Issue 2: "The Rage of Angels"

On Olympus, the gods gathered together to take counsel--- all but one.

“Where is my son Ares, the Lord of War.” Zeus scanned the assembly, his fierce brow furrowed deeply. “Why has he not answered our summons?”

It was Hermes who answered the King of the Gods.

“My Lord Zeus, Ares was not at his abode on the hill Areopagus. His halls were abandoned and his hearth cold. Nor do any tell of his whereabouts.”

“The coward.” Seethed Hephaestus the smith. “He does not stand by us in our time of crisis!”

“Put aside your ancient grudge against Ares, Hephaestus.” Chided Aphrodite with a calm hand on the smith’s shoulder. “Whatever else he may be, the Lord of War is no coward.”

“Indeed.” Zeus’ voice was like the rumble of thunder. “The fate ordained for us at the dawn of time is upon us. Ares would not shirk his duty to Olympus, nor that glorious battle…”

“The fate your actions brought upon us all, my Lord Brother.” Pointed out Hades in his hollow sepulchral voice. The Lord of the Underworld wore the bone-white aspect of a walking cadaver, his gray robes wrapped around him like a shroud.

Sudden anger flashed on the brow of the King of the gods, and in the clear skies over Olympus, storm clouds gathered.

“I did not hear you protest when I freed you from the belly of our father Kronos, Hades! Nor when I set you up as lord of your gray land of shades!”

“My good lords!” Interjected Athena before Hades could make answer to Zeus’ taunt. “The deeds of the past cannot be undone, it is only for us to decide how we shall pay the price for our suzerainty. For payment at last is due.”

“Wise Athena, you speak but the truth. But is it for all of Olympus to pay the price?” Hades pressed, much to the growing anger of his brother. “This need not be doom for all…”

His words fell heavily into their midst, instigating a low murmur of voices as stunned gods and goddesses responded to the seditious words of the Lord of the Underworld.

“What would you have me do, Hades?” Thundered Zeus over them all, drowning out all other conversation. “Lay down on the sacrificial altar? Give myself up to Her so that you may lord it over your cold, drear realm for the rest of eternity? Never! I will see you stripped of your office and thrown into the deepest pit of Tartarus before ever I bow my neck to the executioner!”

And in a voice as deep and as musical as the sea, Poseidon declared: “I, for one, shall never leave your side, brother, even if I fall by it.”

“As will I.” Sharp-eyed Artemis stepped up to her father’s side. “My bow is his to command.

“As is mine!” Apollo joined his twin.

“And my hammer.” Hephaestus grumbled, lumbering from his seat.

And all of the gods of Olympus raised their voices as one in support of their King.

Pride and victory sat on the face of Zeus as he confronted his recalcitrant brother.

“You have heard the will of Olympus, Hades. Declare yourself. Do you stand with us, or with Her?”

An amused smile played upon the thin, pale lips of the Lord of Shades. He regarded the ranks of the gods arrayed against him, as if measuring his chances, but then bowed a low obeisance to his lord and brother.

A shrill, bloodcurdling shriek suddenly rent the air, and the dark clouds rumbling over Olympus closed in, strangling off the light.

“I fear we have deliberated too long!” Cried Hera, clutching the arm of her husband. “For now it is too late! Look!” She pointed and all the gods followed her finger into the sky as a dread trio of figures descended.

“The Erinyes!”

The horse thundered down the hill on the far side of Themyscira, galloping hastily towards the perversely serene water. Steve Trevor spurred his mount on as fast as it would go, hoping that all was as he had left it at the secret cove. The Amazons did not go often to the Islands of Healing, but the filthy spawn of Uranus were crawling all over the place; he had ridden down dozens of them so far, but saved his bullets for graver dangers.

When he reached the shore, he dismounted and raced to the rowboat tethered to the little dock, hurrying to untie it.

A rush of wind alerted him to the sudden danger. He looked up just in time to see the harpy diving for him! He ducked, and the creature strafed empty air, screeching its disappointment. It looped around and came back for him.

This time Steve was ready for it. He had his 9mm. out and squeezed off three shots in tight procession. The harpy fell out of the air and into the water with a splash, disappearing beneath the waves.

This is insane, Steve kept telling himself. I just shot a harpy out the sky…!

He finished untying the boat, and climbed in. It was a short distance to the Island of Healing, but the secret cove was on the other side. As he labored, he looked back at the city, receding in the distance. He could clearly hear the din of battle, the clang of steel on steel, and the cries of the dying. The Titan was visible, even this far away, and he thought he could just make out Wonder Woman, buzzing around his head like an angry bee, moving in and striking when there was an opening.

Just a little while longer, Diana, he sent to her. Just hold him off a little bit longer…!

The Furies fell upon Olympus like an inevitable pronouncement. They were dark angels of retribution, their wingspans engulfing all the world. Like vultures, they circled above the gathering of the gods, allowing fear of them to rain down, even as they sang a song of dread and mockery.




And so was this fearful refrain repeated as the Furies circled ever closer. Zeus merely gazed into the sky, like a man who had just heard his death sentence read, Hera clinging to him and weeping. The other gods and goddesses could do naught but watch and wait, the song of the Kindly Ones resounding in their ears.

Around them, the glory that was Olympus seemed to decay in the shadow of the Furies. Burbling fountains dried up, the gardens of Demeter wilted and died… the very flagstones cracked and spilt asunder, the marble turning black and crumbling.

“We are many. They are few.” Apollo’s voice fell thinly in the air, the light on his brow dimmed by the unnatural darkness. “We do not have to submit to them.”

A few others looked hopeful, but it was Athena who shook her head and said: “Nay. They are not a power to be overcome, but a function of the universe. They cannot be turned aside, nor overwhelmed. But mayhap they can be avoided longer yet…” She fixed her father with her calm grey eyes. “Go from here, my Lord Father. Escape their reach, and live still!”

The song of the Furies was so loud now they nearly drowned out Zeus’ response.

“And let Olympus pay the coin that is my debt? The King of the Gods does not run. If this be my fate, then I go to it as ready as the day I devised it. The day I slew my father Kronos, the Lord Changer.” Then he raised his arms and bellowed to the heavens: “Come then Alecto, Megaera and grim Tisiphone! Zeus is waiting!”

In response to their names, the Furies shrieked and dived downwards, alighting in the courtyard where the gods had gathered. They were fearsome hags, bat-winged and dark as cinder. Their hair was long and lank, a nest of hissing serpents, and their tongues lolled from their fanged mouths. Each of them carried a whip, at the end of which writhed a living scorpion, tail out and dripping poison.

“The day has come, Zeus World-shaker, to answer for your father’s shrieking shade!” One of them, Tisiphone, said, moving forward and dragging her whip behind her. “Even the mighty must feel the scourge of fate.” She coiled the barbed whip, kissing the scorpion’s tail.

Wailing, Hera threw herself at the feet of the fearful trio, clutching at the hem of Tisiphone’s rotting robe.

“O, turn away, good Eumenides! Would you rob Olympus of her lord and king?” She pleaded, turning her tear-streaked face up to their hard, uncaring eyes.

“The fate of Olympus is of no concern to us. We do what we must. What was decreed that we should do since we sprang from the blood of Uranus. Vengeance has been delayed long enough.”

The hero Heracles stepped between his godly father and the Furies, poised to strike! Tisiphone’s whip flicked out as quick as lightning, and the scorpion’s tail bit deep into the demigod’s cheek, drawing but little blood. His form exploded with a flash and a loud crack of thunder. And all that remained of Heracles was a smoking smudge on the blackened marble of the courtyard!

Poseidon roared, and would have shared the fate of Heracles had not Zeus held out an arm to restrain him.

“No!” His strident voice echoed across his realm, causing all that stirred to be still and attend him. “My son Heracles was ever more loyal than wise. But no others shall share my fate.” More calmly, he looked to the Furies, stepping forward within the reach of their terrible whips. He gently raised Hera from the ground and placed her hand in his brother Poseidon’s, then turned to address all of the gods.

“Let it be said that Zeus was a mighty and a fair lord, though not always wise or good.” He smiled as kindly as he could at Hera. “And that, for a while, Olympus shone as the brightest star in the firmament.” He turned and faced his fate. “Come, Kindly Ones, I am ready for your sting.”

The Erinyes stepped forward, surrounding him. Their whips above them and the snakes atop their heads hissed in glee. Then, as one, they brought their cruel scourges snapping down upon the King of the Gods, the scorpion tails biting his flesh… And then Zeus, the Lord of Olympus, flashed out of existence!

Emerging from the fireball of Typhon’s breath, Wonder Woman shot straight at the Father of Monsters, slamming into his chest!

The blow rocked the Titan, and he staggered backward, crushing underfoot dozens of spawn. Diana did not let up. Her axe had been melted into slag in the fireball, but she hammered at her foe, two-fisted, pushing him further and further back from the walls of Themyscira. She spared a quick glance to see how the battle was going, and saw General Phillipus and a knot of Amazons fighting for their lives amidst a sea of enemies, and her mother battling the Minotaur atop a hill--- the siege of the city itself seemed to be momentarily on hold while the battle on the plain played itself out.

She could not fail against the Titan--- but no matter how hard she hit him, the Father of Monsters would not fall! She hit him with everything she had, pounding away at him, driving him away--- but the Titan kept coming back!

Her strength would not last forever. The sun was sinking in a bloody, burning orb on the horizon, and her every muscle and nerve cried out in agony!

Typhon was howling his rage at her, coming back for more…

Her weariness evident in her drooping arms, but not in the fire in her eyes, Diana swooped up to again assail the Titan, when she heard a familiar, but incongruous noise--- one she had never heard before on Paradise Island…

The sound of helicopter blades.

From behind Typhon, rose a sleek, black X-99 stealth attack helicopter, the grinning face of Col. Steve Trevor signaling to her from the cockpit!

Sidewinder missiles screamed from beneath its wings and slammed squarely between Typhon’s shoulder blades. The Titan was rocked, his back on fire. He staggered forward--- directly into range of a re-energized Wonder Woman! She gripped her fists together and hit the Father of Monsters with everything she had, letting out her rage and exhaustion and triumph in one loud cry! The Titan toppled sideways, and hit the ground hard.

Diana looked to the X-99, and drew her thumb across her throat, letting Steve know in no uncertain terms what she wanted him to do.

The combatants danced across the hilltop, hewing and hacking at each other, two implacable foes, neither one giving nor gaining ground. Neither could afford to: Hippolyta fought for the survival of her people, to avenge her slain sister, and for the perpetuation of everything she believed in; the Minotaur fought for his dread, irresistible mistress, and for a destiny ordained by the universe at the beginning of time, as inevitable as the setting sun.

“Yield, Hippolyta!” Grated the Minotaur, circling her, his chest heaving. “The time of the Amazons is over. But you are a worthy foe--- I will grant you and your sisters an easy death if you surrender to me now!”

“Never!” The queen rasped, weaving the tip of her sword in tight circles, keeping her foe away for a moment so she could catch her breath. “The gods of Olympus will preserve me---.”

“The gods of Olympus are done!” He snarled. “Even now, the Furies fall upon Zeus for his crime of patricide! And with the World-shaker destroyed, mighty Olympus cannot hope to stand against the coming of my mistress!”

Just then, a tremendous blast shook the ground. Hippolyta and the Minotaur both struggled to regain their balance. The queen glanced to see what this new threat was, but her heart swelled to see Diana hovering over the toppled Titan--- She had felled Typhon, the King of the Monsters! Victory was in their grasp---!

The Minotaur took advantage of her momentary distraction to strike. Regaining his balance quickly, he fell upon Hippolyta, swinging his spiked cudgel with one hand. She barely got her sword up in time to block the killing blow--- but she never saw the dagger he drew from his belt with the other hand and slipped between the chinks of her armor and into her chest!

So keen the blade, it hardly hurt at all--- but it brought the world into sharp, crystalline focus: the ugly, triumphant face of the Minotaur so close to hers, the walls of her beloved Themyscira, so far away now, and across the plain, the expression of horror on Diana’s face as she caught her mother’s eyes…

In the sky above the hilltop, the sun glared exceedingly bright, and Hippolyta was reminded of something that Menalippe had once said: The sun is never so bright as when it sets… Hippolyta was looking forward to seeing Menalippe again, and Antiope, and so many other fallen sisters…

Her eyes fluttered close, her heart skipped a beat… and then stopped.

She fell to the ground dead at the feet of her jubilant enemy!