A Jester on Olympus

Kassandra lunged at Joker, who parried her strike with the scythe. Kassandra immediately ducked, narrowly dodging the blade of the scythe before lunging again and hitting Joker in the gut with the blade of her spear, knocking him back.

"You tore my suit. That was an expensive suit, you know..." Joker spat bitterly as he slashed at Kassandra again. "I mean, stole it, of course, but it was still an expensive suit. Wanna know where I stole it from?"

Kassandra blocked Joker's slash with the spear before shoving Joker back with a shoulder tackle. "You talk too much, Joker," she insisted, lunging at Joker again, who stepped back and dodged her thrusts before parrying a slash Kassandra aimed at his torso.

"I threw one of Gotham's most prominent CEOs out of a highrise window. Don't feel too bad for him -- he was as corrupt as they come. Really, I was doing the city a favor... anyway, he was wearing this exact suit... long story short, I had it dyed purple, and truly made it one of a kind. AND NOW YOU'VE RUINED IT!" Joker hissed, attacking Kassandra furiously.

Kassandra matched Joker blow for blow as the duo exchanged attacks and parries. "I've got no interest in listening to a madman rant about clothing," Kassandra insisted impatiently.

"I suppose I shouldn't expect you to understand the importance of a good suit -- you're naked, after all," Joker huffed indignantly as he continued battling Kassandra. "Seriously, would it have killed you to throw on a toga or something?"

"I've got more important matters to attend to right now... namely, keeping undead warriors from flooding Olympus," Kassandra spat before hitting Joker across the head with the shaft of her spear, briefly dazing the clown. Taking advantage of this, Kassandra closed in to finish Joker off -- but as she thrust at him, Joker used the Scythe to repel the blade of Kassandra's Spear, sending it flying out of Kassandra's hands.

"Damn it... the spear!" Natasha gasped worriedly as she battled nearby. Joker smirked before driving the scythe's blade towards Kassandra. As it moved for its mark, Diana leapt in between it and Kassandra, parrying the Scythe and kicking Joker backwards.

"Ooooh... how heroic. Wondy to the rescue!" Joker mused playfully. "You know, I was hoping I'd get the chance to test this baby out on you," he continued, brandishing the Scythe smugly.

Meanwhile, Natasha and Lara were making their way through the undead horde in attempt to retrieve the spear, with Lara unleashing a volley of gunshots and Natasha firing off electric darts from her gauntlets in a coordinated ****. Getting that spear back to Kassandra was their only hope of stopping the Joker now -- and although Kassandra was a more than capable hand to hand combatant, she'd only be able to hold out for so long against this rising undead army.

Diana fought courageously against the Joker, but she knew she was at a clear disadvantage as long as Joker held the scythe. As a weapon designed to slay Titans, Diana in particular would be susceptible to the Scythe's magic, not unlike Superman or Supergirl facing someone with a Kryptonite weapon. Still, she fought, buying time to get the Spear of Leonidas back in Kassandra's hands.

Unfortunately, though, Diana found herself open. Joker parried Diana's slash before kicking Wonder Woman back and taking advantage of his opportunity, maniacally laughing as he swung the Scythe towards Diana.

At the same time, however, Natasha had reached the spear, and threw it to Lara, who in turn tossed it towards Kassandra. Kassandra grabbed it, and despite being swarmed by undead, saw an opening and hurled the spear at Joker, hitting him in the arm and causing him to lose his grip of the Scythe. Diana immediately took advantage, knocking out the Joker with the hilt of her sword and picking up the scythe. Sheathing her sword, she picked up the spear, and without hesitation, she carved through the undead surrounding Kassandra.

"I believe this is yours," Diana said, handing the spear to Kassandra. Now, let's reverse this spell..."

"Hurry up," Lara insisted as the undead closed in on her and Natasha

After focusing the scythe's energy, Diana slammed it on the ground, sending a surge of magic through the surrounding area that dispersed the undead army. Ares fell to the ground again, no longer bound by the scythe; he groggily rose to his feet, coughing as he caught his breath.

"...Where... how... Diana of Themyscira...? What is the meaning of this?" the Greek god sputtered as Diana approached him.

"You were being held in a state of undeath, Ares. You were a puppet of a madman," Diana explained.

Ares sneered at the Amazon bitterly, but as his memory returned, he soon remembered who was wielding the scythe before losing consciousness. "I remember. A man with garish garb and a mad smile assaulted me with the Scythe of Cronus... I take it you broke his hold on me?"

"Indeed," Diana answered curtly. "He wished to use you to sow chaos throughout not only Greece, but the entire world."

"I see. I suppose I owe you a debt then, Amazon," Ares grudgingly acknowledged.

"I didn't do this for payment, Ares. I did it to save Olympus," Diana answered coolly.

Ares turned and began to walk away. "Of course you did. But still, the aid you've provided is... appreciated," he admitted as he looked over his shoulder at her. "Be sure to call in your favor wisely. I do not like the thought of being indebted to an enemy."

As one god walked off, three goddesses approached the quartet of women; Athena, Hera and Aphrodite all walked towards Diana & Natasha with grateful expressions on their faces, having broken free from Eris' influence.

"Diana of Themyscira... Kassandra of Sparta... you have broken the hold that the Apple of Discord on us. We are grateful," Hera acknowledged as Athena and Aphrodite nodded gratefully beside her. Diana smiled warmly at the three, while Kassandra casually crossed her arms and nodded slightly.

"Think nothing of it. I merely fulfilled my duties as a guardian, both of Olympus and of man's world," Diana respectfully assured Hera & Athena.

"And you two," Aphrodite said, turning to Natasha & Lara and smiling widely. "You have our thanks as well. What are you names?"

Lara's jaw dropped as she gawked at the goddess of love and beauty; she'd seen paintings and statues, but none of them did Aphrodite justice. Somehow, the goddess managed to look like an unattainable beauty, a sex symbol, a powerful Amazon, and the girl next door all at once -- it seemed that any description of beauty somehow fit Aphrodite, no matter what it was. And yet, she also came across as warm and approachable.

"Lara Croft," Lara replied. "It's an honor to meet you..."

Lara and Natasha introduced themselves to the goddesses of wisdom, marriage, and love respectively, bowing respectfully to the trio as they did so. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman & Kassandra glanced down at the scythe in Diana's hand.

"So what do you plan on doing with this madman?" Kassandra asked, gesturing to where the Joker was... only for the group to find he had escaped.

"Damn... He's escaped!" Natasha cursed.

"We'll make sure we're well prepared should he come back, then," Athena stated confidently. "The gods of Olympus had grown complacent as of late. This was a reminder we are not invincible."

"This reminds me... did you see a masked man on your way here? He was heavily armed..." Natasha said, remembering that they'd left Deathstroke incapacitated earlier, and had to leave him in order to catch up to Eris and Joker.

"No, we haven't," Aphrodite answered. "Is he any danger to Olympus?"

Natasha shook her head. "I don't think so, not now. Still, you should keep your eyes open."

"We will. Again, Diana, Kassandra, Lara, Natasha, thank you for saving Olympus," Hera responded appreciatively.

"It had to be done," Kassandra stated matter-of-factly. "The alternative would have been devastating."

"Still, we owe you a great debt," Aphrodite answered. "Is there any boon I can grant you?"

Kassandra stretched, moaning softly as she arched her back. Natasha, Lara & Diana ogled Kassandra as she stretched, dirty thoughts filling their minds. Kassandra rolled her shoulders, clearly ready to relax after the battle she'd just experienced; she knew what she wanted to do next.

"Right now? I could really, really use a bath..."