Chapter 29: Past Tense (Out of Time – Part 2)

Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman, Wonder Woman, and New Gods belong to DC. No infringement is intended.

From the Chronicles of the Amazons

He called himself Steppenwolf. By his own word he was a god, yet not of Olympus. He hailed from far away, from a world of fire and despair, a world of eternally burning pits and hopelessness. He strode across the cosmos in the name of his dark master; he lived only to conquer.

As his armies descended from the sky and invaded our shores, preparing to desecrate our lands and turn them into the same kind of primordial hell as their own, it was truly the darkest of times. Thousands fell before his blade and all those that fell rose again, transformed into Steppenwolf's Parademons. Nightmare creatures, dead flesh animated by foul magic, feeding off fear and terror.

It should have spelled the end for us all. But in the face of annihilation, all the people of Earth united in common purpose. Amazons, Atlanteans, the tribes of men. We stood shoulder to shoulder against the power of Steppenwolf, yet it still was not enough. We received aid from the stars, a warrior bathed in green fire, carrying a lantern of light, yet it still was not enough. The gods themselves descended from Mount Olympus and fought with us, yet it still was not enough.

All hope seemed lost. Until one final warrior joined our cause and turned the tides of war towards victory.

Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons had fought many campaigns in her long life. The Amazons had been created by the goddesses of Olympus as a counterbalance for men's aggression and in her many centuries of life, she had fought the influence of Ares, God of War, on many battle fields. None of those battles had prepared her for this, though.

The enemy had descended from the sky in mighty ships of metal, black as night and riding on plumes of fire. Armies had poured forth from them, foul creatures with wings and clad in strange-looking armor. They wielded weapons the likes of which she had never seen before and wherever they struck, death followed. The ground burned, the skies grew dark with noxious fumes, and eternal night seemed to fall over the land.

The leader of these invaders was a giant, standing at least ten feet tall and strong enough to tear a grown man (or Amazon) in two with his bare hands. He wielded a battle axe that could split the ground itself asunder and fire spewed forth wherever he struck. He rode atop a mighty steed that looked like a wolf, but was easily ten times the size of one. He commanded his armies with the surety and confidence of someone who had fought hundreds of battles and had never lost.

Looking behind her, Hippolyta saw the grandest army ever assembled, thousands of warriors from different lands standing together to defend their world. The mighty gods of Olympus themselves had issued forth the call to arms. Ares had assembled the armies of the tribes of men, who eagerly marched to war as they often did. Athena and Artemis rode with the Amazons, their chosen champions, and sang fierce battle cries. The seas churned as Poseidon brought forth the armies of Atlantis, parting the water to let them come forth. In the sky above them, mighty Zeus and shining Apollo flew side by side with the green warrior from the stars.

She feared it would not be enough.

"The beasts multiply with every passing moment," King Orin of Atlantis said, standing by her side. "They will overwhelm us through sheer numbers!"

"The Parademons are mere drones," the green warrior said, landing beside them. His weapons made of light had already taken out hundreds of invaders, but there were always more. It was hard to judge, given his inhuman appearance, but he seemed exhausted. "We must defeat their leader, Steppenwolf! That is the only way we can win this battle."

"Easier said than done," Hippolyta remarked. "Every warrior that has come within arm's reach of him has fallen and joined the ranks of his Parademons. I fear even the gods themselves might not be a match for him."

She watched briefly as Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, brought down one of the flying ships with a fiery arrow from her bow, but there were many more were those came from. She just hoped the goddess had enough arrows. On the other side of the battlefield Ares seemed to be having the time of his life and she wondered how mad the world had become that she was on the same side as the God of War this time.

"Since when is an Amazon afraid of a fight?" King Orin asked, grinning madly, and threw himself forward into the battle.

"If men could only differentiate between fear and common senses," she muttered, but followed her comrade into battle. The green warrior was beside them, more warriors joined them, and together they were a spearhead that penetrated the front lines of the Parademons.

Steppenwolf saw them coming and grinned, dismounting from his giant steed and setting it loose to kill at its leisure.

"Mercy will not be dispensed here, fools," he thundered, swinging his axe. "Only death!"

The green warrior blasted Steppenwolf with a beam of pure light, but it did little but set the giant back a few steps. King Orin jumped forward, looking to skewer him with his trident, but Steppenwolf easily parried the blow with his axe and sent Orion flying. Hippolyta jumped off her horse and slid through the giant's legs, looking to hamstring him, but her sword simply glanced off the armor he wore.

She quickly rolled to the side, the huge blade of Steppenwolf's axe only just missing her neck. Fire erupted from the ground, scorching her armor, but she managed to put some distance between the would-be god and herself.

"Your primitive weapons cannot harm one forged in the fire pits of Apokolips," he thundered, smashing yet another of the green warrior's light constructs to bits. "Your world will burn and serve as fuel to my master's fire!"

Hippolyta did not listen to him, instead she renewed her attack. More warriors, men, Amazons, and Atlanteans, had managed to penetrate the line of Parademons and joined in the attack on Steppenwolf, but it seemed futile. He ignored their strikes, shattered their armor, and one minute into the attack dozens of warriors lay dead on his feet. Hippolyta saw some of them bodies being carried off by Parademons, no doubt to undergo whatever foul process would turn them into more of the nightmare creatures, but she could not spare even a moment to deal with that. It was all she could do just to stay alive from one second to the next.

There was a moment's respite as Steppenwolf was forced to match strength with Apollo, God of the Sun, whose fiery blade was inches away from taking the dark one's head off his shoulders. But it seemed even an Olympian was no match for the brute strength of the invader, for Steppenwolf shoved him back and shattered his sword with his battle axe, leaving the god wounded and stumbling back. Ares entered the fray as well, his own battle axe taking a huge chunk out of Steppenwolf's armor, but failing to actually hurt him. A moment later the God of War was swarmed by Parademons and had to defend himself lest they overwhelm him.

"Is there no one on this pitiful world that will pose a challenge?" Steppenwolf roared, almost casually dispatching half a dozen warriors who had dared come close. The green warrior tried to skewer him with a lance of green light, but Steppenwolf simply shattered it with a brush of his hand.

With a swift strike of his axe, the green warrior fell, almost torn in two. Steppenwolf amusedly watched the green ring he had worn disappear into the sky, which left him distracted for a brief moment. Hippolyta screamed in defiance and leaped into the air, aiming the tip of her spear directly towards the giant's eye. Her aim was true and Steppenwolf actually roared in pain, but that did not keep him from striking her while she was still up in the air and unable to evade. Hippolyta hit the ground hard enough to break bones and drive every bit of air from her lungs. A moment later the huge shadow of Steppenwolf loomed over her.

"I salute you, little one," he said, blood dripping from his ruined eye. "Not many have managed to wound me. A swift death shall be your reward!"

He raised his axe and Hippolyta knew that this was it. Her body was too broken to evade, no one was close enough to help. She could only hope that she had done enough damage that someone else might finish the job and save their world from this nightmare.

The axe fell and Hippolyta refused to close her eyes. Thus she was in a perfect position to see the hand that suddenly caught the axe, stopping it mere inches from her face.

"Not on my watch!" someone growled.

Kara was far from an expert when it came to Earth's history, but she was reasonably sure that the planet had NOT been conquered by alien invaders at some point in the past. She had no idea who the invaders were, they resembled no species she was familiar with, but that hardly mattered. Earth was her home, or would be, and she would be damned if she simply stood by while someone threatened it.

Whatever lingering doubts she might have had about interfering in past events were laid to rest when she realized that the Amazons were involved in repelling the invaders. And that Diana's mother, Lyta, was right in the thick of things and about to get killed, something else that had definitely NOT happened in the time she came from.

Even as she sped towards the main battle, she could not help but marvel at what she saw. Apart from the huge number of armored men and Amazons, there were near-human warriors that emerged from the sea, and a number of huge humanoids that seemed to resemble the mythical Greek gods that Diana insisted were real. Well, they obviously were, and they definitely displayed super powers. Whether or not they counted as gods was another matter entirely and not really all that important right now.

When the giant leader of the invaders swung his axe to kill the mother of her best friend, Kara was there and caught the weapon in her hand.

"Not on my watch!" she growled.

"Who dares?" the giant roared, pushing against her. He was strong, very strong, but so was she. "Another of this world's weakling gods?"

"I am no god," she replied, and swiftly punched the giant with all her might. He flew backwards, losing his axe in the process, and smashed into the side of his ship. A cheer rose from the assembled armies and they surged forward with renewed hope. Kara decided not to give any indication that her hand hurt quite a bit from this blow.

"Thank you, stranger," Hippolyta said, staggering back to her feet. "I owe you my life."

Making a mental note to thank Diana for teaching her the Amazons' ancient Greek dialect, she took a moment to steady the wounded queen.

"The battle isn't won yet, I fear," she said, hoping she remembered enough of the language.

"Steppenwolf must be defeated," Hippolyta said, holding her broken ribs. "Once he falls, his armies will falter!"

Kara nodded and shot forward in the same motion. Steppenwolf was just getting back to his feet, so she punched him again, this time propelling him right through his ship and out the other side. She quickly followed up, having learnt her lesson about fighting very powerful foes with Mongul. Steppenwolf seemed to be in a similar weight class, so the best thing she could do was to keep him on the back foot.

It was easier said than done, though. Steppenwolf seemed not quite as overwhelmingly strong as Mongul, but made up for that with toughness and that huge battle axe of his, that seemed to move almost by itself. She had no desire to test her invulnerability against its blade, so she kept moving at her best speed and peppered the giant with punch after punch, kick after kick.

Her strategy seemed to work, as Steppenwolf was unable to mount any offense of his own and her blows were taking their toll. Her luck lasted only until he got some reinforcements, though. Kara was suddenly swarmed by those demon creatures, dozens of them descending on her like insects. Individually they weren't much of a threat, but there seemed to be an endless number of them. Each one she took out, a dozen more stood ready to take its place.

The worst thing was that they gave Steppenwolf time to recover. Roaring in rage, the giant swung his battle axe, not caring that he sliced several of his own warriors apart in the process. Kara tried to evade, but with so many of the creatures trying to dogpile her, she wasn't entirely successful. The axe struck her a glancing blow to the side of the head and Kara fell backwards, her head ringing. Something wet trickled into her eye. Blood?

Now it was she who had to regain her footing, while Steppenwolf seemed poised to jump on his advantage. Thankfully she was not alone, either. Suddenly several allies were by her side, taking on the demon creatures and pushing back their giant leader as well. They were an eclectic mix of Amazons, men, Atlanteans, and those oversized humans she had tagged as the Olympians (she refused to call them gods).

"You fight well, little god," a giant man with lightning playing over his arms told her. "With your help, we will finally triumph on this day."

Deciding not to go into any discussions about godhood right now, she allowed lightning-man to pull her back to her feet. She was still a bit dizzy, but thankfully the wound didn't seem too bad. She just hoped she had enough left for a second wind. Right now she didn't feel so great. With those noxious fumes from the space ships covering the sky, there was not a single ray of sunlight to be had, sadly.

"Apollo, aid our new ally," she heard a female voice say somewhere behind her. "I sense that the light of the sun makes her stronger!"

"Then strength she shall have, Athena," a male voice answered.

A moment later Kara felt as if her entire body was filled with liquid fire, her cells soaking up solar energy faster than they had ever done before. The wound on her head stopped throbbing, she could almost feel it knit back together. Apollo, God of the Sun, she remembered from Diana's stories. And Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, who had apparently pegged the way her powers worked at a glance. Well, okay, she was almost ready to become a believer.

Feeling stronger than she had ever felt before, she darted towards Steppenwolf and laid into him with renewed vigor. This was clearly not the time for restraint and she did enjoy the chance to cut loose and not hold back. Rao, if only she had gotten this kind of power boost for her battle against Mongul, then maybe Abin Sur would still be alive.

Steppenwolf roared in defiance, but she moved too quickly for him to hit her. Every blow of her own landed, though, and the giant began to stagger. His legions of demons, apparently sensing the danger to their leader, tried to come to his aid once again, but were held back by the assembled armies.

The tide of the battle was turning, that much was apparent. Without the overwhelming power of Steppenwolf to guide them, the Parademons quickly lost ground to the united warriors of Earth. More ships tumbled to the ground, victims of flaming arrows and lightning bolts. Kara kept up the pressure on Steppenwolf, even as she felt another burst of sunlight give her a third wind. Apollo was a handy guy to have around, she had to admit.

When Steppenwolf fell and failed to get back up, the battle seemed to come to a halt, everyone gathering around the fallen giant.

"Surrender," Kara told him, her eyes glowing with fire. "You are beaten!"

"For now, maybe," he muttered, black blood seeping from his mouth. "But only for now!"

He reached for something on his belt, a metallic box that began to make a ticking sound. Before Kara could react, a light suddenly exploded behind him and a great wind picked up. Some kind of portal opened up in midair with a loud boom, a glowing tube of energy that warped space around it.

"I hate it when they have teleporters," Kara muttered.

"You may have defeated me," Steppenwolf threatened, even as his broken body was picked up by an unseen force and dragged towards the portal. "But my master will not forget this! Your world will be his! You will all belong to Darkseid!"

"Not today!" Kara yelled and a burst of heat vision knocked the metallic box from Steppenwolf's hands, even as the portal closed on his outraged scream. A silence fell over the battlefield. The Parademons, fierce warriors a moment ago, seemed disoriented.

"Finish them off," someone roared and the battle resumed, though now it was more a slaughter than anything else. Kara would have objected, but she had already pegged those things as dead bodies animated by some kind of exotic energy.

"Thank you for your aid, goddess," Hippolyta told her, still limping from the wounds she had received earlier. "If not for your timely arrival, I fear the outcome of this battle might well have been very different. And I would be among the fallen."

"No thanks are necessary, Queen Hippolyta," Kara said, though it felt strange to address her friend Lyta so formally. "We were all allies in defense of Earth today. And I am not a goddess!"

Hippolyta frowned at her, clearly not understanding. "How can you do these amazing things, flying, your strength, fire from your eyes, if you are not a goddess? Are you like the green warrior from the stars then?"

Kara briefly glanced over to where the Green Lantern had fallen earlier in the battle. Sadly she had been too far away to save him, just a little too late. Green Lanterns and Kryptonians never seemed to mix well, it seemed.

"Something like that," she finally said. "It's a long story, though, and..."

She stopped, suddenly feeling dizzy and swaying. The power boost she had gotten from Apollo seemed to be wearing off and the fatigue of the battle was rapidly catching up with her. Not to mention that head wound she had received, which was throbbing again.

"I think I'd really like to lay down a bit first," she concluded.

"Then you shall be our guest," Hippolyta announced. "As soon as the battle here is done, we will travel back to Themyscira. It is the least we can do for the one who saved us all!"

Kara merely nodded, too tired to argue. She certainly wasn't going to be breaking any time barriers under her own power today. Bending down, she picked up the metal box she had shot out of Steppenwolf's hands. It seemed to be some kind of computer. Maybe it would give her a clue as to where these invaders had come from and whether or not they might still pose a threat to Earth in her own time. Later, though. Priority one was to recover and then figure out how to get back home without messing up the timeline and then finding this Flash guy to kick his butt.

End Chapter 29

Author's Note: Just about the only thing I liked about the Justice League movie was the flashback scene that showed Steppenwolf's original invasion of Earth and the army he faced. Olympians, Amazons, Atlanteans, a Green Lantern, it really looked great. The Mother Boxes depicted in this story are not the McGuffins from that movie, though, but rather the original devices from the Fourth World comics. Think of them as the iPhones of the New Gods. The scene with Apollo powering up Kara was inspired by the New52 Superman/Wonder Woman comic, where Apollo tries to kill Superman by blasting him with concentrated sunlight, which... yeah, wasn't really his best idea.

As for the Olympians, we haven't really gotten a good explanation as to what exactly they are in the DC movies, so I'll go with the way they are portrayed in most comic books, much like the Asgardians in the Marvel movies. Meaning extremely long-lived beings with super powers who were worshipped as gods by primitive humans, but not actually gods in the classical sense.

Also, I really hate writing fight scenes. I hope this one came out well regardless.