Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters contained herein, I merely make them dance in what I hope is true to their rhythm.

Chapter 13

The Battle for War

The group that was actually part of the story turned back to each other. "Now then," said Hermione. "Let's go to Ares, and see if Wrath has gotten there to challenge him for god status yet."

"Who was Ares again?" asked Steve Zissou. "I don't remember that part."

"It's supposed to be Sun Tzu," said the Doctor. "Again, the author hadn't quite gotten there yet. He needs to finish that part. We had just gotten to ancient China and been interrupted by Wrath when he reached the fifty thousand words and stopped writing."

"Well, he's not at fifty thousand words yet," said Jack. "And we may be about to run into Wrath again."

"That's right," said the Doctor. "No skipping out on us now, author! Now let's get to it!"

They finally moved on to the palace right next to Poseidon's. When they got inside the palace, they were greeted by a large array of weapons. Pandora admired it, and noticed that it was even more extensive than the one Hermione had in her palace.

"Ares?" called out the Doctor.

"Which one are you looking for?" said a familiar voice.

The Doctor smacked himself in the head. "I knew I was getting a bit too angry at the author for holding up the plot," he said. "Sorry about that," he whispered in an upward direction. "Come on out, Wrath!"

From two ends of the room, two people came out, both wielding swords.

"Ares here insisted that there be witnesses when I defeated him and took back my rightful place, to make sure there was no foul play," said Wrath, who had come from the left. "What he fails to realize that all is fair in love and war."

Ares, who was indeed Sun Tzu, bowed to Wrath respectfully. "I shall fight with honor, whether you do or not. In the end, we will know who is the most powerful."

"I am your predecessor," said Wrath. "I chose you, did I not? I do not think I would have chosen someone who could best me in combat."

"Then you are a fool," said Sun Tzu. "You should always teach someone to be better than you are. You have let your brother Pride get the better of you, if you think that you are unbeatable. Aside from that, you are not my predecessor, and you did not choose me. Ares chose me. You just inhabit his old body. I am Ares now, and I shall prove it to you." All this was said very matter of factly, but the effect that it had on Wrath was incredible.

Wrath himself grew red with rage as he drew his sword and held it in a fighting stance. The sword was shaking, he was so mad.

Ares, meanwhile, drew his sword and held it in front of him calmly, with his eyes closed. He breathed in and out slowly, waiting for Wrath to make the first move.

He didn't have to wait for very long. Wrath let out a crazed scream and lunged, driving his sword point straight towards Ares' heart.

Ares, his eyes still closed, calmly stepped aside and swiped his own sword upward, knocking Wrath's sword aside easily. His own came back to its previous position.

"When you attack in anger, you will attack blindly," said Sun Tzu calmly. "To achieve focus, you must first calm yourself, and strike like a viper."

Without warning, his eyes sprang open as he thrust his sword forward. Wrath parried it once, then twice. He wasn't quite quick enough for the third, which sliced his right cheek open. A trickle of blood came out.

This only served to anger Wrath further. "Nobody makes me bleed my own blood!" he yelled, and swung his sword at Sun Tzu with both hands, trying to overpower the philosophical warrior.

This slowed him, however, and Sun Tzu was simply too fast for him to hit. He dodged, ducked, dipped, dove, and dodged again, avoiding Wrath's attacks with the fluidity of water.

"In battle, you must have strategy," said Sun Tzu, and the gathered audience was amazed to hear that he wasn't even breathing very hard. "To have strategy, you must understand your opponent. For example, if your opponent has lost his sense of reason in a fit of rage, you must seek to exploit it."

He stood still, and Wrath lunged at him again. Sun Tzu side stepped the attack again, and stuck his foot out.

Wrath tripped over his foot, and stumbled. He fell to the ground.

Unfortunately for Wrath, he landed on his own sword when he fell.

Sun Tzu nodded. "Those who attack blindly, in anger, will always find themselves impaled by their own swords. This is true in battle, as well as in life."

He sheathed his sword and bowed to his fallen opponent, who was twitching on the ground, with the tip of the sword coming out of his back. Sun Tzu turned to his audience and bowed to them. They bowed back awkwardly, not sure of what to say to the performance they had just witnessed.

"Now, if you will get off your sword, Wrath, you may clean it, and we will continue with your lesson," he said, not looking at the homunculus.

Wrath stopped twitching, turned around and sat up. "How did you know?" he said, his mouth open as he pulled the sword out and wiped it clean.

"As I said, Wrath, to have strategy, you must understand your opponent," said Sun Tzu, turning back to face Wrath. "Did you not notice that I did not really attempt to strike you in return?"

Wrath held his hand to his face, which was still bleeding slightly. "You gave me this," he said accusingly.

Sun Tzu shook his head. "That was part of the lesson," he said in a disappointed voice. "Pay attention! I knew that you could not be killed, so I did not attempt to kill you! It would have been a pointless exercise."

This was unlike anything any of the others had ever witnessed. The only thing remotely familiar to Harry was that Dumbledore had not tried to kill Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic, and Harry now realized that it was for the very same reason that Sun Tzu, or Ares, had not attempted to kill Wrath. The difference here was that Sun Tzu clearly thought that Wrath could still be taught.

"Why aren't you killing me?" asked Wrath. "I'm your enemy, and I tried to kill you."

Sun Tzu nodded. "That is true," he said. "But the greatest wisdom of war is not knowing when to take a life, but when to spare one."

"That's what I've been saying for centuries," said the Doctor. "I haven't said it in so many words, but that's the basic thing. Always give someone a chance."

Wrath stood up, and bowed. "I understand now, thank you," he said. "But I must insist that you die." He drew his sword again and readied it.

Ares narrowed his eyes. "I must insist that you are wrong," he said, and he drew his own blade and held it at the ready.

This time, the pair of them stared at each other for what seemed like a long time. Neither made a move. Wrath blinked, and Ares stepped forward quickly to press his advantage. In a flurry of metal, Ares' blade flashed back and forth in front of Wrath's face. Wrath only just got his sword up in time to block left, right, and left again. He leaped to the side as Ares thrust forward towards his middle.

Unfortunately, Ares had guessed his move, and had already bent down to swipe Wrath's leg from under him.

Wrath toppled to the ground, and brought his blade in front of his face just in time to block Ares' two handed blow that would have cleaved him right down the middle.

Wrath glared into Ares' eyes and pushed back against him to stand up. Ares leapt back as Wrath swiped at his midsection. He parried three quick blows, and then brought his own blade hard down on Wrath's sword as he held it to his side.

This knocked the blade to the ground, and Ares swiped his blade back up to the left towards Wrath, who rolled backwards away from him.

Ares reached down to pick up Wrath's sword and held it in his hand. "This blade is off balance," he said, holding it on one finger at where the blade met the hilt. The blade sagged toward the ground, bringing the hilt up. "Do you see? It's too heavy. It's no wonder you've been off balance this whole time and I was able to disarm you so easily." He took the blade and held it in hand. "The grip isn't quite right either. Here, take mine," he said, and tossed his own blade at Wrath's feet. "I'll use this one."

Wrath picked up Ares' sword, eyeing the god suspiciously. "What's wrong with yours?" he asked.

"Nothing," said Ares without batting an eyelash.

Wrath's eyes narrowed. "Do you seek to mock me, false god?" he thundered.

"Of course not," said Ares with a slight smirk. "I seek to patronize you. Does that make you angry?"

Wrath let out a primal roar and lunged at Ares again. Ares parried his blow easily and grabbed his arm. He stepped behind Wrath, still holding his arm and locking it behind him. He brought Wrath's sword up to his neck and whispered in his ear. "I wonder, beast, if your head is removed, will you die?"

"I thought you said that you wouldn't take my life!" cried Wrath. "I thought you said you would spare me!"

Ares sighed. "If a life does not wish to be spared, then it must not be," he said. In one fluid motion, he grabbed Wrath's head and pushed it forward, while at the same time pulling his other arm back. The sword cut clean through Wrath's neck. When the body slumped to the floor, Ares was left holding Wrath's head in the air. He looked at it in his hand, disgusted. He dropped it to the floor next to the body.

"I regret it," he said. "He fought well, or would have. I may have even named him as my successor if he possessed more control."

Martha then noticed something happening on the ground. One of the hands was twitching. The fingers were reaching for its head.

"Ares, look out!" she cried.

Ares looked down at the hand and stepped on it. Unfortunately, the other hand reached around quickly and grabbed the god by the ankle and pulled.

Ares fell to the ground on his back, while the two hands reached for the head and placed it back on its shoulders. The body sat up and they all watched in horror as the wound melted away. All of the blood was still there, so it still made for a very gruesome sight. Once the wound was gone and it was just a full neck, the eyes blinked. Wrath looked up at Ares, who had gotten back to his feet quickly.

"I guess that answers that question," said Jack. "He's like me."

"Nice try, son," said Wrath. "I guess I win."

Ares wasted no time though. He took both swords in hand, and stabbed down with them into Wrath's body, one at his heart, and the other into his skull.

They all watched with bated breath. Wrath's body didn't move for a moment. Then the hands reached up and pulled the sword out of its chest. They then pulled the other sword out of its head. Wrath sat back up and looked at Ares.

"Seriously?" he said. "You stab a man when he's down?"

"You are no man," said Ares. "You are an abomination."

Wrath raised his eyebrows. "Fine, you win." He got up and looked down at his body. "Is there some place I can at least get cleaned up?" he asked.

Poseidon raised his hand and a jet of water flew out of it. It hit Wrath full force and sent him sprawling into the nearest wall.

"Scourgify," said Harry, and bubbles mixed with the water.

"Okay, that's enough now!" shouted a voice.

They all turned and their jaws dropped.

Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Pride, and Sloth all stood there, menacing them. Envy stepped forward.

"Now why do you have to have all the fun, Wrath?" she asked. "I'm getting jealous!"