Chapter 76: Attack on Themyscira 2; Justice League arrives
I AM BACK
---------
"Talking"
'Thinking'
<ROBOTIC VOICE>
----------
Themyscira, June 14, 12:05, 2017
The sand, once immaculate and precious, had become stained with Amazon blood. The forces of these warriors, who had arrived with an unshakable impetus, were quite tired. That warrior spirit, for which the Amazons were characterized, was gradually fading.
After only 5 minutes of fighting, more than 1000 Amazons had perished. Most of them at the hands of the army of living statues that seemed like an endless horde of warriors.
Were the Amazons weaker than the terracotta Warriors?, the answer is NO. Our beloved Amazons were stronger. But the problem is that the warriors fought with endless ferocity. Even without an arm, without a leg, or even without a head, they still fought.
Were they more than the more than 5000 Amazon warriors fighting?, the answer is again NO. The terracotta warriors were only about 2000 soldiers. But as said, the warriors were still fighting even with missing limbs. The only way to finish off a terracotta warrior was to destroy it completely.
And yet, with the power of Bishamonten being transmitted to the weapon, these warriors were rebuilt from the sand itself. Becoming an endless army. When one was destroyed, another would rise again. And the Amazons, they were desperate for this.
If that wasn't enough, the gods were moving in and launching area attacks that completely decimated groups of Amazons. Worst of all, they weren't even trying. The gods were not fighting in a serious way. They only occasionally launched attacks when they thought the situation was getting a little out of control.
And that is because, as Ares said earlier, they were not coming to conquer. Themyscira was never the ultimate plan. Because if it had been, and the gods were really fighting for real, then everything would have already ended with the death of all the Amazons.
They came only to 'distract'. To generate chaos, while the gods who went astray at the beginning, that is, Tezcatlipoca, Morrigan and Seth, fulfilled their mission. As soon as they were given the signal that the mission had been a success, then they would go quietly.
For them, this was more like a show. An entertaining spectacle like the ones they saw in the age of the gods. When men fought for territory, power or supremacy. To most gods, humans were just that, mere entertainment. A toy to play with.
The Amazons were not so helpless either. Above all, because of the catapults that appeared in the distance, which sent spears of Greek copper that could hurt this group of gods. These spears flew at a speed that was almost impossible to dodge.
Nüwa, the goddess of the sky of the Chinese pantheon was in charge of deflecting these projectiles, but they were too many, and from 3 or 4 that she deflected with her power, another 2 spears passed that were directed to the other gods in the sky. Gods who were annoyed when they were interrupted, having to dodge these projectiles.
She, in retaliation, launched such powerful gusts of wind that sent this group of warriors flying away, but the catapults were not affected by these attacks.
These catapults were built by Hephaestus. With the purpose of being a defense mechanism against the Titans of Tartarus. The power of this goddess, who was weakened, was not going to cause much damage to the weapons forged by the best blacksmith of the gods.
Farther away, in the mountains, the archers diverted their attention between attacking the terracotta warriors or the gods on the ground. Each amazon hung from pulleys, and leapt, launching a flock of arrows at her opponents. All of them, led by Menalippe, the best archer of the Amazons.
Pele, the goddess of volcanoes from Hawaiian mythology, and Illapa, the god of lightning from Inca mythology, were in charge of finishing off this group. But the Amazons had been smart and had not made it easy for them.
Both gods did not have the ability to fly. But they were good climbers. It would be very easy for them to climb these mountains. However, the Amazons were smart, and before they started shooting arrows, they had poured hundreds of liters of pitch on the mountain surface.
Whenever the gods wanted to get close, Menalippe shot explosive arrows, with her special bow, which had the essence of Apollo in it, and lit special fire that damaged even the gods. Making them unable to get close to where they were. A formidable strategy from this powerful Amazon general.
Pele and Illapa could do more with their power, like destroying the mountain, but, as it was said, the purpose was not to finish with the island or to conquer it, they were only a mere distraction.
There was no need to overextend themselves when their power was already limited. So they opted for the safest strategy. That is, to launch attacks from the distance.
Illapa was attacking with lightning arrows, and Pele was throwing volcanic fireballs. This caused the archers to stop shooting arrows, while dodging the projectiles.
In general, everything was in chaos. It could have been worse. Of course it could. But still, it was chaos. And this Antiope could see.
She quickly realized that Bishamonten was the cause of this horde of endless stone warriors.
She quickly commanded that, at all costs, they should get to where this god was, and take away his weapon. But it was impossible to do so. For, when they approached, Lugh, Ishtar, or Bastet, attacked.
Antiope dodged an attack from an enemy spear. Leaping up, she threw a kick at one of the warriors, breaking it head. The warrior continued attacking, but Antiope, with three quick, precise cuts, cut off its arms, legs, and part of its body, destroying it completely.
The warrior began to reshape itself, but she did not care this. She kept running. Her destination, Bishamonten. She dodged, jumped and contorted, to avoid being impaled by these warriors. With a renewed spirit, she continued on her way to this god of fortune.
She knew that, if she could get this god to stop transmitting his power through his weapon, then the war would turn in their favor.
She approached to 200 meters. 100 meters. 50 meters. She ran as if her life depended on it. Her speed, something amazing even to the assembled gods. Her face, a mixture of ferocity and determination, only showed that she would not stop until she accomplished her mission.
A face of determination that changed to one of despair when, without even being able to avoid it, her path was interrupted by a punch connected to her face, which caused her to be thrown like a projectile across the arena, away from her destination. The blow was so strong, that she rolled about 4 times until the momentum of the blow ended.
The cause of this, the god of the arts, Lugh, who moved when he saw that the Amazon had come too close. He moved at a speed that Antiope could not register. And he struck with a force that, if she were not an Amazon, would have destroyed her entire skull by now.
Antiope stood up dizzily. Her blurred vision, coupled with the metallic taste of blood mixing with her saliva, only made her disoriented and forget that she was at war. But she was not just anyone. She was the supreme commander of the Amazons. She quickly regained her composure, and forced herself to focus on the battle.
However, that time standing still made her see the battlefield better. And, what she saw, made her utterly horrified.
Her sisters, her beloved sisters, were being annihilated. The war horses were being slaughtered by the warriors. Long-range attacks with the force of 10 bombs were being launched from afar, causing members of the Amazons to be scattered all over the place.
The gods were not trying it. But still, this was a massacre.
She could do no more than kneel down. A small tear fell from her eye, which bathed her cheek and comforted her despair a little. Lugh, the god who struck her, approached her. He easily noticed the emotions she felt.
"Believe me. We do not do this out of hatred. Nor out of malice. On the contrary, we do it out of respect. This is our way of showing you our respect. A warrior's greatest honor is to fall heroically in battle"
"Why, just… why. This island was an island of peace until YOU came. Why attack it and destroy it?"
"No. There you are wrong, General Antiope. We did not seek to destroy it. If you look closely, all of us, we're not even moving very much. We're letting you to fight our ground forces on a manageable level. If we really wanted to destroy... then all of this" he said, as he pointed to the entire island. "It would be destroyed by now"
Antiope knew. Everything this god said, was true. Another pair of tears fell as she knew they were lost. The worst thing was that they could not give up. There was no point in doing so. It was not a battle of conquest. It was only a fight of distraction.
"I'm sorry, General. But there is no one who can come to help you to change this situation-" said Lugh. But just as he finished saying the last thing, a loud "BOOOOOM" was heard in the sky, which interrupted his speech.
Everyone stopped when they heard this. In the distance, a blur was seen approaching at supersonic speed. The speed was such that not even the gods who could fly, in their best times, could rival such speed of flight. Simply put, the blur was too fast even for the gods.
The blur was seen in the distance, but in less than a second, it reached the battlefield. There everyone saw him.
With a heroic bearing, in his blue and red suit, with the 'S' embroidered on his chest, Superman had arrived. In an instant, he approached the goddess Nüwa, who was throwing wind projectiles at the catapults, and launched a powerful blow straight at her face.
The blow was so strong that, if anyone had seen it in slow motion, they would have seen how the goddess' entire nose was completely destroyed by the steel man's fist. Nüwa, even though she saw it coming, could not dodge it. That's how fast and powerful the blow was.
Nüwa was hurled like a projectile into the sea. After numerous jumps, the momentum finally died and she sank into the ocean.
In addition to Superman's arrival, at that, a bat-shaped ship, flying at a speed rivaling Superman's, arrived launching numerous projectiles with a machine gun built into the ship, completely destroying the warriors. Each projectile launched was aimed specifically at the terracotta warriors. More than 500 warriors were completely destroyed with these shells.
This gave a respite to the Amazons, who had been feeling quite compromised by this army of stone.
Finally, right in the center of the island, a ship materialized. The ship was so large that it covered part of the sunlight, making the clear day opaque. The ship did not launch an attack.
It simply opened its hatch, and more than 30 superheroes emerged and headed for the battlefield. All in their superhero costumes, which were made with the best of technology and their weapons, ready to fight.
The Justice League had arrived.
When the Amazons saw this. They screamed with excitement. A renewed spirit was forged by the arrival of these reinforcements.
But that was not all. In the sea a phenomenon also happened. The sea began to be pulled back. The entire coastline began to recede, forming giant waves. However, it was not an attack or a natural phenomenon like a tidal wave. Rather, it was an event manufactured by someone's power. Specifically, manufactured by Aquaman's trident.
Aquaman was there, using the power of the trident to, like Moses, split the sea. Out of the divided sea came over 100 Atlantean soldiers clad in white armor. They were few warriors, but they were all elite warriors. The private guard of his majesty. And all of them, ready to help.
"Atlanteans, help our Amazon sisters. Let us teach them the fury of the sea" commanded Mera. Who was at Arthur's side. She was the commander of these forces.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" everyone moved in a battle cry. The fight continued. And now, everything was in favor of the Amazons.
That's when the gods realized. If before it was all a game. Now they had to get serious. They were not at their best. They were quite weakened. And many of these superheroes, gods among men, could easily rival them.
Antiope, seeing this, felt hope again. Her queen was right. The Justice League had come. She transformed that hope into rage, power, and ferocity. Taking her special spear, she leapt up, and attacked Lugh.
Lugh never expected it and could not dodge the attack. Antiope showed why she was one of the best warriors.
With a combo, she cut Lugh's leg, side of the belly, and part of his shoulder. Golden blood began to spread across the island, painting the sand. The first blood spilled by the gods. The first, of many...
"You speak of respect. Then I will show you my respect, by killing you, damned god. RAGGGGGGG!" with a war cry at the end, Antiope attacked....
------------
Batman was flying over the whole island with his jet. His jet, a model quite upgraded from its previous version, was registering with high power sensors the whole island, obtaining every data of information, being this information compiled in OMAC, Batman's security system.
The first thing the Bat noticed was that, as he had assumed from the beginning, the magic barrier had been deactivated. In short, the technology could function without any interference. And he took advantage of that with the new technology he had created.
His entire security system, his ship, gadgets, and even his suit, were being managed by OMAC. That system was analyzing every piece of data on the list, every territory, room, and home there was, and cataloging enemies by levels of danger.
<11 1 2 SIGNATURES DETECTED ON THE BEACH, SIR, WITH UNKNOWN ENERGY. SIGNATURE INSIDE DEEP IN CASTLE. AND DIFFUSE FOREST WEST SIDE OF ISLAND. BUT THIS MAY BE DUE TO A FAILURE ENERGY ISLAND>
OMAC was the perfect electronic security system. But it was still flawed. It did not know everything. Clearly, it couldn't identify divine energy. Or magic. Its sensors, advanced as they were, couldn't do it.
But this didn't matter, because the bat could identify it. There were already numerous strategies in his head about all this.
Putting some commands into the security system, he transmitted all the information gathered to Cyborg. Giving specific instructions to each hero who had come. All this, to avoid deaths as in the previous wars.
Cyborg, who piloted the huge ship that covered the sky, and where the heroes were gathered, quickly received the information and gave the instructions. As said, more than 30 heroes had come to help. Including, the entire group of Outsiders, who, in theory, belonged to the Justice League.
Was that the entire Justice League?, Not at all. Currently, the League had more than 50 skilled members distributed in 5 continental teams. That is, Justice League of America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Being this last continent, led by Arthur, and his Atlantean forces.
Although the situation was critical, they could not leave the world unattended. They had left groups of heroes guarding the world, while the more experienced heroes, i.e. the original League, plus the new ones who were considered 'tanks', i.e. who had powerful metahuman abilities to stand up to these gods, had come.
Even Oliver (Green Arrow) had come. Obviously, having left Raven and Thea in his mother's care.
They were no longer the inexperienced Justice League of before. EVERYONE had been upgraded. The experience of losing loved ones, coupled with the helplessness they felt from feeling weak, made them evolve.
Suits, gadgets, state-of-the-art equipment. Nanotechnology. Well-coordinated attacks. Well-directed teams. Rigorous but effective training. Practically, today's Justice League was a team of elite soldiers. And all for one reason. Not to have another experience like of The Light.
When the heroes jumped out of the plane, they quickly coordinated into teams. They already knew their task.
Those who could fight the gods, went after them. Those who couldn't, were tasked with supporting against the terracotta warriors. Even with OMAC, Batman had already transmitted weak points of these warriors and how to destroy them more easily.
Sending this information and giving the orders, he analyzed the situation and requested the OMAC system.
"System. Collect data on these beings with unknown energy and compare it to the data collected from Steppenwolf" a guess came to Bruce's mind. Batman wondered if New Gods, or 'Old Gods', were different. Or if they had similar characteristics.
<UNDERSTOOD, 10 SIR. ESTIMATED ANALYSIS TIME. HOURS>
It wasn't going to be that easy. Collecting and comparing this data would be difficult, even for OMAC. But these analyses were not for now. They were for later. For those contingency plans Batman was updating on every threat he knew of. And now the gods would be added to that list of threats.
Saying that, he saw that the beach was covered by the heroes. The sky and the sea, too. Arthur's Atlantean forces had arrived. So he thought quickly where his help would be best.
He quickly set a target at Bishamonten. As he saw that there was the largest accumulation of gods, and thus where to strike.
"System, activate 'Godkiller' protocol"
<UNDERSTOOD, SIR. PROTOCOL 'GODKILLER'. ACTIVATED>
Batman's entire suit began to change. Millions of tiny fibers began to emerge, transfiguring the classic bat suit, courtesy of nanotechnology, forming a new suit.
What was left was a fairly modern suit, made of a nanotech fiber material, black in color, with a red bat emblem. The suit had covered Bruce's entire face. Practically, Batman was wearing a futuristic battle armor, which enhanced all his physical attributes, and brought him to the fighting level of even Superman.
(AN: image)
"Are you done yet, honey?" a velvety, and beautiful, voice spoke behind Bruce. It was Catwoman sporting a similar armor, but in cat-like form. Which, again, enhanced the abilities of the wearer who wore it.
Catwoman had joined the Justice League. With her recent official courtship with Bruce, coupled with the desire to redeem herself for the sins of The Light, made her a heroine in America's branch.
Well... almost heroine. She still had light kleptomaniac tendencies. But hey, from stealing a diamond in a jewelry store to stealing a chocolate in a supermarket was already a big improvement.
Selina had also become a stealth tactics instructor for the young heroes, Teen Titans. Who better to teach this group than the world's greatest thief.
Batman nodded. Giving a few commands, he left the ship on autopilot, and put it into camouflage mode.
"Let's go"
Opening the hatch, the two of them jumped into the battlefield...
---------
Cyborg had relayed everything to the group of heroes. Watching as each one jumped, flew, or glided toward the battlefield, he made sure to make it clear what the mission was. What their tasks were. And, above all, what they should and should NOT do on the battlefield.
No casualties were going to happen today. NOT on his watch.
The giant ship they came in was a special ship designed by the best engineers that the League had hired. Obviously, the whole project supervised by Victor.
It had such heavy weaponry, it could quickly destroy not a city, but an entire country. If he wanted to, Victor could destroy the entire island with a simple command to the Motherbox.
Obviously, that was not going to happen. They came to help. Not to destroy.
Therefore, Victor did not attack. He just waited for everyone to leave, and activated the energy shields to prevent the ship from being shot down. Shields so powerful that they withstood blows from Superman himself.
He was about to activate the ship's cloak and leave through a portal, when he realized that someone had not jumped out of the ship. The one person who didn't belong to the Justice League. At least, not officially.
It was a young man, 18 years old. Tall. Slightly muscular and athletic. Messy hair and a face that girls could call attractive. Although, he could be considered an adult, he still had a certain boyish appearance. More like a man with sociable features. Someone who had a pleasant face, so to speak.
However, that face did not look at all pleasant at the moment. On the contrary, it looked pale. There was a lot of conflict in his features. As if he didn't want to be there. And that's true. He really didn't want to be there.
It was Billy Batson. Better known as Shazam. As stated, he didn't belong to the League. Only members over the age of 21 could join. That was the rule. But, Billy belonged to the Titans. And he was the only one, of that group, who had come.
Batman had requested him on an emergency basis. They were going to fight the gods. GODS. And they needed heroes who had the power to rival them. Superman. Aquaman. Wonder Woman were prime examples of that.
And Shazam, whose powers were derived from the gods themselves, was an invaluable asset in this mission. Or so Batman thought.
If he were the young Billy of old, he would have accepted without hesitation, and would even have been excited to come along. But he was no longer that young man. That young man, so to speak, was dead. Billy had already lost his desire to be a hero.
He had even taken a break from the Teen Titans. The current Billy Batson just wanted to live quietly with his adopted family, with his numbers of siblings, and devote himself to the college career he had entered.
And all because of the numerous nightmares that tormented him on moonless nights. In the nights of darkness. Numerous nightmares about the evil that inhabited his heart.
Nightmares that, despite Martian Manhunter's therapies, Billy had not been able to overcome.
Billy didn't want to be there. But he had agreed to come, because he knew how important this mission was.
But, even so, his heart had doubts. Doubts, which were reflected in the fact that he had not jumped out of the plane.
Cyborg, who saw his conflicted face, approached him. Giving him a light pat on the shoulder, and with a smile, he said.
"Billy. I'll be honest with you. I didn't agree to bring you here. The group we brought is enough, I think, to help the Amazons win this fight. But Batman insisted and you agreed. Look, I'm telling you the best way. If you don't feel safe, don't jump. Because, instead of helping, you'll only bring conflict. Believe me, no one, and I mean it, NO ONE, will judge you for not jumping"
"I... I... I... I don't want to jump. But I know I'm needed. My heart is conflicted, Cyborg. I don't know what to do. I'm... I'm afraid"
"Billy, answer me one question, what makes Shazam strong?"
Billy looked at Cyborg in confusion. He didn't understand why he had asked him that. But, still, he quickly answered him
"His power. The power of the gods. The strength that characterizes having this power"
Cyborg looked quizzically at Billy's response. There was a lot of confusion on his face.
"What a surprise. I thought totally different from you"
"What are you talking about?" asked Billy in confusion.
"Well it's just that, to me, it was clear that what makes Shazam so strong, wasn't his strength or power. It was his heart. That brave and heroic and, above all, righteous heart that made people feel hope" Cyborg pointed a finger at Billy's chest. "Your heart, Billy. Your heart makes Shazam so powerful. Without a heart like yours, I'm sure no one could even come close to the power you wield, even having the same power"
Cyborg saw Billy's doubt fading. Smiling, he said to him.
" I have to go. The League needs me. I'll close the hatch and activate the ship's cloak. The shields are up as well. Stay here, everything will be safe"
Cyborg activated a portal, but just before he crossed it, Billy's voice came through.
"Hold on. Don't close the hatch. I... I'm going to help" the last was said with unprecedented assurance. Confidence had returned to Billy's face, which made Cyborg smile.
"I see, you want to use the portal, I'll drop you off at the beach"
"No, I have my own means to get there" Billy turned around, and without hesitation, jumped out of the plane. As he jumped, he shouted loudly, "SHAZAM!", a white bolt of lightning fell from the sky, and covered Billy. What was left, was the Shazam we all know, ready to fight…
---------
The battlefield had been leveled. NO. It had turned in favor of the heroes.
In the sky, an angry Nüwa, who had come out of the sea, had transformed into a red Chinese dragon. But it was not Superman who attacked her, but Martian Manhunter, who used his powers to transform into a similar green dragon. A dragon dance began to take place.
Amaterasu, fought with the pair of Hawks, and Green Lantern Hal Jordan. She used her power of the sun to create weapons with light such as swords, spears, arrows and so on, and threw them at this group of heroes.
But Green Lantern could do the same with his ring, and protect the group. The hawks attacked at close range, something that made it very difficult for Amaterasu to counterattack.
Superman did not have it easy, as he was attacked by the god who, in the sky, was even more powerful than Nüwa or Amaterasu. Superman was fighting with Olorun. Who was demonstrating his might by commanding the sky and sunlight.
Superman was physically stronger, but Olorun, who knew that this superhero had powers derived from the yellow sun, attacked with solar rays of red sun, weakening him. In short, Superman had a powerful opponent to face. A rather troublesome one for him.
On land, everything became a pitched battle. And the sea was no better. Since Aquaman was fighting against Susanoo. Susanoo using a Katana and Aquaman carrying his trident. Both fighting to see who had supremacy of the sea.
Perun was fighting Shazam. Who was giving him a fight with his divine powers. Both were quite evenly matched.
Ishtar had three tough female opponents. Black Canary, Vixen, and Dr. Light. Bastet had Batman, Catwoman, and Zatara as opponents.
Pele was still sending fireballs, but Illapa had stopped attacking when he had to defend himself from Green Arrow's arrows, which had been improved to hurt these beings, and the speed of Flash, who even with his divine senses, could not keep up with him.
The only one who was still okay, was Bishamonten, but he was slowly feeling the pressure from these heroes who were getting closer and closer to him. If they took the weapon from him, then the terracotta warriors would fall.
Worst of all, they could not leave. They had not yet been informed that the mission was complete. In short, now they had to resist.
The battlefield had been reversed, and 10 minutes had only passed...
-------------
AN:
My P@treon
TioIroh99 (10 chapters ahead)
If you like my story, leave me a review so that more people are interested in reading it.