Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or DC characters seen, mentioned, or used in this story
Year One…
Ares carefully watched as the Amazon Diana engage the military forces of Qurac who were either brave or foolish enough to ignore Superman's cease-fire. He watched the woman tear through the military jets they sent to try and stop her only to be destroyed just as quickly
Heh, warrior for peace indeed" Ares said in an ironic tone as he watched Diana began to engage the tanks of the ground forces
He was particularly amused when he saw her actually headbutt a tank and destroy it in a single hit. It was then that the war god decided to announce his presence by commenting on the Amazon's latest feat
"Did you just headbutt a tank my dear?" Ares asked with amusement
Diana looked behind her to see the armored form of Ares and gave him an annoyed look on her face "Ares, why are you here?"
Ares held up his hands "No real reason princess of Themyscira, I just wish to watch you work"
Diana rolled her eyes as she lifted one of the tanks with one hand and tossed it into another and leaned to the right as another tried to shoot her. Diana narrowed her eyes at the tank as it readied to fire another shell. Thinking quickly, she took her shield and threw it like a Frisbee towards the tank's barrel and sliced a good portion of it off before the shield bounced off the rest of the tank and back into her hand
"You know Diana, I have seen many wars and seen humanity at its most primal and vicious. But watching a war between Superhumans and very human armies… I'm finding myself intrigued" Ares said as he watched Diana shove another tank on its side
"I am not at war with the forces of Qurac Ares. Qurac has ignored the cease-fire and continues to bombard the people of Jusdal despite the fact they are defenseless. I will cease my attacks when they return home" Diana said in a hard tone as she landed between a group of Qurac infantry men and quickly knocked them all to the ground with her enhanced speed and strength
"I see…" Ares said as he watched Diana approach a group of men who escaped from one of the destroyed tanks and opened fire on her form with their assault rifles.
Soon the men seemed to realize just how out matched they are and began to retreat. Diana let out a sigh as she watched the men retreat back towards Qurac, hopefully realizing that to continue this attack was folly and be open to peace negotiations now
"Letting them go? You always were one for mercy Diana" Ares chided the woman as he watched the men flee like cowards
Diana ignored the god and was about to contact Superman and let him know that the forces of Qurac were retreating when Ares began to sing ever so softly
"The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout…"
Diana's body froze as she heard the mocking tone in Ares as he continued the song, placing great emphasis on the word 'spider'
"Out came the monster and crushed the spider-" Ares would have continued had Diana not suddenly appeared before him with her sword raised to his throat.
Ares looked down at the blade ever so slightly before looking into Diana's enraged eyes "Touched a nerve did I? You know, I'm hurt that you have yet to introduce him to your extended family on Father's side… perhaps I and even 'him' will save you the trouble…"
Diana's eyes narrowed and she snarled out "Don't you even dare Ares or by Gaia herself I will make sure you suffer a fate worse than Kronos!"
"You know I can never truly understand what you see in that man" Ares said as he slowly grabbed the blade and lowered it from his throat "Particularly since he's mortal. Is he perhaps a simple distraction, something for you to entertain yourself with while Superman pursued Lois? Where you hoping that in time he would see that marrying her was a mistake and turn to you for companionship, to eventually allow you to share his bed perhaps, and maybe in time produce him strong and powerful heirs?"
Diana stared at Ares for a long time before she gave him a dismissive snort "My feelings for Superman died the day Peter entered my heart, leave war god while I allow it"
Ares narrowed his eyes in rage at being dismissed by one he sees as beneath him both in terms of power and station. He suddenly grabbed Diana's wrist and pulled her in close to his helmeted face and growled
"Take care how you speak to me…even I have limits to my patience…" Ares said with his eyes glowing red
Diana reached for her sword that was on her back and returned the glare he was giving her full force "I ask that you remove your hand from me or risk losing it Ares"
Ares quickly grabbed her other hand and squeezed her wrist until she let out a pained grunt and dropped her blade "You can't threaten me Amazon! Look around you, at the destruction you and these humans caused! This is what feeds me my power!"
Ares than lifted Diana and slammed her into the ground "Perhaps when I am done with you, I'll pay a little visit to your poor husband and the rest of his family and see if they will be as quick to challenge me!"
KAKOOM!
Suddenly Ares was punched to the ground, his helmet cracked and damaged by the force of the blow. The war god shook his head and looked up to see Superman glaring down at him, his eyes glowing red
"Ares, I was wondering when I'd see you again" Superman said in a hard tone
Ares growled in annoyance and was about to retaliate when suddenly Diana appeared and sliced his hand off with her sword
"GAH!" Ares clutched the area of where his hand was and glared at the Amazon princess
Diana looked at him with contempt before she bent down and picked up his severed hand "You can have this back Ares, when you can be trusted with it"
Ares narrowed his eyes at the woman and quietly growled out in a sinister tone "May the day come when your beloved his consumed by the darkness within him and whatever pathetic spawn you birth him is purged from existence itself!"
Diana stared down at the wounded god of war for a long time, aware that Superman was watching her with concern
She than spoke in a cold tone "Ares… earlier you mentioned that I was one for mercy, yes?"
Ares gave her a confused look before suddenly Diana jammed her blade into the war god's chest earning a roar of pain from the deity
"AARRRGGH!" Ares tried to pull the blade from him but Diana punched him in the face with enough force to knock off one of his helmets horns
Superman's eyes widened at the sudden savage display shown by his usually even tempered teammate. Clark has never seen her act out in such a way before, even at the worst of times
Diana looked to see Clark's disturbed face "He's a god Superman… they do not die easily, this one especially, they can only fade. Come, it's time we speak to the Qurac government about a lasting peace and ensure this war god fades…"
Diana began to walk away from the pinned war god, the sword still in his chest. Superman followed her but gave a concerned look over his shoulder as he watched Ares struggle to remove the sword while letting out growls of pain
"Diana, do gods feel pain?" Clark asked uncertain as he looked towards his friend
"In a manner of speaking but it's not like how mortals feel pain. Although, if you pin a god to the ground with a sword rammed through his spinal column, I imagine it would sting a bit…" Diana said with a smirk on her face as she attached the severed hand of Ares to her waist and rose into the air followed soon by Superman as they made their way to Qurac
Ares watched them go deep in thought as the pain began to fade and his hand began to regrow if albeit slowly
'Aligning herself with Superman is concerning. He will not be able to this alone, but Diana… she does not have his restraint. She will do what he can't because of it… but in time even Superman will lose his'
Ares than laid back and stared up into the sky and saw that one of the clouds formed a rather crude almost unrecognizable shape of a spider
'…And perhaps her actions will awaken the darkness that I can feel slowly growing in the Spider…'
Ares stared up at the sky for a little longer before he began to chuckle ever so slowly as the thought amused him greatly.
"Yes, yes it's quite funny isn't it?" a dark male voice said before the owner suddenly appeared before Ares
Ares looked at the being who appeared and narrowed his eyes at him "You… why are you here?"
"Oh just checking in on the wife of one of my favorite mortals is all" the man said with a shrug before he frowned at the state Ares was in "A god of war, beaten by a semi-immortal woman? Guess they just don't make gods like they use to eh? Either that or she's Kratos in disguise"
"If you are here to antagonize me than leave! I'm in no mood for the likes of you!" Ares said before with great effort he finally tore the sword from him and stood.
The figure watched him for a second before he nodded "Fine, lick your wounds and nurse what's left of your pride, I have more important things to attend to"
Ares snorted "Like what?"
The figure merely smiled as he gave Ares a wink "You'll see… oh and do keep an eye on the girl would you? I want her to be there when Parker finally let's go…"
He then faded away and Ares was left their frowning at the spot he was once occupying.
…
It was late in the morning of the next day that Diana found herself flying over Manhattan, the sun high in the sky. She suddenly notices a figure swinging through the buildings and Diana smiles. She angles herself and rocket's off towards who she assumed is her husband
"Peter I-" Diana began only to stop when she finally gets a clear view of the person swinging. It wasn't Peter since his suit was red and black and the spider symbol was wrong as were the man's movements.
The unknown man lands on the side of a building and looks towards the confused Amazon "Sorry princess but I ain't Peter. He's over in Chinatown dealing with a shootout between Mr. Negative and the Punisher"
"Who are you?" Wonder Woman demanded as she gestured towards the man's outfit "I do not remember the Scarlet Spider wearing as much black"
"Tarantula" the man shrugged "We were supposed to meet last Thanksgiving but I never showed"
Diana's eyes widened at that bit. She clearly remembers Peter telling her that day that three other people would be joining her, him, Ben, Cassie, and MJ for dinner and he was both nervous and excited to introduce them. They sadly never showed much to MJ's chagrin, Ben and Peter looked unsurprised for the most part likely already anticipating it
"So you're the one he calls Kaine?" Diana asked with a furrowed brow
"Yep, now if we're done here I have to go" Tarantula said as he shot a web line out and prepared to swing away
"Aren't you going to help Peter with the Punisher and Mr. Negative?" Diana frowned at the man seemingly alright with leaving Peter to fight a dangerous vigilante and one of the most powerful crime lords in New York
"Why? You're here and he's your husband right? Go save his ass before he ends up like Swiss cheese" Tarantula grunted before he swung off
Diana watched him go and let out a huff of annoyance before she shot off towards Chinatown to aid Peter.
'What an Asshole!'
…
"You need to be more careful Peter" Diana said as she and Peter had returned to their apartment ten minutes later.
"I had everything under control honey" Peter said as he nursed a bullet wound in his left arm, a sword slash on his chest that had just now stopped bleeding and a small bit of a knife's blade still stuck in his shoulder of the shot arm "Besides we caught Mr. Negative and I got to pants Castle of all people! I'm going to see if it's on YouTube yet"
"Yes we did capture Negative, only after I arrived and took care of both Rhino and Electro who were acting as hired muscle for him" Diana said with a frown
"And you looked pretty hot doing it. Never thought I'd be turned on by a woman body slamming the Rhino into a fire hydrant or clotheslining Electro" Peter joked as he pulled off the top portion of his suit to show several large purple bruises on his back and a medium sized electrical burn on his right breast
Diana frowned at the injuries he had as Ares's voice echoed through her mind "Particularly since he's mortal…"
"Peter, you must be more careful, you're not Superman" Diana said carefully. Talking about Superman has become a rather sore subject for Peter lately
"Yeah I know" Peter said with a sudden edge entering his tone that was barely noticeable to most, but Diana heard it as clear as if he was screaming it
Diana narrowed her eyes at Peter as he removed his web shooters and checked them over "So, how was Qurac? Heard it's lovely this time of the year"
"…It is" Diana replied calmly already knowing where this conversation was going
"Yeah, maybe I'll visit now since they were just strong armed into a cease-fire by Superman and you" Peter said with a snort
"Peter they were shelling their neighbors, innocent people were dying. Would you stand by and allow it to happen? If I recall correctly, the last time you stood back and did nothing when you had the power to make a difference, someone died" Diana challenged knowing she was aiming for a low blow
Peter's form still for a moment before he let out a snort of dark amusement "Hell of a blow below the belt Di, but the thing is I don't go looking for a fight, I don't invade other countries and I don't threaten people into playing nice with others"
"And how many people in the world have died because we were unwilling to take the initiative and actively try to make the world safer? How many children were orphaned by wars or famines started by corrupt governments? How many widows were made because their husbands died fighting a war they didn't want any part of or because the country next to them wanted to test out their new weapons on the populace?" Diana said in a hard tone
"And what you and Superman and the rest of the Justice League are doing any better? Forcing your way into peoples' homes and forcing them to play by your rules or risk being destroyed? Sounds like a tyrant to me" Peter said as he turned to look at his wife
"We're not tyrants Peter, we just got sick of standing around and watching the world shoot, stab and blow itself up while millions of innocents died in the crossfire! We're protecting them and bringing the people who abuse their power to justice!" Diana nearly shouted back at Peter
"What your doing is scaring them Diana!" Peter said
"GOOD!" Diana shouted and Peter took an instinctive step back at the intensity of Diana's shout and for a very brief moment, his spider sense flared ever so slightly
"It's good their scared, too scared to press a button that will kill hundreds of innocent people, too scared to give the order to invade another nation because they have some useless pile of metal or a pond of damn oil that they want!" Diana said as she slowly approached Peter until she was looking him directly in the eye, nose to nose
"And what do you do with the ones who aren't scared? What happens to them?" Peter asked quietly
"…" Diana's eyes narrowed at Peter as he met her stare for a long time before he sighed
"…Tell me Di, how many people are you willing to kill to enforce your 'peace'?" Peter questioned
Diana looked like she was about to answer when suddenly her com link chimed. She sighed before answering "…Yes?"
Peter couldn't hear what was being said but whatever it was seemed to annoy her
"What part of 'World Wide Cease-fire' are the countries of this world not understanding? Do I need to write it down in every language and hold it out to them and tell them what it says slowly!" Diana said as she pinched the ridge of her nose. It was than her eyes widened as something else was said "I'm on my way"
"Trouble?" Peter asked as he watched Diana head for the balcony
"Aquaman is attacking a Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean. Several ships have been sunken already and there are men in the water. I'm going there to stop him from causing any more harm" Diana said as she rose into the air
"Diana!" Peter said as he followed his wife
She stopped and looked back at Peter with a raised brow
"Just trying talking to the guy alright? Instead of swooping in and punching him for doing what he thinks is right… please?" Peter pleaded
Diana floated there for several moments before she nodded "I will try to reason with him…"
"Thank you-" Peter started but was interrupted
"But if he attacks first I will retaliate" Diana said before she shot off into the sky like a jet
Peter watched her go for a second before he ran a hand through his hair and sighed "Baby steps…"
He looked down at the state of his suit and frowned, already seeing it was going to take a while to repair it. Suddenly he picked up movement coming from the closet where the chest was… and its occupant
Peter slowly approached the chest inside and looked at it. It was still closed but it jerked ever so slightly as Venom moved around inside. Peter crouched down and removed some of the things that were sitting on the lid before he opened it slowly to see that Venom was still in the bag.
The bag in question ceased moving as the light hit it causing Peter to narrow his eyes in thought. Several minutes passed before he heard the com link in his suit go off. Peter closed the lid and quickly went to retrieve his com and answered it
"Yes?"
The voice to respond was to his surprise Kaine "Hey Pete I need some help over by the docks"
"With what?" Peter questioned as he could make out distant explosions coming from the area that Kaine was at
"Turns out we're being invaded by mermaids and giant ass water bugs!" Kaine shouted over the com
Peter's eyes widened before they narrowed in determination "I'm on the way"
"Make it fast will ya?" Kaine said before he ended the call
Peter moved to grab his top and mask when he heard the chest shaking again in the closet. Peter's fingers stopped millimeters from his suit as he stared at the closet with a conflicted conscious. His suit was damaged and if what Kaine said was true than that means Atlanteans were attacking. People with enhanced strength and durability, people that can take a punch from Peter and Kaine
Suddenly a slight tremor could be felt by Peter and he looked to see a large column of smoke begin to rise in the air.
Peter took a deep breath before he walked towards the closet and the chest's banging increased…
And done.
Next chapter, the warriors of Atlantis face the defenders of New York!