Assault on Olympus, Part 3: The Fourth Extinction

Hera is about to bring Continuum online, which will create a new universe that she can rule, wiping out the pre-existing one from existence in the process. Hercules, Amadeus Cho and Athena have enlisted the aid of the Avengers to stop this plot. However, the battle has gone south when Hera absconded with young Zeus and Athena has been turned into stone by Delphyne Gorgon. Before they can react to these setbacks, they are attacked by golden automations created by Hephaestus that were built to defend the Olympus Group headquarters.[1]

Delphyne Gorgon, who turned Athena into stone to be free of her curse, attacks Hercules with a flame thrower as she is indebted to Hephaestus for creating the magical helmet that allowed her to get her revenge.[2]

For their part, Amadeus and Hercules bicker over what they should do next. While Cho believes they should find a way to save Athena, Hercules wants to rescue his father and needs Amadeus’ intelligence to do it.[3] With the fighting growing heavier, the two leap down the pit opened by the golden automations.

In the caverns below, Delphyne Gorgon and some of the automations have brought the petrified form of Athena to Hephaestus for safe keeping. He stops himself from referring to Delphyne as a Gorgon, but she tells him that she wears the name with pride and promises it will be known for more than the ugliness of the serpentine curse it has been associated with for centuries. Hephaestus tells her that she’s lucky, as he has been known as hunched back and deformed and will likely die that way.

He recounts that his disability came from when his mother, Hera, tossed him off Mount Olympus when he was an infant. He fell for nine days and nights until he struck the ocean and broke his leg. Hephaestus was rescued by Thetis, the sea-nymph who raised him and gave him an underwater grotto to convert into a workshop. After seeing some of her son’s work, Hera realized she made a mistake in casting Hephaestus out and as an act of atonement married him to Aphrodite. However, the love goddess had no interest in a crippled god like him, as she only had passion for Ares, the god of war. It was during their wedding that Hephaestus first saw Athena and loved her more than his unfaithful wife. From there, he used his crafting skills to try and win her favor by crafting the Aegis breastplate. He tried to make a move on her then, only to be rejected by the virginal goddess.

With his story told, Hephaestus begins casting the stone form of Athena in a mixture of gold and Adamantine. When Delphyne asks why he is doing this, he explains that he needs to cast her body if he wants to create an eternal companion that will never leave him. Hearing the tinkerer’s plans for Athena comes as a shock to Delphyne.

Meanwhile, Hercules and Amadeus are following the trail left by those who abducted Athena. Along the way, they encounter a mechanical dragon that blocks their path. While Hercules grapples with the monster, Amadeus uses his intelligence to determine its weak point. Throwing a small stone at a specific point on the dragon’s leg causes it to crumble to pieces. With the immediate threat passed, Amadeus gives Hercules the bottle of water from the River Lethe to use as his ace in the hole in case they get separated. As if on cue, the ground beneath their feet crumbles and the two fall down two separate slides leading to different chambers.

Hercules is snared in an Adamantine net, that Hephaestus says he once used to ensnare Ares when he caught him in bed with his wife. While Amadeus is bombarded with high pitched noise and a strobe light to prevent him from using his hypermind. He presents them with the prisoner’s dilemma. In each room there is a button that once pressed, the other prisoner will go free while the one who presses the button will be exposed to a lethal nerve gas that will make them die in agony. He then tells the two heroes that they have ten minutes to decide who will press the button or else they will both be gassed. Hephaestus revels in pitting the two against one another as a test of their heroism.

However, both Hercules and Amadeus press their respective buttons at the same time. This frees both of them. Hephaestus then orders his automations to stop them. That’s when Delphyne grabs the inventor and puts a gun to his head. She has decided to turn on him because the role of an Amazon is to defend women and ensure they are never put into bondage. This also includes Athena, despite their history. However, the gun in Delphyne’s hand suddenly fades away. This isn’t the only thing to disappear, as objects and buildings all over the world have begun to fade away. Hephaestus knows that this is the work of Continuum and boasts the a fourth extinction is nigh!

Upstairs, Hera has just finished telling Zeus of her plan to create a new universe. Zeus tells her that she doesn’t need to wipe the slate clean in order to get what she wants. He tells her that being reborn in his new body, Zeus can become the faithful god that worships only her. This convinces Hera and she tells Typhon to deactivate Continuum. However, the Titan refuses, as he has been going along with this whole plot to betray them at the last moment. He reminds Hera that his goal is to destroy the gods. Hera is shocked by this sudden betrayal which should have been impossible due to a magic band put on him by Pluto that kept Typhon loyal to her. However, the Titan is not wearing it anymore. When Zeus and Hera try to strike him down with lightning it has no effect on them. That’s when Typhon rips open his tunic to reveal that he is wearing the Aegis, making him invincible.[4] With victory at hand, Typhon bellows with laughter!

Recurring Characters

Hercules, Amadeus Cho, Athena, Zeus, Olympus Group (Hera, Typhon, Hephaestus, Delphyne Gorgon, Eris, Thanatos), (in flashback) Aphrodite, Ares, Dionysius, Pan, Thetis

Continuity Notes

1. Hercules recalls that these are the same automations that were once used against the Avengers. He is referring to Avengers #283. At the time, Zeus sought revenge against the heroes after Herc was nearly beat to death during a siege of Avengers Mansion by the Masters of Evil. See Avengers #273-277.

2. As explained in Incredible Hercules #128, Delphyne was among the women of Gorgon who were transformed into snake women after Medusa broke her vow of chastity to Athena. Since then, Delphyne has vowed to get revenge on Athena and remove the curse. Here, it is mentioned that she had a brief affair with Amadeus Cho. See Incredible Hercules #121-125.

3. Here, Hercules mentions how Amadeus recently abandoned him. This was after the resurrected Zeus in Incredible Hercules #129-131. The reason being that Amadeus had learned that his sister didn’t die in the explosion that killed his parents and went looking for her, as seen in issue #133, 135, and 137. He didn’t find her and came back after learning of the threat posed by Continuum. He won’t be reunited with his sister until Totally Awesome Hulk #1.

4. The Aegis was collected by the Olympus Group after the death of Trey Rollins, the mortal Athena gifted with the enchanted piece of armor back in New Warriors (vol. 2) #0. See Incredible Hercules #127-128. Zeus appears here as a child because he was killed in Ares #5, and resurrected as a boy in Incredible Hercules #131.

Topical References

• Amadeus Cho refers to Hephaestus’ automations as “gold plated Barbies”. Barbie is a doll franchise made by the Mattel toy company. It was first released in 1959. This could be considered a topical reference as this is a real world product and you could easily replace it with a more contemporary example.

Godmarked, Part 4: Oh Hades…. It’s On!

The Agents of Atlas — Jimmy Woo, Gorilla Man (Ken Hale), M-11, Namora, the Uranian (Bob Grayson), and Venus — had come to the Olympus Group building to end their conflict with Aphrodite once and for all.[1] Trying to sneak in through the underground tunnels, they end up in a battle with a cyclops, a chimera, and an army of skeletal warriors placed on guard there. After a brief struggle, Atlas defeats their attackers.

Before they press onward, Namora thinks she hears the voice of Hercules on the other side of a wall. The Uranian scans the other side with his telepathy and learns that there is danger on the other side. That’s when M-11 detects robots that he can interface with so they can get a clear image of what’s going on. Through the eyes of a golden automation, they see that Hercules and Amadeus Cho are in a fight with Hephaestus. Strangely, the objects in the room are starting to fade away. When this force also erases the robot M-11 is projecting from, it cuts his projection short. Bob’s telepathic powers detects that this isn’t a local phenomenon, but a global one that is slowly erasing everything from existence.

Fearing for Hercules due to her love for him, Namora tries to smash through the wall, but it is indestructible due to the fact that it is lined with Adamantine.[2] That’s when Jimmy, Bob, and Ken all suddenly find themselves attracted to the wall. This bizarre occurrence shouldn’t be possible when Venus is the most attractive woman in the room. As Venus realizes what’s going on, Aphrodite materializes through the wall they were all gaping over. Aphrodite is furious that Venus has come and looks forward to getting her final revenge against the woman she calls an impostor!

Recurring Characters

Agents of Atlas (Jimmy Woo, Gorilla Man, M-11, Namora, the Uranian, Venus), Aphrodite, Hercules, Amadeus Cho, Delphine Gorgon, Hephaestus

Continuity Notes

1. Aphrodite has an axe to grind with Venus, who had been mistaken for the the love goddess over the centuries. See Agents of Atlas #5 and X-Men vs Agents of Atlas #1-2.

2. Hercules and Namora had an affair in Incredible Hercules #121-125. They split up when Namora discovered that Herc expected her to be faithful to him while he could carouse with any woman he saw fit. This didn’t sit well with her for the obvious reasons.