zeus wasted no time issuing orders. "Contact Poseidon, tell him to come at once. Then to Themyscira in the Aegean, find out how bad things are… GO!"
"Of course, my king." Hermes nodded before vanishing.
Once his messenger was off Zeus marched further into Olympus, pausing for a second to snap at Thor to keep up, and making for his throne room. Clipping Mjolnir to his belt, Thor hurried after the older god. Ordering Hera, Artemis and Athena to follow Zeus also summoned his son Ares and two other goddesses, Aphrodite and Demeter.
"Where is Poseidon!? Where is he?" Zeus roared once they had reached his throne.
"Here brother." The King of the Mediterranean Sea, though he would claim all oceans, announced as a torrent of seawater rose up and took his form. "Why have you called on me?"
"Sink Themyscira. Bury the Gates of Tartarus under rock and water." Zeus ordered.
XX Ruins of Old Themyscira; Beneath Themyscira, Paradise Island XX
As Wonder Woman led the team deeper beneath the island, the members of the Justice League caught whiff of the unmistakeable smell of ruin and decay. As the left the staircase and stepped out into a massive cavern they found the source of the smell, the necropolis that was once called Themyscira. The streets, what was left of them anyway, were half buried in rubble from the buildings. Statues and pillars lay scatter about, many splintered into hundreds of tiny fragments. The scene was one of utter devastation, like something had tried to wipe the ancient city from the face of the earth.
The groaning of ancient gears and grinding of stone on stone drew the team's attention to the centre of the ruins where a great gate stood carved into a rock face. They were too late; the Gates of Tartarus had been unlocked. As they rushed forward Wonder Woman prayed for divine aid and the Flash openly called for Thor, things looked bad.
"Free at last." Hades growled as he stepped out from the flames of Tartarus.
"Welcome, Lord Hades." Faust gushed as he bowed deeply. Turning and pointing to Hippolyta he continued. "To welcome you I've brought an offering."
"Do my eyes deceive me?" Hades laughed as he stepped down and advanced towards the chained queen. "Can it be my dearest Hippolyta here to greet her Lord and Master on his triumphant return from – Ahh, but you know where I've been."
"Not a day has passed that I haven't been reminded of your treachery." Hippolyta spat as he struggled against the chains Faust used to tie her down.
"And not a fay has passed that I haven't longed to feel the sweet touch of living flesh again." Hades whispered as he reached out and stroked Hippolyta's face, much to her disgust. Leaning in to steal a kiss, Hades was interrupted by Faust.
"My Lord, I have upheld my end of the bargain." Faust pointed out, unknowingly distracting Hades as the League positioned themselves. "I delivered the key and the Amazon queen… Now, I demand what you promised me!"
"Ahh yes, ultimate knowledge." Hades hissed as an orb of twisting flames flickered into being in the palm of his hand. As he touched Faust's forehead, and his magic flowed into the human, Faust began to wither away in agony. "Ultimately, pain and suffering are all mankind will ever know."
Pulling away, Hades let the now ancient and decrepit Faust fall to his knees. Seeing an opening, Wonder Woman rushed forward and snatched up the blade of a long ago fallen Amazon. Using the blade to break the chains holding Hippolyta Wonder Woman pulled her mother to safety.
"Hippolyta… You didn't tell me you had a daughter." Hades called after them, an amused smirk on his face. His smirk turning sadistic, hades vomited forth a torrent of mystic flame after the retreating Amazons. "I wonder if she's as loving as her mother."
Before Hades could launch another attack Superman swooped in and struck him, the blow echoing throughout the cavern and causing the death god to stumble back. As Superman moved in for a follow up Hades slapped him aside, the god's mystical nature negating much of Superman's Kryptonian durability. Not taking his eyes off the downed alien Hades caught the batarang thrown at him and, due to the strange weapon blinking and beeping, had it close to his face when the explosives went off. Stepping out of the flames Hades knocked a second batarang aside and advanced. The Flash rushed in, circling and punching hades repeatedly until another bust of flames forced a hasty retreat.
"Whoa, somebody get this guy a breath mint." The Flash quipped as he rang along the walls of a nearby building to avoid Hades' attack.
As Hades took a breath in preparation for another fiery attack the Martian Manhunter positioned himself directly above the god and increased his density, dropping on Hades' head and driving him through the earth beneath them
"Are you alright?" Wonder Woman asked her mother. As they spoke a blast of magical fire knocked J'onn back however and Hades climbed out of the ground unharmed. Behind him, unnoticed by any, shadows began to form in the Gate as the Titans drew ever closer.
"Yes, but Hades must be stopped." Hippolyta said before taking the sword and shield from the skeletal remains of a nearby Amazon.
"You dare to challenge a God!" Hades roared as the remains of the Amazons began to move and rise to serve him.
"Uh oh." The Flash gulped as several skeletal hands burst from the ground and caught a grip of him. "Dammit, where's our divine support?"
"What does he mean?" Hippolyta asked as the roof above her shattered inwards and she was forced to dive back to avoid the rubble as a mass of red and blue dropped down where she'd been standing. As the dust cleared, and she saw what had landed, Hippolyta froze in terror. "… You!"
"Hahaha, welcome Barbarian!" Hades greeted as Thor readied Mjolnir.
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So, one of the slight changes [attempting to mix DCAU canon, DC comic canon and the events I need for the fic to work] is that the Amazons use to have their city on the Greek Mainland… Then Asgard all but destroyed it. Why? Keep reading to find out, eventually.
I'm dyslexic, so please point out any mistakes in spelling or grammar [I spell things the way they do in England and Ireland, so some things may look off to Americans]. Please leave your opinion via review or send them via PM, I'd like to know what you think. Well, I think that's everything I've gotta say so, hope you enjoyed the chapter.
This is Highvalour saying bye and thanks for reading.
