Adult-FanFiction.org : Comics

The Games that Gods Play	By : Ristul Category: DC Verse Comics > Wonder Woman Views: 16896 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Wonder Woman,nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 25
- 26
- 27
Balance is everything to the swordsman, whether novice or expert. Without balance, speed, skill, and strength are all useless.
-Asem
The next morning found the occupants of the base in an even larger hall, looking at what seemed to be an obstacle course. Phillip Delacroix stood in front of them, his face devoid of expression. Wonder Woman noted that the wounds he had suffered the previous day were gone. He had somehow managed to heal himself in just one night.
Ares had joined them, limping and moving slowly due to his wounds, but looking not at all like a man who had been on the brink of death. He leaned heavily against a wall, refusing all requests to rest in his room. Athena seemed worried, though Diana somehow got the feeling that the goddess was more concerned about Ares’ new attitude towards life rather than his injuries. What kind of magic had Phillip wrought on Ares to change the God of War so completely?
“Listen up!” Phillip said loudly to grab their attention. “I hope all of you have thought about yesterday’s events. One thing is clear. I cannot change you, any of you, into elite fighters in just four days.” He paused for effect. “What I can do is to enhance your chances for survival. In four days, we’ll head to Asgard to help Odin fight off Cronus. That’ll be our best and only chance to beat Cronus and reclaim the natural order.”
“Why can’t we assault Olympus and get it over with?” That was Isis talking.
“We don’t have the manpower. And can we, any of us, defeat a single one of Cronus’ Titans? I don’t think so.” He shrugged helplessly. “So Asgard was the only option.”
Diana stepped forward. “What do we do?”
He smiled at her, and looked grateful for her support, along with some puzzlement over her attitude when he had humiliated the proud Princess the day before. “First thing for today, I want all of you to get through this obstacle course.” He pointed to the array of poles, horizontal ladders, and swinging bridges behind him.
Artemis scoffed. “That? That’s child’s play for an Amazon!”
Diana looked carefully at the obstacle course, and felt a tinge of unease. It could not be that easy, could it? She suspected the devious King of Pain had something up his sleeve.
“General Artemis,” she noted his use of Artemis’ title and rank on Themyscira, “why don’t you show us how easy it is then, hmmmm?”
The red haired Amazon strode confidently to the start of the course.
He waved a hand nonchalantly. “You may start whenever you wish.”
Artemis started running on the first log bridge, and that was when they realized what the catch was. The logs were all slick with some sort of oil that killed friction and grip. The surprised Artemis scrambled for purchase on the slippery surface, her limbs flailing uselessly before she fell backwards on her butt.
“Balance is everything. Lose your balance in combat, and you lose you life. Now watch me.” All eyes turned to Phillip. He ran across the obstacle course, moving with a keen grace that hinted at his agility and skill. The oiled, slick surfaces did not deter him, and he turned them to his advantage, sliding and turning with deceptive ease until he reached the end.
“Now all of you do it.”
The entire morning went by just like that. Ares took careful notes throughout the morning. Jake Kabrinski begged off, citing his age and his need to prepare lunch. Because of that, the Duke of Deception heckled him all through the morning, which Jake tolerated with an indulgent expression. Even Gawain had turned up, seemingly none the worst for wear. Not unexpectedly, Angle Man did not have any problems with the course, and soon he and Phillip were passing on pointers to the others.
Diana managed to get through with ease on her third try, faster than everybody else except Gawain and Phillip. She closed her eyes after completing it, trying to integrate what she had just done with her own fighting techniques. By the end of her own reflection, she found a small corner of the gym, and practiced her moves. She was not surprised at all to find that she had improved her skills by quite a bit. Then she went to help her Amazons and the goddesses who were having problems.
By the end of the morning, most of the participants were draped out with exhaustion on the floor of the gym. But all of them had managed to complete the course.
Lunch consisted of pasta with massive helpings of potatoes and salad, which they laid into with gusto. To the Amazon Princess, Jake seemed to be a master chef comparable to Ferdinand the minotaur who worked at her embassy in New York, and performed miracles with the meager supplies in the base. He had roped in a still recovering Ramon to help prepare lunch. According to the young man, Jake had threatened to pull out his arms if he didn’t.
Phillip had been gracious enough to let them rest for the first part of the afternoon. They spent it either sleeping off their exhaustion, or in the case of the men, playing pool in the recreational room. Diana and her Amazons ensconced themselves with Athena, meditating and praying to Gaea for her assistance.
Unknown to her, the King of Pain went back to the course, and started practicing his blade work on the slippery logs and poles, jumping into the air and lashing out viciously, pushing himself to his limits, remembering the intense and brutal training Asem had put him through in his youth. Gawain joined him a while later, the two men fighting another duel on the slippery surface, this time with wooden staves.
In the late afternoon, called by Lord Conquest, everybody returned to the gym. Gawain and Phillip halted their duel in time to prevent the others see their striking, sinuous and deadly moves on the treacherous logs. They did not wish to demoralize their small force further. All Wonder Woman saw was the haggard appearance of both Phillip and Gawain as she entered. Both men, however, simply proceeded with the next part of their training. They were separated into pairs, the pairs decided at random by a Phillip’s PDA.
For the next four days, life was nothing but training, and they passed by quickly. Wonder Woman found herself improving rapidly. She might have been deprived of her powers, but her mind and body were still those of the perfect woman, and she adapted quickly to Phillip’s instruction. She also had the sinking sensation that even with all the work he had put them through, he was still holding back something.
It was on the night before the morning of their departure to Asgard, that she found out exactly how much he was holding back…

Wonder Woman groaned in discomfort. As a result of a blow she had suffered in the day’s training, she had not eaten much for dinner, and she was hungry. She got off her bed, and took a look at the clock. It was 1 o’clock in the morning. She headed towards the kitchen for some food through the dark corridors when she spied a thin sliver of light from the doors of the gym.
She gently pushed open the doors, and was greeted by an astonishing sight.
Nothing had ever prepared her for the enormity of the King of Pain’s amount of skill. He was blindfolded and holding two swords, one in each hand, stripped to the waist and wearing gym exercise pants. He stood on top of a series of unsecured wooden poles, parrying and blocking as he moved past the spiked metal globes that hung from the top of the room. Three tennis ball machines fired off their payload with tremendous force at Phillip at rapid speeds at random directions, the balls sometimes striking the globes, causing them to swing dangerously and in unpredictable patterns.
Diana watched in awe as Phillip dodged through the weaving globes, bringing up his swords to parry and block the tennis balls or push away the globes, all without the benefit of his sight. He would be hit at times by the tennis balls, but he somehow managed to stay on top of the poles, his feet almost in a dance.
The Amazon Champion observed silently, trying to understand how a mortal, any mortal, no matter how skilled, could do what she was observing. She had heard of chess grandmasters playing more than a hundred opponents blindfolded, and beating them all. They, like Phillip, were capable of deeds beyond her comprehension.
The old saying was right. There is always somebody better than oneself. She was almost unbeatable in unarmed combat even without the benefit of her powers, and the number of people in the world capable of defeating her could be counted on one hand.
It had been a terrible shock to her to find out that not only was Phillip a much better fighter, but to him, she was at best only a nuisance in terms of being an adversary. She was sorely tempted to ask him about his past. How had he become so good? Who were his mentors, his teachers? What exactly had he been through that lent him such unbreakable ferocity and fatalistic determination in battle? She suspected that the answers to those questions were the key to understanding the King of Pain.
Phillip was seemingly oblivious of her presence, breathing in and out as he moved in measured intervals. She could see the leanness of his body, the firm muscles that blended both speed and power. The sculpted torso, the…
Diana shook her head once to drive out her current train of thought. She looked again carefully at Phillip, and frowned. The way he moved was familiar, as though she had seen it before she met him. His heavily scarred body hinted at fierce battles and worse in his life. Then there was the scar of a bullet wound on his right torso, just below his ribcage.
Phillip carried on for another five minutes, and Diana could see that he was getting tired. How long has he been at this?
All of a sudden, the three tennis ball machines seemed to hone in on Phillip, firing off a full spread of balls at him. He parried the first few, trying to step out of their way, but some of the tennis balls hit the nearby globes, and Diana could not help but gasp out loud when a globe whipped in at his head.
He lost his balance with only one foot on the pole, falling over backwards to the ground painfully while the globe just caught him on one side of his face, the edge of the spikes slicing two deep and bloody furrows on his cheek.
Diana ran towards him, while the tennis machines stopped firing. He laid on the ground amongst the toppled poles, trying to regain his breath.
“You idiot,” she chided as she pulled him clear of the still swinging globes, before helping him up to a sitting position. “What are you trying to do, get yourself killed?” She pulled out a piece of clean cloth from a pocket, and dabbed at the wound on his cheek.
He took off his blindfold, and tried to push her hand away from his face. “What are you doing here?”
The Amazon ignored him for a moment, wiping up the blood and keeping the cloth firmly affixed to his cheek. “Hold this to your face to stop the bleeding. The cut’s not deep.”
He sighed, and gave in, doing as he was told. “You haven’t answered my question.”
She crossed her arms. “You haven’t answered mine.”
“I’m training.”
“And I was on my way to the kitchen to get something to eat.” She shivered a bit at the cold, realizing that her night attire, a sheer shift, was unable to keep out the cold.
“Come on, you’re getting cold.” He pushed himself to his feet, grabbing off a shirt and a jacket from a nearby bench. He tossed the jacket to her. “Here.”
“Thank you.” She put on the jacket, while Phillip put on a black shirt with short sleeves. She resisted the urge to laugh when he saw that he was trying to wear the shirt with one hand while keeping her makeshift bandage pressed to his cheek. She had to help him pull the shirt down.
He grunted. “Thank you.”
They stared at each other for a few moments in uneasy silence, before Diana realized he was trying to look at her without looking at her. She had to glance down at her clothing before she realized the source of his unease. The thin, almost translucent fabric of her shift allowed him to see her flawless body.
Wonder Woman wrapped the jacket around her chest, closing off the view. “Better?” She arched an eyebrow. What a strange man. So skilled in war, so brutal, and yet undone so easily. She grinned to herself. This could be a useful weakness.
The King of Pain coughed emphatically. “Lots.” He shuffled his feet, then said, “Let’s go to the kitchen and get something to eat.”
“You need to get that wound bandaged. There’s a bandage kit in the kitchen.”
They headed for the kitchen quietly, not wanting to disturb the rest in their sleep. They switched on only the small lamp in a corner, leaving the kitchen still largely covered in darkness. Diana took out the kit from the cupboard, and worked on his wound.
She noted the bleeding had largely ceased. “You know, you never told me how you were able to recover so quickly from your wounds. Are you a metahuman?”
He shook his head. “Sorry, I’m just an ordinary mortal. If I heal quickly, it’s only because I live a healthy lifestyle.”
Although he was telling the truth, or part of it anyway, she applied a bit more force than necessary on the bandage to elicit a reaction from him, but he did not rise to her bait. “Really? How about that chest wound back at Metropolis? Pulling the sword into your hands through the air?”
He waved a hand dismissively. “You saw wrongly. And the sword? I was using a hidden spring.”
Now he was definitely lying. Her power of truth still worked, much to her gratification. “Hmmmph.” She finished taping the gauze to the side of his face. “That should do it.”
He nodded in thanks, then went over to the fridge. “Hungry?”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s why I’m here, remember?”
Light spilled from the fridge’s interior as he opened it, spilling his shadow across the dark kitchen. “Well, there’s leftover pizza from dinner…”
“There wasn’t any leftovers,” she corrected, before realization struck her. “Jake made extra food just for you after your training!”
He shrugged. “Well, we can share.” He took the entire portion and dumped it into the microwave oven. He studiously avoided her accusing gaze, “Diana, it works out for you, so what’s the big deal?”
She moved in front of him. “What’s the story between you, Jake, and Gawain?”
He looked down at the floor. “I’m not answering that question.”
“Then I’ll take it that the three of you know each other. Why can’t you just tell me who you really are?”
He did not reply, instead waited quietly for the microwave to finish heating the food.
Wonder Woman persisted, “There’s so much about you that I don’t know, so much contradiction.”
His head came up, his eyes blazing, “Like?”
“You profess to work for Ares. I’ve forgotten how many times you claim to be a monster. But those were just words. Your actions say otherwise, and they’re certainly louder than your talk.”
“So?”
She laid a hand on his face, the side that was not injured. “I believe you’re a good man. You just don’t believe it yourself.”
He jerked his head away from her hand as the microwave timer chimed. “You have no idea of what I’ve done.” He took out the pizza.
The Princess was not going to let him off so easily, not when she finally had the chance for a heart-to-heart talk. “Then tell me what you’ve done that was so horrible.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it just as quickly. She noticed his hands were shaking, but she could not tell if it was from fear, anger, or something else. He clenched them tight, before sliding the portions of pizza on two nearby plates. She took one plate, and poured two glasses of water, one for each of them.
He whispered, “Nobody should bear the burden of my deeds. Nobody. I know you mean well.” He shot her a look, “I also know you don’t want me to be your enemy. But I made my choice, Wonder Woman, and I intend to stick by it.”
She tried anyway, “Tell me about your past, anything about yourself. You’re holding it in, and it is killing you. Is that why you fight so ferociously? Is that why you hold everybody at arm’s length?”
He held up his hands, “That’s too many questions I can’t answer.” He sighed. “Just… don’t push me, alright?” His voice sounded plaintive, and Diana could sense his inner turmoil. He doesn’t express himself well emotionally.
Wonder Woman looked down at her feet, slowly chewing on her food. “I’m sorry. I only wanted to know more.”
“Nothing wrong with that.” She looked back up at him, and saw that his face was not hostile, just slightly exasperated. He took a deep breath, then let it out. “I should apologize, not you. I… well, you’re right. I can’t open up to other people. I don’t know how.”
The underlying pain in his voice nearly brought tears to her eyes. She continued to listen to him. “I was raised to be a killing machine. You have fought Kobra and DEMON before, right?” She nodded. “Their operatives were raised to be loyal to the cause from young. For me, it was like that, except even worse.” His voice became bleak, the sound of arctic winter. “We were taught to kill one another, until only a handful were left. By the end of it, I was only twelve, and I had killed more than twenty people, both children and adult.”
Diana stared at him, her appetite gone. She had no doubt he was telling the truth. “Who?” She demanded angrily. “Once Cronus is settled…”
“No point.” He cut her off, closing his eyes. “The organization responsible is gone. And the person most responsible for it all is not somebody you, or anybody else in this world, in this galaxy, can touch.”
She answered, steel in her reply. “I don’t believe that.”
He stared back at her. “There are powers behind your comprehension, Wonder Woman. Despite your vast powers, be wary of offending them, for they would crush us like insects.”
She began to understand. “You had faced them before. And you have lived. That’s why you’re so good. And your experiences have shaped your view of the world.”
“I survived by the barest margins, and yes, I am ruined by what I have seen. Diana, don’t waste your time worrying about me. I’d rather you worry about what we’re doing in Asgard.”
“I was at the briefing, you know.” She reminded him. The Amazon Princess also knew he was changing the subject. She let it slide.
“Yes, but I was thinking about your fighting style.” He shook his head. “I wanted to find an opportunity to tell you, but I didn’t want to be too overbearing, especially after what I did on the first day.”
“What’s wrong with my fighting style? The Amazon shield and sword technique is a tried and tested style, perfected after millennia on Themyscira.”
“Perfected because of the lack of competition. Yes, I’ve read about your Amazons knowing a lot of combat styles, and that each of them had to spend time mastering them. But that’s not really competition.”
“What do you mean by competition then?”
“Real, actual, mortal combat. Battle where only one gets to walk away, where the combatants stake everything. Their lives, their courage.”
“Like the one you set up between Ramon and Ares? And your own battle with Gawain?”
He nodded. “Yes, like those. Once you’ve reached a certain level, the shield and sword style is an inferior one. I’ve seen it before.”
Wonder Woman protested, “That’s not true! It offers a good balance between attack and defense.”
“In battle, you don’t need balance. You only need offense.” He finished his plate, pushing it to one side. “The shield decreases your killing power, while only marginally improving your defense. It also blocks your line of sight, a dangerous handicap.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
He stood up from his seat, and drew his weapons, each hand twirling a sword in demonstration. “The dual blade technique allows you to kill quickly and effectively. Like a shield, you can use a sword to block blows, and employ it in attack as well. All the advantages of a shield, and none of the drawbacks.” He slid the swords back into their scabbards with rapid ease.
She finished of her own food, “That may be true, but I am too used to my own style. And you forget the advantages of a shield over a sword, like warding against explosions and projectiles.”
He countered. “If I’m bringing a sword to a gun fight, then I deserve to die.”
Wonder Woman had to wait a while, before she asked hesitantly, “Phillip?”
“Yes?”
“What are our chances? That’s the one thing you never mentioned.”
He swallowed hard. “The truth?”
She nodded.
“Less than twenty percent.”
Wonder Woman was stunned. “Then why…”
“Because we have no choice,” said Phillip softly. “We could not attack earlier because we weren’t ready. We cannot attack any later because by then it’ll be too late.”
She pondered his words. “Are you afraid?”
He smiled, “Always. Fear is a good thing.”
Wonder Woman frowned. “That’s not the Amazon way. Fear paralyzes the warrior, creates doubt. We are trained constantly to ignore our fear.”
“Then the Amazon way is wrong. Diana, courage is not the absence of fear. True courage and determination is recognizing one’s fear, and then pushing it aside to do what needs to be done.” He paused. “I’ve always been afraid. Maybe that’s why I survived for so long.”
“We’ll just have to agree to disagree then.” She slid off her seat, “Well, I guess it’s late enough. I should go back to bed.”
“Yes, you should.” He grinned, “And thanks for the company.” He halted, as if considering his next words, “I… I really enjoyed talking with you.”
What do you know? He does have a heart. Diana beamed. “Anytime.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please review! You can email me at href="mailto:kdbspeck@starhub.net.sg">kdbspeck@starhub.net.sg. Thanks for your attention!
- 25
- 26
- 27
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Games that Gods Play