The Devil hunters and the Justice League were in the Javelin heading straight to the Tower of Blood. There was a deep thick tension inside the plane as they were flying towards their determined destination.
"How much further?" Wonder Woman asked Batman who was in the pilot's seat.
"20 minutes from the drop point." Batman replied to the question. Diana nodded, not feeling any different than earlier when they departed from the Watchtower. Anxiety. Concern and anger. Sensing this, the Dark Knight tried to assure her, to ease her worries. "We'll save her, Diana."
"I know. But still... I can't help but worry. She is my mother." Diana admitted.
Batman nodded, relating to her. If his parents were still alive and were the ones kidnapped, he'd probably feel the same way. "I understand."
Lately he's been feeling something for the Amazonian Princess but there was something that held him back from acting on it. He knew what it was, fear built from the number of times he had his heart stomped on by Selina, Talia and Andrea. Oh, Andrea. The life they could've had if not for the mob, her father and the Joker when he was starting out. He almost left the life of Batman behind because of her. Besides, no good things can ever come out of office romances. It always ends ugly.
Dante had a somber look, glancing out the window. He was going back to the one place where his brother was trapped for 10 years or so tortured by the demon that had a hand in his mother's death. Worst field trip ever.
"How long have you and Dante known each other?" Hawkgirl inquired Trish.
"20 years. Maybe even longer." Trish replied thinking about her time as Mundus' dutiful minion and the events that occured on Mallet Island. "Feels a life time though. Believe or not, we were enemies once, I was created to resemble his mother by an old enemy of Dante. It didn't go too well because he underestimated my maternal instincts towards him."
"And then?" Hawkgirl pressed on.
Trish shrugged. "I spent a few months traveling around the world, trying to come to terms with who I am without the strings on me and what I have done. Still working on that part."
"We all have done things we aren't proud of in the past." Hawkgirl said, thinking about her previous life on her native planet of Thanagar and the things she had to do to survive. "The best we can do is to accept them and do better for the future."
"The voice of experience?" Trish said.
Hawkgirl fell slient when asked upon that question which kinda answered it. Trish nodded to herself as the Javelin continued to head to its predetermined destination.
XXXX
Temen Ni Gru.
The unlikely pairing of Flash and Hipployta were walking down the hallway at the dungeon of the Tower, looking around and spotted decayed bones that filled the cells. If he's honest, the place gives him the heebie jeebies. No wonder Diana's mom looked uncomfortable being back there. Flash and Hipployta were not friends or anything, they were more like situational partners at best.
"Can't believe this is where Mundus tried to take over the world. Can't imagine what it must've been back then." Flash mused, shivering in fear at the coldness that was evident in the lower levels of the tower.
The Queen of the Amazons agreed with that assessment. "It's the one place that I did not wish to go back to when I returned home. So many lives were lost that day." She stated.
Memories of her fallen sisters came back into her mind all those years ago. Alexa. Nubia. Persera. She had the unfortunate luck to witness them slayed on the battle ground as the Amazon army did their best effort to hold back Mundus' hordes of darkness to give Sparda the time to prevent his ascension. And of course Iorena.
XXXX
2000 years ago.
In the midst of the heated battle between the resistance and the demon army, Hipployta spotted her fallen brunette sister who was bleeding from the open wound on her chest, thanks to Mundus. "Iorena!"She rushed over to aid her.
"You were right. About Mundus. I was a fool for falling for his act." Iorena whispered, bleeding profusely.
Hipployta took no pleasure in Iorena admitting her wrongdoings. She just tried to make her see reason on several occasions and it resulted with a heavy price. "Just stay with me, sister. I'll have Arubis take you back to the hut to heal you."
Iorena shook her head grabbing her chest armor while looking her dead in the eyes. "No. It's no use. I'm already dead anyway. Hipployta. Whatever happens, make sure that my goddaughter does not repeat the mistakes I made. Tell her that's alright to feel but always trust your instincts."
And with that, Iorena took her final breath as she collapsed to the soil, leaving a devastated Queen whom shed a tear for the woman she considered a sister to her.
XXXX
Present
Holding back the tears, she took a breath to regain her composure. "We must hurry. If Aresia wish to go through her promise, the ritual must take place at the top of the tower." She told him.
"Right." Flash muttered as they moved up. "Wait a minute, I get why I am here because apparently I'm the great-great-great grandson of the guy that helped Sparda. but why you?"
"Because the ritual requires not only the blood of a human but it also requires the blood of Amazonian Royalty dipped into the seal located at the top of the tower." Hipployta confessed with great reluctancy.
Flash's eyes underneath the mask widened as he almost immediately got the full picture. "That's why you scattered the devil arms things across the globe. To keep history from repeating itself."
"And to prevent my daughter from enduring the same fate as I almost did, two millennia ago." Hipployta added.
"What do you mean? What's going to happen?" Flash inquired, having a bad feeling about what she's going to say.
"If the ceremony goes uninterrupted, the demon world and our world will be united, allowing Mundus to hold dominion over the humans and Amazons alike. Not even Olympus can withstand his power."
That's not what he wanted to hear. "Bumper." Flash chuckled nervously. Then he saw something at the hallway. "Uh, oh." He pointed his finger towards the end of the hall. Hipployta followed his glance and frowned when she laid her eyes on a trio of black robe wearing skeleton beings that carried scythes in their hands like Reapers of Hell (Hell Caina: Cleaving Vanguard).
Flash wasn't sure what to do now but he wasn't going let her die on his watch. Diana would have his head if anything came to hurt him. "Ok, I'll distract them. You go..."
Flash was cut off by Hipployta's war cry as the Amazonian Queen charged towards the Hell Cains, leaping over them as she took one of the scythes and proceeded to decapitate one Hell Caina's head before bisecting the second through the torso. She then swung the scythe upwards, cutting the last one in two vertically. She hasn't lost her fighting skills.
"Or you could just do that." Flash said, surprised. Hipployta tossed the scythe away as the Hell Cainas disintegrated into dust.
"I may not carry battle armor anymore, but I still am an Amazon."
If there was any lingering doubt in his mind that the queen was Diana's mother, there wasn't now. God Save the Queen. "I can see that." Flash noted.
XXXX
After parking the Javelin at the small town near the tower, the group walked down the road to the Temen Ni Gru seeing the bones of the those that were here before them in the past. 20 years and it still looked the same the day he left with Lady after Vergil went to Hell and the death of Arkham. Yeesh.
"Holy shit. Can't believe this is still standing." Dante uttered his surprise while looking around the small town. "It's as if it hadn't changed at all."
"I've seen worse." Batman replied, keeping an eye out for any surprises that may come their way.
Holding her mace tightly, Hawkgirl glanced around and spotted a group of weird looking vultures that was not far from their position, feeding on a recent deceased body (Fleetings: Corrupt Vultures.). "What's that?"
The Half demon grimaced recognizing them. "Fleetings. Demonic Scavengers. Always looking for scraps left by their masters to pick up." Dante commented.
"What are they doing?" Wonder Woman wondered with morbid curiosity.
"They're feeding on human blood from the arteries." Trish told them to the disgust of others with the exception of Batman. Green Lantern shook his head while Hawkgirl narrowed her eyes and Wonder Woman closed her eyes. That was not a pleasant sight to see.
"Get away from them, you cretins! Flock off! Scram!" An old man wearing worn out was waving his cane, sending them flying. The fleetings screeched as they went on to attack the elderly man.
Green Lantern constructed a shield to protect the elderly from harm as the Fleetings tried to use their beaks to penetrate it but couldn't while Hawkgirl charged at them and struck with her mace, it was enough to make them scatter.
"Easy there, Grandpa." Green Lantern said, trying to assure the old man who was on caution of seeing new faces. "We're not here to hurt you. Unless you give us a reason to."
"Are you prisoners of Mundus too?" The elderly man inquired, eyeing the heroes with a keen interest as the shield dissipated.
"No. We're here to stop the person that's trying to get him an out of jail free card." Hawkgirl replied pointing to the Tower of Blood at the top of the hill. "At that tower."
The old man then turned his attention to the Amazonian Princess. He studied her as if he was trying to place her in his memory. "You look familiar."
His eyes widened as he saw the bracelets on her wrist. "Diana."
Diana was a bit surprised of how this elderly stranger knew her name. "You know who I am?"
"No. But I knew your mother. Hipployta." The elder told her before glancing at the devil hunter. "And your father. Sparda. I can see them in you two."
Diana was even more stunned of the elder's knowledge. "How do you..."
The elderly man just smiled. "I'm older than I look, my dear."
"Who are you?" Batman demanded.
"Phineas. The Prophet." The elderly man told them (Phineas: The Ancient Clairvoyant).
XXXX
Three level up and several stairs later, Flash and Hipployta were at the middle of the towers not far from the top. Jesus, he never had to take this many steps. He needs to work on his cardio. No pun intended.
"You know, as much as it pained me to say this, I always assumed that Diana would leave Themsycria sooner or later." Hipployta said, taking even steps on the stairs. "She was always curious about what the outside world looks like."
"Really?" Flash replied, glancing a rat passing by their feet. Flash grimaced slightly.
She nodded. "Yes. I tried to persuade her to remain at home but you probably know by now how headstrong my daughter can be." Hipployta said shaking her head in fondness at the times where Diana had shown her inherent stubbornness of proving her worth to her.
"Got that right." Flash said having seen it also on multiple occasions. "But don't worry though, she'll be here and we'll stop Aresia from taking over the world before dinner."
"Do you believe that?" Hipployta asked him with some skepticism, seeing there wasn't much time left before the ritual starts. "That's rather naive of you to believe that."
"I have to." Flash told her truthfully. "Besides, my Grammy Flash always said that it's easier to be a cynic then remain an optimist."
"Sound advice." Hipployta thought to herself as they continued their way to the top.
"I've been meaning to ask you since our capture: How's my daughter fairing in Man's world?" Hipployta asked the speedster.
Flash scrunched his face in slight confusion. "Diana? Why do you care?"
"Can't a mother worry about her only child's well being, considering she's the first Amazon to live among men in millennia?" Hipployta said in a slight authoritative tone. Flash couldn't find it in him to say no. She was a mother worried about her daughter like any parent would be when their kids is all by themselves.
"She's doing fine, if that's you wondering." Flash told her. "She misses you, ya know. She didn't tell me though but I could tell."
"And I miss her too." Hipployta admitted, knowing what the scarlet speedster was referring to. Diana's banishment from Themyscira. "But I had no choice in the matter. I had to abide by the law of Olympus or we would punished by her transgression."
"Well, your law sucks." Flash grumbled. "Ya know, I may not be related to her but if I was, I would've told whatever Gods you're praying to damn with the consequences. At least she saved the world and you. I'd call it a win."
"At the risk of Hades almost being free from his imprisonment thanks to the mad man Faust that my daughter aided by supplying the key to the Pit." Hipployta pointed out.
Flash rolled his eyes slightly crossing his arms across his chest. "She made the only call she could make. What'd ya expect her to do?" Flash retorted. "I probably would do the same if my mom was in trouble. You weren't there, so you don't get to judge her."
Flash sighed, seeing that they have wasted enough time yapping about different decisions that would've been made. "Come on, we should get moving." Flash nudged her to continue their path they were on. Hipployta looked at him in a slight new perspective.
XXXX
After being acquainted with the heroes, Phineas led the group to a secret passage only he knew due to his prolonged staying that would lead them to the top of the tower. The Justice League were a bit curious about the man that claimed to have known Diana's mother and Dante's father respectively. He was very tall with eyes that had seen its fair share of horrors in his lifetime. The clothing was a bit outdated in form of a red robe, flippers and a worn out shirt.
"How long have you been here, Phineas?" Wonder Woman inquired.
Phineas smiled wistfully, his wizened face showed the current age he's in as he used his cane to ease his unstable legs. "Hundreds of years."
"You sure you know way around?" Hawkgirl inquired, getting an unease feeling about the road they were on.
"Like the back of my hand." Prophet reassured. "Time is irrelevant to a man who has lost everything. Once upon a time, I was a inventor, prophet, scholar. "
"And a demon." Trish said, having picked up the familiar smell of brimstone that usually emitted from her kind when she first glanced at him. Phienas glanced over his shoulder quirking an eyebrow at the blonde demon hunter.
"Aren't you the observant one? Considering you are one too." Phienas quipped, raising an eyebrow. Dante held back a snort. He got her there. "And until you arrived, a political prisoner of Mundus. For that, I am grateful."
"Why would Mundus imprison you?" Batman questioned the demonic clairvoyant.
"I was one of the few demons excluding Sparda to oppose the Prince of Darkness during his rise to the throne as the Demon King." Phineas said. "As you can see by my appearance, I suffered for it. He enslaved me to the tower via a dark magic spell as its watcher. I'm trapped for eternity."
"I can relate." Wonder Woman muttered under her breath, thinking about her mother's punishment to be the watcher for the Pit of Tartarus for her ill fated affair with Hades.
They halted seeing a broken bridge that spanned over from where they were to the top of Temen Ni Gru. "It appears we have to take a different route." Diana said.
"That won't be necessary, Diana." Phienas assured her. The Amazonian exile looked at the demonic clairvoyant puzzled.
"I don't understand. The bridge is beyond repair."
"I see that you inherited your mother's shortsightedness." Phienas noted. Diana frowned slightly at the comparison. "You and I see things differently. You presume the evil in me because l am a demon. Again, no surprise. The Amazons have a very narrow mind. Try to broaden your point of view. It can open new ideas. It's all a matter of perspective."
To illustrate his point across, Phineas magically repaired the bridge with just a hand wave. Pieces of old woods that laid down in the hole put back in place as if the bridge was never destroyed in the first place. The bridge was as good as new to the astonishment of the Justice League "Hmph. Showoff." Dante scoffed.
"As I said, an open mind can uncover new ideas." Phineas said, using his cane to guide them. "Come. This way."
As they continued making their way to the tower, Hawkgirl noted a statue of a woman brandishing a sword near the hill of where the tower was. "Who's that?" She wondered.
"Her name is Iorena, an Amazon like you." Phienas told them, glancing at the exile Amazonian Princess. "She was considered to be respected by her fellow sisters. But she harbored a terrible transgression. She had an affair with Mundus. "
Diana furrowed her eyebrows in curiosity. She didn't know there were others that violated the Amazon's code. "Iorena was in love with Mundus?"
Phienas laughed incredulously , startling the Amazon. "Love? No, Diana. She was infatuated with him and he exploited her infatuation for his own gain and once she gave him what he wanted, he slain her. Before he killed her though, his minions built that stature as a reminder of the Amazon's dark deeds."
Taking the newly information in stride, the group pushed forward and headed straight to the entry. "Where is Flash?" Hawkgirl wondered unaware that speedster was at the very tower they were heading to.
XXXX
They now had finally reached the top of the tower which was a gateway. The doors before them were the final hurdle between them and Aresia.
"There it is. The Gateway to the seal." Hipployta told him. "We must stop her now!"
But as they began making their way to prevent Aresia's deeper fall to the abyss, a roar echoed through the area as a large three headed hound leaped from the high ground and landed in front of the duo. Flash's eyes went wide underneath his mask.
"Leave at once, Mortals! Only those worthy may enter! You shall not pass!" It bellowed thunderously, Flash cringed at the incredibly bad smell emitting from its breath.
Despite being severely outsized, The Scarlet Speedster didn't falter because he'd fought bigger foes than that since he joined the Justice League while Hipployta stood firm.
"Wow. This is the first time I've actually seen a real talking dog." Flash quipped. "I mean if you were auditioning for Scooby Doo, you would definitely get the role."
As The Amazonian queen shot him a reprimanding look for antagonizing the creature, the three headed hound was angered that a mere mortal did not whimper in its presence. "I will not stand for this insult, human! I am the God of the Cerberus tribe!" The three headed dog roared (God Cerberus: The Ultimate Gatekeeper) as one of its head sprouted a fire ball towards the duo whom avoided it with ease. The fire ball came through the wall behind them, leaving a large hole in it.
"Easy, Clifford. Let's go for a walk! Come here, puppy!" Flash taunted, clapping his hands in mockery as if he was talking to a dog, not a hound that is as big as a 7 stored building and has incredible sharp teeth. "Come on!"
God Cerberus was even more infuriating by the speedster's taunts. "You shall regret this, you worm! I will feast on your flesh and gnaw on your bones!" It roared.
"Is it wise of you to taunt it, Flash?" Hipployta inquired as the room trembled at the mere stomp of its paws. "Much less a Cerberus."
"Huh, yeah." Flash said as if his plan was obvious. "I'm trying to get its attention so you can run through the gate to stop Aresia!"
Wide eyed, the Queen tried to persuade him not to fight the creature from the Underworld. "But it will kill you! No mere human who has ever encountered Cerberus lived to see another day!"
"Well, I guess I'll be the first to succeed!" Flash boasted.
Realizing that she can't change his mind, Hipployta surprised him by standing next to him. "Well, if you're adamant of facing it head on, then allow me to provide you with some assistance!" She declared.
Flash smiled cockily, shuffling his feet a bit before taking a fighting stance, beckoning his hand towards himself in a bring it on gesture. "So, you're the biggest in the litter! Looks we'll need a bigger leash! Come on!"
Snarling, the God Cerberus let out a roar that shook the room entirely as it charged towards the duo eager to consume its latest meal.
XXXX
As the unlikely partners of Hipployta and Flash were dealing with the Cerberus, Phineas eventually led them to the door where the seal was outside of the tower. "There. It's as far as I can take you. I'm not suited for violence."
"That'll be fine. Thank you, Phineas." Wonder Woman assured him. "We'll take it from here."
As Phineas turned around to leave, Wonder Woman ripped the doors open with her bare hands, with ease and marched towards the seal with great determination but stopped herself when she saw someone standing before her. Someone she believed to be dead.
"Hello, Diana."
Diana was frozen in shock when she recognized that voice as she finally figured out who Are Sia really was. It was Aresia. But...This was impossible! Aresia was supposed to be dead! In open seas! But yet here she was! Alive and set on destroying the world that had wronged her. Not if she's got anything to say about it.
"Aresia!" Wonder Woman bellowed, charging at her and tackled her to the ground. The two amazons exchanged blows as a small group of demons in armor appeared in front of the remaining Leaguers and hunters that carried swords and shields (Scudo Angelo: Fallen Dark Knights).
"Great." Hawkgirl deadpanned as her mace began to sparkle. She let out her war cry and stormed towards one of the Angelos swinging her mace. One of the Angelos blocked her attack with the shield while Green Lantern conjured a sword to block an attack of his own Angelo enemy. Batman was avoiding swipes of the sword from the last one.
Dante and Trish were about to help them when two Taller demons that wore similar armors appeared in front of them carrying voltaic swords. "Sparda." One of them hissed in contempt (Proto Angelo: Corrupt Commander).
Sharing a look, the two devil hunters shared a look before drawing out their respective guns from their holsters. "Shall we join the party, Dante?" Trish said.
"Ladies first." Dante quipped, unloading his clips.