#bluewintersoldierau

[blueincandescence]

The Cult of Ares: Act I • Winter Soldier AU (Set)

Before the Justice League unite to face Steppenwolf, Diana taps Bruce for help investigating a rash of chemical weapons strikes. They discover who is responsible — a transnational paramilitary force working in the shadows for decades to sow the seeds of WWIII. In the presence of Athena, Diana realizes that her old nemesis, Ares, is responsible.

Diana becomes obsessed with the Cult of Ares. So much so that she begins to have prophetic dreams about them. The night terrors drive her to the brink of paranoia. She is certain that Ares has been resurrected and is leading the Cult to some sort of doomsday attack.

When a top secret transfer of chemical weapons for disposal is interrupted by the Cult of Ares, Diana and Bruce suit up to stop them from stealing the weapons. But the Cult releases a highly toxic gas, forcing Bruce to save the civilians at the expense of the weapons. Diana goes after the leader — who she believes is Ares — only to recognize through a gas mask a pair of unforgettable blue eyes. Bruce’s research confirms it. The leader of the Cult of Ares is none other than Steven Rockwell Trevor, the love Diana lost a century ago.

wondertrevweek day 3: alternate universe(s)

[blueincandescence]

The Cult of Ares: Act IV • Winter Soldier AU (Set)

With Diana’s support, Steve is able to infiltrate a lesser branch of the Cult of Ares pretending to still be the Vessel. He discovers where the chemicals have been moved to and the plan to recreate the terrible doomsday scenario he and Diana thwarted exactly 100 years before. With Amanda Waller and ARGUS as backup, Steve and Diana manage to foil the plot once again. 

But Ares isn’t finished yet. The Cult convenes to resurrect Ares again — this time as a terrible, monsterous Titan. While Steve takes on the Cult, Diana unleashes hell to stop Ares. Inspiration from Athena tells Diana that the ritual that the Cult used to resurrect Ares in this form is a few words away from being a ritual to bind him to Tartarus as Zeus once did the Titans. Diana binds Ares to the deepest of underworlds, and the razed grounds of her nightmares grow poppies, the symbol of peace after WWI.

Now on a mission for redemption, Steve works for ARGUS and supports Diana in any way he can. The two of them take it slow rekindling their romance, really taking the time to get to know each other. Afterall, there’s no rush. With Steve retaining his metahuman abilities, the lovestruck pair has an eternity’s worth of breakfasts ahead of them.

wondertrevweek day 3: alternate universe(s)

[blueincandescence]

The Cult of Ares: Act II • Winter Soldier AU (Set)

The followers of the Cult of Ares believe their leader is Ares, god of war, made flesh. Decades before, their predecessors used occult rituals to resurrect a human vessel specially chosen by their god. Through medical experiments, cult members have transformed the Vessel into a metahuman befitting of a god. The question of why this vessel is often wondered but never asked — cult members find it strange that the vessel resists at times, making it necessary to put him on ice.

Diana knows why — making Steve the worst of humanity incarnate is Ares’ personal revenge. He flaunts that by targeting the city she loves. The evil of Ares corrupting such a heroic figure consumes her. Her love for Steve mutates into an unholy desire to save him by driving her sword through his blackened heart. Facing off against Diana has similarly affected the man who refers to himself only as the Vessel. Memories he never had access to bubble to the surface. Guilt and rage and despair and some unknowable emotion directed at the Goddess give him the strength to resist Ares’ whispers.

Diana and Bruce track the cult to an abandoned warehouse in a war-torn country. When they get there, they find that the cult members on guard have been killed by their own gas. The only survivor is their leader. Diana attacks, but to her extreme confusion “Ares” barely puts up a fight. All he wants to do is stay alive long enough to tell her where the chemicals have been taken. Diana, believing this to be a trick, prepares to avenge Steve by killing the Vessel. But she finds she cannot harm him. Amanda Waller shows up to offer ARGUS tactical support in exchange for custody over the Vessel.

wondertrevweek day 3: alternate universe(s)

[blueincandescence]

The Cult of Ares: Act III • Winter Soldier AU (Set)

Acting on instinct — mistrust of ARGUS and a misplaced need to protect a man she believes no longer exists — Diana steals Steve away to Gotham, where Bruce and Alfred help her contain and surveil him. He is alternatively the broken, crazed man who turned on his captors and the mouthpiece of Diana’s greatest enemy. Using the lasso of truth, Diana comes to realize that her Steve is still in there. He begs her to kill him rather than return to Ares’ control. Over a series of grueling days and sleepless nights, Diana is able to use the lasso to sift through horrors to find the core of who Steve Trevor is. His memories restored, Steve has enough free will to resist Ares’ mind control.

Steve may be Diana’s Steve again, but he is a haunted man. He does his best to give Diana the information needed to stop the Cult of Ares. But he is consumed by the guilt of what he did as their leader — and the guilt of what he did and said to her under Ares’ influence. Diana is heartbroken to have Steve so close again but farther than ever. She does her best to understand him and give him the space he needs to come to terms with what he was and who he is. Bruce and Steve forge common ground on this front, making Diana feel lost and alone.

With Alfred’s help, Diana realizes some tough love is in order. Even this unknowable version of Steve loves her, so she comforts him and helps him forgive himself enough to be with her. They cross that barrier, but it underscores to Diana how much she herself has changed since 1918. She wonders if she isn’t being selfish pushing him to heal so swiftly. She wonders, too, if she isn’t being manipulative to some extent. She needs Steve Trevor, spy, to return if she’s going to have a chance at stopping Ares’ master plan. 

wondertrevweek day 3: alternate universe(s)