AN: Chapter 20 is now and finally done. I am looking at one more chapter and an epilogue before this part of the story is finished. There is already a sequel in the works in my head.
Chapter 20 – The Power of a Goddess
Rao looked on, scowling at the sight of the War God being beaten back by the son of Krypton. He had no idea that the Star Soul was truly so powerful.
"You lost much," the woman said stepping next to him. "My lord wonders if you are truly able to carry through with your promise after this."
He turned his head slightly, barely hiding his disgust at being approached by the apply named "New God". Lashina was one of Darkseid's favorites, one of his torturers that had worked against his own creations when the Kryptonian Empire went after Apokolips. It was testament to their strength that the girl had survived a war against his people. "Do not presume to talk to me, child."
He forced gravity to gather around her and force her towards the ground. "Even with what I have lost, I am still far greater than you shall ever be."
Lashina gasped for air, her wrapped neck felt like it was closing. He had supposedly lost a little less than half of his power and yet it was as great as her master.
"Remember your place, girl," he sneered, letting her drop to the ground and gasp for air. "You may have been able to hold your own against my creations when they waged war against your world, but you have never faced their full might."
He summoned his power, pulling her from the ground. "Take a message back to your master for me. Let him know that I will kill the next one that he sends to question me. You "New Gods" think far to much of yourselves for my liking. The second is that my part will be completed. Make sure that he is able to complete his part, or I will end him as well."
He waved his hand, opening a rip in the air and sent her flying through the hole before sealing it once more.
"Foolish child," Rao growled, looking back at the Last Son as he continued to duel the War God. "You will be brought to heel as well."
Hekate knew that she was in trouble. She could feel the air grow heavy as the Goddess of Love released the restraints that she had held in place since before the First War. The Kryptonian was battling her puppet Ares not far from them, and from the way her power was being called forth, she knew that Ares was on the losing end of the battle. Menelaus had sent back all of his power, which worried her. The fool was still around, which meant that during her imprisonment he had found another patron.
She could call back her power from her agents, she could truly fight the bitch on the level that she wanted or she could tough it out and possibly lose as she was right now. Her eyes narrowed, there was no other choice.
One of the forms raised her hands above her head and began to summon back her power. Those that had been fool enough to believe that she would allow them to keep it forever…well they would simply learn that the Goddess would never allow anyone to use her power for all time.
Before she could pull in any of her power, the Goddess of Love flashed before her and slammed a fist into the woman's gut. All of them felt a blast of energy rip through them as the form that had tried to gather her power back crashed into the ground.
"You bitch!" both of the other forms yelled.
Aphrodite smiled tightly. "I am born of Kronos, the Reaper. My power is limited by my will. I have no desire to limit it any longer."
To them she was the flighty one, bouncing from one suitor to another, until after the first war with Hekate. It was at that point that Aphrodite had truly turned from the flighty one, into the one that they had feared she would become. None save Zeus had an idea how powerful the Titans truly were and the fact that he looked wary around the Goddess of Love caused no end to the rumors on Olympus. Many thought she had truly become one of the First Ones with the way the Thunder God walked so carefully around her.
"I have no desire to hold back anymore. I have no desire to let others see me as an airhead."
It wasn't that Zeus was scared of her, for he was sure that his power was greater. He would describe it as worry. The fact that the first Sky King, Uranus, had blessed Aphrodite at birth did not leave him feeling entirely safe or comfortable around her. She wondered idly if her "father" was watching now, and what he would think of the true power that she was unleashing.
Waves of blue-white energy wrapped around her in a dance. The energy pushed and pulsed at the world around it, warping the fabric of reality. Aphrodite smiled.
"Let me show you, my will."
She slashed downward from the clavicle to the hip. A slash appeared across one of the tri-forms and all three screamed in pain.
Aphrodite let her grin grow. It felt good to let the restraints go. It felt good to fight back, especially against the bitch that had used her to distract Ares during the last war. She was far from a whore, and Hekate would learn the price that came with treating her as one.
She through bolts of power into two of the forms, sending them crashing into the ground. The third form tried to attack her, only to be backhanded in the jaw. She flew away from the enraged Goddess of Love, trying to control her descent.
Hekate blinked once and Aphrodite appeared before her.
"I will end you, your daughter, and your entire line for this," Hekate raged.
"No," Aphrodite spoke coldly. "I don't think you will."
She slammed her feet into the Goddess. She plummeted towards the ground faster, as the other two forms appeared above her. One slashed at Aphrodite with her hand, she grabbed her at the wrist, and twisted slamming her head first into the other form.
Both forms gasped in pain as they were sent careening away from her. Aphrodite looked dispassionately at the first form that she had attacked. She grabbed it's hand as it tried to strike her.
"You know, I expected better." Aphrodite sneered. "You were supposed to be the equal of Zeus. All I see right now is weakness."
She twisted, breaking the form's arm, and then pulled Hekate towards her. Her foot jabbed into her abdomen sending the goddess flying back through the sky.
"You should always watch your back," a voice she recognized spoke in her ear. She grabbed a hand before it could make a play for the chains that kept the Anti-Life equation at bay.
"And you should know your place," Aphrodite hissed back, throwing Menelaus towards the encased forms of his master. "You think you stand a chance against someone like me?"
Menelaus smiled darkly. "You see, Aphrodite. I am not here to stop you. I am not even here to stop you from killing Hekate. All I have to do is delay you until they arrive, and I know that I can do that."
Aphrodite growled out. She was tired of these games. She was tired of these fools that looked down on her.
"All you are, is a pathetic," Aphrodite screamed in a rage. Power lashed out all around them slicing into Menelaus sending pieces back to the ground.
Another Menelaus stepped from the air, a fold is space revealing the smirking brother of Hydra. "That looked like it might have hurt."
"So that's one of the powers that the bitch gifted you with," Aphrodite hissed. She looked down at the forms of the Tri-form goddess. "With her imprisoned for so long, you went and found another patron though, didn't you."
"You are far smarter that Olympus gives you credit for," Menelaus sneered, settling into a fighting stance. "You are far to smart for your own good girl."
Aphrodite laughed. "So you serve that fool Rao? How is that going for you."
"Not Rao, girl," Menelaus growled out. "Now die."
He began to throw spheres of power at her, all of them exploded harmlessly against her own power, but she could barely see behind the backlash that the two powers meeting caused.
She gasped as a hand reached through the cloud surrounding her and grasped at her neck.
"I serve Darkseid!"
She felt the dark power of the god of Apokolips battle against her own will as the warrior Menelaus forced her away from Hekate.
He slammed her down into the ground, causing the entire island to shake. Menelaus turned back to the two forms that remained.
"She took the second form, you should gather the power you can and fully merge."
Hekate stared at her once loyal soldier in disbelief. "Traitor!"
"Like you wouldn't do the same yourself," Menelaus shouted back. "Hurry up, even with Darkseid's power I cannot contain her forever."
"To late," a voice growled out. Menelaus slowly turned to face the angry Goddess of Love. Her eyes glowing white with power she placed a hand right before his eyes.
A wave of power launched from her hand into his head. It was over before his body began to fall, it was missing a head and both of them could feel his power being pulled back by his patron.
"Are you ready to face your fate, Hekate," Aphrodite sneered. "You were said to be as strong as Kronos at one point. Prove it, witch."
One of the little known facets of the Fortress was the Healing chamber built beneath the Dias that housed the main computer. Because of the protections that had been layered by the House of El, nothing short of ending the entire solar system might stand a chance of cracking the protections. Sol stepped into the room and looked at the lone man that had been separated from the army that Kal-El had brought back.
He was nervous, he would not hide it, and had voiced as much to Kal-El, but his progenitor's son had brought the Grand Army of Krypton back from the Phantom Zone.
"Jor-El," the man's eyes opened slowly. "How in the name are you still alive?"
"I am not Jor-El," Sol said suddenly raising his hands up defensively.
"A nano-copy," the man smirked slightly. "Jor-El was more of a risk taker than I truly believed."
Sol nodded silently. Even Kal-El did not completely understand the risk that the nano-virus carried. Even a Kryptonian should not have been able to overcome the damage that the virus caused. The fact that Kal had managed to piece his fractured mind back together and keep his body from falling apart spoke to how extraordinarily strong his will was.
"Why am I free?" the man asked slowly. "The last time I saw your progenitor he told me I would be imprisoned for the rest of time."
Sol felt like he should be taking a deep breath. "Times have changed, and I am sure you know the truth."
He closed his eyes and nodded. "All I did, all I fought for, was a god's whim."
Sol nodded, though he doubted the man saw him. "Rao has lost the power of his brothers, but he is still strong, and he has allied with Apokolips."
His eyes snapped open at that. "Apokolips, he would willingly.."
"It was always his plan," Sol said softly. "Once we conquered creation for him, we would have been disposed of."
The man closed his eyes once more. "Do you have a uniform?"
Sol blinked.
"Don't look so surprised. All I did, all I do, all that I will do is for Krypton. Even if it's a memory, I am still her soldier."
"I will find one for you, General," Sol smirked slightly.
"The Lord of El is dead, long live the House of El," the man said softly as he closed his eyes once more.
Kal slammed his fist into the head of Ares, the War god collapsed under the weight of the attack.
"Even you, even with your Kryptonian power, should not be this strong," Ares growled out, looking up with a bruise forming on the side of his face.
"You never understood Godhood, Ares," Kal whispered, bringing his knee in the god's nose. "You never understood the true power that the universe had granted you."
He lifted him over his head and then slammed him face first into the ground.
"God is the ultimate extreme, it is the one who should protect, instead of the one who needs to be protected," he growled out. He lifted Ares by the neck and slammed a fist into his face. "You, who are selfish, are simply never grasped the concept of what it truly means to be a god."
Clark sneered as he let Ares drop to the ground. The god grasped at his legs, trying to stand.
"What the hell…"
Clark slammed the back of his fist into his head, driving him face first into the ground. "Rao gave us skills I am pretty sure that even you cannot truly grasp. The skill to kill gods was within us, it was something he wanted in his army when they stormed heaven."
Clark slammed his hand like a knife edge into his throat. He stood, and gave a pitying look at the God of War. "You thought Hekate's power would be enough to overcome what the God of the Sun wanted his army to have? Even Zeus stood no chance against the breadth of power that Rao gave us."
Ares gasped in pain, he felt the power that the Goddess of Magic had place in him being drawn back.
"And it seems that your woman has decided to take back that which is hers." Clark shook his head. "You know Ares, you should never have gone down this path."
Clark lifted his heel, and with one swift motion slammed it into his throat. The god began to gurgle. What no one had ever explained to him was that it was possible for life to ascend. One you got to the same plane as the Gods, you were able to kill the other person. The pain you inflicted, no matter the form they took, was pain to them and not their little games.
"I will…" Ares gasped for breath. "I will destroy you."
"You're not nearly enough to destroy me," Kal shook his head. "You've never been enough. How someone as extraordinary as Hippolyta could ever come from you is beyond me."
Ares lunged at him, but Kal caught his spear, and slammed his heel into the top of the god's head with rapid succession. Ares dropped to the ground after the final kick.
"You know, I have never really been able to go out," Kal smiled slightly. "The world is just too fragile for someone like me. I nearly crushed my mom before I actually had a full grasp of my power."
He stepped forward, the ground cracking beneath his foot. "With the Source's help, my awakening has allowed me control, but I still have never been able to cut lose."
He slashed at the air, a wave of wind slammed into the god's back. He grabbed him and then threw him into the air.
Ares soared through the air, only to be met by a blade through his abdomen. Clark stared dispassionately as the God of War slid off the blade slowly. He stared back in disbelief at the dark look Rao cast his way.
"And here I thought that the God of War might be of some use," he sneered, the blade igniting like an inferno. "Be gone, lesser god!"
Rao slashed with his Katana sending a wave of fire towards Ares. The fire ripped into him, and Kal watched as the one great God of War disappeared.
"It is so hard to find good help these days," Rao said in disgust. The flames on the blade faded, leaving none of the thick blood that had once been the God of Wars. "First incompetent servants can never carry out what they are supposed to, and then servants begin to get a big head."
He looked at Kal and brought his blade forward. "Don't think boy, that I didn't let Kara take the power of my brothers. They are almost useless now anyways."
"Oh, I know," Kal slid his left foot forward and focused most of his weight on his back leg. "My father and grandfather learned a lot more than they ever let on."
"Really," Rao smirked slightly. "Show me this awakened soul that I ignored in your people boy. Show me that you are not just another pretender."
The Source felt the wave, the energy of the Last Son, preparing for the one attack he knew the boy would think of.
"Father," his eldest son said simply.
"Worry not," he held his hand up. "Your brother is about to learn the lesson of his people are capable of."
Artemis looked back towards the Island, for some reason she could always feel her home, no matter where she was.
"Don't worry, Artemis," the Source smiled softly. "They will win the day."
"My people…"
"You have battled the Gods before," he said with a slight smile. "Even gods have weaknesses child."
Artemis said nothing, simply watching the horizon.
Kal avoided the blade, bending at a weird angle. He slammed his fist into Rao's chest making him grunt in pain.
Rao twisted the blade, bringing the sharp edge back towards his armpit. He dropped to the ground, sweeping his leg out for under him. The god grunted in pain as the boy pulled back his left leg and slammed his foot hard into his sternum. Propping himself against the ground he pushed up again, slamming his other foot into his sternum again. The god bent in half as he fell hard to the ground.
"Impressive boy," Rao stepped up from behind him as the body crumbled to dust. "I didn't think awakening the Star Souls would have given me such capable warriors."
"You never thought very far ahead, sadly," Clark said dryly, not shaken in the least by the sudden appearance of another Rao. "Cute trick, do you ever fight your own battles?"
"Only one," Rao slammed his fist into the boy's abdomen. Clark felt the wind leave him as another punch bent him over his arm. "Even my father cannot truly see my plans, what makes you think one of my lowly creations can stop me."
Clark smirked, parrying the next blow, grabbed his extended arm and slammed the back of his fist into his temple. "Even if you don't believe it, I can hurt you Rao."
"Pathetic," Rao said grabbing his fist. He twirled him around, slamming Kal face first into the ground. "You boast and yet I have seen nothing that indicates you could be that threat."
He raised his foot and slammed it into his back, pushing his face farther into the ground. "It's one of the reasons I so gladly helped in the extermination of my creations. They were flawed, they were far from perfect. When I controlled creation, I would start over, build a perfect servant race."
"That's why creation worked against you," Clark growled out. He pushed up, barely avoiding a strike from Rao. "You think everything started going wrong because of us? It's because of your own hubris that my people suffered. It's because of your own hubris that your own dreams have never been achieved."
Rao growled, slashing with a second katana at the boy, who dodged both strike. "Silence!"
"You keep dreaming that you're still in control," Clark smirked slightly. "You haven't been in control since the Civil War. You haven't been in control since you tried to have Kara murdered."
Clark slammed his fist into his sternum. He twisted slightly and repeated the strike with his other hand before landing a knee in Rao's abdomen. Hand to hand had never been a specialty, but his grandfather had thought of everything in the creation of the Fortress.
Rao gasped in pain, they should not have been able to sit on the same plane as him, no matter how strong their star soul might have been.
"You never understood just what control was, Rao," Kal grinned in triumph at the disgust on the god's face. "Your plans were destined to fail from the moment that Zod fell!"
"What would you know," Rao growled. Throwing his hand out a wave of energy froze Clark in mid-air and then sent him hurtling through the air back towards the ground. He slammed into the roof of one of the Amazon homes shattering the ground underneath. "You have no idea what my plans are boy!"
Kara glided through her enemies with casual ease. The fact that she no longer had to hold back and didn't have her Star Soul powers just felt…revitalizing. There was a weight with a Star Soul awakening that she could never truly describe to someone who had not forced themselves past that barrier. It was a connection with the universe and a connection within yourself, it was beyond anything really that she could have imagined.
"Amaterasu," Raiden snapped. "Get your head in the fight."
She ducked under an axe blow from a minotaur before punching it in the face. It dropped to the ground, its eyes glassy as she stepped over it.
"Thanks," she said, ashamed that she had lost herself. She had thought she was better than this.
"Remember, even if you aren't a Goddess anymore, you are still our sister," Fujin reprimanded. "No stupidity on the battle field. Fight until every enemy is dead."
Kara nodded as the three separated once more. Ares army was being slaughtered. The death of their God had broken the spirits on many and seeing the power of Aphrodite first hand she could understand why many had lost the will to fight. Those that did were either being picked off by Amazon Archers are so disorganized any attack that they launched.
She stopped, and turned back to where she knew that Kal-El had been. She watched as the sky seemed to ripple and the Last Son of Krypton was slammed into the ground. She knew that Rao was still going to be powerful, but this was beyond ridiculous. Even if Kal-El had awoken his Star Soul, he would still be tired from fighting Ares beforehand.
"Keep your mind on this fight," Raiden chided. "We clear them out, we can help the boy."
Kara nodded, dancing amid a Hydra that had been dumb enough to start eating those who had tried to ride away from the battle. Her blade sliced open it's long belly's before the pieces fell into the water.
"Finish this, and move to the next target," she repeated the mantra over and over in her mind.
Diana watched as her mother danced through Hydra's long necks. It was something that she had not seen since she was young and first learning to fight. Her mother had always been one of the best that the Island had to offer. Her skill with a weapon was nearly unmatched and her strength made her the unanimous candidate for the armor from the moment that she had become queen, but she had never taken the role.
"This is the end, Hydra," Lyta said with a hiss of satisfaction. With one slice, the last head of the beast that had stolen her soul when she had been a goddess collapsed to the ground. The last of the power that it had being drawn back to the Goddess that had once been it's patron.
"Mother," Diana said, appearing near her side as the Queen knelt slightly.
"I am fine, child," she waved her off. "Where is your Last Son?"
Both heard the sonic boom, both looked up to see Kal fall from the sky into the heart of the island.
"I guess we found him," Hippolyta said dryly. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed the figure. "Who is that?"
"Rao," Diana said with a hiss. "He is the Kryptonian god, the one that Zeus tried to dethrone."
"Ah," Lyta remembered the tale. She remembered the humbling of Zeus at the hands of the Conquers and the war that eventually spread to Earth. She remembered Hydra setting off the war that destroyed Atlantis by killing one of their generals and the war between Olympians in turn. "It seems he is not happy."
"Kal saw through his deceptions," Diana said proudly.
Hippolyta looked back at her daughter and almost shook her head. It wouldn't do to get away from the battle. She looked around and saw that nearly all of Ares's forces had fled. Those that remained were being cut down by her archers. It left only the Kryptonian God, Hekate, and her mother.
She looked over towards the wave of power and saw her mother standing there. A cold glare etched her pristine features as she allowed Hekate to draw back her power! What was her mother doing?
"That insane…" Hippolyta drew her sword once more.
Diana looked towards where her mother was and couldn't believe her eyes. Why was Aphrodite allowing this to happen?
Rao floated through the hole that he had created, landing with his foot over Kal-El's throat, who gasped.
"Don't you see, boy," he smiled as the boy struggled. "Don't you understand just how little you are in my grand scheme. All that you might ever become is ordained by me. All you ever will be is a whim that I allowed to exist!"
Kal's eyes widened as he tried to find a breath. He tried to rip the foot from his throat but it was just too much. Ares was not this strong, he had never thought he would have to fight Rao from word go.
"You are my toy," Rao hissed. "You exist to serve me, you exist at my pleasure. Even a broken toy like you will learn your place."
He raised his leg from his throat, only to slam it down again. The ground around them cracked as he was drive further into the foundation of the building. He couldn't breathe, the force of the hit causing him to gag.
"You think I am hubris," Rao grabbed him by the throat, ripping him from the ground. "You think I care what any of the other Gods might think. I am Rao, creator of Krypton, once ruler of the galaxies, and my creations will pay for disobeying my will!"
"Fuck you," Clark gasped out, before he felt himself hurled through the wall. He slammed through one wall, another, and another, before he skidded into the ground and slammed into a hearth.
He opened his eyes to see nearly fifty feet between him and Rao.
The God blurred before appearing before him. He grabbed him by the throat again and hoisted him into the air.
"If you had been a good little servant, you would have been somewhat happy," he sneered. "Father favored you and connected you with that Amazon doll that you met. I would have allowed you to keep her."
He squeezed a little tighter. "But now, you're failed just like the rest. After I have dealt with you, I will deal with Kara, and with her, the end of the grand failed experiment that was Krypton. Who knows, maybe when I am done I will take the Amazons as my new warriors, and use your doll as the drone that I need."
Aphrodite felt the pull finish. Hekate had taken back the last bit of her power, and Ares army was being routed. The God of War was dead, but at the hands of Rao. She would have to finish this quickly. Even with a Star Soul, Kal-El was not strong enough to take on Rao, especially after having fought Ares.
"Are you finally…done," Aphrodite said in distaste. "I can't see why they thought you as strong as the brothers. I can't say you rate even above Ares."
"You bitch," the remaining forms of Hekate screamed before sending a wave of power at her. Aphrodite held out her hand, catching all the energy in her palm and absorbing it.
"Is this the best that you can do?" Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. "Is this all that you have?"
Hekate screamed in rage, gathering energy and throwing it spheres towards the Goddess of Love. Before the impacted though a wall of blue-white energy appeared before her, absorbing them all.
"You're still weak Heakte," Aprhodite gritted out. "I tire of these games."
"What do you think…"
Before she could respond Aphrodite exploded. Her hand slammed through the gut of one of the Tri-Form goddess and the other grabbed the last form by the temples.
"End," she whispered. All the energy that she had gathered exploded outward, taking off the head of the Goddess of Magic.
She let both form drop from the air, dissolving into dust.
She snapped her head up as the sky turned red, and a boom echoed all around them. An energy door opened, and a figure stepped out, heading towards where she had seen Kal-El fighting before. She stopped as a wave of demons appeared in the sky.
"Darkseid."