Tomb Raider/Black Widow/Wonder Woman: The Scythe of Cronus

Athens Museum of Archaeology

Athens, Greece

"We don't understand how this happened. Our museum has some of the most advanced security measures in the world." The middle-aged man shook his head with regret as he stared at the camera set inside a locked room where the Scythe of Cronus was housed.

"Trust me, Mr. Kormoulis, trying to figure out the suspect is pretty much impossible," Diana told the man. The twisted grins on the faces of the dead security guards at the crime scene made it painfully obvious who the suspect was -- trying to figure out why he stole the scythe was more or less an act of futility. What mattered was finding out what he planned to do with it and stopping him was the priority right now.

"Can you give us access to any footage from during the time the robbery took place?" Natasha asked.

"Of course. I doubt it'll be of much help, though -- whoever did this somehow managed to scramble all the footage during that period," Kormoulis said. "We've looked through it thoroughly."

"You never know," Natasha told him. "SHIELD analysts are the best at what they do. There's a good chance we can find something your people didn't."

The man nodded and handed over one of the many datapads which were connected to various security cameras around the museum. "This should have everything you need -- if it doesn't, don't hesitate to let me know. Our museum will cooperate with you fully on this investigation. Whatever you need -- it's your."

"Thank you, Mr. Kormoulis. We'll be in touch," Natasha replied before she turned back to Lara and Diana. The trio turned and left the office, discussing the investigation as they made their way back to their hotel.

"So what do you think, Miss Croft?" Diana asked Lara. "You're the expert on relics here..."

"Maybe, but you're the Amazon demigoddess. I would think you would have forgotten more than I could ever learn," Lara answered. "And please, call me Lara."

"All right, Lara. Honestly? I want your opinion," Diana said back, flashing her a friendly grin. "One of the reasons the Justice League has been so effective is that we have all these different sets of eyes on our problems.

"Well then, I'd be happy to share my thoughts... Cronus was the leader of the Greek Titans and the father of Zeus, and... wait, why am I telling you this? You would know it better than anyone."

"That's fine," Diana said, undaunted by this revelation. "I'm always willing to hear new ideas."

Lara smirked. "Right. Anyway, since I don't need to bore you with the backstory, you know that Cronus used that scythe to castrate and kill his father, Uranus. As for the scythe of Cronus, well, if it was used to kill a titan, than one could reasonably assume that was why it was stolen."

"So my hunch was right," Diana said, worry in her voice. "Could he have his sights set on Olympus?"

"It's possible," Lara answered. "But from what I've read and what you've told me about this Joker, he may be planning something else. In most cases, I would assume that whoever stole the scythe would be under orders from Cronus himself, who was, of course, overthrown by Zeus and cast into Tartarus. But everything I've learned about this Joker leads me to believe he was under orders from someone else. Someone who promised him the chaos he seems to value more than anything else..."

Diana's eyes narrowed with suspicion. It all made too much sense now. "Eris."

"Precisely what I was thinking," Lara confirmed. "Again, this is all a theory, but it seems far more likely that someone looking to cause chaos would work with a chaos deity as opposed to the titan leader."

"Excellent. This gives us a wider net." Natasha immediately sent a message to SHIELD requesting all the info they could give her on the Greek goddess of discord. "Now let's see if we can narrow this down even further." She turned to Diana, her face still showing that hard determination she wore so often. She scanned over the Joker's last suspected locations, and one in particular caught her eye. "Well, this is promising... apparently there was a suspected sighting of our clown friend at a dig site a few weeks ago... where archaeologists uncovered what is purported to be the mythical Apple of Discord."

"I have colleagues at that site," Lara interjected. "I'm sure we can learn something from them."

"Thank you," Natasha replied. "When can we meet with them?"

"Tomorrow afternoon," Lara told her. "I've got their schedule already."

"Thank you, Lara," Natasha said. "In the meantime, we have some time to kill before then -- shall we do dinner? I think we should get to know each other better while we're here."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that!" Lara grinned eagerly.

The three women agreed to the plans, returning to their respective rooms to get ready for the evening.