Fate/Heroes - Chapter 47

Several hours passed on Themiscyra and Gray left the paradise of women to return back to New York. The Pseudo-Servant stayed for a while, mainly flirting with the most beautiful woman in the world before leaving on his chariot in a streak of bright green lightning.

Diana stayed on the beach, ȧssisting with the cleanup of the island in the aftermath of the battle, her smiling face turned into one of confusion as a familiar looking jet appeared in the skies above the island. Multiple figures jumping out of a small hatch in the bottom of the jet, falling down with grace as the Amazons came to greet them.

“Diana! Are you alright?!”.

A tall, muscular man with a skin-tight blue outfit and a fluttering red cape floated down towards the bloodied beach, frowning slightly at the mass of bodies being burned nearby. The Amazons near this man aimed their bows straight at the “S” symbol on his ċhėst, but lowered their weapons when they saw their Princess gesture for them to stop.

“Superman. I’m fine. We held them off, albeit with a little ȧssistance”.

The Man of Steel let out a sigh of relief as several more figures leaped down from the jet hovering above the hidden island, all with expressions that looked as if the entire weight of the world was lifted off their shoulders.

Barry Allen, the Flash landed beside the daughter of Zeus and whistled loudly at the level of destruction on the beach. Other than the broken wrecks of several landing crafts, the sandy white beaches of the paradise were covered in blood, and little pieces of bullet fragments could be seen buried throughout the red colored sand.

The large pile of burning bodies didn’t make it very pleasant either. Nor did the smell.

“Damn Diana! It looks like a war zone here! Did you do all of this?”.

A green colored alien and a pair of masked, winged aliens came floating down from the ship, the former with crossed arms and the latter two with maces made out of Nth metal. Another man whose body looked as though it was made out of silver, and several young faces came flying down, eleven young faces that Gray would recognize as the members of the Team.

Cassie flew towards her Aunt and the older woman embraced her niece in a loving embrace. The worry that Cassie felt when the Justice League fought Ares, knowing full well that he was serving as a distraction caused the younger demigod to clench her fist hard enough to draw blood.

Another lone figure leaped out of the small hatch in the bat shaped jet. A long bat shaped shadow was cast as he fell to the ground, landing silently and gracefully as he approached Wonder Woman. An emotionless tone in his voice.

“What happened here Diana? When Ares attacked he told us that over a thousand metahumans were in his army, so why are they all dead?”.

A defiant look appeared on the face of the female member of the Trinity. Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman were the original three members of the Justice League, followed by Aquaman, Cyborg, Martian Manhunter, The Hawks and the Flash. They knew each other better than any other member of the League.

Diana left Cassie stand beside her as she crossed her arms and glared at the Dark Knight.

“You know I couldn’t let all of them live. I would’ve died hours ago if I just subdued them”.

Batman narrowed his eyes but turned to look at the bloodied beach in front of him. The massive paw prints and sword gashes left in the sand weren’t consistent with his teammates modus operandi. Batman came to a logical conclusion from the evidence in front of him.

“I don’t believe that you did this all by yourself. Ares made it very clear that the amount of metahumans here could’ve subdued you. Telepathic, strength and speed enhancements, bodily transformations, elemental control. Ares was rather vocal about all the ways he wished he could’ve seen you killed. So who helped you?”.

“Rider came. Just like we thought, he is the reincarnation of Achilles. He summoned a Cerberus to help us fight back against the Church of Areopagus. His own combat ability was higher than we anticipated. At the very least, I would lose to him in one-on-one combat”.

Eyes widened and jaws dropped from both the League members, and the Team. Batman nodded, before looking at the countless shiny bullet fragments in the red sand. Picking one up, the Dark Knight tried to place the bullet in a bag, before it dissipated into countless little motes of blue light.

Batman raised an eyebrow, before turning to Wonder Woman for an explanation.

“He had a gun. Or guns rather. They numbered in the hundreds at the very least. He called them, “Anti-Divine” weapons. Weapons specifically used in combat against beings with Divinity. Against the children of Ares”, Diana gestured to the three men and one woman chained up in the pen that the Amazons had created for them, “They were a perfect counter against them”.

“And you as well”.

The greatest Detective in the world waited from a response from the most beautiful woman in the world, before Diana nodded, though not willingly.

“Those chains around them. They also possess “Anti-Divine” traits. Rider said that they are not Greek in origin. That they are some other mythologies artifact”.

Batman pulled out some sort of strange energy reading device and scanned the chains that were wrapped around the four prisoners. When he touched them, he felt completely fine, yet when those with Divinity were exposed to them, they were as weak as Superman when exposed to Kryptonite.

The caped crusader turned towards Hawkman and Hawkgirl, who both examined the metal but shook their heads in disappointment.

“It’s unlike any metal we’ve ever seen. I can’t even tell if it is the metal itself, or some sort of spell or energy placed on it”.

Ignoring the cough from the Flash at the mention of “spells”, they all turned back to Diana as if waiting for more information on this mysterious reincarnation of the famous Greek Hero.

She sighed. It didn’t feel good giving out Gray’s secrets to the rest of the League, but she trusted Batman and the others more than Gray, a person that while might have saved her mother, was only a person that she met today.

Even if she was going on a date with him in three days.

“He also used a sword. Japanese in origin if I’m not mistaken. Ridiculously long, yet strong enough to block blows from that thing”.

They all turned again to look at the massive ax-shaped sword that was buried in the ground several feet away from them. It’s razor sharp edges could cut through just about anything short of steel alloy.

“His appearance changed several times over the course of the battle as well. Initially he had green hair and golden-amber eyes. Then white hair and silver-white eyes. Then black hair and blood red eyes. Every time he wanted to change his weapon, his appearance changed as well”.

The members of the Team sent the others a glance at the mention of white hair and silver white eyes. It sounded like a certain millionaire they just met, although they couldn’t be entirely certain.

“He used this sword with a instant-movement technique that allowed him to move at the same speeds as a speedster. He took care of dozens of metahumans in the time it took to blink. His face was emotionless most of the time, although he smiled quite a bit, not showing much emotion at all”.

Kara, Cassie and Mareena shared a glance, but the last daughter of Krypton shook her head in disagreement. Only looking at Batman as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“I don’t believe “Rider” is all who he says to be. It doesn’t add up”.

Robin, his protégé looked at the Dark Knight nodded with his conclusion.

“If Rider is Achilles than his skill with the spear could be accounted for. But the Anti-Divine guns and long black sword, as well as the Anti-Divine chains don’t fit his profile. In his legend, their are no traces of him using a Japanese sword, let alone guns….. Did you say he summoned a Cerberus?”.

Diana nodded.

“Yes. He used an ancient looking bottle to summon the beast, as well as a rattle to summon the Stymphalian Birds. In addition he gave my mother back her War God’s Sash. And me, the pelt of the Nemean Lion”.

Wonder Woman held out the thick pelt in her hands, handing it over to Batman who eyes furrowed even further. He eyed the pelt of the legendary beast for a moment before slinging it over his shoulder and looking back at his fellow Trinity member.

“I’ll do some tests on it back at the Watchtower. If there is anything else, just call me”.

Shooting his grappling gun up towards the bat-shaped jet, the Dark Knight was propelled back up to his aircraft, hovering just above the paradise of women as the other League members sighed at their friends actions.

Superman and Wonder Woman shared a look, the former sighing and the latter crossing her arms. The strongest man in the world looked at his fellow superhero and furrowed his brows, looking an the level of destruction on the beach.

“Their is only one thing I need to know Diana. Is he dangerous?”.

“I don’t think so. Other than steal money and help me defend my home, he hasn’t done anything worth making him an enemy out of. The next time we meet, I hope to clarify this lack of information”.

The final part of her sentence Diana only said in her mind.

‘I guess I’ll find out in three days when we go out on our date’.