Superman, Son of Hippolyta - A T-Rexcellent Reviews Fanfiction
I of course own no DC Comics properties or characters and make no money off of this, I am merely a giant DC Fan who wants to share my stories with all of you.
Chapter 18: Flight of the Speedsters
Atop Mt Olympus, Realm of the Greek Gods, inside the Library of Chiron…
Unbeknownst to Alectryon and Apollo, even with the Sun God's prophetic vision, they were not the only immortals secretly watching the events currently taking place on the island of Themyscira.
If there was any women on Mount Olympus who most resembled the Amazonian Warriors in appearance out of the Greek Goddesses, it was Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, Strategy and Battle Tactics.
Tall, well-muscled, but lean of frame and just so ever slightly tanned of skin, Athena's well-built physique fit most of the Amazons of Themyscira in description, at least the more warrior ones anyway.
Dressed in silver breastplate with ancient intricate Athenian artistry carved into it and wearing a plain brown war shirt, with plain grey bracers, greaves and sandals, Athena's choice in clothing was not what her sister Aphrodite would call very fashionable… but then again, Athena honestly cared very little for what Aphrodite thought or what was considered fashionable to others.
As she valued function over form above all else in her immortal life, her brunette hair was cut short and tied into a bun at the back, unlike many of her fellow Goddesses free flowing or long braided colourful hairstyles, her eyes were a cold, almost calculating blue, her gaze though was always thoughtful, always analysing everything and everyone around her.
Her Owl themed war helmet along with its blue mohawk mane and long ponytail was really her only colourful piece of clothing and that was hanging up on the wall of her study at that moment, alongside her trusty Athenian longsword, javelin spear and finally her famous bronze Gorgon emblazoned, golden tasselled, Medusa Shield.
If Apollo was indeed the Olympian definition of a pretty boy, then Athena was truly the tomboy of the Greek Goddesses, though to be fair, calling Athena an Egghead would also be a very apt description as well.
Sitting in her private study in the Library the Greek Pantheon had named after their favourite Centaur which also functioned as her personal residence atop the mountain, surrounded by towering piles of Ancient Grecian books and scrolls to help obstruct any prying eyes, Athena was hard at work learning as usual.
Because as a Goddess of both war and wisdom, when Athena wasn't exercising her body in the Grecian pastime of battle, she was exercising in the Grecian pastime of reading, her personal favourite of the two.
But not to today, today she was not reading, today she was watching… and observing what her own bird companion sitting on her desk was currently showing her.
Bubo the Owl Automaton her brother Hephaestus had made for her so long ago before the Fall of Ancient Greece, as a thank you gift for humbling their over prideful little brother Ares when her old city state of Athens had bested Sparta in a long and particularly brutal war.
The robotic birds big glass eyes had expanded into a large TV-like screen and were showing her the events currently taking place on the Island of Amazons far below the floating mountain that most of the Greek Gods called home.
Because despite what Hippolyta and her sisters thought, Persephone was not the first Greek Goddess to find out about Hera's little… princely present to them, Athena had known about the boy's existence for sometime know, ever since he had begun his warrior training with Phillippus, thanks to her second Automaton, Ophion the Snake, who was currently cloaked and curled around the giant stone spear held in the granite hand of the giant stone statue of herself that looked out over the very training grounds the Amazons had named after her.
Just like his female named counterpart on Mount Olympus, Arachne the Spider Automaton, the mechanical snake acted as her personal eyes and ears on Themyscira, her serpentine spy so to speak, allowing her to watch the warrior women whilst they trained and sparred against one another in the Art of War, purely for research purposes though, of course.
It was during one of these casual educational recognisance sessions that Athena had first stumbled upon Hippolyta's Little Fallingstar, just finishing a training session with Phillippus whilst the boy's pet Wolfdog watched, right before the trio were ambushed by that Chimera, which the boy ended up slaying all by himself.
An impressive feat for someone so young, but not anything so outstanding for any child raised in a martial society, still, the boy was brave and clearly a talented warrior, no one could deny that.
Then, the boy had beaten all of the Amazons young daughters in the Marathon Race the people of Ancient Greece had named after her younger brother Hermes, even his royal older sister and her redhead friend the Amazons had named after her fellow Greek Goddess Artemis.
Another noteworthy achievement for the young Demigod's list of personal triumphs she supposed, and Athena imagined her Moon Goddess sibling would not be pleased when she found out about the boy besting her personal favourite warrior among the new generation of Amazonians.
It was still nothing too extraordinary for any well-trained and physically capable individual, still the boy was better than most of the fellow youngsters around him but after a while, Athena began to believe the Son of Hippolyta was just another boy who happened to show some faint promise as a warrior and nothing more, something not worth investing her immortal time in.
But then, the boy had somehow managed to tame her uncle's Three Headed Hellhound when she wasn't looking, something that was very extraordinary and quite outstanding, even to someone like her.
Hades and Persephone's beloved three headed dogs were notoriously difficult to control for anyone who wasn't the two of them or one of their loyal servants, something her younger brother Ares had learned the hard way when he had tried to order the Hellhound serve in his army as a beast of battle after getting permission from the Lord of the Underworld to do so, Cerberus and his brothers had simply sat down and refused to move an inch no matter how much the God of War pulled on their leash, much to the amusement of her uncle and older cousin as they watched the attempt.
Even her bastard brother Hercules had to beat the Guardians of the Underworld into unconscious before finally being able to drag the giant three headed demonic dogs back to his royal mortal cousin for his twelfth and final labour, which resulted in Cerberus, the middle head actually eating King Eurystheus alive after they had woken up when the foolish ruler tried to command the Hellhound to obey him with a whip fashioned from the tail of a Nemean Lion.
The makeshift weapon had been a gift from Hercules to his kingly cousin after completing his first labour of slaying the near invincible big cat, the whip was supposedly endowed with special animal controlling magic from the infamous Sorceress, Circe the Wicked that allowed the wielder to command any beast it whipped with so much as a single lash.
It was a lie, of course.
King Eurystheus, posthumously known after as Eurystheus the Eaten, did so to Hades and Persephone's pets and was immediately devoured for his humanistic hubris, before Cerberus and his brothers quickly dug a huge hole back to the Underworld inside the recently deceased kings throne room, causing it collapse in on itself and taking most of the royal court with it.
Athena had no doubt in her brilliant mind that Hercules had meant for all of that to happen, in order to get revenge on his moronic mortal relative for forcing him to do those original ten and later twelve pointless labours in the first place.
But that still didn't change the fact that Cerberus, Notch and Spotty were three beastial brothers of Ancient Greece who obeyed no one but their Lord and Lady, not even Hercules immense strength and brutality had been able to change that.
But somehow, this boy, this Demigodling had not only managed to tame the near untameable Hounds of Hades, but had played with it like the trio of demonic dogs were the world's biggest three headed puppy, Athena still remembered dropping one of her many favourite books in shock when she saw the boy command the Hellhound to roll over just so he could climb up onto the beasts rather large stomach to give it a belly rub.
Athena knew from that moment on that there was clearly more to this boy than meets the eye.
It appears she was not the only one on Mount Olympus to take notice either as her younger half-brother Hermes had also apparently been spying on the boy for quite some time now, not terribly surprising, as despite his overly flamboyant personality, Hermes was both the fastest and the stealthiest of the Greek Gods, thanks in part to the invisibility power he had inherited from his Pleiad mother's Maia the Maternal.
But then, the boy had somehow discovered Hermes spying on him and forcibly revealed her trickster sibling's intruding to the Amazons and Hera, resulting in the game of Cat and Mouse taking place between her brother and the young prince.
Said game had eventually turned into a full-on fight as the young Demigod had made a surprise reappearance atop her very own statue before challenging Hermes directly in a one-on-one combat.
Athena's little half-brother, being the smug speedster that he was, accepted the challenge with his usual playful demeanour and had continued to do so right up to the point where the Son of Hippolyta had dashed forward with shocking speed and gut punched Hermes before proceeding to upper cut the Messenger of the Greek Gods back onto his smartass in front of Hera and the watching Amazons.
Now that was certainly unexpected… and very, very interesting.
"Well." The Greek Goddess of Wisdom quietly said to herself as she folded her hands together and leaned back in her chair with a to watch the show "It's time to see what Themyscira's new Champion can really do."
The Island of Themyscira, in the Training Grounds of Athena…
"And were back folks with your recap of the exciting action with your two favourite fiery guys in the sky, Alectryon and Apollo! The talking Phoenix said from where he was perched on the Sun God's shoulder. "The up-and-coming young Prince Kal has challenged the Olympian Master of Mockery Hermes to a dashing duel of spectacular speed and the battle is well underway, the fighting is fierce, the air is tense, the crowd is awed, the handsome phoenix is providing colourful commentary and the Apollo is now staring at me with a look that says and I quote 'shut up, you talking bird!"
After finally finishing that rather needless recap of the most recent of events and feeling Apollo's fiery glare on his feathered face, Alectryon clamped his beak shut and gave the God of the Son a bashful look.
Apollo sighed in a combination of frustration and relief once his feathery familiar finally stopped talking and turned back to the battle currently taking place below them, but in all honestly, things were happening so fast down there, it was hard to follow, even with prophetic and or raptorial vision.
Kal and Hermes were deeply engaged in a fast and furious battle that mainly consisted of them chasing each other around the arena for a while before dramatically rushing towards one another at high speeds and clashing their staffs together with such force they sent shockwaves through the training grounds with each new collision, before pulling away to repeat the process once more.
Meanwhile, the crowd of Amazons, both full grown women and young girls alike watched the high-speed duel in silent awe, their queen and princess included, even Hera seemed reasonably entertained by this Flight of the Speedsters.
So distracted were all of them in fact, that they didn't even notice the newcomer to their little gathering suddenly appear nearby in a burst of flowery plants until she finally spoke up. "Well ladies, it would appear our little Black Wolf has finally found his fangs."
The gathered crowd of Amazon women and even the Goddesses Hera and Iris turned at the sound of the new but still familiar voice and much to their collective surprise, saw Lady Persephone walking straight towards them, dressed in her usual regal and dark attire one would expect the dreaded queen to wear. "
"Lady Persephone?" Iris exclaimed, saying what every other woman was currently thinking, so surprised were they all by the Underworld Goddess's sudden appearance in their midst, even as Krypto let out a happy bark at the sight of the Queen of Dread before eagerly padding over to her, Persephone momentarily stopping in her stride just so she could bend down and properly address the Wolfdog face to face, seemingly choosing to ignore everyone and everything else for the moment to do so.
"Hello Krypto and how is my favourite White Wolf doing today?" The Lady of the Underworld asked affectionately, taking hold of Krypto's furry face in both of her hands, the albino beast using the opportunity to start lovingly licking the Greek Goddess's gorgeous face, causing Persephone to laugh at the ticklish sensation. "Haha, you're just as endearing as your master, you know that right boy."
"My Lady, please beg my pardon… but what are you doing here?" Hippolyta asked in what she believed was a respectful enough tone of voice. While she had not seen the Lady of the Underworld since their rather… troubling conversation so many nights ago, the Queen of the Amazons had the rather instinctual feeling that Persephone had been keeping an unseen eye on the events of the surface since then, she had felt the Spring Goddess's presence every time she had passed by a blooming flower.
"Just checking in on something that has become surprisingly very precious to me, Hippolyta." Persephone answered rather vaguely as she stroked Krypto's long, furry head while the white canine nuzzled himself against her.
Despite this obvious show of affection between the wolf and the women, Hippolyta did not think Persephone was referring to the the fearsome beast who had taken a fancy to her and was now firmly standing by her side as she turned to look at the what they were all watching.
"My, my, your son never stops surprising us, does he?" Persephone asked with a small, proud looking smile on her face, but otherwise seeming completely unsurprised by Kal's sudden, incredible super speed or the fact he was currently holding his own against her cousin Hermes in a fight.
"Niece." Hera said curtly, speaking up for the first time since the younger Goddess's arrival.
Persephone glanced at her out of the corner of her eye whilst continually petting Krypto's head. "Auntie." She replied just as minimally.
Hippolyta and her sisters could practically feel the tension in the air as two of the most powerful Goddesses in the Greek Pantheon, each one a queen of their respective domains, shared the same space, the Amazons all wisely choosing to stay quiet as they waited for the simmering animosity between the Olympians to pass.
But there was something else in the air now too… Hippolyta didn't know what it was, but something was definitely off about Persephone today, she thought as she looked at the Underworld Goddess's gorgeous face, Persephone troubled… troubled, worried even, pardon the pun, but for the briefest of moments, it almost looked like the Queen of Dread was in fact dreading something herself…
… and Hippolyta knew, better than most, that anything that could be called troubled for the Lady of the Underworld, was trouble for almost everyone in the Greek Pantheon… and for their worshippers as well.
But before she could dwell on that uncomfortable thought any longer though, Hippolyta's attention was suddenly brought back to the battle taking place right in front of her courtesy of another shockwave creating clash of divine weaponry as Kal and Hermes once again blocked each other's blows.
But this time, the pair did not break away and leap back from each other, no instead, they both remained right where they stood, with sceptre and staff crossed, staring defiantly at one another, faces inches apart, eyes locked into hardened glares.
Then finally after probably an entire minute of silent staring, both Kal and Hermes leapt back almost simultaneously to opposite ends of the training grounds.
Then, the bantering began in earnest.
"I must admit kid, I'm sincerely surprised." Hermes said truthfully in a rare moment of respect for his younger opponent. "I can't recall the last time someone has been able to match me blow for blow like you have."
"Thanks Hermes and as much as it pains me to say it, you're not all talk after all." Kal said begrudgingly. "Underneath that immense Olympian ego of yours, theirs actually a pretty talented warrior, I didn't know messenger boys could fight like you do."
"Not all of the messages I deliver are scrolls, kiddo." Hermes said grinning at Kal from across the training grounds. "Some of them are ass kicking's, something you're about to find out first handily, or rather first footily in this case."
Hermes suddenly dashed towards Kal at such an incredible speed, that Kal barely had time to doge the incoming barrage of rapid-fire kicks, whilst none of the blows landed a single hit, they still succeeded in forcing Kal back towards the edge of the training grounds, getting him closer and closer to falling over with each kick.
"So, tell me, when exactly did you graduate from whacking a training dummy with a stick?" Hermes asked rather conversationally as he continued to relentlessly force Kal back and back with his fearsome feet attacks.
"I didn't Hermes." Kal said as continued to just manage and evade his opponent's speedy strikes. "In case you hadn't noticed yet, that's exactly what I'm about to do."
After dodging one more kick, Kal jumped up and leapt right over Hermes, giving him the perfect opportunity to whack the Messenger God on his tortoise shell helmeted head just once with Hera's sceptre hard as he did so.
The crowd watched as Kal spun through the air and landed triumphantly on his feet with a particularly pleased smile towards the Queen of the Greek Gods watching proudly, before backing away as Hermes gripped his now aching head and tried to not to double over in pain.
"Okay, ow, that actually hurt." Hermes said grimacing before turning to face his smirking adversary with a glare. "Congratulation's kiddo, you just did what Hera and her woman worshippers could never do whilst at the same time getting some petty revenge on me for my earlier taunts. I bet your feeling awfully proud of yourself right now huh?"
"Pretty much, yeah I am." Kal said grinning broadly at the God of Speed who he had just outmanoeuvred and hit for the third time now. "And Hermes is that you or your wounded male ego talking?"
"Quoting your big sister now kiddo, that's very original." Hermes said as he stabbed his staff into the ground, before pulling out two canteens full of water out of his satchel and opening one.
"Here, catch." Hermes said as he threw the unopened canteen across to Kal who just barely managed to catch it as Hermes himself took a long drink from his before sighing satisfaction.
"Refreshing!" Hermes announced loudly before he took another long drink and finishing the canteen, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and put it back in his satchel, he then glanced at Kal, who was staring suspiciously at the freely offered water in his hands.
"Come on, kid." Hermes said with a knowing smile. "Don't act like you're not thirsty."
Kal's held up his suspicious glare for a moment longer before finally giving and planting the sceptre in the ground, opened up the offered canteen and finishing half the water in a single drink before pouring the rest over his head to help cool himself off, sighing in relief as he felt the cold-water rush down his sweaty body.
"Feeling better?" Hermes with a single raised brow.
"You mean after hitting you three times now and finally getting a drink of water?" Kal asked as he tossed the canteen back at Hermes who caught it with ease. "Yes, yes I am, also thanks for the water break, Hermes."
"Well, you're very welcome." Hermes said sincerely as he put the second canteen back in his satchel. "After all, I wouldn't want you to accuse me of cheating now, would I kid?" The Master Trickster couldn't help but add mischievously.
Kal's angry glare returned in full force at that as he picked up his borrowed sceptre from where he had planted it in the ground and got ready to resume their flighty fight while Hermes did the exact same with his staff. "And now I just remember why I wanted to hit you so hard on the head in the first place, Hermes."
The pair moving back out to the center of the training grounds as they began slowly circling one another. "I look very much forward to doing so again, very soon in fact." Kal told the God of Speed with narrowed eyes.
At this rather bold statement, Hermes just laughed out loud before quickly grabbing his side in obvious discomfort. "Oh, ah, okay ow, I have been laughing so hard today, that my sides have actually started to ache from it." Hermes said after finally managing to calm down enough to address a clearly unimpressed Kal with a small smile. "Isn't that just ironic."
"I guess Hermes." Kal replied curtly. "Or it could be from that punch I gave you between your lungs and colon earlier."
"Hhhmmm… no." Hermes said after a moment of quite thought. "I'm pretty sure it's from all the laughing, kid." He finished with a low chuckle at Kal's unamused face.
"But in all seriousness, I'm starting to see exactly why Hera chose you to be her worshippers champion kiddo." Hermes said in a surprisingly warm tone of voice that caught Kal off guard by its apparent sincerity.
"As well as why my cousin Persephone was so taken with you after you managed to train her beloved three headed Fido." Hermes added whilst glancing at the Lady of the Underworld out of the corner of his eye, causing Kal to turn and finally notice Persephone presence as well.
"And why's that Hermes." Kal asked in a slightly suspicious tone of voice as he looked back at the Messenger God.
"Isn't it obvious? Your clearly a skilled warrior and what's more, your fast on your feet, quite literally, which is something even I can respect in a Demigod." The Messenger God's unexpected complements took Kal genuinely by surprise, but just like before, Hermes praise was short-lived.
"But let me give a little word of friendly advice from an experienced smartass." Hermes said slyly as they finally stopped circling one another. "Don't start getting cocky just because it looks like you're winning, kiddo."
"Me getting cocky?" Kal couldn't help but ask the question at the absurdity of Hermes statement. "Hermes, I don't know if you noticed, but we've been fighting for nearly an hour and you have yet to lay even a single hit on me."
"That's true, very, very true, in skill at arms you have proven yourself superior." Hermes admitted before a very familiar smirk slowly appeared across his face. "But then again kid… I don't really need to be a better than you in order to win, do I?"
Something about the Messenger God's tone made instantly Kal cautious again. "What's that supposed to mean."
"Its like you said kiddo, this game of ours isn't over until one of us either gives in… or can no longer fight due to exhaustion." Hermes said smiling knowingly at the boy who finally realised just what the smug Messenger God was saying. "Do you see what I'm getting at now kid."
"You're planning on letting me tiring myself out chasing you rather than trying to trying to best me in a battle, aren't you Hermes?" Kal asked aloud, even though they both already knew that to be the correct answer.
"Well look who's finally starting to catch on, why yes, that's exactly my plan, kid." Hermes said smugly. "The way I see it, this whole battle comes down to both speed AND endurance, it's like I told you earlier kiddo, my grandfather was Atlas the Titan of Endurance and I AM Hermes, the God of Speed, so do you honestly think you're going to be able to outlast me in a fight?"
At this infuriating but still fair question, Kal said nothing, he just stared at Hermes smug, smirking face with a seemingly emotionless expression for a long moment before lunging at the Messenger God as fast as he possibly could.
Hermes, of course, saw this coming and moved almost effortlessly out of the way as Kal sped right past him, the Messenger God looked over his shoulder and smiled as Kal quickly turned back around and charged once more at him, only for Hermes to once again step just of out of harm's way.
Kal stopped running when he realised, he was right back from where he had started from, turned and glared at Hermes. "So, you see kiddo, I don't actually have to beat you to win. I just have to wait for your stamina to run all the way out and let you knock yourself out." The Messenger God let out a low chuckle. "With that being said, you ready to give up yet?"
"I think you already know the answer to that question Hermes." Kal told the Messenger God.
"Hhhmmm, not really sure I do, why don't you remind me." Hermes asked smugly.
"The answer Hermes is no and a heck no for that matter." Kal said glaring defiantly at the smirking speedster. "While I'll admit your strategy of making me tire myself out is a clever one, you have seemed to have overlooked the possibility of me defeating you before that happens."
"That's the spirit kiddo, never give up, never give in, a true hero does not back down in the face of overwhelming obstacles or some other inspiring nonsense like that." Hermes said with his usual mocking tone back in his voice now. "But for your information kid, I didn't overlook it, I just don't think it's very likely to happen, that's all."
"Well see about that." Kal declared as he quickly charged towards Hermes who stood his ground and the two locked their weapons together once more, sending another shockwave through the area as their duel of endurance began in earnest.
Just like before though, the Messenger God matched all of Kal's sceptre swings blow for blow, only this time, Kal was the only one on the attack while Hermes just remained on the defensive, backing up with every new blow as the young prince fruitlessly attempting to overpower the speedsters very effective blocks, growing more and more frustrated with each failure… which is exactly what Hermes had wanted to happen.
Because as seconds turned to minutes, Kal found himself quickly running out of energy whilst Hermes remained seemingly unphased by their fast-paced duel, the Messenger God staying cool and collected as their weapons clashed repeatedly in loud, metallic bangs which echoed across the training grounds.
Until finally they locked against one another once more, though this time, Hermes was pushing back against Kal.
"Ahh kid, you're looking a little winded there, maybe you should take breather." Hermes suggested as he leaned in close to the Kal's panting face. "I'm more than happy to stop and let you rest… just as soon as your ready to admit defeat that is."
"Like I said …before." Kal just barely managed to gasp out between pants. "It's… not happening… Hermes."
"Alright fine, have it your way then." The Messenger God said with an indifferent shrug, right before pushing down even harder against his younger opponent who was clearly on the backfoot now.
"But I have to ask, what is your plan now?" Hermes asked in a mocking tone and a curious smile as he looked Kal right in the eye. "Or are we just destined to be two speedster princes locked in a dashing duel of stamina for the rest of eternity. Until the Greek version of Ragnarök finally comes, when the Underworld opens up and the bottomless pits of Tartarus swallow us all, hhhmmm?"
"Maybe?" Kal said after a brief moment of merciful silence following the Master Trickster's rather thematic declaration as he strained to hold up his side of their weapon lock. "Or… you know… you could just… surrender… Hermes."
At this alternative suggestion, Hermes just laughed out loud once more. "Oh kid, I must say, I do get a KICK out of you sometimes."
The true meaning of Hermes words dawned on Kal unfortunately a moment too late, as Hermes suddenly pulled his left leg back and then kicked Kal squarely in the gut, knocking the last of his breath out of him sending the young prince flying backwards across the training grounds, before he came to a tumbling stop on the hard ground with a pained groan.
The audience reactions were varied to say the least, both Persephone and Hippolyta each had to physically hold Krypto and Diana back from rushing over to Kal's aid, just as much as they had to internally restrain themselves from doing the same thing.
Most of other Amazons watched on in silent concern whilst Hera frowned noticeably at this undesirable turn of events as did Iris, both Apollo and Alectryon couldn't help but wince in empathy from their rooftop position.
Whilst unbeknownst to all others watching, Athena gave a snort of disappointment from her statue's surveillance feed and the three feathered huntresses hidden in the jungle canopy snickered in sick amusement as quietly as they could.
For a long moment there, everyone watching thought this fight was over just like that… but then, Kal opened his eyes with a groan and slowly got back to his feet with another.
"My, my, you are a persistent little prince, aren't you." Hermes said after a moment, and Kal saw that the Messenger God now held both his staff and Hera's sceptre in his hands as he walked slowly towards to the now unarmed prince. "But if I may give you another clever piece of advice, lie back down and just accept defeat already. Because believe it or not kid, I don't really relish the idea of having to actually knock you unconscious in order to win this little game of ours."
Kal's only response was to glare right back at Hermes with an even more determined look than before, if such a thing was even possible, and he began to feel his eyes begin to heat up…
… which gave him an idea, involving a special ability he had discovered whilst practicing his natural night vision in the dark a few weeks ago, even before he learned of his super speed, it was something he had tried only a few times before and never during the light of day, so he wasn't sure it would even work…
… but he had to try it now… because it was his only chance of getting back the upper hand in this fight.
"No Hermes, I will never lie back down and accept defeat from anyone ever again, especially you." Kal growled defiantly as he felt the burning sensation behind his eyes suddenly intensify. "If you want me out, then you're going to have to knock me out."
"Kal! No!" Hippolyta cried out from the stands, she couldn't take it anymore, she had to put a stop to this before her son actually got seriously hurt. "Hermes! Please! Stop this now! He's had enough already!"
"It's the kid's decision, Hippolyta, not mine." Hermes told the distressed Queen of the Amazons with a serious expression before turning back to address the defiant little Demigodling in front of him. "You should listen to your mother kiddo, and give up before you get hurt."
But Hippolyta's pleas and Hermes warnings were ignored as Kal looked at his mother with a resigned expression. "I'm sorry mother, but no, this is the way it has to be." Before turning to glare back at Hermes. "Well, what are you waiting for Messenger Boy, come on, I'll even stand still for you."
"Fine, if you're going to be so stubborn about this, kid." Hermes said with an indifferent sigh as he walked closer until he stood over the now barely standing Kal, but glancing at the clearly distressed Queen of the Amazons with a sympathetic look. "If it makes you feel any better Hippolyta, I promise to stop once you're Little Fallingstar is out cold."
"Kal… no." Hippolyta whispered quietly to herself as she felt Phillippus put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"So, kiddo, any last adorably defiant words before I send you into unconsciousness." Hermes asked as he loomed over his younger opponent whilst dual wielding two Olympian weapons in his hands.
"Just two Hermes." Kal said calmly as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes before immediately opening them again and to Hermes and everyone else's surprise, his eyes were glowing white. "What the-."
"Flash Flare!"
These two loud words were followed by a, sudden and intense flash of bright light emanating from Kal's eyes, which made everyone watching cover their own eyes to protect them from the glow, even Athena watching from library via her Bubo Owl screen to the trio of stalkers hidden in the jungle canopy, all except…
… for Apollo and Alectryon, as both immortals were beings of light and fire, they were seemingly the only ones unaffected by the bright flash of light, Apollo in particular, though his glowing eyes did noticeably widen as he saw the boy use a power so similar to his own, Hermes however…
"Ah! My eyes." Hermes yelled in obvious pain as he covered his face with his hands, dropping both weapons as he tried desperately to protect his seared sight from the blinding light. "I can't… I can't see!"
"Well look who's finally starting to catch on, that was exactly my plan, Hermes." The Messenger God heard the kid in a mocking repeat of his own earlier words and Hermes knew what was coming next.
He kicked and lashed out blindly as best as he could in defence of the attack he knew was coming, but a sudden headbutt to the gut knocked the air out of the Messenger God lungs right before he felt his legs get grabbed by the ankles and get pulled out from underneath, causing the speedster to fall backwards onto the ground with a groan.
Hermes finally felt his vision begin to recover just as the boy began spinning around whilst still holding onto his legs, moving so fast now that Messenger God actually felt himself begin to get lifted off the ground from the force.
The crowd watched in awe as Kal spun around in a tight circle at super, sonic speed whilst swinging the very God of Speed himself in a wide arc as though he was flail, before finally letting go with a yell, sending Hermes flying into a nearby fountain with a mighty splash of water.
SPLASH!
Shocked into silence, everyone watched as Kal dizzily came to a stop, with both of the Messenger God's iconic Winged Boots in his hands, which he seemingly must have pulled off during his throwing of Hermes.
"Huh, well that honestly worked out better than I could have hoped for." Kal said aloud to the watching crowd as he slipped on both piece of Olympian footwear now and then picked up both the fallen weapons off the ground. "For a moment there, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to PULL it off."
"I'm sorry, was THAT supposed to be a clever play on words, kid?" Hermes asked as everyone turned to see the Messenger God pull his soaking form from the fountains waters before quickly spinning himself dry once more, seemingly no worse for ware despite having just being thrown through the air.
"Maybe." Kal said mischievously as he watched the Messenger God make his back over to him while the new pair of Winged Boots now on his feet fluttered in readiness. "Thanks for the new running shoes by the way Hermes."
"Don't mention it." Hermes said sarcastically before smiling almost proudly at the boy who had just bested him. "After that clever little light trick, you pulled just now, You've more than earned them, besides, I have a new pair right here." The Messenger God than procced to pull out a new pair of identical Winged Boots from his satchel before they automatically slipped themselves onto his feet. "Ah, I love that new boot feeling on my soles?"
"-and of COURSE, you have another pair of boots Hermes." Kal said with a deadpan expression as he tossed the Messenger God's staff back to him. "I mean, why wouldn't you?"
"I know right, for some reason; most mortals seem to think I only have the one pair." Hermes pondered while absentmindedly grabbing his staff, rubbing his chin in thought with his other hand for a moment before looking down at Kal again with a proud smile. "But still congratulation's kiddo and I mean it, that was a well-played ploy and a pretty good trick you pulled out of your sleeve just now."
Despite the sincereness of the complement though, Kal knew better by this point to let his guard down around the Messenger God during this game of theirs.
"But what's this? I have one of my own!" Hermes announced with a smirk as he pulled his hood over his helmeted head and suddenly turned invisible. "Now you see me and now you don't."
"Uh oh." Kal couldn't help but say as he began slowly backing away and turning his head around in every direction, trying to figure out exactly where Hermes now was.
"That's right kid, you should say 'uh oh." The Messenger Gods voice seem to be coming from all around Kal. "Because you can't hit what you can't see… but I certainly can."
After hearing this, Kal just barely managed to dodge the blow from Hermes now invisible staff as it came for him, thanks in large part to his pilfered Winged Boots giving him enhanced and much needed agility, which he was immensely grateful for.
But still, no amount of feathered footwear could stop the barrage of unseeable ambushes as Hermes pushed his camouflaged advantage over Kal, who could barely keep up with his evasion tactics, not that there was much else he could do at this point but keeping dodging the staff swings.
For every time Kal would try to fight back, swinging the sceptre in wide arcs, he would either seemingly miss Hermes or be striking at nothing but empty air, emphasised by the Messenger Gods laughter at his erratic and apparently fruitless attempts. "What's wrong kiddo, having a tougher time figuring out where I am now?"
Eventually he had no choice but to retreat to the top of one of the larger pieces of training equipment, to catch his breath and figure out a new plan of attack for this unexpected development in their duel, but Hermes apparently wasn't going to give him that chance.
"Ahh, I see you have taken to the high ground, an undeniable tactical advantage over any enemy… or is it?"
Moments later, Kal was forced to hang on for dear life as he felt Hermes begin to whack the sides of tall training equipment, he was on with his staff again and again in supersonic dash attacks.
"Don't worry, I promise to catch you if you fall kid." Hermes assured Kal from seemingly nowhere and everywhere all at once. "But until YOU decide to come down kiddo, I'm afraid the shaking is not going to stop."
"How are you doing this Hermes?" Kal couldn't help but ask as he tried desperately to figure out where the speedster was. "I knew you could turn invisible, but how are you sounding like you're in two places at once?"
"Oh that, it's a little trick I learned from some old Kobalos friends of mine when I was about your age." Hermes disembodied, smug voice seemingly switching from Kal's left to his right and then back again. "The ability to throw my voice in order to confuse my opponents, I'll teach it to you later, that is… if you ever find me."
Dam it, I hate to admit, but he's right, Kal thought to himself whilst he tried to stay alert for his now invisible opponent, he knew was somewhere down below him. I caught him off guard in the palace earlier and we were inside an enclosed space so I could hear him better too. but out here, in the open air, he's a lot harder to pinpoint, I need to be able to at least figure out where he is if I'm going to stand a chance of beating him. Kal thought as he continued to gaze warily around the training grounds for his invisible adversary and for something that could help him.
That's when he saw the fountain that he had thrown Hermes into a few minutes ago… and a clever idea suddenly came to him… he only hoped it was clever enough to work.
Leaping from high vantage point, Kal hit the ground running and in moments was beside the fountain, he knew he had to work fast, it wouldn't be long before Hermes figured what he was trying to do.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Swinging the sceptre back over his right shoulder, Kal began furiously whacking it into the side of the fountains stone wall again and again… and again, every blow removing a little more of the master masonry.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Now kid, I know your frustrated, but taking out your anger on innocent architecture is not going to help you win this game of ours." Kal heard Hermes say from somewhere behind him, still completely invisible, the young prince was sure… not that it was going to help the Messenger God for much longer.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Well, see Hermes, you say that but-." Kal said, once again repeating the very same words Hermes had said back to him earlier on the palace roof, just as the fountain stone walls finally gave way under the strength of his furious blows. Thus, allowing the water to come rushing out in a massive wave that quickly flooded the training grounds floor, turning it into a shallow pool from end to end as Kal himself leapt back onto another nearby piece of training equipment and stood poised and ready.
It took a moment for everyone watching, secret and otherwise, to realise this was exactly what Kal had wanted to happen though, as moments later, the sound of a certain someone sprinting through the shallow water was clearly heard by all as well as the outline of a certain someone's boots.
"Found you again Hermes." Kal whispered himself with a pleased smile before leaping at where he knew the Messenger God to now be.
Kal slammed into Hermes with such force it sent the two tumbling into the shallow water, the speedster forced to decloak as the pair tussled in the shallow water, grappling with each other like a pair of fighting Shadow Panthers.
Until finally, the shallow water drained away around them and the two could finally stand up once more, both jumping back far away from the other, courtesy of their Winged Boots hover function.
The two of them simply stood there for a long while, seemingly catching their respective breaths after their watery wrestling match, when Hermes spoke up once more, as was to be expected of the speedster.
"This is… what? The third time today you've gotten me wet today kiddo?" Hermes asked with a grin.
"I think so, but to be honest Hermes." Kal answered with a small smile of his own. "I wasn't really… keeping count."
Hermes grin widened and then he laughed rather softly for once and a moment later… Kal joined him, the pair of opponents sharing a genuine laugh together for once.
"Finally, someone on this island who actually has a sense of humour." Hermes said after he and Kal finally stopped laughing. "That was a very clever move, flooding the entire training grounds like that just so you could figure out where I was, such creative and excellent out of the box thinking, why it was almost as good as something I could come up with."
"Gee, thank you for that highest of compliments, Hermes." Kal muttered sarcastically to the speedster Olympian which only caused Hermes smile to broaden.
"Since you started chasing me back in that palace kid, you've resorted to theft and trickery in order to win and now… now your using sarcasm like a pro." Hermes said with a fond chuckle and an almost teary look in his eye. "I'm so… so proud of you."
"But in all seriousness… I am impressed kiddo." Hermes said in a surprisingly warm tone of voice, like that of a teacher proud of their star students' accomplishments. "You've proven yourself to be a far more worthy adversary than I would have ever expected you to be, my cousin Persephone was right, you never cease to surprise people, even us immortals, that's an achievement."
"What do you mean Hermes?" Kal couldn't help but ask the question, genuinely wanting to know what Hermes was getting at for once.
"I'll admit kid, when I saw you in action for the first-time, I thought you were just another young upstart Demigod who happened to show some faint promise as warrior." Hermes said, speaking honestly with no undercurrent of mockery for once. "But you really proved me wrong."
As Kal stood there, listening intently to what Hermes had to say, he looked down at a reflection of himself in a nearby puddle of water and thought about how much had happened in the short amount of time since he had last stood in these very same training grounds earlier this morning, right after he had lost his duel against his sister Diana.
"I mean look at yourself now kiddo, you now stand tall and proud like a proper warrior prince and your just one right move away from besting a Greek God at his own game." Hermes continued in a grandiose tone of voice while Kal continued to think about all he had gone through in the last few hours…
… meeting his godmother Queen Hera and Lady Iris, learning of his destiny to one day fight Hercules as his island's champion, uncovering and chasing after Hermes, encountering Rao and discovering his powers, all of which had led him right back to the Training Grounds of Athena, where it had all begun in the first place, fighting against a more powerful opponent, only this time, he was planning on winning this duel.
Kal smiled as he watched his reflection fade away as the puddle of water evaporated into nothingness before his eyes, even though his appearance hadn't really changed since last he saw it, Kal knew in his heart that he was a different sort of prince than he was before, a more confident, a more cunning prince than before… a prince who was also worthy of being called a champion.
"You weren't just told you had the potential to be a great champion today kid, you proved it, not just to me and to yourself, but to everyone watching us right now as well." Hermes said with a warm smile that was not smug or mocking in the slightest, while gesturing to the watching crowd. "You found your inner confidence and that alone, makes you the real winner here today, kiddo."
For a moment, Kal simply didn't know what to say to what was quite possibly the greatest complement anyone had ever given him in his young life, until he finally managed a touched. "Woah… thanks Hermes, and I mean that sincerely this time."
"My pleasure kid, but alas, all good things must come to an end and besides, I have an entire pantheon to pester." Hermes said with a surprisingly good-natured smirk. "So as much as I would enjoy the two of us duking it out until the end of time, I'm afraid our game must end here."
"So… I take it that means you're going to surrender to me now, Hermes?" Kal asked after a moment of long silence.
At this, The Messenger God just laughed good naturedly. "Surrender? Kiddo, come on, it's like you don't even know me by this point."
"I never surrender kid, and I refuse to give you an easy victory as to do so would be doing you a great disservice, if you want to win this game of ours, you're going to have to beat me." Hermes said smiling as he put his staff away in his satchel. "Anyway, you haven't won just yet, I've still got one more trick left for you to overcome and let me assure you kiddo, it's a real TWIST."
"Alright then." Kal said as he braced himself for what he knew would be the final round of their dashing duel. "Let's finish this game Hermes."
"I couldn't agree more kiddo." Hermes said with a smirk, The Messenger God then began running around in a tight circle, getting faster and faster by the second as he ran, causing the air around him to condense and turn into…
"An actual TWISTER!" Kal asked in disbelief as he watched the God of Speed spin so fast, he turned the air around him into a miniature cyclone at least fifty feet tall, a cyclone that was now heading right towards him. "Seriously Hermes?"
"Yeah kid, I wasn't joking when I said this next trick was a real TWIST!" Hermes yelled from somewhere within the roaring whirlwind. "But just so you know, I am still rooting for you kiddo, I want to see if you can overcome my trademarked Hermes Hurricane Attack!"
"… and of COURSE, he named his most powerful attack after himself." Kal muttered aloud as he ran away from the miniature hurricane currently chasing him all around the training grounds. "After all, Hermes, you've clearly always been such a blowhard."
The Messenger God's only response was to laugh within the apparent safety of his whirlwind, though Kal could barely hear over the roar of the cyclone as it came closer and closer.
Even as he ran at full super speed, even with the added boost of agility his new Winged Boots gave him, Kal still found himself starting to get caught up in the hurricane's powerful pull, with each pass around the training grounds, he felt the whirlwind chasing him getting closer to him, not further from him…
… until finally, it caught him.
Maybe all the day's running had finally caught up with him, maybe he had been just a little to slow on that last turn or maybe Hermes's Hurricane Attack really was just that powerful, but before Kal could figure out how it had happened, he was suddenly lifted off the ground and pulled within the twister itself.
Inside the vacuum whirling air, Kal couldn't see much of anything as he felt himself get batted around left and right by the howling wind, or maybe it was Hermes striking at him somewhere within safety the cyclonic cover.
"I'm sorry kid!" He heard Hermes say somewhere within the gale force winds. "But this looks like the part where you lose!"
Kal couldn't hope to respond to Hermes voice, he couldn't even open his eyes at this point, all he could do was be spin helplessly in the whirlwind as the unrelenting atmosphere starting sucking the remaining strength from his body.
He couldn't fight back and he couldn't hope to win… all he could do was wait to fall…
"Rise up Kal-El." A familiar voice whispered to from the darkness, a voice he recognised as…
"Rao?" Kal gasped aloud, the question was asked so quietly though he could barely hear himself even ask it over the roaring wind. "Is… that… you?"
"Yes Kal, it is I." Kal heard Rao's warm and wise voice from seemingly inside his own head, inside his mind. "I am still here with you, and as long as I am, you are never alone Kal-El."
"I… I don't know what to do Rao." Kal barely managed to say as he continued to tumble about in the spinning winds. "I can't win."
"You can win Kal, I know you can." Rao said encouragingly. "I've been watching over you throughout your entire life Ka-El, and I know you've been feeling like you're falling for a lot of it, but I'm telling you, that you can win, now… rise up."
As the echo of Rao's words faded away into his subconscious, Kal forced his eyes open again and strained his neck to look up into the top of the cyclone, then as if by sheer will power itself, he found himself being propelled towards it, he found himself… rising towards the sun and sky.
When he reached top of cyclone, he looked down and was certain he saw where Hermes was running around in a circle to make the hurricane he had named after himself.
Well, there's only one way to find out. Kal thought to himself as he took a deep breath beforehand as if he was about to go swimming under the water, dove back down towards the eye of the storm with his winged boots acting as thrusters of sorts.
As Kal got closer and closer to his target, he felt the strong cyclonic winds try to suck him back into their whirling pull, but Kal just powered through them for what felt like forever, until finally he reached his target.
"This is part where you lose Hermes!" Kal declared as he slammed into the Messenger God at full speed, sending the two of them flying out of the twister and crash landing onto ground as the spinning whirlwind dissipated into calm air behind them.
It took Kal a few moments to fully realise just what had happened as the shocked crowd continued stare on in stunned silence, the air was cool and calm, the sky bright and sunny, and Kal was standing tall while he had Hermes pinned his foot with his sceptre pointed at the Messenger of the Greek Gods smirking face.
"Well done kiddo." Hermes said with a good-hearted laugh and a proud looking smile. "You win, you beat me fair and square, now could you please get your foot off my chest?"
At hearing this, Kal smiled and then removed his foot from the Messenger Gods chest and othered him a hand up, which Hermes modestly took and turned into a sportsman's handshake as pair of the speedster princes smiled at each other.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Whatever Kal, Hermes or anyone else was going to say next though, was promptly cut off, as a slow clapping was heard from somewhere on high, reaching the ears of everyone present, followed almost immediately by a musical voice calling out. "Bravo! Bravo you two! An extraordinary performance worthy of the Theatres of Delphi, if I do say so myself."
Kal turned to look in the voice's direction, only to be hit with a near blinding ray of sunlight, So this is how it feels to be on the wrong end of my Flash Flare attack.
And he wasn't the only one, either, even though Kal could barely see through the shine, he still saw the two Greek Goddesses and all of the Amazons watching from the viewing area shield their eyes from the sudden intense light, even Hermes had pulled his cape over his face to protect himself from it. "Not again brother."
"Sorry everyone, that tends to happens when I get… overly excited." A new male voice called out in tone that was both apologetic and strangely charming. "Just give me a moment and I'll turn the light down a little."
The bright light, thankfully quickly began to die down after that, and Kal found himself recovering from the temporary blinding faster than anyone else, as he turned back in the direction of the voice and could just make a lone male figure, golden and beautiful, applauding him.
"Still, the victor of such a thrilling fight deserves to be congratulated in person." Suddenly, two beautiful, flaming feathered wings appeared out of the figures back similar to that of Iris's and began flapping softly, allowing the figure to lift into the open air before descending rather majestically down to the training grounds, right towards Kal.
As the figure came closer, Kal could also make out the outline of a large fiery bird perched on his shoulder, the Phoenix looking every bit as magnificent as its master, whose feet by now had touched the ground, the long and majestic wings folding back up and disappearing from view.
By now, the eyesight of all the others had recovered as well, Olympians and Amazons alike all watched as the gorgeous golden male made his way over to him, out of the corner of his eye, Kal could see his mother's eyes widen in what looked like recognition at the sight of the shining figure.
Strange, Kal couldn't help but think to himself just before he came face to face with what he then realised was another member of the Greek Pantheon, just like Persephone, Hermes, Iris and Hera, only this Olympian was a God clearly a God of Light, a God of Day and a God of Fire.
A Sun God, Kal realised in dawning awe as he stared up at the shining Olympian standing before him.
"I mean, woah." Apollo said smiling as brightly as the midday sun down at the boy who had just bested his younger half-brother. "What a battle."
Greetings to all my fellow fanfic readers and writers, I hope you all enjoyed Superman, Son of Hippolyta Chapter 18: Flight of the Speedsters, and so after a dashing duel of speed and cunning, the New Champion of Themyscira finally emerges victorious over the Messenger of the Gods in round three of their little game and I hope you all enjoyed it.
This officially concludes the end of the Hermes Arc, though you can expect him to show up more in the future, next up, Kal finally meets the Sun God Apollo and his talking Phoenix friend Alectryon… as well as some not so friendly feathered creatures as well…
Please let me know what you think of the surprise appearance of Athena in this chapter and my gradual incorporation of the Greek Pantheon into the story, you might have noticed by now that I usually try to tease the presence of a particular Olympian via something like a statue or named area on the island, an associated animal, or even a passing mention in conversation before they ever make a physical appearance in story.
I do feel like there is something to mention about Hermes characterisation and role in this story that might be getting overlooked, is while the God of Speed can be an insufferable smug trickster most of the time, he's also known in Ancient Greek Myth as a helper of heroes, especially to ones who have been tasked with slaying dangerous monsters such as Perseus who was only able to slay the Gorgon Medusa and save his future wife Princess Andromeda from the Sea Monster Cetus with his help…
… and there's no Ancient Greek Monster more dangerous than Hercules in this story, even amongst other Demigods of Ancient Greece, the strongest Son of Zeus is in a league all of his own, outclassed in his sheer atrocities only by his Olympian father…
… The point is, throughout this entire arc, Hermes has been, in his own way at least, trying to teach Kal a very valuable lesson about the reality of fighting against people who don't play fair or abide by any set of honour bound rules, which neither Zeus or Hercules do for the record, something Kal needs to learn quickly if he hopes to stand a chance against them someday.
Because guys, Kal isn't the first Champion that has been set up against Hercules by the Greek Gods… he's actually the 13th…
As is the case for most of the Greek Gods featured in this story, the design for Athena is taken from the Netflix original series Blood of Zeus, a tv show I highly recommend as always.
Also, if any of you would like to support my work in other ventures, I have YouTube channel under the same name as fanfic account, T-Rexcellent Reviews, if you're interested, please consider giving it a look, a like and subscription as it would really help me out.
Now onto answering some more fan questions from all of you guys… spoiler alert, it's a long one.
1. TLynnson, your most welcome mate and thank you for commenting on my last chapter as it was actually very hard to write, it really warms my heart to see the review numbers for this story grow, I hope this chapter did not disappoint you either and that the fight was worth the wait.
2. Joel, I agree, it was time for Kal to have a moment of triumph after so much defeat and humiliation at Hermes hands, it feels more like he earned it this way instead of just winning due to his powers and yes Kal certainly made Hermes eat his words or rather forced fed them to him in this case.
3. Vahn, thank you mate, I'm glad you think so highly of my work, though when you say you dislike knowing how the story ends, are you referring to the first prologue chapter? Because if so, let me just tell you that when we do finally reach the events of prologue, that will be the REAL beginning of this story my friend.
4. ManOfSteel, I'm glad you found Kal's PUNCH-line for Hermes satisfying and I hope the fight was everything you thought it could be, and yes, it was really only a matter of time before other Olympian's found out about Themyscira's new Champion and if you know anything about Greek Mythology, Olympians meddling in the affairs of mortals always has consequences…
With Kal already showing such powerful potential as a 'Demigod' by defeating a Greek God at his own game and holding such an unexpected position within the Amazons society as the Son of Hippolyta, especially given the fact that everyone atop Mount Olympus knows about her history with Hercules and Thrax,
As for how powerful Kal will become in the future, just like how Hercules strength can rival that of his Olympian family members, you can expect Kal's power to one day rival or even surpass a Greek Gods in this story.
Your most welcome my friend and thank you for reviewing it.
5. Djberneman, hey mate, first off, is your question about generally approved DC Comics material or just the structure of my story? because if its latter, the answer is gradually, like the progression of video game characters where they level up over time and gain new weapons, tools, weapons and abilities as you play.
In this stories universe Kryptonians become more powerful as they age, having access to MOST of their powers by the end of teenage years, though most don't start accessing any of them until their age of fifthteen at least, Kal is an exceptional indivuals even amongst his own kind, just as Hercules was amongst the Demigods of Ancient Greece.
6. 80sarcades, thank you mate, I really pride myself on taking the popular fanfic idea of Kal being raised by the Amazons of Themyscira and doing something with it that as far as I can tell has never been done before, but a huge thanks must also go to my Greek Mythology expert and creative consultant Luke, who has helped this story become what it is today with his vast knowledge of the Greek World and its many myths at my disposal, as Hermes himself said in the last chapter, credit should go where credit is due.
I hope the fight between Kal and Hermes in this chapter lived up to your expectations, as for Hippolyta, yes, given what Hercules and Thrax did her back before the Fall of Ancient Greece, you can now better understand her initial reluctance back in the third chapter of having to accept the responsibility of raising Kal as her son. But you'll notice her slowly falling in love with him throughout that chapter as well, fond feelings that quickly became very maternal to her by the end, whatever her thoughts and reasons for raising him initially were, her love for Kal is deep and genuine, there is a reason the story is called Superman, Son of Hippolyta after all.
Sorry about the spelling errors as well mate, that's my Aspergerus Syndrome coming into play when that happens in writing, I due my best to correct it, but it's not really something I can truly fix, I'm glad it didn't overall detract you from the story though.
7. Yeye anaawangazia, I'm glad you enjoyed you latest chapter mate and thank you for the interesting facts about the DC comics history in both your reviews and your own DC story's chapters, please keep them coming and I'm really enjoying your story by the way.
Sorry to say though that Kal won't be learning the power of true flight for quite some time, it's too much of a story breaking power for Kal to posse right now, his gaining of that particular ability has to be something special and not just for sheer shock value, flight is meant represent freedom and right now, Kal is not free, even if he doesn't know it yet.
I'm happy though that Kal's payback punches on Hermes were worth the wait for you, though Kal only hit Hermes two times in the last chapter, hopefully the fight had enough Messenger Boy beating for you and yes, Alkyone is definitely delusional, but honestly that is pretty typical of people like her, of course she would think that Hippolyta was only pretending to love Kal, people like Alkyone don't even know what love really is, much less recognize it in others.
I'm glad I finally got Hippolyta to put her in her place as well, but sadly. I don't think Alkyone will stay there…
8. Erika Lopes, thank you so much for kindly commenting on the quality of my work, it really means a lot to me, But I can't take all the credit, my buddy Luke is a great help with the writing the content of this story.
9. Falcon6, first of all, thank you for saying my most recent chapter was well done, I worked very hard on that one and it really means a lot me that you said that, also thank you for your polite nit-picking too, my friend
I should have expected someone with the name Falcon6 to know the correct terminology regarding the human practices of training birds of prey, I actually heard the word hawking I think from the movie Dragonheart, Rest in Peace Sean Connery, you marvellous man, so that's why I used it, though maybe I just misheard a line. I shall go back and correct that error immediately along with replacing hawk with falcon, thank you for pointing this out to me and I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter mate.
Also, I tend to use the term African American a lot as it is kind of an ingrained part of my upbringing, I will also go back and correct that, thank you again for pointing this out to me politely.
10. Guest, as I have mentioned in my response to Falcon6 above, I shall go back and correct my less than accurate descriptions, thank you, though I would like to clarify to both of you and all my others readers that this story is set in the modern, I repeatedly mention in story that Ancient Greece has long since fallen, referring to the end of the Olympian Golden Age, otherwise, Hercules and his horde would still be free and the Amazons would still be on the mainland of Greece.
11. XxGargantuaxX, yep and you can expect to see more of that in the future, before and after Kal finds out the truth.
12. beastblau12, I'm happy to hear mate and don't worry Kal has a lot more epic Grecian style adventures to go on.
13. Artimuos Sen, of course, being raised on a Grecian Island ruled by Amazon women and regularly visited by Olympian Gods, naturally Kal is already well versed in numerous Greek Myths and well learn much, much more as he meets more members of the Greek Pantheon, though I can personally promise you, that defeating Zeus will not be as simple as throwing a net over him.
14. epantoja521, I assure that's pure coincidence on my part, I hadn't even heard of Viltramites until you mentioned them, I was never interested Invincibles, the whole backstory with Krypton is meant to help portray the drastically different nature of this story to what's come before it as well as show that the Kryptonians, like most cultures in the real world, had both good and bad elements about them, yes, they tried to conquer the universe, but they also brought forth advancements in society that wouldn't have existed without their conquest in the first place.
There are no Orcs races in this story guys, as in entire races of pure evil beings, the Olympians, the Kryptonians, the Amazons and the Barbarians, they all have both good and bad individuals amongst their respective kinds, people who KNOW the difference between right and wrong and chose to do wrong, instead of right.
Also, of course I added Krypto, that Kryptonian Wolfdog is awesome and honestly, Kal needs the canine companionship growing up as the only boy on an Amazon ruled island.
15. Supabec, thank you so much mate, that means the world to me.
16. give-evil-a-win, hi yourself and thank you for reviewing, I'm so glad you're enjoying my story mate and that you think I do such great work with my character development and world building, which I personally believe along with an interesting premise, is what makes a great story.
As for Alkyone though, I'm sorry to say, there won't be any love controlling enchantments on her part, she's not smart or skilled enough to use magic anyway, we will see her become more of a threat as the story progresses though, specifically as Kal gets older and he starts to become more aware of things going around him, I can promise she will not be a B villian though.
17. justareader21, it was actually K+, but yeah, your right mate, this story has been overdue for ratings change for a while now, which I have with your suggestion made it into a T rating, forgive me, this was only my second story on fanfic and I was unfamiliar with how rating systems works. I was also operating under the belief that people go into franchises like Justice League and Jurassic Park just expecting a degree of more adult content because of the subject matter, I'm personally someone who is against censorship anyway because I personally think it ruins art, still thank you for looking out for me mate.
18. ManOfSteel, all fair points their mate, though it is worth mentioning that Hera has actually been trying to think of way to stop Hercules return long before Kal showed up, originally wanting more islands so her worshippers could increase their tribe's numbers or at least have somewhere they could retreat to, but Zeus denied her that request precisely to ensure that his bastard son would win the coming war, so Hera to her credit is trying to boost the Amazons morale.
Something to keep in mind, is while Hera does want revenge against both Hercules and Zeus for fairly understandable reasons, her goal first and foremost is still to protect her pantheons female worshippers from being enslaved by the Biggest Butchering Bastard in all of Ancient Greece and his army of serial killers/rapists, something that she knows will eventually put her in direct confrontation with her more powerful brother, that's brave on her part, no matter how you put it.
Her reason for making Kal into the Amazons champion is best summed up in Hippolyta's thoughts in the previous chapter, is it worth risking one single brave boy's life in order to save an entire warrior women and innocent girls from eternal enslavement? That's just one of the many difficult questions I want my readers to wrestle with as the read the story, I feel like the moral ambiguity of this story is a part of what helps make it so engaging, the truth, is that sometimes there just aren't any good answers to difficult questions, especially when your caught between Scylla and Charybdis.
Also, as for Hera and the other Greek Gods being able to stop Hercules themselves without needing Kal to do it for them, a few things to take into account that will be further addressed later on, but first off.
All Demigods throughout Greek Mythology, just like modern day superheroes and villains, vary in power level from just above a mere mortal to close to a new Olympian, we will hear of and even see different examples of that throughout the story, Hercules however, there is most definitely an emphasis on the God part for him.
The Olympians, sans Zeus, have all been trying to take down Hercules since before the Fall of Ancient Greece to very little success, usually losing worshippers, friends and in one particularly tragic case, even a beloved member of their own pantheon in the attempts, they all know how deadly the Thunderers Favourite Child is from past experiences, so naturally the Greek Gods are no hurry to face him in combat, but it's not just Hercules they would need to contend with, you also need to consider for a second what exactly Zeus would do to them if they actually succeeded in killing his beloved bastard.
The legal situation on Mount Olympus is such that Zeus can't outright free Hercules and his horde from their Underworld imprisonment, but at the same time, he doesn't have to stop them from breaking out on their own either, while Hera can't personally do anything to stop it from happening either, she is well within her rights to do anything she otherwise deems necessary to protect her worshippers and what happens on Themyscira is entirely under her jurisdiction, Zeus has no power to override her decisions regarding the Amazons or her new champion.
One of the reasons I had Kal meet both Hera and Hermes around the same time was to convey the fact that the two are actually foils for each other.
Hera is the Queen of the Heavens while Hermes is the Messenger of the Gods.
Hera is an elder Greek Goddess who fought in the Titanomachy while Hermes is younger Greek God who fought in the Gigantomachy.
Hera has a whole island of loyal women worshippers while Hermes is the Greek God whose influence is the most felt throughout the modern era.
Hera is known for secretive scheming while Hermes is surprisingly honest for a known trickster.
While we are on the subject of the Old Gods though, while this story is about the Greek Mythology for the most part, Kal's place amongst the Olympians in the story is actually very similar to Loki's from the Norse Mythology.
Both Kal and Loki are virtually unknown outsiders who are more or less welcomed into two different divine tribes, (for Kal it's the Amazons and later the Olympians whilst for Loki it's the Jotunn and later the Asgardians). Despite neither actually being a member of those races (Kal is a Kryptonian who believes he is a Demigod and Loki was actually a Jotunn/God hybrid who was later labelled as an Aesir).
Both have a familiar relationship with a powerful, authoritative figure in the pantheon (Kal being Hippolyta's son and Hera's godson and Loki being Laufey's son and Odin's blood brother). As well as being the bane to a Thunder God (Zeus for Kal and Thor for Loki).
Both have a unique bond with a Wolf (Kal's almost brotherly relationship with Krypto and Loki's paternal relationship with Fenrir) and a complicated relationship with a God whose name starts with the letter H (Hermes for Kal and Heimdall for Loki).
Both Kal and Loki are inherently powerful, chaotic influence in their respective, adoptive pantheons (though in Kal's case, it is certainly unintentional whereas Loki's it was definitely intentional) it's also worth mentioning that Loki helps bring about Ragnarök, the final great battle for the Norse Gods… considering what we saw in the prologue, that's something to keep in mind for our boy Kal in the future…
As for Kal 'repaying' Hera for her deception when he finally does find out the truth though, well, we will have to wait and see, Kal's relationship with his new godmother is something that will be explored as time goes on.
Finally, thank you so much for your compassion and understanding mate, after the last couple of weeks I've had, your review was a welcomed and uplifting sight to behold, you're the best ManOfSteel.
As always, a shout out to my amazingly supportive friend and fantastic fellow fanfic writer Ricardo753 for supporting my work, go check out his own stories, their T-Rexcellent as well as my new creative consultant and Greek mythology expert Luke5921, proud to have you onboard as an advisor as I write this story mate.
Now please allow me to thank all of you who have followed, favourited and especially reviewed this story.
SuperWonderStan, ManOfSteel, Luke5921, cabrera1234, Joel, HeartOfChaos13, GR8ER3241, Kalel4444, JustAnotherIntern14, Erika Lopes, SilveerKnighT, SuperKamiGuest, dakota, Shall-lin, d,Chinook, MoonKnight030, StevenBodner, Daka, evolution-500, Goldenhue, welcome007, Dak, Arik Kkuznetsov, Yeye anaawangazia, HaywireEagle, TheCrackKing, Artimuos Sen, CrazyCaz, Bashleyz, Falcon6, Al, 80sarcades, Vahn, Djberneman, XxGargantuaxX, beastblau12, epantoja521 and Supabec please keep the reviews coming guys, their what fuels these chapters and to all my other readers, if you write me some reviews in the future, then you can be seeing your name here to, until next time this is T-Rexcellent Reviews signing off.