Chapter 37: Man Of War
Ares still felt the sting from where the Amazonian had killed him even though months had passed since then. Every time he thought about that moment he felt a moment of anger and then arousal. She would make a worthy bride. When all of this was over he would make her his bride and be done with it. Her sister might have rejected him, but she would not, of that he was sure.
He emptied his mind as the woman approached. "What did you want Ares?" Iris, Messenger of Olympus demanded.
"I wanted to know where things are going with the plan." Ares said keeping his voice as neutral as possible.
"They are progressing as they were meant to. The heroes are divided and the people are now looking to Superman to save them." Iris responded.
"Good." Ares said.
"The conflict will grow as time progresses; you can have no doubt about that. We have given the resistance the funding to expand its operations." Iris said.
Ares laughed. "That must have sat well with that idiot archer."
"The archer is not part of the resistance anymore and Artemis has asked that we spare him and his woman from harm." Iris said.
Ares raised an eyebrow. "He has given up on his principles then."
Iris did not confirm or deny it, instead she changed the topic. "Progress with the amazon has not been as quick as we would have liked, Ares. Your father is not impressed with what you have done."
Here Ares felt his defences tighten. "I am doing all that I can. It is not good for the plan that she and Bat are still getting on. She was supposed to kill Roy Harper not be stopped in killing him. But no matter, I have found another way to ensure that she and the Bat fight one another."
Iris looked at him and said. "If it is what I think it is then you had best make sure it works. Hades has complained about the loss of souls for him to feast on."
Ares snorted. "My uncle is always complaining about something. He will not need to complain when this is all done. He will have more than enough souls to feast on."
Iris nodded. "Very well, unless there is anything else that you need to talk to me about, I had best be on my way."
Ares waved a hand, and he watched as the woman disappeared into the air. He had always wondered how she did that. Ares knew how he and his fellow Olympians did that, but Iris was not one of them, or at least that was what his mother had told him. But his mother had a habit of looking down on anyone who hadn't been borne of her flesh or hadn't fought against the Titans the first or second time. So, he wasn't sure what to think.
He shook his head then; he couldn't get distracted now. He took a deep breath and then departed down onto the mortal plain. He appeared in a shady back alley where a man with a badly scarred face was looking at him.
"What took you so long?" The man demanded.
"You would consider watching your tone, Henshaw." Ares responded.
"I will consider nothing. God or not, you need me more than I need you." Henshaw replied dismissively.
Ares briefly considered killing the man there and then but decided that this would make for a far more interesting game. He waved his hands in front of the man and watched as the transformation occurred. The man's broken and burned skin melted away and was replaced by solid metal, his empty eye socket was replaced by a red eye, and his right hand and arm took on the appearance of a robot. The man's considerable bulk was expanded by the metal that filled out the gaps in his bones. He saw Henshaw look over his work and said. "There now you are free to resume your duty."
Henshaw flexed his muscles and his hands he grabbed something and snapped it in two, then grabbed a stray cat and snapped it in half, a malicious smile coming over his face. "Thank you." The man said looking at him.
Ares nodded. "You know what you need to do. And do no fail, otherwise Superman will be the least of your worries."
"Yes, my lord." Henshaw said bowing his head before departing into the night sky.
Ares watched the man disappear and found himself wondering, not for the first time just how he'd come to be in this position. For thousands of years he'd reigned supreme as the God of War for the Egyptians, for the Aztecs and Mayans and for the Greeks, people had prayed to him before they'd gone to fight and die for their pompous rulers, and he had grown strong from it. Strong enough to mount a challenge to his father, but the challenge had failed and he'd been cast out, and now here he was, doing his father's dirty work.
"Never mind." He said aloud then. "When this is all done I will take my revenge." He thought of his one true love and promised her he'd get revenge when this was done. First Superman, then Zeus. Two titans who would die at his hand.
"Come." He said then and a figure appeared with blonde hair, blue eyes and a well chiselled figure. "You know what you need to do?"
"I do Mein Fuhrer." The man replied.
"Go then and do not fail." Ares said. He watched as the man walked out onto the street and smiled, the Amazon would not know what was coming.
