OWN NADA
Diana gasped at the hand around her shoulder and turned to its owner in surprised rage, flipping him over her shoulder into the hard asphalt roads. "What in Zeus's name are you doing here?" she hissed, her accent returning in her anger. "And I thought I told you never to touch me ever again."
Steve kept his smug but dreamy grin as he looked into the Amazonian's vibrant, sharp sky blue eyes. "God, you're as beautiful as the day I met you-" Diana wrenched his arm, making him wince. "Alright, I see someone is still sore about how you ended our relationship." He hopped to his feet. "But that's okay. I'm willing to forgive you."
"You slept with other women while I was away saving the world from things your great army of men cowers in front of," Diana barked. "I will never forgive you for that!"
Trunks' jaw nearly dropped at that level of stupidity. Who the hell would cheat on one of the most powerful beings on the planet? Steve blinked with a blank expression. "Why are you playing so hard to get again? You get your grunt over here to take me to you so you can crawl back to me, and now you're acting like this? What's up with that, babe?"
"No one is playing any games, Steve," Diana said, turning back to the smoky alleyway. "Get out of my sight, or you will get hurt."
"You know I love it when you say my name," Steve said.
"What are you doing here?" Diana said again, punting him into the wall of the restaurant with one arm.
"I was just in the neighborhood feeling nostalgic," Steve said, "but no woman can hold a candle to you, my darling. Now, can we ditch your orange and blue pet monkey there and head back to my apartment for a little R and-"
"Please don't call me that," Trunks said quickly.
"Would 'ape' be a better term? You sure jump like one," Steve said with a smirk.
"Fine," Trunks said, "call me any form of primate ever again and I'll strangle you with your own intestines."
Steve laughed. "Buddy, come on; if you could really do that, you wouldn't be playing the last fiddle to my girl here. Go home. We need some time alone."
"Diana of Themyscira!" two deep, rumbling voices bellowed from within the smoke. "Face us and meet your end!"
"Phobos, Deimos," Diana shouted, pointing her blade at the alley. Trunks recognized those names and he tensed, preparing to fight. "Cowards in arms, tell me what you know about Ares and Themyscira's barrier weakening and maybe my partner and I will spare you."
"I won't spare either of them," Steve said, stepping in front of Diana.
"She was talking about me," Trunks corrected.
"I'll handle this, newbie," Steve scoffed, stepping toward the smoke. "Pal, go home before I step in there and beat your ass-" A thick, muscular blue arm shot through the smoke and a three-fingered hand grasped him around the neck, raising him into the air kicking at pulling at the monster's arm.
Two humanoid entities standing at eight feet tall with blue skin and bulging with muscles stepped from the smoke. Their eyes were glowing red and each one had five green snakes attached to their chin with yellow eyes, all hissing at the American. They wore black and gold Greek armor with golden bronze wristbands, helmets, sandals, and carried black iron blades crackling with dark energy. "I am Deimos and he is Phobos, sent here to kill the Amazon and to free our father from his prison on the island."
"We will send you back to the hole you crawled out of," Diana spat.
"Tell them, honey," Steve croaked.
"Well, you don't look like you're from around here," Trunks said.
"We are gods," Phobos said; just hearing him talk made the Saiyan want to tear into them. It seemed as if just the presence of the twin gods of terror made their powers affect others around them. "What power do you hold against us, demigod?"
"You are so daft as to ignore all of the other times I have defeated you," Diana said.
"But now there are two of us, and one of you," Deimos said, flaring his yellow fangs.
"I'm right here," the Saiyan said.
"And you are not a threat to us," Phobos said, "leave now, lest you wish to be destroyed."
"Yeah, just go," Steve croaked. "Diana doesn't need you."
"Brother," Deimos said, "the heads of the two inferiors would fit well on a necklace, don't you think?"
Phobos stared at the Saiyan for a minute and his cracked mouth stretched into an ugly, black and orange grin. "Indeed."
Deimos tossed Steve aside and let out a battle cry. The brothers charged toward Diana. "Split them up," Diana said, "I'll take Deimos to the coast, you take him to anywhere else without people. We'll convene at the ports. Bring them back alive."
Steve sat up and prepared to stand. "Got it, babe," he said through winded breaths.
"She means me," Trunks snarled. Phobos threw a punch and the Saiyan caught the massive fist with one hand. The force blew his hood back, revealing his long, full lavender hair and angry ocean blue eyes with tanned skin hid under a blue facemask he fashioned out of one of Diana's blue scarves, all things Steve secretly wished he had. It didn't matter though; at least he got the girl at one point, unlike her new toy in orange here. Diana caught Deimos's arm and whipped him into the sky toward the coast, following up with a flying kick that sent him barreling. She left to pursue, leaving the Saiyan and Steve to deal with Phobos.
"Why would she trust you with a god?" Steve laughed arrogantly.
"Because she knows what I am when I get pissed," Trunks said, falling into a fully offensive fighting stance. He dodged a series of sluggish but deadly punches that tore holes through the brick walls of the alley. Trunks leaned out of the way of a wind breaking fist and took an elbow to the chest, flattening him to the wall. It hurt a lot more without the armor on. Phobos picked up a dumpster and whipped it into the Saiyan, sending him flying seven blocks. The shopping mall that took up the entire block was emptied due to the fires that had nearly consumed it earlier. Trunks flipped back and landed just in front of the doors, shaking the foundation with an aura spike and a cry of rage. Phobos sped down the blocks with his sword drawn and thrust his blade forward. The Saiyan caught his arm and ripped the sword out of his hand before throwing him into the mall. Steve caught up a few minutes later and looked inside the mall, watching the enraged young man pummeling the minor god with side kicks. Trunks fazed out with speed he had only seen his ex use and toss him into a boutique and nail salon from the broken tiles surrounding the directory stand under bright, white lights on the ceiling from the two-floored building with a glass ceiling. One side of the building had all of their shops still open; the other side had steel shutters closed over the doors. Trunks turned to Steve with Phobos' blade.
"Here, be of use or stay out of my way," Trunks snarled, tossing the blade at the stunned human's feet. He rushed into the half destroyed nail salon with polish and polish remover battling it out in a puddle on the floor around the sitting tables. Trunks threw a kick at the dazed deity but he caught it. Trunks felt the grip nearly crush his ankle and Phobos shouted in rage, slamming the Saiyan onto the ceiling and into a glass overhead light and back onto the yellow tile floor. Trunks started to roll as Phobos continually tried stomping his face in with his fat foot. Steve watched the Saiyan climb up Phobos like a spider in a Krav Maga styled throw. Phobos sailed across the first floor and into a steel shutter on the second floor, collapsing through it and into a dark barber shop. Trunks rolled into the shop and aimed his hands at the bin of styling scissors. They raised from the bin and the Saiyan whipped around as Phobos tossed the shutter aside. Phobos gasped and crossed his arms over his face, wincing every time a scissor put a hole through his arms. The Saiyan followed with a ki-spiraled fist that sunk through his armor like it was jello. Phobos arched over the surprising blow and his anger overtook the pain. Phobos caught the Saiyan in a reverse bear hug and flipped back off the second floor balcony, crumpling Trunks to the floor headfirst. Phobos whipped Trunks into a pillar and his head smacked against the concrete, putting a dent in it. The god followed up on the groggy Saiyan with a hook that sent him sliding into a large fountain with a bust of Poseidon spitting water into the concrete burial ground for many a penny. The Saiyan hopped to his feet, drenched from head to toe.
Steve scoffed and folded his arms. It was about time this cocky kid got what he deserved. He watched Phobos charge forward and then heard the Saiyan scream following a flash of white light. He shook the spots out of his vision and noticed the Saiyan looked vastly different now with golden hair that stood up on its ends and shining emerald eyes. Phobos took an uppercut to his nose and golden ichor sprayed all over the Saiyan and into the fountain. "Just what the hell is this guy?" he said, watching in aggravation as this "new suitor" for his woman, he thought, delivered a brutal beating through the god's armor. Trunks caught his arm and twisted, feeling three pops through the beast's arm. He kicked Phobos' kneecap inward, making Steve wince with the crack that followed.
"That's the cartilage in your joints getting torn apart and separated," Trunks said, throwing Phobos back upstairs and into a shoe store. "As for your leg, I might not have broken it, but you won't be kicking with that if I don't send you back underground for the next year." He hopped to the second floor and Steve followed, quickly heading up the stopped escalator to watch the Saiyan, hopefully, lose. Trunks rushed into the room and Phobos sprang forward, hooking Trunks with his massive arm and slamming him into a shoe rack with red stiletto heels on either side of his head. Phobos kicked up a table and hurled it toward the Saiyan. Trunks caught it and the deity rammed his shoulder into the other side, crushing the Saiyan in the wall.
"I will send you to a realm where you will fall continuously for the next millennium!" Phobos barked, pushing even harder until the Saiyan's head broke the bricks behind him.
Trunks gritted his teeth and started pushing back, slowly removing himself from the wall. Steve's eyes turned greener with envy as the Saiyan's golden aura spiked again. "At least let me see a brochure first," he said, following up with his special attack. "Ki Blast Cannon!"
Steve had to leap back as a white and yellow ball of bright, burning energy turned the table into ashes and sent the god rolling back into the railing over the first floor. The angry giant stood up and darted toward Steve to dodge another energy wave and the Saiyan followed in pursuit, blocking a hook and knocking Phobos over the railing with a kick to the face that knocked off his helmet revealing a bald, slimy scalp. Phobos grabbed anything he could to catch himself and ended up grabbing Steve's arm.
"Hey, hey! Oh, shit!" Steve said, getting torn from the second floor and falling into the water as the god's hostage. Trunks landed in front of the fountain, glaring at the spawn of War with his extraterrestrial power crackling around him.
Phobos stood up with Steve in a chokehold and another hand on the top of his head.
"Let go of me, you overgrown blueberry fucker!" Steve barked, kicking and wriggling again.
Phobos opened his bloodied mouth into a desperate grin, seeing the Saiyan holding his helmet like it was a piece of garbage. "You are human," he said, "I can smell that side of you fearing for this man's life." He inhaled deeply with a serpentlike shudder. "But there is something else, something more primal, devoid of fear." Trunks said nothing, waiting for the rest of the bargaining to happen before he made a move. "So what is it going to be? Kill me and kill him, or kill me and kill the world?"
Trunks flashed a frown and whipped Phobos' helmet toward him. Phobos ducked as the speeding piece of bronze sailed overhead and he looked toward his opponent, seeing nothing but a small gray cloud of smoke and his helmet on the floor. He gasped and looked up at where his helmet used to be, seeing a bright blue ball of spinning energy right before he hit the water. Steve slipped out of the god's grasp and rolled out of the fountain. He turned around and got a splash of water to the face as the blue spinning ball whipped any water out of the fountain. Phobos let out a cry of fear and ignored the pain twisting his face. He stood up and threw a punch at the much faster Saiyan. Trunks dodged and poked Phobos in the chest. "Dodompa!" he exclaimed, blowing Phobos through the wall and outside with a dense, yellow beam of energy. He turned to the envious and awestruck Steve. "You're welcome."
Steve folded his arms and rolled his eyes. "I could have done that," he said under his breath, running outside to see the rest of the battle. Trunks gripped Phobos' armor and tore it apart to deliver a blasting punch. Phobos stumbled back across the cut off street and fell up against the wall of an office building. He barely leaned out of the way of a right cross and took the Saiyan's arm, whipping him through a streetlight. Trunks rolled to his feet and lifted the pole, ducking a sloppy kick. He stood up and kicked back, this precise strike hitting his temple and blurring the god's vision. Before Phobos could retaliate, the pole had been tied around his arms, chest, and sealed shut with red hot energy that melted the pole ends together. Steve rushed in with Phobos' blade drawn, chopping the heads off the little snakes on his beard. "At least finish him off; have you ever been in a fight before? You're okay with your styles, but sparring and fighting are far different."
Trunks ignored him and hefted the brute that weighed about 600 pounds onto his back like he was deadlifting him.
"Come with me or not," Trunks told Steve, "I could not care less."
"Are you stupid or something?" Steve spat. "I need to talk some sense into Diana."
Trunks held back from throwing a strike or a hundred into Steve's face. He took off into the sky and sailed toward the coast, seeing Diana waiting on the cool, salty sands with her sword sheathed, her wavy hair flowing into her face, with a pile of black ashes in a pile with Deimos's helmet on top. He looked down, seeing Steve on a rented bike from outside the mall, desperately trying to beat him to her. Trunks rolled his eyes and landed on the beach just before the calm waves hit the sand to turn it light brown. He threw a dizzy Phobos next to the pile of ash. "It's about time," Diana said, folding her arms and walking over to the Saiyan.
"At least mine is alive," Trunks said with a small triumphant smile. "What happened to Deimos?"
"Suicide," Diana said, "the demon bit his scalp with his own serpent before I could question him. He had nothing on him, so probing Phobos while he's alive is our priority. What took you so long?"
Trunks powered down and they heard the ringing of Steve's rent-a-bike. Trunks pointed to him over his shoulder. "Your ex kept getting in my way."
"Diana, I finished him off for you," Steve said, hopping off his bike. Trunks put the deity on his back and clapped his shoulders, knowing he did it right when the pop of double dislocation rang through the air. "Your underling here landed a couple good hits, but I think you know."
"I know that he did it and I'm not going to let you take any credit," Diana said bitterly. "If you continue talking to me and him in that way, I know I will break you."
Steve stepped back, keeping his smirk. "You know how sexy you are when you're mad?"
"Leave!" Diana snapped.
"I can't, darling," Steve said, "we have to talk." Trunks wanted to puke but he held back the urge. He started interrogating Phobos. "Thanks, try to get something out of him," Steve said. He handed the Saiyan Phobos' blade. "Hold this for me, alright?" Steve's smirk faded to a wide, sorrowful frown and he dropped to his knees and he sighed deeply. "Diana, when I met you, I saw something in you, a spark that bounced from you onto me, making me a better man and a better person. I made those mistakes because I was lonely, and I should never have hurt you like that. I think that if you'll give me one more chance, you will see that I am a changed man. I love you, Diana."
Diana cocked one eyebrow. "Really, now? Have you changed?"
Steve rose to his feet and tried reaching out to her. "Yes, baby, I'm no longer the chauvinistic deviant that turned on you. I'm Steve Trevor, and you're my one and only."
Diana outstretched her arms with a painful smile, looking like she was about to cry. "Come here, Steve." She went to embrace the overjoyed soldier and pulled back with him the golden lasso around his neck. Her smile reverted to its original small scowl. "What were you doing before the Saiyan rescued you? The Lasso of Truth compels you."
Steve laughed nervously and she pulled the lasso tighter. Steve fought his lips and mouth from moving like his life depended on it, which it might. The lasso tore the words from his lips with a yell of rage. "I was sleeping with three girls I met at a bar yesterday."
Diana groaned and removed the lasso, turning away from the airman. "Get out of my sight, Steve."
"Come on, please-"
"Out!" Diana snapped, making Steve flinch. He put his arms down and slowly walked over to his bike.
"Well, alright," Steve sighed. "I will meet you again, Diana." He hopped on his bike and pedaled away solemnly.
Trunks watched Diana calm herself down and turned to the pig on his bike. He wondered how someone like that managed to date Diana, then screw around with other women; as far as women the Saiyan had met so far, she was unchallenged. What an idiot, Steve was. "Wonder Woman," the Saiyan said softly, not sure how to enter the conversation from that, "are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Diana spat, "let's just get back to work and forget whatever that was just happened."
Although she wasn't fine at all, Trunks thought, reading her defensive body language and sharp tone. Whoever Steve Trevor was to her, he was very important at one point. He figured she would let it out in her own way. "I was able to get a place and symbol from Phobos. And his stygian iron blade. Can I keep it? According to him, he did not know why the barrier to your island went down this morning, just that he needed to show Ares this symbol upon his breakout."
WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD TRY TO RELEASE ARES? CAN STEVE GET EVEN MORE ANNOYING? FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON NFOJ!
