Seasons of Wonder: A Wonder Woman Fanfiction Story
Rings of Twilight, Part 2:
Wonder Woman remarks, "well Persephone, I can think of someone who's spread their branches too thin. It would be almost a shame to cut them all down."
With no hidden contempt... The Persephones mutter, "who do you think you are?! Paul Bunyan?"
Wonder Woman scoffs.
She replies, "me and my spirit sister are Amazons, you pathetic phony goddess."
With heated glares... The Persephones declare, "why you...! ! !"
The center Persephone angrily charges toward her. The other Persephones are about to grab Donna Troy and Beowulf by their throats with goddess vines.
Just then... Wonder Woman uses her spirit energy blade to slash through several of the center Persephone's goddess vines.
Persephone cries out, "no! !"
She's reactively clutching her remaining goddess vines. She is slowly but surely goddess restoring all her goddess vines. All the Rhinegold illusion Persephones briefly fluctuate.
By then... Donna Troy and Beowulf get back to their feet.
Wonder Woman kind of lightly calls out, "catch! I believe this belongs to you."
She hurls a fallen god battleaxe back to Beowulf.
With a smile... Beowulf declares, "thank you Wonder Woman. Let's take her down together. For honor! ! For all worlds! !"
He, Wonder Woman, and Donna Troy start to charge with battle cries for the central Persephone.
Suddenly... The Stalker of Nightmares angrily cries out, "D'grth! ! ! Beowulf! ! !"
He slashes his Grendel god claws through the cave...causing a massive cave in.
Beowulf and Wonder Woman struggle to slash their way through all the rocks and dust clouds. The Rhinegold illusion Persephones are about to slash their battleaxes at them from behind.
Donna Troy leaps over all the dust clouds. She tackles the central Persephone in the snow.
Persephone gasps in surprise. The Rhinegold illusion Persephones vanish from sight.
Donna Troy concludes, "we're not going down, Persephone! You've been listening to too many tall tales over the grapevine."
Persephone whacks Donna Troy hard with some restored goddess vines.
Persephone darkly taunts, "oh, that almost hurt. But... You see... I've become much more than a mother of vines. I'm going to be the new harbinger of destruction, baby!"
Donna Troy groans hard. She tumble lands back to her feet.
Soon... They're slashing at each other: With spirit energy blade up against goddess thorns.
Beowulf and Wonder Woman are coming out of the dust clouds. They're coughing hard from it all.
The Stalker of Nightmares angrily cries out, "enough! ! !"
He's pulling Wonder Woman in with a ton of vines from both of his god arms.
She tries to slash her way out with her spirit energy blade.
But... Vines from one god arm from the Stalker of Nightmares start dragging her across the snow.
Wonder Woman coughs hard.
Beowulf angrily charges for the Stalker of Nightmares.
But... He just creates a snow mountain hybrid lion with a god arm.
Beowulf is soon wrestling in the snow with the snow mountain hybrid lion.
Donna Troy calls out worriedly, "Diana! !"
Persephone quickly gets a goddess vine around Donna Troy's neck.
Donna Troy is gasping for air while Persephone is holding her up with a goddess vine.
Suddenly... A familiar voice angrily calls out, "get away...from me friends! !"
And... Devastator Woman slashes Titan Coeus's god blade right at Persephone's back.
A fluctuating Persephone cries out in mental overload. She goes flying into the snow from impact. She also has let go of Donna Troy.
All of Persephone's goddess vines wrap around her like a cocoon to help her goddess restore herself in a Rhinegold glow. Her cries make the snow mountain lion nervous enough to back away from the fight.
Devastator Woman creates a goddess asteroid to come crashing down on the Stalker of Nightmares.
The Rhinegold illusion of the Stalker of Nightmares is fluctuating from confusion alone.
Wonder Woman now easily breaks free of its vines.
With a wide smile... Wonder Woman lightly calls out, "wow. Good timing, Devastator Woman!"
With a grin... Devastator Woman lightly adds, "you welcome."
Wonder Woman holds her portable magic mirror closer to her face.
She apologizes, "I'm sorry Etta. We got interrupted by..."
Over portable magic mirror... Etta mostly assures, "it's okay Diana. We know."
They bittersweetly smile to each other.
Circe points out, "we were watching you fight Persephone and a weird tree man."
It turns out Circe has appeared by Wonder Woman and Donna Troy.
Wonder Woman somewhat nervously says, "it's good to see you too, Circe. But... I thought I told you to stay with Etta where you'd be safe!"
Suddenly... Cries of anger from Hades are heard from two forming god portals: One by Wonder Woman, and one by Etta.
The Rhinegold illusion Stalker of Nightmares is breaking out of the asteroid debris. Persephone is quickly rising out of her goddess cocoon.
With mixed feelings... Circe explains, "the trouble is we all in danger now. Doris and her animals too. Where can we go, Diana? Please tell us."
Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, and Etta nervously gulp. Everyone else makes nervous faces.
At a whisper... Wonder Woman suggests, "Demeter's world tree. It's the last place Hades would look."
Beowulf starts to say, "I don't know if..." Donna Troy irritatedly asks, "you got a better idea?"
Beowulf doesn't answer.
By then... Circe has already made goddess portals around Wonder Woman, Beowulf, and their friends.
They vanish from sight before Hades, Persephone, or the Stalker of Nightmares can find them.
Not long after, on Earth-0...
Circe, Giganta as Doris, her animals, Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Etta, Beowulf, and Devastator Woman are hiding from Hades within Demeter's world tree.
Demeter's world tree has become near pitch black. Only walking in goddess time from Circe has slowed its withering. The magic portals within the world tree are shrunk down to tiny magic pools of water. Echoes of the past are heard in the world tree of gods and goddesses crying.
Circe and Doris are bittersweetly smiling to each other. They're lightly playing with Doris's animals.
Donna Troy is exploring around the world tree to try to keep her mind off of Persephone.
Wonder Woman brings up, "thank you for the rescue, Devastator Woman. But... Could you have at least told me sooner you got Titan Coeus's god blade? We thought it was stolen by someone else."
Devastator Woman awkwardly explains, "I sorry. I... I not know there was... What's worse than devastation? I not know what it's called. Heavy sigh. The thing is I would have come to help sooner to save you and save worlds if I knew wave of reeking rye gold rot was coming. Worlds are much less fun with no gods or goddesses for me to try to destroy! They always have come back."
She and Wonder Woman are standing by one of the world tree's many inner golden branches.
They're facing each other. They're both teary eyed.
Wonder Woman solemnly reflects, "I really don't know what's worse than devastation either. And... Heavy sigh. I kind of agree with you on gods and goddesses."
Devastator Woman cluelessly asks, "what does "kind of" mean, Wonder Woman?"
Wonder Woman tries hard not to chuckle.
Wonder Woman highlights, "it means I agree with you that worlds are less fun without any gods or goddesses. You, our friend Circe, and Aphrodite are fun loving goddesses in your own ways. And... Don't worry, Devastator Woman. After we stop Hades and Persephone? You and Circe have the power to get Aphrodite back. We'll get all the gods and goddesses back."
On the first part... Wonder Woman puts a comforting hand on Devastator Woman's.
The teariness in both of their eyes is kind of slowly drying up.
Devastator Woman lightly goes, "oh goodie! I happy to hear that, Diana. Thank you."
She hugs Wonder Woman tight. She hugs her back.
Wonder Woman adds, "you're welcome."
They're both smiling.
Suddenly... Etta calls out, "Donna? I don't think you want to go up there!"
Wonder Woman tells Devastator Woman, "don't worry Devastator Woman. I'll protect her. We'll be back soon. In the meantime? You can go play with Circe and Doris. It might help you feel better."
With some mixed feelings... Devastator Woman nervously says, "I like your idea. But... No go too long from me and Circe. Okay?"
Wonder Woman assures, "I won't be gone long. I promise."
She and Devastator Woman kind of slowly pull away. They bittersweetly smile to each other.
Wonder Woman runs up some inner gold branches to catch up to Donna Troy. Devastator Woman walks over to Circe and Doris.
Around then...
Donna Troy skeptically concludes, "why? What's so bad that...?"
And... Donna Troy finds Adonis unconscious on the topmost branches of Demeter's world tree.
Donna Troy somberly murmurs, "by the gods and goddesses..."
She can't take it anymore. She breaks down crying.
Etta isn't sure now what to say. She nervously stands there.
Soon... Wonder Woman arrives.
Teary eyed... Etta explains, "Diana. I tried to stop her from seeing this. But..."
Wonder Woman somewhat lightly insists, "it's okay. I understand you were just trying to protect her. Let me talk to her."
Etta solemnly nods. She leaves Wonder Woman and Donna Troy be.
Teary eyed... Wonder Woman tries to assure, "Donna? I know the world tree has gotten a lot scarier to you. But... Heavy sigh. We'll get Adonis back. We'll get all the Greek gods and goddesses back."
Donna Troy hugs Wonder Woman close. She hugs her back.
Donna Troy somberly wonders, "Diana... Do you think all the worlds can be brought back to life? Hard sniffle. Do you think the winds are bringing in more storms to the worlds, or are they changing in our favor? The League of Wonder Women barely got through a crisis of worlds before. Hard sniffle. This feels much worse. We may be the only heroes left to stop Hades."
All the while... Tears are falling from both of their faces.
After a bit... Wonder Woman kind of cryptically highlights, "well... Maybe we're not the only heroes left. Circe can help us with that."
They pull away some. They're smiling knowingly to each other.
Donna Troy concludes, "all right Diana. I'm trusting you both. Thank you: For assuring me."
The teariness in both of their eyes is starting to dry up.
Wonder Woman adds, "you're welcome."
They suddenly see Beowulf standing there.
Beowulf figures, "I don't mean to barge in. But... Can I talk to Diana alone? It's important."
Donna Troy just nods. She leaves Beowulf and Wonder Woman be.
Beowulf somewhat awkwardly brings up, "um... I know Devastator Woman was part of the League of Wonder Women and all. But... Are you really sure we can trust her?"
Wonder Woman reflects, "Beowulf... It was hard at first for me to trust her too. But... After hanging out with her and her best friend Circe long enough? I know deep down they're kinder than you might think. They just have some pretty crazy ideas of fun, and they aren't always smart about it. Sometimes I have to clean up their goddess messes. But... They're also good friends of mine. I'd trust any of my friends with my life including you."
With a wide smile... Beowulf voices, "thank you Diana. Some of the modern ways may still confuse me. But... I raised the people that called themselves Vikings to follow what was already in their hearts with help from a path of honor. Our quests aligning together are because of following what was already in our hearts as strong leaders. I'm honored to consider you my friend and a honorary Viking."
With a wide smile... Wonder Woman figures, "thank you very much Beowulf. I'm honored as well."
They shake hands on it.
Wonder Woman says, "let's get back to Donna Troy, Etta, and Devastator Woman."
They start to walk back into the world tree through a cave like opening.
Beowulf figures, "you know Diana? There are some things I'll never get used to in modern times. Faint chuckle. Like a hero title like Devastator Woman."
Wonder Woman lightly figures, "oh, you'll get there someday. I have. We just have to live that long."
Beowulf chuckles a little.
They're walking across several of the world tree's inner gold branches.
Beowulf nervously wonders, "do you really think we're both coming back from the fight ahead of us? We barely got away from Persephone. Hades will be much tougher with or without her by his side."
Wonder Woman tries to assure, "Devastator Woman can bring us all back to life with Titan Coeus's god blade if she has to. I saved the world once or twice with it. My partner Steve Trevor saved me from destruction with it, and he wasn't even trained to use blades."
Beowulf solemnly concludes, "well... Even if I don't make it back? I hope today is a good day to go down fighting. I'm so tired of the endless fighting! ! Would I even have a Earth to come back home to? Hard sniffle. Heavy sigh. Would I even recognize Hera and Zeus after they're brought back to life?"
They pause. Beowulf is close to tears.
Wonder Woman assures, "you will, Beowulf. Believe me. We will all get to go back home."
She puts a comforting hand on his.
Beowulf concludes, "I hope you're right, Diana." Wonder Woman concludes, "I hope so too."
The teariness in Beowulf's eyes is drying up.
After a bit... They get back to Devastator Woman, Donna Troy, Circe, Etta, and Doris.
A few goddess minutes later...
Donna Troy, Wonder Woman, Devastator Woman, Etta, and Beowulf are sitting around in a circle by some of the magic pools of water. There are several star charts on the floor. Doris and most of her animals are watching a horror movie together on her flatscreen TV.
Wonder Woman tries to assure, "Etta? We're all thankful for your help. But... What's with all the start charts? Can't we just appear at the Earth you found Hades?"
Beowulf says, "I've been having the same question." Donna Troy adds, "me too."
They smile some to each other.
Etta starts to tell, "I wish it was that simple. Heavy sigh. I turned to Devastator Woman for help in talking to The Monitor without being detected by Hades. And..."
Wonder Woman observes, "wait. You and Devastator Woman talked to The Monitor without me?"
Etta brings up, "because I know how you feel about him. It was better than asking you to talk to him."
With a slight smile... Wonder Woman realizes, "yeah. Good point."
Etta slightly smiles back. Devastator Woman just looks confused.
Beowulf can't help but ask, "okay. What's your problem with this Monitor guy?"
Wonder Woman, Etta, and Donna Troy make nervous faces.
Etta awkwardly says, "it's...a long and complicated story, Beowulf. Maybe Diana will tell you later."
Beowulf bittersweetly smiles a little. He nods.
Circe suddenly appears. She sits down by Wonder Woman and Devastator Woman.
Wonder Woman checks, "was your mission a success, Circe?"
With a grin... Circe lightly goes, "yes! They'll come to help if they have to."
Donna Troy lightly calls out, "yes! Thank you Circe!"
She hugs Circe close. She hugs her back.
Circe adds, "you are welcome."
Wonder Woman, Etta, and Beowulf smile some in amusement.
Suddenly... Devastator Woman nervously asks, "um... Can I have turn to hug her?"
Donna Troy makes a awkward face.
Donna Troy figures, "ohh. Of course you can. I'll...sit back down now."
She sits back by Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman puts a comforting hand on Donna Troy's. They smile some to each other.
Devastator Woman hugs Circe tight. She hugs her back.
After a bit... Circe wonders, "so... Girls and guy... What did I miss?"
Etta and Wonder Woman try hard not to laugh at the middle part.
Devastator Woman and Circe pull away some. They're smiling wide.
Wonder Woman assures, "you didn't miss much, Circe. Etta was about to explain her plan to find Hades and Persephone." Etta just says, "thank you."
Devastator Woman and Circe turn some to face Etta.
Etta solemnly explains, "Hades has been playing a more complex game of marbles than we thought. He has been changing the orbits of all other Earths to come back around and crash into each other in one hellish swoop. If that happens? The fires of hell itself will spread to all Earths. Hard sniffle. Persephone has been jamming communications for The Monitor this whole time. He can't reach anyone else in time. There would be a lot of finger pointing from the gods and goddesses across all the Earths. They won't step back and figure out the truth until it's too late to stop it. Aside from help from Harbinger? We're on our own. And... Hard sniffle. The only way we'll find Hades will be to run from portal to portal... Earth to Earth... To the center of his sick game. It's going to be damn close, Diana."
Everyone looks wide eyed in shock. They're all getting teary eyed.
With mixed feelings... Donna Troy mutters, "this plan feels like the last three acts in Sonic Colors on Wii. It took me several tries to beat that part of the game, and we don't get several tries out here! !"
Circe and Devastator Woman cluelessly ask, "what is a Wii?"
Donna Troy frustratedly sighs.
Wonder Woman tries to assure, "Donna? It's not going to be a instant game over. Okay?"
Donna Troy just keeps looking frustrated and nervous.
Wonder Woman somewhat shakily asks, "Etta... How long do we have?"
Etta deduces, "Harbinger said she can slow down the Earths a little as we go. Buy us more time. But... We'll still have less than thirty minutes left to stop Hades, Persephone, and the Stalker of Nightmares."
Wonder Woman and Donna Troy nervously gulp.
After a bit... Wonder Woman firmly concludes, "then we'll cut it damn close to save all Earths."
Wonder Woman tells Etta, "Etta? You and The Monitor already know which Earths are set to collide where. You can use my portable magic mirror to open a magic link to give us directions to find Hades."
Wonder Woman hands Etta her portable magic mirror. Etta takes it.
Etta reasons, "that's exactly what I was thinking. I hope it's all enough to stop hell coming to all Earths." Wonder Woman reasons, "you and me both."
Wonder Woman figures, "come on. Let's go!"
She, Beowulf, Devastator Woman, and Circe quickly get up. Donna Troy is kind of slowly getting up.
Donna Troy somberly reflects, "Diana... Are you sure it's as easy as a circle of Wisps for us all to stay together? This final countdown... Hard sniffle. This final countdown is real! ! Hard sniffle. I was nearly lost to the cosmos when I fought Bana-Mighdall Dark Angel out through the Anti-Monitor Fortress. I don't want us all to go through that! ! Hard sniffle. Not when we're so close to the storms."
She starts to break down crying. Wonder Woman hugs her close.
She tries to assure, "Donna? It'll be okay. It'll be..."
Donna Troy very nervously brings up, "I want to believe you Diana. But... Hard sniffle. How can you be sure this time?"
Wonder Woman and Beowulf make nervous faces. They're not sure now how to answer her.
Circe casually offers, "your golden lasso. We've all held them before. Just make a line with it on way."
Everyone starts to smile. The teariness in everyone's eyes is slowly but surely drying up.
Wonder Woman figures, "Circe? That is brilliant. Why didn't I think of that? Thank you!"
She hugs Circe close. She hugs her back.
Circe says, "you're welcome."
They pull away. Yet, they're all still smiling.
Circe makes a goddess portal appear by them. Wonder Woman gets out her golden lasso.
Wonder Woman checks, "are you ready for this, Donna? You don't have to go if you don't want to."
Donna Troy assures, "thank you, my spiritual twin. But... Yes. I'm ready to go now."
Wonder Woman nods.
She hands the other end of her golden lasso to Donna Troy. Donna Troy holds it.
And... They, Circe, Devastator Woman, and Beowulf run into the goddess portal.
In a swirl of storm clouds and stars...
All five of them are running across Earths with one goddess portal after another. All with help from Etta's cosmic directions coming from a constantly reappearing magic link.
Oceans, jungles, stormy skies, falling stars, countless versions of Themiscrya, countless versions of Gotham... They're all going by in a blur.
With chronokinesis slowed flashes of purple, pink, and white nebula rings... Harbinger is using all her powers to temporarily hold back all Earths like a circle of beach balls on the edge of a beach.
Just as quickly as the swirl of storm clouds and stars come... Wonder Woman, Circe, Devastator Woman, Beowulf, and Donna Troy appear on the Earth at the center of Hades's twisted planetary alignments.
This Earth is Earth-A4W. Volcanoes create islands of rock on the oceans every day. Village mortals and magic folk laugh and play in Gaianetarium flames.
Hades, Persephone, and the Stalker of Nightmares are standing around a erupting volcano. Wonder Woman and her allies start to charge for them.
With a dark grin... Hades taunts, "ah! Five blindly hopeful turkeys, thinking they can save all the Earths. Laugh! I bid you welcome...to humanity's last days of spirit!"
Wonder Woman challenges, "you think you can do better destruction than Chaos itself? All it takes is one good goddess to put it all back together when the dust settles. Hades? Persephone? Stalker of Nightmares? You're all dreaming too big."
Skeptically... Persephone says, "you can try. But, you will fail."
The Stalker of Nightmares mutters coldly, "I'm not going to be stuck as a statue again for wearing the ring. Hades saved me from that fate. I made a deal with him to destroy the evil demon D'grth together when the dust settles. I've come too far to become dust again! !"
Wonder Woman and her allies gulp nervously. They get teary eyed.
Wonder Woman concludes, "I'm really sorry for your fate. But... The Rhinegold was never the answer. Hard sniffle. It's turned you into a demon. And the demon you talk about has been destroyed without you."
The Stalker of Nightmares coldly cries out, "lies! ! You will pay for your attempt of deceit."
Donna Troy remarks, "Hades... It's time to put you and your genie rings back in the bottle."
Battle cries all around. Hades and his allies create Rhinegold illusion duplicates of themselves.
Beowulf and the Stalkers of Nightmares angrily slash their god blades at each other.
Devastator Woman angrily slashes Titan Coeus's blade at several of the Hades. Wonder Woman and Donna Troy angrily slash their spirit energy blades at several of the Hades. All the Hades slash back at them with cobweb covered pitch black god blades.
Circe angrily charges at the Persephones with two garden hose styled goddess lassoes that fire rings of goddess water blasts. All the Persephones slash at her with her goddess vines.
All the Earths are swirling closer and closer to each other. Eclipses all around.
Beowulf and the central Stalker of Nightmares take each other down at the same time. They're both coughing hard and falling unconscious. The other Stalkers of Nightmares vanish.
Wonder Woman and Donna Troy worriedly call out, "Beowulf! !"
Between hard coughs... Beowulf solemnly reflects, "it's okay. I...went out in glory. I'll be home...with Vikings in the...Elysium Fields."
A burst of magic dancing lights. Beowulf and the Stalker of Nightmares vanish from sight.
After a bit... Circe rounds up all the Persephones with her goddess lassos to stun them all.
The central Persephone falls unconscious. The other Persephones vanish.
Devastator Woman flies up. She fires several goddess fireballs at the Hades.
They all turn out to be Rhinegold illusions of Hades. They're fluctuating.
The central Hades phases out from the ground.
And... Before anyone else can react... He fires god fireballs into Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, and Devastator Woman.
Hades is cruelly laughing.
Devastator Woman cries out in mental overload. She falls to the ground. She falls unconscious.
Wonder Woman and Donna Troy groan hard. They're lying on the ground. Their vision is getting blurry.
Wonder Woman thinks to herself, "please... Help us stop Hades..."
She and Donna Troy fall unconscious.
Suddenly... The three Rhine Maidens appear...with glowing bright blue goddess blades.
Wonder Woman sent Circe earlier to give them all the powers of a goddess in case they need their help to stop Hades.
Hades incredulously cries out, "what in all the Earths is this madness?!"
Circe makes a goddess portal. She hurriedly carries Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, and Devastator Woman through the goddess portal and back to Earth-0.
All the Rhine Maidens voice, "we're here to save all life from the cursed power you stole from us!"
They fire goddess water blasts at Hades. A frustrated Hades keeps deflecting them with god whirlwinds.
The Rhine Maidens struggle to concentrate. All the Earths begin to collide.
But... Just as fast... Poseidon charges for the central Hades with his god trident of gold.
Stunned sounding... Rhine Maidens start to ask, "Poseidon?! Why are you...?"
Poseidon bittersweetly reflects, "because for the first time in god years... I never felt proud."
A bittersweet tear falls from his face.
Poseidon declares, "the oceans are yours now. Take care of Amphitrite. Go! !"
He and the central Hades angrily slash their god blades at each other.
The Rhine Maidens barely escape from god lightning from the Rhinegold illusion Hades. They head in a goddess portal back to Earth-0.
Hades fires a god fireball at Poseidon's head.
Poseidon groans hard. He is fluctuating.
In his last god breath... Poseidon grabs the Rhinegold ring on Hades's finger.
And... With a god thought from Poseidon?
All the Rhinegold vanishes along with its latest waves of destruction. Some magic dancing lights swirl.
No colliding Earths. All the Olympian gods and goddesses except Poseidon are restored.
Circe restores Devastator Woman, Donna Troy, and Wonder Woman.
The skies over most Earths are sunny and bright. Demeter's world tree on Earth-0 is restored with green leaves and all.
On Earth-0, in a certain spa room in the Dolphin Stars and Wings resort...
Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Devastator Woman, Circe, Etta, Cupid, Aphrodite, Doris, Demeter, and a conscious Adonis are bittersweetly smiling to each other in a knowing way.
They're all sharing a group hug. The teariness in their eyes starts to slowly but surely dry up.
The song Breakway by Kelly C. is playing on the radio.
From high in the sky?
A set of silhouettes fly by: Of the Rhine Maidens becoming the new goddesses for the oceans and seas, of a angry Zeus firing god lightning bolts at Hades and Persephone, of a thought bubble over Hades and Persephone saying "cursed to be reduced to mortal hybrids", of a angry Hades and Persephone left stranded in their realm Tartarus, of the bittersweetly smiling Rhine Maidens offering Poseidon's Olympian Muse Amphitrite the power of a goddess...and of a bittersweetly smiling Amphitrite glowing in goddess water sparks.