Legendary

The Amazon wasted no time and attacked, and I let the first wave of action pass just on the defense. I'd fought with her before, but never squared off against her, and I wasn't sure what her abilities were. Batman called her the best melee fighter he'd ever seen, and I now knew Amazons in general possess various degrees of superhuman strength, speed, stamina enhanced durability, and that was just the baseline. From Hippolyta's account, I knew she'd been juiced up with gifts directly from the goddesses.

I might not have her gifts, but I have my own. Some, like my dance combat skills and kinetic energy absorption, were mutations from my long-ago lab accident, and I had the benefit of training in several different combat styles over a long period of time. I'd listened to what Professor X had classified as limited tactical precognition and loaded up for this fight with everything that felt right. I had the tactics and strategy of the valkyries, and we fought afoot as well as on the wing. So I let her spend the flare of anger without betraying much of my own abilities (not easy, she was incredibly strong and her blows were heavy), then, when she seemed to feel more confident (her tells were small and subtle) I went on the attack.

Her eyes widened in surprise as I released the stored kinetic energy in my first attack, geared to strength moves, showering her with blows although I wasn't trying to hurt her. Then I switched tactics and focused more on agility; leaning back to let her sword pass over me, dropping to my knees, spinning, and kicking her legs out from under her. I scored a few points against her (nobody was keeping score, it was whoever defeated who that counted) but it just pissed her off and she poured it on. I felt that I was on a dangerous precipice where our friendly bout teetered on the edge of something pretty unfriendly and I backed my intensity off a little to keep the bout from escalating into real combat.

She achieved first blood, her sword cutting through my vambrace, but the cut didn't incapacitate that arm. Her original sword had been destroyed in her first battle with Ares, but her new sword was also called "God Killer" and I was starting to realize what that meant. Maybe I should swallow my pride and look around for a blacksmith god myself.

I struck the sword away with my shield, spun away, and launched a spray of shuriken at her on the last arc of the turn. While researching Gambit, I'd seen how he flicked his kinetic cards out so elegantly, and while I couldn't manage his coverage, grace, or impact, I'd gotten up to launching four shuriken at at time. Two of them she batted away, but two struck her, and her expression darkened.

"Shit," I meeped.

Her next attack was savage and drove me back. God Killer raked through my armor again and again, and I stumbled back, knocking against the spear I'd driven into the ground. I wrenched it out of the ground as Diana raised her arm again and I charged her, jumping up and using her thigh to launch myself into the air. The wings snapped out and I gained some altitude, feeling a slight relief, but my wings weren't as strong as they'd been during Fimbulwinter and the runup to Ragnarok. I just didn't have the time-or the desire, actually-- for that kind of training anymore. I'd have to fight on the ground again, but I could use my maneuverability in three axes to my advantage for a bit, give my legs a rest.

I scored on her with my spear a few times, using the spear both for its point and as a bo, which didn't improve her mood any, and scored her shield and also damaged her bracelets, which she only seemed to wear as Wonder Woman or here on the islands. She brought me down to earth by roping my ankle with her lasso and pulling. The crash landing hurt but I kicked my ankle free before she thought to pull on it and jumped to my feet. God Killer cleaved the shaft of the spear, and she swiftly pulled my sword out of my hand. I took this opportunity to go for hand to hand,wrenching God Killer away and tossing it as far as I could, and this worked a great deal better than I thought it would. The Amazons had a wrestling tradition, but their combat was almost exclusively with weapons. She wasn't successful at defending against my hybrid fighting style although she picked up aspects somewhat as we went. Damn Athena's gifts, anyway. I kept my wings out and used them as weapons, both the treated feathers and the wings themselves to hit her.

I was doing ok until she retrieved her sword and her sword split my breastplate and the tac fabrics beneath it, scraping along a rib. I staggered back, and Torunn leaped into the fray, redirecting her attack, but Diana blew past her.

"I yield!" I said loudly, and the field, which had been silent, swelled with noise again.

But Diana didn't stop. I pulled the short sword out of the spine sheath, but she batted that away too and I pulled out my last weapons, my knives. Three of the throwing knives scored on her, but I was down to my dagger. I attacked, which did nothing, then wrapped my wings around me for protection. The edge of the blade glanced off the reinforced feathers, and she changed her attack and stabbed. The point slid between the feathers and perforated my wing.

Damn, that hurt.

I yanked out a feather--which also hurt-- and slashed, opening a cut on her neck but not hitting a blood vessel, fortunately. Diana rocked back, and at that, the bloodlust and fury left her eyes. She looked shocked, then ashamed, and I turned from her as my daughter hustled up with the emergency kit I kept with my weapons. Amazons came onto the field as Torunn and Martha hastily stripped off my armor. I mopped off my torso and used a wealth of butterfly bandages on the cut to my ribs, then let Torunn do a battlefield dressing on the cut to my arm. Martha swiped at smaller cuts before applying gauze and tape, and the healer Althea dropped her own bag beside me and began applying liniments and powders to slow the bleeding. Torunn held the feathers out of the way, and Althea treated the puncture, through and through, to the wing, stopping the slow trickle of blood dripping off my feathers. I was going to have a new scar to add to my collection. Other Amazons did what they could, and under Martha's direction, placed my arms and armor back in their bags.

There was minimal noise, so it was easy to hear the approach of horses. Martha and I locked eyes, panicked, and an Amazon ran to head them off so that Iris wouldn't see. I had to wait a bit for the treatment to stabilize the wound on my wing, then carefully folded them and put them away. I could feel the injury as an ache on my back, and wearily accepted Antiope's helping hand, letting her pull me to my feet.

I waited until I got to my quarters before groaning as I lowered myself to the bed. "Mom?" Martha asked anxiously.

"Bruised and battered, but I'll live, honey," I said. "What I wouldn't give for a tissue accelerator before your dad sees."

"Will he be upset that you fought?" Antiope said, puzzled.

"No, he just hates to see me banged up," I said, shrugging, then wincing.

"Dad hates to see her in pain," Martha contributed. "Grandpa Thomas said he was a little nuts after Ragnarok, not knowing if she made it through, and until she woke up from the coma, he barely ate or slept. He'd have done anything to have taken some of her hurts for her."

Althea came in with additional medications and a beverage she swore would help with the healing. It tasted vile, and I figured it was a diversionary tactic; you were so affected by the taste, which lingered, that you neglected to feel your other aches and pains as acutely. I cleaned up, taking a fast shower, and getting rebandaged before dressing. Althea was uncharacteristically a little dithery when it came to my wing, but I pointed out that tissue is tissue, the sail of the wing had no muscle or organs, and she took the opportunity to examine new-to-her anatomy, finishing with a therapeutic massage. I felt a lot better after that, and when we emerged to relax in the plaza, Iris ran up to me and chattered happily about everything she'd seen, cuddling up to my side, and other Amazons looked on indulgently and added their own observations. I was told that she was a good horsewoman. Iris piped up that she'd learned to stand on horseback while the horse was moving, and Melia looked a little panicked. From the wide-eyed look that Iris gave her, I surmised it was meant to be a secret.

"Go slow when you're around your dad and Uncle Daniel, and always be careful," I told her. "There's only one Iris and I like her in the condition she's in." Iris chirped her laugh and wiggled onto my lap. Her little butt hit one of the worst bruises coming up and I winced, but since her head was on my shoulder she didn't see. I put my arms around her and enjoyed the cuddle. She was growing so fast; it would feel like a blink before she felt herself too old for a cuddle from her mom. Those around us weren't talking about the fight, but others, farther away were, apparently, from the way they were looking over at us. Torunn joined us, having had bruises and some smaller cuts of her own treated, and we talked until it was time for dinner.

After the meal, musicians played and Hellene took Iris off to teach her some of the dances. Martha plopped down beside me and grinned. "Cydippe took me out beyond the mist and I made a call to GodPop." I grinned back.

"And what did Tony say?" I was always amused at her nickname for her godfather.

"He's sending a tissue accelerator to Athens, so we can get things taken care of before we go home. It's one of the portable ones, so we can bring it home with us." Her smile faded. "He said he'll always bet on the valkyries. And also that you should consider a spin-off business to scan and create 3D renderings of important buildings and antiquities. He'll chip in to help make it a public service. The Sistine Chapel is gone."

"Well, I've been worse off, but I didn't win by any stretch of the imagination." Then I explained what a tissue accelerator was to the healer, who was fascinated by the idea. "I'll talk to him about the scanning. It's a good idea." Martha looked like she was ready to burst with PR ideas and started to mutter about getting grants from impressively wealthy foundations. Looked like I'd be rejoining the social whirl that did business again.

Then I looked up as Hippolyta and Antiope escorted Diana over. The whispers around us increased. The queen was stern and waved me back as I started to get up.

"Diana has something to say," she said pointedly, and the princess gave her mother a look.

"I apologize for my conduct," she said soberly. "You graciously offered to bout with me to provide a demonstration of your different skills and abilities for the benefit of the Amazons, and I brought my emotions that turned a friendly bout into something less."

"I kind of expected it," I said, considering. "We've never squared off, but I've seen you fight and knew you would be formidable. So I enlisted help," I indicated Torunn, who smiled slightly. "I've never fought-- an Amazon before, actually. It was a humbling experience." Antiope puffed up a bit and I tamped down a laugh. I almost said "a demigod,' but managed to switch it to "an Amazon" just in time since Diana's true parentage wasn't known to all. I stood up, my muscles protesting, and offered my hand. Diana clasped my arm, and we embraced. "But never forget to leave emotion on the edge of the battlefield," I said soberly. "It will blind you and get you killed." I thought of the berserkers and shuddered. "Unless you're on a suicide mission, clarity of mind will serve you much better." She held my gaze and nodded.

That relaxed the mood; the other Amazons went back to their own conversations, and the three in front of me sat with us for a recap of the fight. Antiope was impressed by the hand to hand skills and asked why, since I had the edge over Diana there, that I didn't do more with that.

"Well, Diana had her sword for most of the match; she's a lot stronger than I am and has more endurance. Hand to hand is definitially a combat that is close quarters; I can use it when there are smaller blades, no longer than a dagger, but a sword, a gun--I have to get in close to take away the weapon and it was simply too dangerous to do that at first. Diana's mental state gave her an initial wave of energy that I had to just ride out, and it wasn't till the end where it was safe to try it. And if the terrain had been more varied, I have tricks I could use, particularly in water."

"Where did you learn that, Mom?" Martha asked, frowning.

"Ninjutsu. Uncle Bucky folded that into my training, and one of the eighteen facets of study in that discipline is the use of water."

"Your combat with Diana was equal to begin with," Hippolyta observed.

"Not really, I was barely holding my own. I have an ability to absorb kinetic energy from blows. It's theoretically limitless, but it has to bend to the limits of my body, and the longer the combat goes on, the weaker that gets. Lactic acid builds up, injuries mount, muscles and joints are affected, glucose is used up." And some of those terms had to be explained, but they nodded in the end.

"I've seen you fight before, but I failed to recognize how slippery your grace in combat made you," Diana said, and I smiled.

"That's my favorite mutation." And I explained how I'd gotten my special abilities, describing the electricity that had jumpstarted the whole mess as lightning that could be controlled, generated on command, and used. "But when I Returned, the doctors said they felt that the whole accident wouldn't have done more than give me electrical and chemical burns if it wasn't for the fact that I came from Dimmock, where fracking fluid contaminated the drinking water supply. That apparently attacked what we used to call 'junk DNA', altering it in ways that didn't express themselves at all. It kind of primed the pump, so to speak." I'd been pleased to have a mechanism for the accident, a reason for it because I'd never been able to account for it. Lab accidents happen all the time and only rarely do they produce anything spectacular.

"Man's world is a dangerous place," Melia said soberly.

"There are dangers aplenty, but that's true anywhere you go. Strange flora is dangerous until you know what's poisonous or hurtful," I pointed out.

We moved on, the Amazons unconvinced. "I wondered to see you assist Alex with her armor," said Antiope to Torunn. "Are you not of the ruling house of your domain?"

"I am," she acknowledged. "But the opportunity to assist a valkyrie is rare, they rarely accept help from one not of their kind, and it is a substantial honor to be permitted to help. They usually arm themselves, with minimal help from their sisters, and I took advantage of the opportunity. My father, the god of thunder and lightning and the king of Asgard, would have knelt to assist her. The valkyries are the most prized warriors in Valhalla and Alex is special even for them. She was not the combat leader during Ragnarok since one of the others was highly trained in group combat, strategy, and tactics, but she was the best fighter, she taught my father the basics of boxing, my mother hand to hand, and was given the charge of training my brothers and me with blades and unarmed combat styles. My uncle Loki still twits him about the time that Alex defeated him in her first unarmed bout. She makes her own weapons and armor as well. And she is the only being to ever force Odin, the AllFather, to change his policies regarding the role of women in his domain."

"Oh?" Hippolyta asked, fascinated.

"She led a labor uprising," Torunn said eagerly, and told the story of the work stoppage with great relish. I grimaced and corrected her when she strayed from the truth or puffed things up too much.

"I can't believe you backtalked a god," Diana said, half appalled, half admiring.

I shrugged. "Even gods aren't perfect. They're just a lot more powerful than we are, none of them are omnipotent, and they have their own power struggles. What could Odin do? We were already dead, and he needed our services. Relationships have evolved that each side can accept but there's always an inequality of power. Gods, at least the ones I'm familiar with, derive some of their power from the worship of their followers. There's a lot of juice to be had from the form of the devotions--sacrifices, prayer, even just the belief that they exist and can intervene in some manner in our lives. That also gives the people on the other side of the equation some leverage: withhold the devotions and service."

The Amazons were all deeply shocked. Even Diana was nervous, as if a goddess was expected to pop out and punish them for listening to such blasphemy.

"Every person has a breaking point," I said soberly. "When you have nothing left to lose, you're incredibly dangerous. And the situation was unjust and abusive."

"You've shocked our hosts terribly," Martha chided me. "You lived among your gods too long."

"Long enough to know that there's an image that they project to get what they want and to recognize that what's behind that image isn't always that different from me," I said cynically, then looked around. "But that was my experience with one pantheon. The Olympians may be different."

There was an uneasy silence, then Philippus asked about the valkyries, and I explained how a warrior got to Valhalla, that Odin selected them, and what our duties were. Then I had to explain how I personally qualified, both for Valhalla, then the valkyries, that our sisterhood was formed from souls all over the Nine Realms.

"Why didn't you bring the two swords with you?" Torunn asked suddenly. "I never see you with them anymore."

"Because it's known that Alex Barnes fights with them, they're not common weapons, and Valkyrie needs to be different for as long as I can manage it," I said. "And besides, only Hogun could spar with me, and I haven't seen him since Ragnarok. I'm rusty."

"But Uncle Loki said that he was found, near death as you were," she said. "His recovery took even longer than Mother's, but he's fine now." I smiled, glad to hear that. "I will ask Father if Hogun could use a vacation to Midgard." I smiled.

"That would be awesome," I said, and Torunn explained, without being asked, what the big deal was.

"Two swords at once? No shield?" Sofia asked, puzzled. "I would have to see that to judge its merits fairly."

"Perhaps I could make a recording and Diana could bring it with her the next time she comes," Torunn volunteered, and a slight stiffness left Hippolyta as Diana agreed. Then conversation turned to other subjects; before we left the next day, Ipthime, the master architect and the sculptor who had created the representations of the goddesses in the temple, offered to show me some buildings in the city and explain construction methods. I agreed instantly; first-hand knowledge of ancient construction methods were going to be very important, I felt.

Then Iris returned and insisted on showing Martha a dance she'd learned. I smiled as I watched; Martha was so good with her little sister. "Martha mentioned what you went through to bear her and her brother," Hupsele commented tentatively. "Was it the same with the little one? What is the hardest part of motherhood?"

"No," I said gratefully. "Damian wouldn't have cooperated if it meant more of the same, that pregnancy was so awful, but medicine has advanced and I had a pretty normal pregnancy. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for my kids." Then I sighed. "The hardest part of motherhood was learning when to let the kids fight their own battles. Literally and figuratively. Martha is proficient enough with self defense that I don't worry on that score much, but it's also easier to punch somebody than use social mores and conventions as combat." My hands flexed into fists and I shook them out. "Fortunately she's really good at that. Iris is softer and gentler than Martha was, it's going to be easier for her to be hurt. But she needs to learn how to handle that too, it's a part of life, and I'm not being a good mom if I didn't help her figure out how to cope with adversity. Doesn't mean that I won't bleed inside for her." I didn't miss the little wondering look that Diana darted at her mother. Or Hippolyta's covert surveillance of her daughter.

We talked of other things, then, and soon enough Iris came over, drooping from all her day's activities and ready for bed. Well, that made for two of us. We said our goodnights and left the others, including Martha and Torunn, to enjoy the rest of the evening.