Kratos smiled for the first time in a long time as he felt his life fading away. The gods were dead, hope was released into the world, and he had his vengeance on Ares and Zeus. That Athena was angered by being deprived of her weapon was a wonderful bonus; no god would be able to rule over men again. But now, his part was done. He could finally join his wife and daughter in death. He lay back and let death take him.
At least he thought death would take him. He felt the warm sun and breeze on his skin. Had he come to Elysium to see his family again? He heard the clang of steel and gradually woke up. He looked around and found himself in a fertile valley. It certainly was not the world ravaged by storms, darkness, plague, blight and flood he had left.
He stood up and looked around. Feeling himself draw breath, he realized he was not yet dead. His blades were still attached to his arms. He was definitely on some other world. He headed for the sounds of metal smashing against metal. As he got closer, he realized it was not the sound of some smith working his trade, but a battle between two foes. He heard the grunts of exertion. One sounded male and the other almost female. He jogged towards the sound, his blades firm in his grip.
He came to a clearing through some woods and saw a woman dressed in what could only be a warrior's garb and a man in full hoplite armor brawling with each other. He watched them battle and then heard the woman call the armored man "Ares". There was only one person Kratos knew by that name and the garb would befit the god of war, even if he hadn't been so covered when last they met.
"Ares! Who has seen fit to give you life again to torment me? Was it Athena? Or is this some plan by Zeus? It matters not! I killed you once, God of War, and I can do it again. Let's finish this!" His blades came up and he lunged at Ares, intent on taking his head off as he shouted a war cry at him.<|im_end|>
How was it that this vicious god of war somehow tracked Diana to the land of men? The champion now known to the public as Wonder Woman had thought she'd left that world behind when she'd left her homeland of Themyscira behind. The gods and their followers had been as vibrant as ever in the land of the Amazons. Diana herself bore the blessings of several gods in her armor and her weapons. The very blade she used against Ares now had been forged by gods to be wielded by their divinely appointed champion.
Wonder Woman and Ares, god of war, had been fighting above the city for some time. The god had appeared and caused something of a rampage, apparently intent on drawing the princess of the Amazons out into an outright confrontation. The city itself had little in the way of protectors. While capes had begun appearing throughout the world in ever increasing numbers, this particular metropolis hadn't laid claim to any. Diana was merely staying here in a stop-gap as she and her escort traveled through this strange new land and learned of its customs. So naturally the Amazonian princess rose to the occasion. She would have anyway: the thought of getting into a fight, let alone a fight with someone as foul as Ares, aroused great interest in the warrior princess. She had left her island and its comfort for precisely reasons like this.
Her muscles rippled in the sunlight, their tanned flesh no doubt drawing many eyes even as she punched or slashed at her godly foe. Wonder Woman looked every inch the mythological figure she represented. Flowing ebony hair had been tied back into a warrior's tail that extended to a bottom so round and firm that it looked capable of crushing coal into diamond. That hair framed a face that appeared blessed by Aphrodite herself, from finely sculpted features to piercing blue eyes to the plump lips that now curved in a fierce joy and ferocity. The light outfit of blue, white, and red covered her lithe body well, accentuating her femininity. This was, of course, the point. Let the enemy be distracted by Wonder Woman's female form, right up until she drove her fist into their faces. True, it did mean displaying a fair amount of leg and thigh, though her boots climbed over her knees anyway, but Wonder Woman hardly cared. The fabric alone would deflect most blows, and her blessed bracers would handle the rest.
Wonder Woman looked every inch the superheroine as she fought Ares. And now she had to back away as a fierce warrior appeared seemingly out of no where. Wonder Woman watched as Ares barely jerked a weapon up in time to deflect the fierce warrior's attack. A flash of seeming recognition twisted that face, drawing a barked laugh from Wonder Woman. "Aha, so it appears that another enemy of yours has appeared. You will meet your end this day, Ares," she brandished her weapon again, but Ares had already started to shift, obviously intent on drawing this newcomer into a direct battle. He'd been wounded some by Diana already, as she had a few scrapes and blows of her own. Still, he moved well, obviously ready to fight off this newcomer.
"You stink of fear, god," barked Wonder Woman, shifting from sword to lasso, figuring that range and reducing the number of blades in the fray would be best. Maybe her new ally could distract the god of war further...<|im_end|>