Chapter Text
United States Capitol
Washington - District of Columbia
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The hooded goddess daubed her face with paint and drew back the string of her massive silver crossbow.
This weapon, whose draw weight exceeded 12 tons; she had also camouflaged its scopeless frame to eliminate any chance of a glint in the bright moonlight.
A large quiver hung at her hip, and within the pockets of her cargo pants rested a hunter's grim toolkit:
A skinning knife and a spool of strong, thin fishing line for easy stringing up of her prey.
Her forest boots covers 8 whole inches of her leg starting from the ankles, and they were made from a combination of Full Grain Leather and Cordura.
They were light as air, fully equipped with draining holes, armed with steel toes, and hobnails on the soles.
Thus, ARTEMIS took a deep breath, as ZEUS sent down a bolt of lightning, this delicious omen, meant only for her, signaled his approval.
And thus, The Huntress smirked as HERMES presses a remote, interrupting all broadcasts of any and all electronic devices in the whole area.
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Now playing...
Del Shannon's Runaway
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≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"As I walk along, I wonder~
What went wrong with our love?
A love that was so strong~"
At once, every speaker, phones, TV, and even earpieces within range began to play this song at max volume, shattering glass, and deafening the ear drums of most of her prey.
This night was of a key legislative deadline: The House and Senate have been in continuous session, debating through the night.
And once the sessions finally concluded, it was already 2 AM.
Dozens of senators and representatives are leaving the Capitol building and their office buildings simultaneously, heading to their cars or nearby residences (many have apartments on Capitol Hill).
They are exhausted, distracted, and concentrated in a small geographic area - the perfect target practice.
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"And as I still walk on, I think of
The things we've done together~
While our hearts were young.
The Huntress took one last look, at nightly sky, upon the constellation - Orion, the giant huntsman she once knew.
They hunted together, upon the island of Crete. The giant and the virgin Goddess, until PHOEBUS APOLLO took notice of them, and in his jealousy, sent a giant scorpion into killing him.
ARTEMIS quickly turned away, as if it hurts even to look at him, allowing all those memories to flood back into her.
All the blood, on her hands - his blood, of the one man she loved all those millennia ago.
Tonight, ARTEMIS is no self-propelled executioner, no arbiter of justice, only a tool to perform the will of ZEUS.
And yet, even then, she does still have these great reasons motivating her, since not only is she eliminating her father's opponents, thereby making him proud, she is simultaniously purging the world of unworthy "hunters" in memory of the one true love she'd lost.
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"I'ma walkin' in the rain!
Tears are fallin' and I feel the pain!
Wishin' you were here by me
To end this misery!"
As the speakers began to malfunction, most security personnel had already left the safety of their barricades to investigate the disturbances.
Only for a crossbow bolt to pierce them in the neck.
But before this had even happened: The huntress had already taken out the snipers, as well as the drones.
Once they were blind, deaf, and dumb; she swiftly turned her horrifying gazes onto the politicians below.
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"I wonder
I wo-wo-wo wonder!
Why...? Why-why-why-why-why?
He ran away~?"
ARTEMIS made sure she did not violate XENIA, instead luring the politicians from their homes, only to snipe them from afar.
Panic seeps in, as they fall down like flies.
They ran, and as they do, she pick them off.
One by one, dozens upon dozens of corpses.
Then said dozens quickly turned into hundreds.
All 100 senators were quickly dispatched,
As for the 435 voting representatives,
Their deaths are scattered,
Drowned in panic,
As they were shot in the back.
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"And I wonder~ Where he will stay
My little Runaway~
I run-run-run-run runaway~!"
Some of them did try to run back into their houses, only to step on bear traps ARTEMIS had planted.
Whatever security that was there had their own guard dogs turned on them.
Deer, Eagles, Owls,... Any and all manners of animals that were found in the area immediately chase after those who'd ran away, causing them to stumble, and fall, injuring themselves and making them easy prey.
Those who were smart enough to stay within the confines of their homes were blasted by the stinks of bat feces and skunk farts.
Once forced outside, ARTEMIS killed them, either by targeting their vital organs, or just wounding them, and letting the animals that accompanied her to scratch them to death.
Governor of Minnesota - Tim Walz just happened to appear tonight, he was supposed to meet up with an old friend in the US House of Representative.
But now? He's cowering deep within an apartment complex, praying that The Huntress doesn't take notice of him, or that, if she had, she wouldn't be able to break in and slaughter him.
"M-madam Vice President!"
Penny Proud was obviously there, to put down any strays ARTEMIS couldn't reach due to XENIA.
"It's President now, actually."
BANG!!!
Penny smugly declared as she shot him square in the face. She then drags his corpse outside, so that the maggots and the rats would feast upon his bloated body.
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"New gun? HEPHAISTOS made me this crossbow years ago, even a rifle too, I believed that one was made to resemble a Browning X-Bolt."
Penny turned and The Huntress was already there, the hunt was already finished, and the streets were slicked with puddles and streams of blood that quickly drained into the sewers.
Penny Proud spoke:
"Yeah, I traded my twin Mateba Revolvers for a pair that resembles the Smith & Wesson Model 686 Plus."
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"They look nice, less unique than your last pair though. But they'll work. Though I'm not much of a fan of your Akimbo style."
Penny nervously chuckled as she is deathly afraid of offending the Goddess with her next question:
"I noticed that you don't use guns that often, why is that?"
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"Oh, they're all too loud. Giving away my position and scare away all of my little friends, plus, they'll have to wear ear protection whenever I'm around. No thanks!"
Penny then dug up a piece of info she somehow learned from doomscrolling on Youtube:
"You know I heard there were these sub-sonic rounds, and a pistol that's specifically designed for quietly taking down animals - I believe it was called the B&T VP9?
There's also the suppressed Ruger Mark IV, and maybe some custom built ARs."
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"Eh~ I think I'll stick to the crossbow.
Mine's got better penetration,
Shoots faster, and farther ranged.
Plus, I'm playing with Aimbot."
Penny Proud nodded in respond:
"Understandable."
Meanwhile, hundreds of corpses lay strewn about, some looking like roadkill, ran over by civilian cars in a panic to flee the massacre.
They were slaughtered like animals, the same animals they would often hunt or chase away.
Then, the bears started marching in, from a totally different state. ARTEMIS wanted them here, as they were tasked with the clean up.
And so, one by one, the mother bears and their cubs would drag these corpses back to their home state and into their caves, where they would feast like never before.
Fat and bloated bodies of worthless subhuman politicians. Filled to the brim with nutrients, unlike the bodies of their subjects, who were homeless veterans and vagabonds who couldn't make ends meet.
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"Ooh~ How is your quick draw?"
Penny then scratched her head as she spoke:
"Last time I checked, almost instantanious, like 0.128 I think."
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"Nice... Very nice... You ever thought about asking me for a boon? I'd give it to you, since you remind me of a certain someone..."
Penny then smirked as she recognizes who she's referring to:
"You mean The G.O.A.T. - Atalanta? Or is it one of your nymphs?"
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"Ooh~ You know your history, that's great actually. In fact, whenever you're free, go ahead and visit any forests, at all, and I'll be there."
Penny, shocked by this offer, replied:
"Really! Oh! I'd love too!
But right now, I gotta go! Bye!"
Teleporting away, Penny went onto the adjacent states - Maryland & Virginia - where DIONYSUS & ARES are partying, drunk on both wine & blood.
≡≡≡ = = - DIONYSUS - = = ≡≡≡
"Almost heaven... JUST VIRGINIA."
The God of Madness and Wine had spiced every drop of alcohol within the cabinets of rich fools, rousing them into a maddened rage.
Thus began the orgy of blood and screams.
≡≡≡ = = - ARES - = = ≡≡≡
"Fuck ass mountains, rowing down the rivers~"
Manslaughtering ARES hasn't had this much fun since The War on Drugs was started by the Reagan administration.
Blood-streaked ARES, whose large frame and hulking physique towers over mortal men, brandished his spear and impaled the confused and dazed.
These politicians, who'd declare wars without ever fighting in them, was the epitomy of cowardice.
Thusly, Brave ARES - both terrible and fearsome, violent and furious, descended upon them, to punish their arrogance & weakness.
Their spines shatter against his shield, flesh impaled by his great spear, and their heads cleanly lobbed off by his dark sword.
≡≡≡ = = - ERIS - = = ≡≡≡
"Life is old here, older than the trees."
The Goddess of Strife and Discord took a bite from her golden apple as families turned on eachother.
These politicians, who so proudly touted their faux adherence to family values, were all quickly slaughtered by their own family members in an attempt to appease the Olympians and spare themselves of the blood letting.
However, they should've paid attention in school, since both Oedipus Rex, as well as many other tragedies of Greek myths have said time and time again:
That patricide, matricide, or any form of family-killing often practiced by the accursed Atreus bloodline was forbidden.
Thus, it was only a matter of time before they too were dealt with harshly.
≡≡≡ = = - ENYO - = = ≡≡≡
"Younger than the mountains!"
She was a whirlwind of blood-soaked rags and matted hair. Awalking arsenal. Her broken spear shaft was jammed into one victim's ribs, which she then used to trip the next, before drawing a notched falchion to decapitate a third.
She reveled in the ruin of things, smashing furniture, tearing down portraits, and painting the walls with viscera. She was the battlefield personified: ugly, chaotic, and utterly merciless.
≡≡≡ = = - NIKE - = = ≡≡≡
"Growing like a breeze."
Her expression was one of serene, detached judgment. With a touch of her fingertip, an enemy's blade would inexplicably slip, granting Ares the killing blow.
With a subtle nod, a politician's hiding spot would be revealed by a collapsing beam. She was ensuring that victory was absolute, swift, and undeniable.
≡≡≡ = = - PHOBOS & DEIMOS - = = ≡≡≡
"Country roads~! Take me home!"
Phobos was a chilling cold that seeped into the soul, causing hearts to hammer and bowels to loosen.
He was the reason seasoned bodyguards dropped their weapons and fled, screaming at phantoms.
Deimos was the paralyzing certainty of doom, the voice in the mind that said, "There is no escape. You are already dead." He was the reason men simply knelt and waited for the end, their eyes wide with a terror so profound it was as if they were turned to stone.
= = - Kydoimos & Makhais - = =
"To the place~ I belong~!"
Kydoimos was the embodiment of the fog of war. whose very presence caused radios to screech static, orders to be misheard, and friends to be mistaken for foes.
Makhais was the opposite: crystalline, violent purpose. He was the surge of adrenaline that made a coward stand and fight, only to make his death more satisfying for Ares.
≡≡≡ = = - EVERYONE - = = ≡≡≡
"Just Virginia! Mountain mama!
Take me home~! Country roads~!"
Seeing everything that transpired, Penny Proud shed tears of pure joy:
"This is so peak..."
Everything she's ever wanted, a clean state upon American Politics. Is finally here at last.
"All the demoncraps,
All the conservatards.
They're all dying,
This is so fucking peak."
As she celebrated their success, ARES can be seen picking up a huge fuck-ass pillar with one arm before lobbing it into the sky.
≡≡≡ = = - ARES - = = ≡≡≡
"ARTEMIS, help me kill this bum!"
≡≡≡ = = - ARTEMIS - = = ≡≡≡
"Roger that, aimbot is now enabled."
Said pillar was actually The Washington Monument. And he threw it with deathly accuracy, across hundreds of miles, past even the Canadian border, only to crush, and thereby totally obliterating Justin Trudeau's entire existence.
≡≡≡ = = - HERMES - = = ≡≡≡
"ARES what the fuck? You were only supposed to kill American politicians! Not Canadians!"
In respond, CHRYSOPELEX ARES shrugged his shoulders and pursed his lips. Looking sassy as his lover - AREIA APHRODITE herself.
≡≡≡ = = - ARES - = = ≡≡≡
"Whoopsie daisies."
HERMES face-palmed in respond.
≡≡≡ = = - HERMES - = = ≡≡≡
"See, this is why ZEUS hates you."
Warmongering ARES continued on being silly as the slaughter extends throughout the hours.
Yet, the night is still young, and there are many unsung Gods & Goddesses, waiting for their turn.
End Chapter Quote:
«Ἀναπαῦeo, ὦ φίλε.»
-ΑΡΤΕΜΙΣ
Transl.
"Rest well, my love."
-ARTEMIS