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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.

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You should be able to strip a man naked and throw him out with nothing on him. By the end of the day, the man should be clothed and fed. By the end of the week, he should own a horse. And by the end of a year he should own a business and have money in the bank.
-Rick Rescorla
“Diana!” Queen Hippolyta called out happily as Wonder Woman landed on the shores of Themyscira with her invisible plane. Amazons streamed out from all over the island to greet their princess and her guest.
“Nice place.” Veronica Cale commented, climbing out of the plane. “I don’t understand why you would ever leave here for the outside world.”
“Duty, and the opportunity to make the world a better place.” The Amazon Princess answered.
Veronica scoffed, but bit back a response. The Amazons around her would not be too happy if she’d said what she really wanted to say.
Diana looked around, glad to be back amongst her sisters. In light of their truce, she had invited a reluctant Veronica Cale along, in an attempt to rehabilitate the recalcitrant businesswoman. Perhaps a few days among the Amazon nation, with their kind understanding and compassion, would soften Cale and end her enmity towards Wonder Woman.
Her mother greeted Veronica with a smile, “Welcome, Veronica Cale, to our island. We are glad to have you here. Diana tells me you are an example of excellence amongst the women of Man’s World, and I have read of your efforts to raise the stature of women around the world. You are an inspiration to us all.”
Diana smiled as Cale suddenly seemed flustered by Hippolyta’s high praise, stammering out a response that was devoid of her usual sarcasm, followed by what seemed to be a heartfelt delight at being invited to the island and being greeted by the Queen herself.
Wonder Woman caught Artemis’ eye, and the other Amazon scowled even as Diana gave her a wink. Only Artemis, Io, and Mala knew of Cale’s efforts to discredit her, and only Artemis had opposed her decision to bring Veronica to Themyscira.
“What is she doing here?” Vanessa Kapatelis grumbled from one corner. Diana sighed. Her young friend still harbored a grudge against Cale. Still, it was an opportunity for both women to get over their mutual hatred.
“Vanessa,” Wonder Woman said firmly, “Miss Cale is here as a guest of Themyscira. I expect you to accord her with the respect due a visitor to our island.”
Vanessa stiffened, but did manage a slight nod of her head towards Cale. Veronica was tight-lipped, and returned the gesture with a slight nod of her own. Vanessa then stalked off, obviously eager to be away from her former tormentor.
Diana looked at Cale. “Was it worth it?”
Veronica tried to act as though she was not affected. “I don’t understand you.”
She pressed on. “Vanessa. The dead girl who leaked the information. Even Leslie Anderson. Was bringing me down worth your integrity? Even your friends?”
Cale did not reply, but walked off, following one of the Amazon guides Diana had assigned her.
“I hope this ploy of yours will help.” Hippolyta’s regal voice spoke, and Diana spun round to face her mother and Queen of the Amazons.
She went down to her knees in respect to her Queen, and when Hippolyta nodded her head in acknowledgement of the gesture, she rose to her feet and hugged her mother. “Mother, I’m so happy to see you again.”
“As am I, daughter. However, it’s good you’ve come, because we have some very serious problems to consider.”
Diana nodded, but was also worried at the determined tone of the Queen’s words. “The men of the island…”
“It was my intent to destroy them utterly before they become a threat to us. Ares is regaining his hold on them, so we have not much time left.”
“Mother, we cannot be sure that they are a threat yet…”
“Diana, did you not receive the news from Donna? Gawain Sharpe has been invited by Ares to the island, and he told Donna what he knew. He’s with your sister, and they’ll be on their way to the island once Donna finishes with her photo shoot in New York.”
That was new to Diana. “No, Mother, I did not hear from Donna. But consider this. Ares told Gawain, and he knew that Gawain would tell Donna, and then Donna would tell us. Would he have not considered the implications?”
Hippolyta narrowed her eyes. “And it means?”
“Ares could be counting on some form of military response from us. And if we do attack them without provocation, what does that do for Themyscira? Mother, you can be sure Ares and his minions would be spinning events against us in the eyes of the world. We would become aggressors, our message of peace discarded like so much useless baggage in the face of illusions. Mother, we must consider our actions carefully.”
The firm lines drawn by Hippolyta’s mouth indicated her mother’s stubbornness. “Diana, the threat that these men pose to us are no illusions. As leader of our nation, I cannot ignore the dangers. If necessary, I will not hesitate to order a preemptive attack.”
“With the council’s permission?” Diana could not help it, but an icy tone had slid into her voice. When her mother had returned, they had been very happy and warm towards each other, but the antagonism was slowly returning, for reasons that she could not explain. Or perhaps it was the way of daughters and mothers everywhere?
“I’ll convince them.” Hippolyta said haughtily. “But I’ll need your support, Diana. We must show firm leadership and an united front to persuade our fellow sisters that this is our best course of action.”
“Except that I’m utterly opposed to it.” Diana wanted to shake her mother by the shoulders, to stir some sense into her. “Mother, if nothing else, wait until Donna gets back before you make a decision.”
“I can do that.” Hippolyta glared at her daughter. “I just hope it won’t be too late.”
“It won’t be. Mother, they will still need weapons and training. Even if Ares can supply them with the equipment, they’ll still need training, training which has to help them overcome their lack of understanding about modern technology.”
“You warn me against underestimating Ares, Diana, but I think you’re underestimating his minions. Phillip Delacroix and the rest of his lackeys are not fools, and we’ve both seen in Gawain’s memories what Delacroix and Jake Kabrinski can do. They’ve turned disorganized rabble into a fighting force before. They can do it again, this time for Ares.”

“What a dump!” Ramon kicked a coconut lying on the beach, or more accurately, tried to. It was not the dried out husk he expected, but rather a heavy and filled fresh coconut, which meant that Ramon was left clutching his foot and jumping around in pain when his foot connected. “Yow!”
Jake Kabrinski sighed in exasperation. The boy’s training was coming along fine, though he had to continue pushing to get Ramon anywhere. “See, see? Told you not to do anything stupid. Like kicking coconuts on the ground. They’re coconuts, not footballs.” Ramon wasn’t even a quarter as good in combat as Phillip or Gawain were at his age, but he didn’t have the mental or emotional baggage of his predecessors either.
The young Kessanalt grumbled, “I don’t see what else there is on this hellhole.”
Both visitors looked around speculatively at their surroundings. The Island of Myn, as it was whimsically termed by those people who knew about its existence, was still largely an overgrown jungle, with little agricultural farmland, and absolutely no indoor plumbing.
They had arrived on the island in the morning, much to the surprise of the Lindstroms, who had cautiously greeted them and introduced them to the natives. Following close behind were Stan Burnside and Joshua Peres, along with a news crew and a construction group. Morgan Carter and his group of slightly bewildered commandoes piled on around lunchtime, and Jake had been surprised to find out that it was the same crew from the New York battle a few months back.
He chuckled when he remembered the indignant look on Ana Lindstrom’s face when she had vehemently protested their presence. The men of the island, however, were intrigued by the appearance of more men like themselves, not only soldiers like Morgan’s highly trained killers, but slightly overweight media hounds, doctors and all sorts in all shapes and sizes trudging off the landing ships.
For the first time, their isolation had been shattered, and they were asking questions as quickly as they could think of them. Jake did not know how they had managed to learn English, but he was glad that they knew the language at its most basic, saving him a great deal of time.
“A million things to build, and so little time.” The Earl of Greed huffed as he appeared before them, wiping sweat off his brow. “Still can’t quite understand what Ares wants us to do here.”
Jake glanced at Ramon, who looked as puzzled as Joshua. “You guys haven’t figured it out yet? Ares said it. He wants us to turn that bunch,” he gestured to the smattering of fishing boats with the men of the island out at sea, “into an army.”
“I thought he was kidding.” Ramon muttered.
“And why is that?” Jake turned to his employee.
“Jake, have you taken a good look at these guys?” Ramon shook his head. “Sure, Ares might have made them big, tall, and strong, but up here,” he pointed to his own head, “they’re empty!”
“That’s for lack of opportunity.” Jake said. “And we’re here to change that.” He looked askance at Ramon, and when the boy turned away, he gave him a swift slap up the back of his head.
“Oww! What was that for?”
“You’ve not earned the right to be smug yet, much less comment on others.”
An indignant glare. “And you do?”
Jake smiled. He said to Joshua, “I want the obstacle courses up first. Ares said they’ll follow our instructions, and so far we haven’t given any.” He grinned. “Time to start seeing what they’re made of.”
“We might find out sooner than you like.” Joshua murmured as the skies suddenly changed color. On the horizon, they could see a glowing wall rising from the sea, spreading up towards the sky. The boats turned back to the island and seemed to be moving with desperate speed back.
“That’s… not good, is it?” Ramon said with awe.
Jake clenched his fists, resisting the urge to draw his guns. “Get back to the village, and get everybody to stop work. Tell Morgan I want him and his boys prepped for action. I also want a headcount as soon as possible.” When Ramon did not move, he roared, “Get cracking!” The boy sprinted off.
The glowing wall continued to climb up the sky with frightening rapidity. Jake sighed. I should have guessed that something like this would happen when Phillip is involved. Kessanalt luck, always bad.

Phillip slammed the throttle of his private jet as far forward as he could. The glowing white wall surrounding the islands was forming a dome around them, and while he couldn’t be sure what exactly was happening, he was also pretty sure that he had better be on the inside when something happened.
He made a few quick estimates. The wall was forming a huge 100 mile radius circle centered on Themyscira, and the Island of Myn was just conveniently placed within that radius. It suggested to him that whoever was behind this wanted Themyscira, not Ares’ men.
He cursed himself for spending just a bit too much time at the office. If he had arrived earlier, he would not be racing his plane against the wall closing itself off.
The dome was almost formed now, a perfect hemisphere of glowing light. His plane was almost there, but faced with the blowing barrier, he had no idea if it was solid or not.
Take a chance! He angled the plane directly towards the dome, and the jet passed through with barely a jolt.
The moment he was past the barrier, there was a sudden sinking sensation, as though his insides were being turned out. For a moment his vision was filled with hallucinogenic images, a kaleidoscope of swirling colors, before fading away to reveal the blinking array of lights on his aircraft.
He would know that sensation anywhere. The dome had apparently transported everything in it to somewhere else.
The sirens on his console screamed at him, but he didn’t need to look at them to know that while he had made it through, his plane had not. It was missing half its fuselage. Air whipped around him, as the plane spiraled into a death dive towards the ground, which suddenly seemed very near.
He did not hesitate, patting himself and his parachute down for a moment before releasing himself from his seat and out the open midsection of the doomed plane.
Phillip landed not far from where his plane had crashed, digging a nice deep furrow in the ground before blowing itself up into nice little smithereens. He unclasped his straps, and stared around him, his senses alert for any sign of danger. All about him was grassland, while the sun in the sky was a slightly different hue from Earth’s primary. It was also almost night.
Great. This is just great. Most of his gear was stowed in the plane. And at the moment, all he had was his trusty Beretta, some garottes and knives that he always carried, and of course, his two swords.
He looked at the parachute, wondering if he could find some use for it. Failing to think of something, he decided to pack it up and stash it somewhere. Never knew when it might come in handy.
Strangely enough, as he started moving down a small dirt track with nothing more than his two swords and a pistol, he suddenly felt more relaxed and carefree than he had in ages. It brought back memories of Caph, when he had been alone against the world, struggling to survive. Those were simpler, more brutal times, when he had only himself to worry about, and whoever got on his wrong side got a taste of cold steel in their throats.
Just me and my swords. He even began to whistle a jaunty tune as he started down the dirt track. First thing to worry about, dinner. Anything and everything else can wait. He sniffed the air, testing it, and smiled. There’s blood and hatred in the air.

The Amazons of Themyscira stood at parade attention, weapons slung and ready for action. The Queen looked out worriedly. Paradise Island had been surrounded by water, but they had been deposited on dry land, and what was once safe waters now seemed like a dangerous expanse of grassland.
“Have the scouts reported back in yet?” Hippolyta asked Artemis as they surveyed the surrounding lands from the command pavilion on Themyscira’s tallest peak.
“No, my Queen.” Artemis looked worried herself. “Iphthime says she has yet to determine the nature of the magicks that have spirited us here. One thing she can tell us is that it has nothing to do with Ares.”
“Diana?” The Queen turned to her daughter, who stood behind her, clad in the golden armor designed specially for her.
“Mother, let me fly out to check our surroundings.”
“No.” Hippolyta did not know whether to be glad that Donna wasn’t with them, but she had a premonition of evil and dread, as though something terrible was about to befall their nation. “I need you here in case our enemies appear.”
She turned to the dark skinned general beside her, “Phillipus, what do you think we should do now?”
“Your majesty, we can only maintain our guard while we wait for our scouts to return. We must be sure of our own safety before we can try finding out more.”
A sudden laugh burst in front of them. “You are very correct, little Amazon, but that shall avail you little!”
All the Amazons at hand raised their weapons at the figure, who simply waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. The weapons all flew away from the hands of their wielders to land at the newcomer’s feet.
Hippolyta did not draw her sword, but she felt real fear when she recognized the person in front of her. A gasp from Diana told her that her daughter recognized her too.
She asked, “Clea… What are you doing here?”
Clea smiled. “Why, dear Hippolyta, I am surprised to see that you’re back from the dead. As for you, Wonder Woman, you will pay for thwarting me on Skataris.”
Diana demanded, “The last time I saw you, you were an infant. How did you recover?”
Clea laughed. “It does not matter, and why should I tell you. No,” the former Atlantean monarch hissed, “I’ll enslave all of you first before I give out any answers.”
Energy suddenly crackled from her hands, and before any of the amazons present could react, the energy spread out from her as a web of blue and red tendrils, winding their way all around Themyscira.
Wonder Woman gave a battlecry, and charged forward at Clea, but was smashed aside by two flying figures. They tumbled away in a flurry of fists and kicks, which ended when Diana was hit by a particularly vicious blow that sent her sprawling at Hippolyta’s feet.
Clea waged a finger disapprovingly. “Tsk, tsk, Princess. I have more power than ever before. I am a goddess now, and goddesses should have their champions. I have many of them.”
Hippolyta looked up to see more than twenty flying men appear behind the floating Clea. Worse, she could see her Amazons all collapsing to the ground from Clea’s spell. Diana struggled to her feet, and Hippolyta was chilled for a moment by the shock on Diana’s face. If each of those men are as strong as Diana, what chance do we have?
“What have you done with my people?”
Clea snarled. “I’m going to bind all of you in chains. This is my vengeance, for what you and your precious daughter did to me! You will pay, both of you, and you will pay very, very dearly! Men, knock them out, and do not kill them!”
Two men flew at Wonder Woman. She gave one of them a judo toss which sent him against the walls of the pavilion with enough force to shatter the marble, and twisted her body around in a midair kick with sufficient force to break the second’s neck. However, they were closely followed by more of Clea’s superpowered champions, who plowed into the Amazon princess before she could make any more moves. She tumbled away with her attackers, snarling as she fought back savagely, no longer holding back her strength.
Hippolyta shouted, and charged at Clea, who waved a hand. There was suddenly a whole army of armored warriors standing between the Amazon Queen and her enemy. Hippolyta smashed into their formation, scattering the first few ranks with the sheer ferocity of her assault.
But the outcome was never in doubt. Wonder Woman fought bravely and with all the strength and skill she could muster, but she was overwhelmed by the sheer mass of Clea’s champions. Hippolyta and the other Amazons fared little better, and soon all of them were bound in strong chains.
Clea laughed as the last of the amazons were deposited in unconscious heaps by her feet, bound in chains. For her, this was just the beginning of her revenge. All her plotting, the energy she had expended to bring the Amazons here, had been worth it. Now, she would see the Amazons humiliated utterly, particularly Hippolyta and Diana. For what they had done to her, opposed her for so long.
She would show them the vengeance of a goddess.

Phillip stopped walking. Ahead of him on the track was a small leather pouch. The grass rustled around him, swaying by the night breeze. The stench of blood and despair was thick in the air.
All around him, brigands prepared to ambush their prey.
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This next arc is going to be long, spanning about 9 chapters. Since I’m quite busy nowadays, updates would also be slow in coming. Enjoy while you can!
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The Games that Gods Play