answers to reviewers questions or statements:
Tom2011: What makes you think Peter's standing will rise if he does happen to ensure the world is ready for Apokoliptain conquest? If that were the case, there'd be a lot more 'True Sons' of Darkseid running around, regardless of power levels.
Laser Crusader: Well that and through simple deduction Diana was able to put together who Peter called and what it was he said. She knows that Peter wouldn't just call anyone that has the potential to hurt him, and she knows that Darkseid is really he only being that could channel his power through a hologram and strike at someone.
christian a lebron1: He does, the issue is that Diana doesn't have a tried and true traditional weakness like some of her fellow Leaguers or Furies have. Even Batman has admitted that it'll probably take Superman or someone along his power level, like Shazam/Captain Marvel or Martian Manhunter to actually take her down.
Harbinger of Kaos: True, but Peter still would rather live than die. So really he's more of stuck between a rock and a hard place. And what makes you think that Darkseid won't just replace Peter with another one of his sons? The agreement never specified which child Diana had to be married to, just that she had to be married to one. And Diana's Gods will make sure they keep their power by enforcing that if they have to.
Mashot Tito: Very possible.
Batros940: Who says she's bluffing? Diana will kill someone if the situation demands it, unlike Batman or Superman, she was raised a warrior first and a hero second if not third or fourth. She rather not resort to such actions unless all other options have been exhausted but if push comes to shove... she'll end them. Darkseid is aware of the Syndicate's world, but he doesn't have any advance agents loyal to him already there preparing things for the inevitable invasion or real interest in it... until now.
GhostNova1: We shall see.
The Lion's Pride: Again, what's the issue? Can you not come up with anything? Is that what's wrong?
DeimosVulcan12: I wouldn't say she knew from the start, more of as they were making their way back to the rest of the League she put it together. Batman will eventually come over, but there's gonna be no Martian Manhunter or Rose romance. Haven't really read the current run of Spider-man comics.
Dark Eclipse: What makes you think that taking the world will keep Peter on his good side if he was ever on it to begin with? You actually think that Wonder Woman and the League are gonna turn their backs on the denizens of this alternate Earth just because the world may be a lost cause? I don't know if that's funny or sad.
MR NO BO DY: True, but the real issue Peter is facing is that Diana is a immediate threat, thus he's more worried about that, and the fact that he knows the League is just looking for an excuse to attack him. Right now he's pretty much on his own, no Furies, no Stones, no Ultron or Vison, no Parademons or even Kalibak to come to his aid. And Diana, unlike most in the League is willing to kill someone if the situation demands it, and preventing a world from falling under Darkseid's control could be one of those situations. Once more, Darkseid can be pleased, and thus the threat of death is for the time being adverted, Diana on the other hand, he still has no idea how to win her over. Normally yes, but Diana used her Mother Sword to create a small field to isolate them so they could talk privately, at least in that no one outside the field will hear them with some form of super hearing.
Hivedragon: You'd be surprised.
Spidey's1437: It's in Diana's nature to try and see the good in others and give them the benefit of the doubt and a chance to correct themselves. As for why she's not telling the rest of the League, Peter's standing with them is near hostile at best, telling them that Peter is planning to hand this world over to Darkseid after they leave may prompt them into direct physical confrontation and everything will go to shit. And on a world like Earth-3, they can't really afford to let such a thing happen.
DainBramagedMoFo: In what way is this fucking convoluted? And if your losing interest, than you can screw off and read something else instead of whining and bitching like a little girl.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or DC characters seen, mentioned or used.
Peter was in Hell, there was no denying it at this point.
Forced to sleep in a rundown factory that used to make toys and was owned by some sort of clown or court jester, even if he did have his 'lovely wife' next to him, all the while thinking up ways to ensure this world's conquest by Darkseid while avoiding imminent death by said lovely wife had left him awake all night. Than, just because the Source loved to torment Peter for kicks, he had to sit through a nearly eight hour long 'brief' held by Lex Luthor on how they were going to infiltrate Owlman's Wayne Plaza and gain access to the man's database and use it to bring down the Crime Syndicate. He would've tried to sleep through it, his suit could record the entire thing and update him when something relevant came up, but apparently Superman had been listening in on his breathing and would tell Diana to wake him up every time he began to dose off. Than as a final torture, Peter was forced to help Diana infiltrate Wayne Plaza in the most ridiculous attire he's ever seen in his several hundred year old life...
A damn tuxedo.
"So... this suit I'm wearing, which is practically strips of fabric made from plant material and animal parts, isn't armored in any shape or form" Peter said with a blank gaze as he stared down at his attire for this mission, a cry so far from his suit that it wasn't even in the same universe "No auto-reactive hardening surface, no energy feedback loops, no specialized monitoring equipment or in the event of a emergency, a short range teleporter or plane dispersal?"
"More or less" Diana said with a sigh, she told Lex to give him something, anything, that made his suit less... ordinary.
Now she was gonna have to put up with Peter's groaning in person, at least over a commlink she could just mute him. But ever since she realized what Peter had planned for this world, she decided to stick by him for every second they were here. She knew that sooner or later her threat would be overshadowed by the lingering one of his father, but at the very least her constant presence may slow him down or force him to abandon certain actions entirely.
Or at least, she hoped so.
It was entirely possible that, in Peter's mind at least, she was bluffing and eventually try to continue with his plans.
"Also why is this thing so tight and fitting?" Peter asked with a frown as he ran a hand over his covered arms, the material of the suit was a bit stretched on account of the muscle he possessed, not as much as say Bruce or Clark, but more than Dick possessed in comparison, which Diana assumed the suit was originally meant for until Diana volunteered herself and Peter to perform this part of the plan.
"Can't hide anything in them!" Peter scowled as he pulled at the sleeve's cuffs.
"Peter, we're tying to attract as little attention as possible" Diana said with a slightly irritated expression, wondering why she couldn't have just let Donna and Dick do this like Clark and Lex wanted "Thus we need to seem as inconspicuous as possible. Showing up at such an event in even slightly baggy looking clothing will draw attention from the others attending this party tonight"
Which was a bit ironic to say considering the dress she was attending this party in. A deep red backless dress that showed off far too much chevage than she was comfortable with, a slit that reached up to her hip on one side and was made of a sheer like material that showed that aside from the shadow of her panties, she was wearing nothing else under her attire. Though the fact her breasts' were near on full display was more than clue enough for anyone with a working pair of eyes.
It was made even worse when Diana saw that SHE was the one that was dressed the most provocatively tonight.
"Screw that noise, give me a armored suit with a big fucking anti-matter cannon at the very least and I'll be content" Peter scoffed before he reached out and snatched a glass of some sort of liquid off a passing waiter's tray and made to take a drink from it before Diana took it from his hand and placed it on another passing waiter's try in a single, fluid motion.
"No, your going to stay sober for this" Diana glared at her husband 'If I have to be, by Hera you will too!'
"You know, there's a word for women like you" Peter glared at Diana with a scowl "I believe the term humans use is fun police"
Diana didn't even want to know where the New God had even learned such a thing. With a shake of her head, Diana turned her attention to the massive room that the pair entered after being shown inside. The set up reminded Diana of the Iceberg Lounge, though far more... upscale, for the lack of a better word. While Cobblepot's establishment had a history as checkered as it could be and still be considered legiteament, there was a sense of Noir class to it, as if it was pulled right out of the early to mid Twentieth Century. Wayne Plaza on the other hand, at least the four story ball room that Diana and Peter found themselves in struck the Amazon as something straight out of the Palace of Versailles.
Large dramatic chandeliers made of varying colors of crystal that stood twice as high as Diana hanging from a ceiling that looked to have been made by the famed Renaissance painter, Michelangelo himself. The railings on each floor above the one she and Peter were on all looked to have been made of gold and silver and seemed to almost perfectly reflect the light of the chandeliers above while a single massive column made of black marble rose up through each level of the ball room until it reached the ceiling.
"What a... interesting room" Peter said as he slowly looked around, taking note of the space's characteristics.
"It's very... grand" Diana admitted with a small nod as she and Peter slowly made their way through the crowd and towards a area that housed a number of tables with various hors d'oeuvre on display.
"Grand?" Peter said with a scoff as he glanced up at the third floor of the ballroom which seemed to hold a number of what appeared to be slot machines, poker tables and various other gambling games "I was thinking over compensating. Whoever owns this place probably hasn't gotten laid in years"
Diana cracked a small grin at this "Or their too busy brooding about world domination"
If what Bruce's usual demeaner was dark and brooding, Hera only knew how much worse this Thomas Wayne Jr. could be.
"Did you just make a joke?" Peter said as he glanced at Diana in mild surprise.
"Yes" Diana said with a frown.
"Wow... that must've hurt" Peter said with a snort as he turned his attention back towards the party, gala, human get together thing.
"It may not seem like it, but I do like to have fun" Diana said with a huff as she reached up to brush a few strands of her hair.
Peter outright laughed at this "Oh I'm sure"
"It's true!" Diana insisted "Just ask any of my teammates"
"I'll do that" Peter said dryly before he noticed a small bar along the far side of the room, next to a grand staircase that took people up to the second levels and quickly made a beeline towards it.
"I said no drinking" Diana scowled at her husband, her grip tightening on his arm in warning, though the New God simply powered through whatever pain or discomfort he was in.
"Correction, you said I have to do this thing sober, never said anything about not having a drink" Peter corrected his Goddess of a wife as they reached the bar.
"You know what I meant" Diana said with narrowed eyes as she watched her husband order several drinks for himself and a glass of ice water for her.
How considerate of him.
"So what are we supposed to be doing anyway?" Peter asked as he watched the bartender begin to make his drinks... all twelve of them.
"We're to act as a distraction for Wayne Plaza's guards" Diana said as her eyes darted around the room, making a mental map of all the guards she could see and comparing it to the map that Luthor showed her earlier that showed where others would be stationed, outside of her field of vision "Once Manhunter and Nightwing are in position outside, you and I are to slip away, being sure to capture several guards' attention as we do so, and 'accidently' wander into areas that are... off limits"
"I fail to see how that'll help your sister's toy and the Martian" Peter said with a frown.
Diana repressed a sigh at this "While you and I are being handled by security, which you and I are going to resist with our 'drunken' escapades, Nightwing and Manhunter will bypass a remote vent that Luthor has identified as a weak-point in Wayne Plaza's security systems. Once their inside, they'll make their way to the control room and take control and allow Luthor, Superman and Flash access to the levels below that likely house the mainframe Owlman uses to monitor the Crime Syndicate. Once they get the information they need, we leave and plan out our attack on the Syndicate"
"And what's to stop Owlman and his people from just walking out here the moment our faces appear on any of his security systems and attack us before we can do any of this?" Peter asked as he spared a brief glance of the room "He probably has cameras that monitor every single person's face here and cross references them in some sort of database to see whose a threat or not"
"Luthor said he'll handle that" Diana said with a uncomfortable look on her face, even though this world's Luthor has proven to be Just so far, working with the man who looked so much like the Luthor she's come to detest was proving to be a far greater challenge than she initially anticipated.
"I'm still not convinced he's not using you all in some way and will turn on you the moment this Crime Syndicate is taken care of" Peter said with a ghost of a smile on his face as his mind flashed back to Luthor's little... 'greetings' package.
He really hoped Scott locked that thing up and made sure no one can get to it any time soon... he wanted to take a closer look at the Quantum Energies it was generating. And if he can happen to keep it, for the good of this Universe... well he had a few ideas on how to incorporate it's power into a suit he's been designing for some time now.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it" Diana said with a look of resolve in her eye.
"Of course you will. Can clearly see that you might end up being betrayed but instead of playing it smart and deal with the threat now, you want to wait for it to make the first move so you can justify any actions you take from then on... how heroic of you all" Peter said with an eye roll as he accepted his drink from the bartender and threw it back in one go.
Diana felt her brow twitch as Peter downed several more glasses of liquor in quick succession before she realized that Peter had slipped one of his drinks into her hands. She looked at the glass of amber color liquid in surprise before her gaze snapped back to Peter to see him winking at her as he chugged a particularly large glass of smelled like... tequila. Diana made a face at this, tequila was one of the few things about Patriarch's world that the Amazon never grew to enjoy, the taste and smell of it often left her feeling a bit nauseous.
"You know..." Peter said as he finished his drink with a satisfied grin before wiping away a few remnants of the liquor from his lips "If you want to avoid any suspicion, you could at least pretend to be having fun and indulge in this worlds drinks for a little while. We're supposed to 'sneak away' for some 'fun' later right? Well, one way to sell it is to look like we've been ingesting enough drinks to intoxicate a small country"
Diana scowled at Peter's argument, it was sensible and he wasn't wrong in that having the guards see her and her husband drinking large amounts of alcohol would help justify their actions later on.
"You are not going to get drunk" Diana warned her husband before taking a sip of her dink, pleased to find that it wasn't too strong.
"Like I'd be dumb enough to make that mistake with your damned Kryptonian dog floating around somewhere pretending he's going to be useful tonight" Peter said with a snort as he signaled for another round of drinks for him and Diana "I only ever get drunk when I know I'm safe from harm"
"Somehow, I doubt that" Diana said with a roll of the eyes as she took a long sip of her drink "He can also hear us you know"
"Good" Peter said as he glanced towards a random part of the wall "Hey Supes, tell the Flash I said Hi"
"Stop it" Diana sighed as she set her now empty glass on the bar's counter top "Please"
Peter grunted at this before he signaled for another glass for Diana "What, he can't take a few barbs thrown his way? With his thick skin?"
"Everyone has a limit Peter and you have a knack for helping people find theirs and getting there faster than they'd like" Diana said with a dry look.
"It's a gift" Peter shrugged.
"More like a curse to the rest of us" Diana said with a grin as she accepted a glass from the bartender, this one filled with a sweet smelling wine.
"Depends on the curse" Peter smirked as he leaned against the bar's counter and observed a number of people dancing a few meters away from the pair "The idea that a curse is nothing but bad is a gross misconception"
"Name one curse that turned out to be a blessing" Diana said with a tired grin as she sipped more of her wine.
"Well..." Peter tapped his chin in thought before he snapped his fingers "There's me"
"I beg your pardon?" Diana said with a raised brow.
"I was cursed to be utterly charming" Peter said with a grin as he glanced down at his glass and briefly channeled his Venom blast into it, causing the glass to heat and the liquid contents to glow "No matter where I go or when, women always seem to find me irresistible"
Diana couldn't help but chuckle at this "Really? Always? I seem to find myself seeing you as anything but irresistible"
"Well you grew up on a backwater with no class or culture" Peter replied with a wave of his hand "Can't expect you to know a good thing even when it's literally right in front of you"
"Took the words right out of my mouth, beloved husband of mine" Diana teased as she held her glass up in a mock toast before she downed the last of her wine.
Peter made a 'hmph' sound at this and was just about to grab another glass to drink, seriously this Earth's liquor was barely above flavored water with how weak it was, when he noticed a large commotion on the far side of the room. Diana noticed this as well and tilted her head to the side slightly in confusion at what was going on. For a moment she wondered it it was perhaps Owlman himself that arrived, or one of the other members of the Crime Syndicate, Luthor did warn them their appearance was a possibility. However, instead of the man himself, or Ultraman, Superwoman or any other member of the Syndicate that Diana's seen, the person to cause such a disturbance was a seemingly young whited haired woman dressed in a beautiful red dress.
"Now isn't that just cute. Slinking amongst humans like a wretched animal. How the mighty have fallen"
Diana glanced at Peter, alarmed at the sudden snarl he spoke with as he stared at the new arrival with a look of utter contempt. Even Peter's least favorite siblings were never spoken of in such a tone as the one that Peter was using as he all but glared at the white haired woman. The sudden shift of light heartedness that was emanating from Peter had quickly vanished, leaving a cold and uncomfortable atmosphere that several other Patrons of the Gala seemed to sense and quickly placed as much distance as they could between themselves and Peter and Diana, the former most of all.
"Peter..." Diana said as she set her glass down and took a step in front of Peter so that he was looking at her rather than the woman that was apparently causing such a reaction from him.
"You think she's a part of the Syndicate?" Peter asked as he pushed Diana out of the way and continued to stare at the white haired woman with growing rage, his eyes flickering to a red-ish orange color, the veins along them glowing just under the skin "I bet Luthor knows. I bet he's known she's been here all this time!"
"Peter, who is she?" Diana asked as she began to feel a growing sense of dread.
Not for the first nor last time will Diana regret letting Luthor talk them into going in here without some sort of commlink. He argued that Owlman's security systems will pick up their transmissions, even telepathic ones from Martian Manhunter.
"Peter, look at me" Diana said as she reached up and grabbed Peter by the chin and forced him to look at her, not at the woman "Tell me, what's going on?"
Peter growled as thin red tears began to appear on his head, just above his glowing eyes. Blood began to leak from them, like tears before the tears began to glow the same color as the ones his eyes were. Before Diana could do or say anything, Peter reached up and grabbed her wrist, the force of the grip shocked Diana as she felt her bones begin to grind together from the sheer pressure of Peter's hold on her before her hand was torn away from his face and she received a Venom blast to the chest, sending her flying across the room and into the wall with enough force to shake the very building.
Dozens of people let out screams of shock as Peter raised his arm, his face contorted into a dark and viscous snarl as he glared at a now horrified New Goddess of Probability. Before she could say or do anything, Peter unleashed possibly the most powerful Venom Blast he's ever fired. The intensity of the bioelectric energy burned and shredded the sleeve of his suit, melting parts of it to his arm before it burned away from the dark and powerful energy coursing through his arm.
The nearly black bolt of electricity raced across the room, incinerating dozens as the energy traveled near or through them before striking the former Fury and her small entourage, engulfing them in a near blinding red light.
And than, all hell broke loose.
...
Everything was ringing.
And smelled of smoke... and burnt flesh.
With a pained groan, Diana opened her eyes and blinked as she stared up at the ceiling, it's surface lined with cracks and the large crystal chandeliers shaking. She slowly sat up, only to wince in pain as the horrid burn on her chest, right between her breasts, torn and allowed small bits of her blood to leak through. Shaking her head, Diana slowly climbed back on to her feet and looked around for any sign of Peter. The gala was in chaos, hundreds of people were yelling and screaming, some running for any exit they could find, others cowing underneath tables or simply lying as flat on the floor as they could in the hopes to avoid the black bolts of Peter's Venom blasts tearing through the air.
Diana's eyes narrowed in rage as she saw her husband shooting at a large group of people, incinerating men and women without a second's thought or hesitation as he attempted to hit the white haired woman that ran to them, possibly thinking that Peter would hesitate to shoot her through them... or perhaps, she knew he would and was still using them as a means for cover while she sought a way to escape. Diana had no idea at the moment, nor did she care, all that mattered right now was stopping Peter from killing anyone else. Holding out her hand as she began to run towards Peter, Diana quickly kicked off her heels and leaped into the air as Jarnbjorn suddenly flew through the wall and into her palm.
With a war cry that would've given even Doomsday pause, Diana channeled the ax's power into it's blade, causing the metal to glow with divine lightning as she gripped it's handle with both hands and brought the ancient weapon up to bring down on Peter. Whether he heard her war cry or simply sensed her approaching, Peter turned and stared up at her for a moment, his snarl briefly replaced by a look of surprise before he jumped back as Jarnbjorn's blade made contact with the floor. The mystical lightning stored up in the ax's blade erupted from the metal and engulfed everything around the point of contact in a powerful blast of divine lightning. Peter uttered a pained yell as several strays arcs managed to strike him, sending his body flying into the wall, his clothes' igniting as arcs of electricity spread across his body.
Diana spared Peter a quick once over to make sure that she hadn't done any serious damage before turning to analyze the rest of the room. She had no idea what suddenly set Peter off, this level of rage and aggression was far beyond anything she's seen before, even their recent marital spat couldn't compare. Either way, that white haired woman from earlier was somehow involved and Diana intended to find out how. For all she knew, the woman was some sort of telepath that somehow reached into Peter's mind and-
"That... fucking... hurt..." Peter said before he let out a shuttering breath as he pushed himself back to his feet, using the wall beside him for support.
Diana's grip on Jarnbjorn tightened as Peter slowly looked up towards the Amazon and felt her breath hitched as she stared into six glowing red eyes. Energy leaked from them as they glowed, as if it could just barely be contained and was slowly pushing to get out. It reminded Diana of Darkseid whenever he was charging up his Omega Beams to be unleashed, though the added eyes gave the amazon the impression that perhaps the New God was being affected by the likes of Trigon.
Perhaps Peter shared some form of relation to the Demon through his mother?
"Peter..." Diana said as she raised Jarnbjorn, it's blade crackling with divine lightning as the energy in Peter's eyes continued to glow "Don't. If you continue these actions, I will put you down"
Peter growled at the Amazon before his gaze flickered to something behind Diana. With a snarl, four beams of disjointed energy violently shot out from the four newly added eyes on his head, the skin surrounding them seemed to burn and darken as the beams violently raced through the air, shifting up, left, down, right, backwards forwards and around Diana and towards their target. Diana looked back to see what Peter's target was and was greeted to the sight of the white haired woman from earlier, her dress burnt and torn and just barely hanging on to her bruised body. Diana tried to move, to try and save the woman before she was struck, but the four approaching energy beams suddenly began to veer off course and strike everything around her instead.
"How...?" Diana said, confused as she stared at the beams acting erratically.
"YOU DAMN BITCH!" Peter snarled at the white haired woman, causing her to flinch as he took a threatening step forward.
"Peter, wait I-" the woman began before Peter lunged at her with a yell filled with so much rage and hate that Diana for a brief moment felt... scared.
Not for herself, but for the woman that was now the focus of Peter's potent anger... and a small part of herself felt afraid for him.
Without a second thought, Diana flew towards Peter and intercepted the New God, the force of her collision with him knocked them both off course from the white haired woman and sent the two skipping across the floor. Jarnbjorn was knocked from Diana's grasp as the two skidded to a stop before the large staircase that led to the ballroom's higher levels. Diana tried to summon it back but Peter was on her in a instant, one hand gripping her throat and pinning her to the ground while the other reached out and seized the hand trying to summon her ax and twisting it so far that for a second, the Amazon thought it'd snap.
"Stop. Helping. Her!" Peter hissed as he leaned down towards the Amazon, with the extra two pairs of eyes, each radiating red-ish orange energy that caused the blood leaking from his eyes to seem even darker, her husband at that moment looked well and truly like a Son of Darkseid.
"Peter... who... is... she?" Diana asked as she tried to ignore the pain she was feeling in her neck and arm, it seemed that whatever has happened to Peter, his physical strength had skyrocketed to near her level.
Peter stared at her for a moment, the rage he was feeling seeming to subside for a moment and the glare in his eyes fading just enough for her to make out each eye's individual pupil.
"Someone I never should've trusted"
Diana blinked in confusion at this while Peter suddenly climbed off her and turned towards where the white haired woman was only to see that she was now gone!
With a growl, Peter turned back towards Diana and reached down to grab her only for a red and blue blur to suddenly shoot through the wall and slam into Peter and send both of them through the opposite side of the room and through the wall and to whatever was beyond it. Diana was pushed back down by the shockwave of Peter and the red and blue blur's collision but quickly regained her bearings and summoned Jarnbjorn back to her grip before giving chase.
As Diana flew through the whole her husband and his new opponent had made, a part of her briefly wondered if Nightwing and Martian Manhunter had infiltrated the tower or not.
...
And done.
Next chapter, Apocalyptic wrath...