Wonder Woman - The New God(s)

"I find this display tiring."

Zima looked down at Barda sheepishly, who was teasing the hem of her partner's skirt down past her waist. Barda, who was still wearing her sandals and scabbard despite not wearing anything else, sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well, her majesty said to keep you distracted for a while, so we're giving you a show."

Darkseid frowned, "If I wanted to breed with you two for the next several years without rest, it would merely be a question of avoiding boredom. Why would she not simply tell me not to return until a specified time?"

"Probably because Diana's back-" Zima started, then Barda sprang up and covered her partner's mouth.

"Wonder Woman has returned?"

Barda sighed, "Zee, literally the one thing you weren't supposed to say."

Barda's partner meekly let out a muffled "Sorry" from behind Barda's hand.

"Yeah, as of a few days ago, Di's back." Barda groaned. "And she's not taking to the whole breeding thing well. One of the royal guard overheard her talking about luring you into the baths to kill you and it's got the queen all worried and-"

Darkseid's frown deepened, "I could handle the queen's daughter."

"She's not sure Di can handle you, is the problem. She doesn't want you two to fight and something bad to happen to one of you."

"I would not harm Wonder Woman, she would make the finest children in Themyscira, if she could be convinced to bear them."

"Yeah, that's the problem." Barda finally took her hand from Zima's mouth and turned to him, still naked aside from her sandals and scabbard, but any semblance of eroticism seemingly gone from her mind. "Di kinda sees this whole army thing you and the queen are doing as like... the biggest threat to existence right now. She wouldn't bear you a sandwich if you were the last guy in the multiverse."

Zima looked at both of them confusedly and poured herself a glass of wine. Darkseid pressed his hands over his face in exasperation.

"I'm going to have to go back to the palace eventually, did Hippolyta hope to keep me away forever?"

Barda shrugged, "Maybe she's hoping Di will be called out to duty again? Maybe she's waiting for her anger to go from "kill Darkseid" to just "begrudgingly live with Darkseid?" But that's not how Di works, never has been."

"It would be best if I just returned and got this over with, then." Darkseid grabbed his clothes from the table and started to dress again, "Either I can bend Diana to my will, or I won't have to worry about it for much longer."

"Hey, wait!" Barda finished pulling Zima's skirt down and pushed her toward him, causing her to choke on her wine. "If you're going to go get yourself killed, at least knock my wife and I up first."

***

It took roughly a minute or two from his arrival back at the palace, and the court crier calling out his arrival, for Diana to appear with the false casual nature of somebody who wants to appear as if incidentally crossing paths. She gave him a forced sort of smile and an equally forced sort of respectful bow. He returned the gesture, the whole time keeping his eyes locked onto her, as she did to him.

"Darkseid, it is... an honor to meet with you."

The words sounded like they were actually hurting her, Darkseid decided to lighten the tone of the conversation.

"I guess by not saying that you're happy to see me, you only have to partially lie."

The prospect of a more playfully antagonistic conversation seemed to relax her, but just as immediately he could see her trying to piece together who to work things back into what she'd wanted to say. Diana was easy enough to read that she bordered on simple. Her mother's cunning and subterfuge was either a recessive gene or simply something the parent had honed over several hundred years. Either way, Diana had other talents.

"I understand... there may be some... unresolved tensions between us."

"You stabbed me with a Gladius."

"You were trying to destroy the world, but who's counting?"

As soon as she was off-script, it came easy to her, but she kept forcing herself back on script, where she sounded uncomfortable and awkward. Maybe the wit hadn't passed her over, she just wasn't good at using it in things that weren't a fight.

"Anyway, I understand that you and my mother... found it easier to talk things over... in the royal baths. So I figured... maybe we could do the same thing?"

In a moment, it all glanced though his mind. The multiple different defense mechanisms that Hippolyta had described in the baths, and even outside of that the ways that Diana could do serious damage if she caught him unaware. It was a trap. It was so obviously a trap he wasn't sure why she didn't just say it outright. But it was also the best chance he was going to have to get close to her alone. He could force himself on her, brainwash her, lock her in stasis and let Hippolyta deal with her, any number of things. The one thing that, seemingly, wasn't on the table, was him actually talking her into seeing things his way. Would Hippolyta be willing to overlook her daughter's death? Certainly not. No amount of sway over her was enough there. Her rape? If Diana was broken to it, she wouldn't complain much, but her mother would notice the change in her, most people would. With what he knew of Hippolyta and her stance toward men... and where it came from... that was probably a worse option than killing her.

The best bet was probably to go in with her and either lock her into some trap or let her attack him and play the victim. Even if nobody else took the idea of Diana posing a threat to him seriously, Hippolyta would. She was also the only one he needed to convince. Alternatively, he could just tell Hippolyta what Diana had planned to do. But if he said no now, no doubt she would run to her mother to spin it before he got the chance. In all things, he had to seem like the one that was willing to make it work when she wasn't, even if it meant walking into a trap."

"A fine idea, I hope you aren't uncomfortable with nudity."

"What?" Diana hid her distaste well enough, maybe she had intended him to know it was a trap, "No, the Amazon training breaks you on that young. Even if you are a male, I've been to the human world. I've seen... their films."

"You'll have to tell me all about them. When is good for you?"

"Oh? I was thinking right now."

He was taken aback. "Right this moment?"

"If you didn't have anything else you were doing."

He hesitated, "Surely you would want to wait until after dinner, I understand that's the Amazon tradition."

"Sorry, I'm still adjusting back to Themyscira's time schedule, I just ate, so I'm getting ready to go to bed. That's not a problem for you, is it?"

"No, I'll just need a moment to- deliver something to my room." He just managed to stop himself from saying that he needed to speak to Hippolyta.

"Oh? That's fine, I'll meet you there, then. Don't keep me waiting."

Diana gave a salute and set off, Darkseid waited for her footsteps to stop echoing in the hall before ducking to Hippolyta's room. A guard stopped him at the door.

"The Queen is indisposed right now, she said not even you were to be allowed in."

"It's urgent."

"I can pass it through to her in a moment with her dinner, but I'm afraid she was very clear."

He sighed, "Fine. Tell her that I'm going to the baths with Diana, on Di's invitation."

The guard raised her eyebrows, "That's urgent?"

"She'll know what it means."

The guard shrugged and gestured her eyes as if to say "Get lost." With an equally annoyed shrug, he stepped away toward the baths. All he could do was hope that the guard kept her word and that Hippolyta arrived before anybody did anything that could jeopardize the state of affairs.

The baths were empty. He had to check just about every secret passageway and nook to make sure, but when he was convinced, he just accepted that she must be getting some weapon or another from her room. Or maybe a group of loyalist guards. Or, maybe it was just her idea of a joke to invite him and then not show up. It was a fairly juvenile way to get a kick, but it was the one he was hoping for, since it was the one that meant he probably survived and didn't have to do anything to her. He disrobed and slid into the baths, no point in doing anything but playing it slowly for now.

He sat glancing either way for a moment, trying to guess if she'd enter through the main door or one of her mother's secret passways, when the lasso slipped around his neck and pulled his throat tight silently. Diana had moved with catlike grace and silence and gotten him right where she wanted him without him noticing. But he also should have known, should have read the room harder. Being here was turning him sloppy. If she wanted to know, all it would take was a few short motions and she could have him subdued enough to deal with. But for the time being, she didn't. The lasso held tight around his throat, pulling his head back into her chest, as her elbows dug into his shoulders.

"Looks like you really are as simple-minded as I've always suspected." Diana hissed angrily.

"It was unduly sloppy; I suspect my time here is dulling my mind." He blurted honestly; he had forgotten the impulsive way the lasso made one talk. That was probably why any amount of air, no matter how little, was getting through his windpipe right now. "And your mother must not have shown me your hiding place."

"Not so dulled that my mother is free of your influence. What manner of spell do you have her under. Clearly not one powerful enough that she's shown you the invisibility zones."

"None, she agreed willingly."

The lasso tightened, as much to choke him harder as to make sure it was pressed against his skin.

"You've given her some lie, put her under some trance. Why would she agree to aid you?"

"She found my offer mutually beneficial."

Tighter still.

"Nonsense! My mother would never dirty herself with your seed willingly! Nor would any of my Amazonian sisters! How do I break the spell you have them under?"

"There is no spell, they all agreed willingly to carry my children."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"No, but I expect you to agree as well eventually."

Now she fully cut off his air in anger, he reached an instinctive hand to his neck, but kept himself from ripping the lasso away or striking her. His ears, more accustomed to the gurgle of the baths than hers, could make out the faint grinding of Hippolyta's latch unlocking.

"You disgust me! Is there really nothing your mind thinks of but breeding?"

There was a slight quickening of the grinding, Hippolyta would be able to hear them now. He remembered being under the influence of the lasso in the past. If he was very careful, he could meter out his words to tell the kind of truth he wanted to. It still needed to be the truth, or at least what he thought the truth was, but he had flexibility.

"With most, I ensure the act brings them pleasure."

Diana grunted incredulously, "Why?"

"The better to win their favor in earnest."

"I'm afraid that talk will fall on deaf ears, darling, Diana almost seems to take pride in her ignorance of the carnal world." Hippolyta's voice carried with humor from across the room.

With impressive speed and ease, Diana shifted behind him, loosening the lasso while keeping it pressed to his skin. She slid behind him, arms draped around his neck lightly as if she'd been leaning on him and speaking closely, legs to either side of his torso. She went so far as to rest her chin on his head, then lied to her mother with the subtle ease of a well-practiced problem child.

"You know I've always found it a distraction, mother."

Hippolyta padded slowly over to the rim of the baths on her bare feet, pressing a hand over the rise in her stomach.

"Once upon a time, I would have argued with you, but I do find the fruits of partnership to tire me greatly.

Darkseid felt Diana start to shift protectlvely, but then freeze as she realize she couldn't get up without revealing her situation.

"Are you all right, mother? Do you need to rest?"

Hippolyta scoffed as she slid her loose robe down from around her shoulders. The bulge in her stomach wasn't extreme, not yet. It was hardly more than a couple of inches, but it was still sizable, and her body around it had started to show change as well. Her hips had gotten ever so slightly wider, face a bit rounder, breasts slightly larger, nipples puffier and the soft pinks more of an agitated red.

"It's not so simple. I'm carrying a fairly large weight at all times, and the only places it can rest are on my back or on my bladder. The former tires me over the course of a day, the ladder over the course of the night. To say nothing of the other symptoms."

Darkseid opened his mouth to speak, but Diana firmly squeezed his ribs with her legs.

"That sounds dreadful, mother."

Hippolyta smiled and pressed her hands over her stomach as she stepped into the water.

"It is a price to be paid, but it is not without bright spots. And what awaits on the other side makes the price small in my eyes."

She slid into the water and immediately made her way over to Darkseid, sitting between his legs.

"Each trimester brings unique challenges, having the man responsible around is a unique challenge of its own. The first few months, I have never felt more disgusted by the mere prospect of intimacy, lucky for him, he had his pick of the whole of Themyscira to sate his thirst while I languished."

She leaned back against his chest, pressing her rear up against his crotch under the water. With a gentle hand, she pulled his arms out of the water and set them on her stomach.

"Now, however? I find I have a number of... aches... that I wish him to relieve. And the thought of him with another woman almost agitates me."

Darkseid rolled his hands over Hippolyta's stomach for a moment before she grabbed his arms again and slowly lifted them up to her chest. He could feel Diana shifting uncomfortably behind him, trying to ease the lasso from around his neck and give her an escape without drawing attention. He squeezed Hippolyta's breasts lightly, then when she responded positively, he squeezed a little more firmly, pulling at her nipples. No milk came out, not quite yet, but teasing the swollen sensitive buds made Hippolyta sigh in relief and shift in place against him.

Slowly, more and more with each passing moment, the lasso was loosening from his neck. Diana was keeping her movements small, trying not to draw attention to it, but trying to ease into a position where she could stand and excuse herself. An effort that she hurried as Hippolyta moaned under her breath, a small dribble of milk coming from her nipples as Darkseid toyed with them.

"And I suppose this is something of a perverse dream for you, my love? Mother and daughter in the baths all at once."

Before he could respond, Dana grunted in protest.

"Mother!"

Hippolyta laughed, "Surely you can't be getting prudish now, my child? You did invite our friend here to the baths with you, did you not? If it was not to present yourself to him, than what could it have been for?"

Diana shifted nervously, "Maybe, in time. It was more... to make peace with him."

"And what better way to make peace with him than to volunteer yourself to him, am I right?"

"Maybe, in time." Diana repeated her lie sullenly.

"And tell me, love," Hippolyta shifted against him, rubbing her ass against his crotch, "Mother and daughter both in the bath with you now, which would you rather have?"

"Mother!" Diana yelped.

"Both!" Darkseid couldn't stop himself from blurting.

He felt the lasso tighten back around his neck as Diana grumbled her disgust in his ear. Hippolyta turned and looked at him suspiciously for a moment before laughing.

"By the gods! You have an even filthier mind than I thought of you."

Before he could respond, the lasso forcing him to blurt something else questionable out, it finally slipped in full from his neck and he felt it drop behind him. No sooner had it done so than Diana cleared her throat.

"Well, as... enlightening as this conversation has been, I'm afraid I've just remembered something I need to do."

Hippolyta frowned, "My child, you haven't even washed yet, surely it can't be that urgent?"

"I'm afraid it is, my bath will have to wait for another day, if you'll excuse me."

"I should hope you're not returning to your old aversion to bathing." Hippolyta teased, then turned to Darkseid. "Back when she was young, there was nothing she hated more than the bath. It was a constant battle to get her clean and work the knots from her hair."

Diana grimaced, "Mother, please-"

"Even as she started to get older, it just meant that she was better at coming up with excuses to neglect her hygiene. Of course, that was until she started to mature, she started to bath more than just about any other Amazon once she recognized that it was usually a private place and once she had set her eyes upon-"

"Mother, please!" Diana gasped, "I'll allow you to wash my hair at least if it'll keep you from embarrassing my girlhood crushes as collateral damage."

Hippolyta paused a moment, then chuckled, "Forgive me, embarrassing our children is one of the few joys that a mother fears to lose."

"Yes, what a tragedy it would be," Diana muttered as she stood.

For a moment, Diana stood behind him ruffling her clothes and metal bangles. He didn't turn to look, since it seemed like the kind of thing she would take issue to. What he did do was sneak a hand behind his back and pick the lasso up off of the ground. Whether Diana saw him do it or not, she didn't say. Likely not wanting to draw attention to it in front of Hippolyta either way. When he pulled it into the water in between his legs, he made sure that Hippolyta saw it. Her eyes darted there and then back in a second, not giving anything away but lighting up in recognition. As always, she hid her actual feelings well when she wanted to.

Diana plopped into the bath beside him without much concern for grace or ease, then quickly splashed over to her mother. She shot a quick scathing glance his way, then stood beside her. Standing in the deep together, Hippolyta stood to just over the upper curve of her belly while Diana stood submerged to about her shoulders. It was amusing to see Wonder Woman, usually the most serious of his problems and most imposing of the Amazons, standing shorter than her mother. She was one of the more muscular Amazons in appearance, with almost a complete absence of body fat, but she still had the broad chest and wider hips that seemed to be preparing her for her mother's broader curves.

Hippolyta stepped out of the deep section slightly enough to be able to sit with the water around her shoulders. She sat beside Darkseid and when Diana went to follow, Hippolyta gestured for her daughter to turn. When Diana's back was to her, Hippolyta pushed Diana's head underwater briefly and gestured for Darkseid to hand her the lasso. When Hippolyta had it, she set it behind her back and pulled her daughter's head back up, then began to work her fingers through some of the curly clumps of her hair.

"If I have said it once, I have said it a hundred times, child," Hippolyta sighed frustratedly, "You have hair that would turn Aphrodite green with envy, but you treat it like a set of armor. To be polished and cared for only when it shows wear."

"That isn't true!" Diana protested with a giggle, "I treat my armor far better than that."

Hippolyta didn't laugh, instead she tugged a particularly gnarly knot in Diana's raven-black hair and made the girl wince.

"By the time you are old and grey like me, if you have any left, you will regret your attitude."

"Mother," Diana protested, "if I were like you and saw grey hairs where none existed, I would likely be far more concerned."