A/N: Thank you for the reviews! And thank you to Daisy Jane for the amazing job she did on this chapter :D

Chapter Twenty

If I had thought of Gotham as a dump, it was nothing in comparison to what Metropolis looked like now. The whole city was ablaze. Office buildings, homes, City Hall – Ares had spared no one and nothing. The roads had been torn up like so much tissue paper. Bodies lay in piles on the streets. It made me feel sick. He'd raped my body and now he was raping my fucking city as well. Bastard.

The League wasn't hard to spot; the skies were almost full of its members – along with low, heavy storm clouds. I scanned for red and blue, and spotted him over by the Planet. He dived down into an apartment building that was on fire; a few seconds later coming back out with three people in his arms.

More red and blue, this time with flashes of gold. Wonder Woman, only she was locked in combat, her blade flashing as she fought against not one, but two foes. I recognised both her opponents with heart-strangling rage.

"Help Dad," I ordered, and then shot into the air before Batman could reply.

I flew as fast as I could up to Diana, but in between her and me were Warhawk and Big Barda engaged in battle against another two I recognized: Phobos and Deimos. They were all fighting on the rooftop of one of the few standing skyscrapers. Barda was holding her own – unsurprising considering her background – but Warhawk was doing less well. He was a hell of a fighter, and in a normal fight he was almost unstoppable – always had been when we sparred at least – but Phobos' weapon was shredding his Nth metal armour. That shouldn't have been happening, I knew that much. Nth metal was resistant to magic, yet there it was, happening.

As badly as I wanted to kill Ares, I couldn't leave an ally in danger without stopping to help. Even as I watched, Phobos slashed downward with his sword – Warhawk's wings were sheared from his armour, and he fell. Superman caught him about fifty feet from the ground.

Dad's gaze met mine, and then flicked to the sword in my hand. I couldn't even muster a reassuring smile. My face was set into a grim mask as I turned away from him. Once this was over, I would talk to him properly. But if I told him now – he'd just go after Ares himself, and probably get killed.

Phobos, now that Warhawk had been dispatched, turned his attention to Barda. It struck me that I had no idea how to use the sword Hades had given me. But that didn't matter. There was fire thundering through my veins and I knew that my expression exactly mirrored by Diana's. At this moment, we weren't just mother and daughter; we were sisters. When Ares had called me an Amazon before, I wasn't. Far from breaking me, all he had done was unlocked it in me. The blade wasn't foreign; it was simply an extension of my arm.

When Phobos drew his blade back to attack Barda from behind, I swung from the left. It sunk deep into his arm. With a yelp of pain, he broke off his attack on Barda, and spun to face me. I met his blade when he brought it up to stab at me, knocking it aside and thrusting forward. My sword pierced his stomach. With a shocked, gurgling kind of gasp, his sword fell from nerveless fingers, and his eyes clouded over. I woke him up when I grabbed his hair by the roots. Seeing utter fear in his eyes brought a rush of hot, sick triumph.

I floated upward a few feet, bringing Phobos with me, supported only by his hair. He gasped in pain. I touched my blade lightly to his neck, pulled back, and then swung.

I opened my eyes with a gasp, feeling incredibly proud of my daughter. Bruce was kneeling next to me, with Athena and Aphrodite just behind him. He touched my face. "Well?"

"He hasn't beaten her," I whispered, tears falling down my face once more. "She's fighting, Bruce. She's fighting."

"Well unless you can get Apollo to change his mind, I don't think she has much chance of winning," he told me lowly.

I nodded, setting my jaw, and stood. Apollo still looked utterly unimpressed. I cleared my throat free of emotion and spoke again. "Elizabeth doesn't exist yet. I can still change her fate, if you let me. All it would take is one alteration from you, and an innocent need not suffer."

He snorted. "It's too late for that, Amazon."

"It is not too late! Elizabeth-"

"Already exists," Aphrodite interrupted gently. Bruce and I both turned to stare, stunned at her. She gestured to my flat stomach. "She already exists, Diana."

"No," I breathed. "How- How can that be?" I was a rather stupid question. I knew perfectly well how it had happened. Because I thought we could have one night of thoughtless passion without consequences. As though anything we ever do never has a consequence. Bruce's hand – I hadn't noticed it held mine – tightened. His face was blank with shock. More sobs gathered at the base of my larynx.

"I don't understand. In my visions Elizabeth wasn't conceived until after Bruce and I were married," I whispered, looking at my gods through furious eyes. "What was the point in allowing me to fall pregnant now if these visions are designed to prevent it?"

"The visions are not my doing!" Apollo snapped out.

"They are mine," a soft female voice said from behind us.

We both turned to see her; white-streaked hair, a regal countenance and warm green eyes. She was looking at us with utter compassion in her gaze. Apollo and Artemis stood from their thrones, looking unsure. "Mother?"

"Leto," I breathed.

She nodded. "I am the one sending you these visions, Diana. I knew that my son could not, or would not, rescind his curse. I had hoped that by warning you off a sexual relationship with your chosen mortal, innocent lives could be spared. I have obviously failed, or perhaps I even ensured it would come to pass earlier than it should have."

"But why?" I demanded, turning on Apollo again. "Why can't you rescind your curse? I had no idea of it; there are no writings of it, no warnings in the history of my people! How was I to-"

"Lizzie!"

Dropping Phobos' severed head, I turned and ran into Dad's arms. "Daddy!"

When he hugged tightly back, I was strongly reminded of the fact that not all the wounds Ares had inflicted on me were healed. But the pain wasn't the reason for my tears. Dad pulled back. "Sweetheart, what's the-"

"I'll explain later, Daddy, but for now I have to help Diana. Don't worry about me, there isn't time."

That was true – there wasn't time, but I didn't think that would have stopped him. The building collapsing under our feet stopped him. I let Phobos' body fall with it, scooping up his head as I flew up to where Diana was still fighting in the sky. And she was beginning to get her ass handed to her: cuts and bruises marred her limbs, and there was a nasty looking burn on her shoulder that looked as though it could have been caused by a lightning bolt.

"Diana!"

I came to Eris first, punched her with all of my strength. It sent her crashing into one of the few still-standing buildings. Diana turned to stare at me, amazement in her blue eyes. "Elizabeth! What are you-"

"Take Eris," I yelled.

"But-"

"Go! Ares is mine!"

She hesitated for another few seconds, and then flew towards me, kissed my cheek. "Fight well. He is not your equal, my daughter."

I nodded, and she left – then it was just Ares and me. He laughed. "So, you escaped! I do apologise for leaving you, my dear – duty, as you can see, called."

"I had help," I snarled, tilting my sword. A lightning bolt flashed down, glittering from the blade as it did. It was black with blood.

He obviously recognised it, but it did not seem to bother him. "Even with that toy you will never defeat me. The true Champion could not – what chance do you, half-Amazon weakling, stand?"

In answer, I threw Phobos' head to him. It hit him full in the face, and then dropped into his hands. He took a few seconds to realise just what it was. Then he let out a scream of rage and horror that was the sweetest of music to my ears.

When he attacked, he did so without thought or tactic. I imagine the desire to kill me overwhelmed everything else – I knew exactly how he felt. The strength behind his first blow was massive. It sent me spinning backward, and I barely brought my blade up in time to parry his next. He slashed at my abdomen – I dodged and knocked the hilt of my sword into his face. There was a satisfying crack, and blood began to flow from his nose. He backhanded me. While I was stunned, he grabbed my hair and threw me into the globe of the Planet. I bounced off the metal and lay on the roof, prone and apparently defenseless. But I hadn't let go of my sword. Ares plunged down toward me, blade out straight at my chest. I kicked out at the last moment; my feet caught him in the chest and catapulted him over my head. He crashed skull-first though the roof behind me. I flew down through the roof and into the office of the newspaper.

Ares was ready for me though, and my blow was turned aside by a twist of his blade. He drew the fist blood as I stumbled, a shallow, but long cut the width of my back. I used the pain to fuel myself, and the momentum he'd given me to turn and kick him in the chest. It didn't make him back off far, but it gave me the space I needed. Aggressively, I landed a series of blows, jabs one after the other aimed at his sword hand. There was no longer blood in my veins – it was thunder I could hear pounding in my ears.

The tactic paid off – already tired and weakened from his fight with Diana, the god of war was just a fraction too slow to stop my sword taking his hand off at the wrist. When his sword hit the floor of the office, his fingers were still clutching it.

He let out another roar of anger, and moved to punch me with his other hand. I ducked under it, and then slashed upward with my sword. It ripped him in half from the groin upward. It was so quick, so effortless and elegant that he even stood for a few seconds, face still transfixed in rage. Then his legs gave way, and his body – skin, organs and bones – split right down the middle, falling apart like a perfectly cracked egg.

I saw his black heart beat twice before it stilled completely.

If I'd ever imagined killing before, I'd imagined that I'd feel guilt, or at least doubt. But there was none of either. There was only simple victory. I tasted blood in my mouth – it could have been honey. Smiling, I turned away from the dead god and floated upward, back to the roof. The storm was already clearing, revealing stars here and there. Relative calm had descended on Metropolis.

"Elizabeth!"

When she landed, Diana hugged me fiercely; whispering in a language I didn't understand – but I knew every word she said to me anyway. It was inexplicable, but I embraced her too, the distance of twenty years evaporating in twenty seconds.

"Eris?"

"Unconscious somewhere down there."

When she let go, there was a touch on my shoulder. I turned to see a concerned expression on Dad's face. "Honey?"

I dropped the sword, suddenly very aware that I was probably smeared in blood – Phobos', if not Ares'. Dad looked at me, taking my face between his hands and then looking down into the office below, where Ares still lay spread-eagled. "Oh Lizzie."

"I had to, Dad. He- I had to."

"But, honey, that's just- That's not how we do things – you know that, Liz, you-"

"She had the right."

Diana was the only one not to jump as Bruce detached himself from the shadows. Dad turned to stare at him. "She had the right? Bruce, you- you of all people, are saying committing murder is okay?"

"Homicide is defined as one human killing another," he said flatly. "Elizabeth has just killed a god. Not the same thing."

Thank you, I mouthed to him. He nodded once. I suddenly realised I was trembling. "Daddy…can we go home? I'll explain everything, I promise, I just… I want to sleep for about a million years."

"Well…of course, honey. Not sure if home will still be there though," he joked weakly.

He laughed; I cried. Oh God, Ares' gruesome death hadn't erased it. It hadn't taken away what he'd done to me. It hadn't reversed the violation. Would anything? Ever? Diana took my hand, looking as though she knew exactly how I felt. "Come. Let's all go home. If your house is destroyed, you're both welcome at the manor."

As we landed at ground level, a scarlet blur skidded to a halt in front of us. "Good news, Supes and Supesette! Your house is still standing!"

"I think we have bigger problems, Flash," Dad said seriously. "Thousands of people are dead – thousands more are probably buried under all this rubble."

"Which is why I've already organised volunteers under the direction of League members to begin clearing away the rubble and take the survivors they do find to the hospitals which haven't been demolished."

"Oh."

With a grin to me, Flash zoomed away. "We should help too," Diana said. Bruce nodded, and the two of them moved off to where cries of trapped people could be heard. Before I made to follow them, Dad pulled me into another hug. "I'm glad you're okay, Lizzie. I think I forgot to tell you that."

I managed a shaky laugh. "You-"

The cries of the trapped suddenly coalesced into one scream. There was someone alive under the rubble, all right. Eris.

The goddess burst out faster than I could blink, faster than I could think. All I saw was a blade in her hand. A blade that was about to plunge into Dad's unprotected back.

My sword was magical.

Her sword was magical.

Kryptonians were vulnerable against magic.

Reflex saved his life – my reflex. I shoved him to the left as hard as I could, but Eris was moving too fast to stop. And her blade had to go somewhere. It felt very, very cold. Eris lasted only a few seconds before my very alive, wonderfully and completely alive dad smacked her across the city.

A bit too late for me though.

My legs felt shaky, so falling to my knees seemed like a perfectly sensible thing to do. Suddenly surrounded by three parents, I struggled to breathe. My hand came up and touched the hilt sticking out of my chest. All I could feel was a cold wetness, though I knew that logically my blood was supposed to be warm. And then I couldn't even kneel properly, and fell over completely.

It was perfectly clear I was going to die.

And dying hurt. A lot.

More when Dad tried to move me. He didn't get far.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Something hot and wet landed on my cheek. It took my pain-filled mind a second to realise he was crying. "No, Lizzie, no. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Lizzie-"

I touched his face and left bloody streaks behind. "Don't cry, Daddy, don't..."

He cried anyway. Someone else was crying too. My eyes were sluggish. I turned to look. Diana was on my other side. Tears falling down her cheeks. She had my other hand. I couldn't feel my fingers. I tried moving them. They still worked. Sort of. I squeezed her hand. "It's alright."

"We have to get her to the infirmary," she stammered.

One of them ordered an emergency transport while I looked back at Dad. "It's alright."

My lips were going numb. I didn't think I was breathing. It didn't hurt anymore.

My tired eyes found a blurry shadow. "Bruce..." I had three more words left in me. They couldn't be 'come down here'. But he knew and he knelt then leaned forward. I whispered. "...look...after...them."

When he nodded, I knew it would be all right. I could relax. So I did. I leaned against Daddy, and smiled when everything flooded with light.

A/N: I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry. I'm going into hiding now. But before I go - review please!