Chapter Five

I'm the lord of the wastelands A modern day man of steel
I gather darkness to please me
And I command you to kneel
God of Thunder
Kiss

Lord Ares had been lounging around his cave being graciously attended to by the beautiful women he kept around him. Two lovelies were tending his hands, massaging them while cutting and manicuring his finger nails. Two more were at his feet doing the same for the digits down there. Ares was drinking his Nectar and enjoying the site of those women dancing before him when his Granddaughter screamed bloody murder! Certainly no one in the Jackson Family had called his name in quite some time and definitely not with so much urgency. Knocking the women away from him he stood up quickly grabbed up his battlements and disappeared from his cave.

“What is going on Granddaughter?” Ares shouted as he appeared in the living room and was met by the demanding banging on the door and the insistent screams of the man on the other side.

“Kill him,” Colleen hissed, “Just….. kill him!” Colleen grabbed Annie by the hand and backed away deeper into the living room.

Wondering just whom he was being asked to take out, Lord Ares smiled at the rather unusual request and then threw open the door to see Andrew Fucking Hartley standing on the other side. “Oh, it’s you.” The warm smile on his ruggedly handsome face widened as he reached out and seized Andrew Fucking Hartley by his scrawny fucking neck, hauled him off his feet and yanked him inside. “So nice to see you again.”

“Don’t toy with him, Umpa!” Colleen demanded. “Just kill him!”

“She never says anything like that,” Ares said as he leaned in to close to Andrew’s face and the smile became a cold grin. “You must have been very bad.” Bad didn’t begin to cover it or describe it. Ares, God of War, had waited and waited for Daniel Jackson to get up off his lazy drunken ass and do the exact thing Ares was about to engage in and kill the little son of a bitch. Since Jackson didn’t have the balls for the job and, let’s face it, this really was right up Ares’ Alley the massive God didn’t mind doing the job his no-good son in-law couldn’t. Jackson had no problems killing Eros, Ares’ son and he had no problems killing his own twin brother, likewise Kanan. But this little shit just kept on breathing. Soon that would come to an end.

“Where is Callestah?” Hartley demanded. “Get your bloody hands off me you big brute!” Andrew Hartley wiggled and squirmed inside the God of War’s grasp much as Calla had done in his own last night. “Let go of me!”

“Let me think about it,” Ares’ chimed putting a fingertip to his lips. “Um…no. I think you’ve caused enough trouble, Hartley. It’s time to pay the piper.”

“Come on, Annie, you don’t wanna watch,” Colleen said and began leading her new sister in-law to the kitchen.

“What’s he gonna…”

“Come on, Annie!” The two young women ran off through the kitchen and into the dining room where Colleen shut the door.

“I think we’re alone now,” Ares’ cooed in a blissful whisper as he stared down at the little shit who’d caused so much upheaval in his Daughter’s life. “What do you say? Long, slow and…” Ares planted Hartley’s athletic body against the living room wall with a heavy thud, “painful. Sounds good to me.”

“I’d prefer quick and easy, mate.” Hartley stammered as he kicked, clawed, scratched and bit at the man holding him hostage. Just like Calla last night, Andrew Fucking Hartley realized there was no way out and that, for him, this was the end of the line. He’d been a fool to think he could toy with the Daughter of the God of War and get away with it. Then again, most of him didn’t really believe in things like Gods & Goddesses, Fate, Destiny or Mythology. Now in the last moments of his rotten life, as he did what he could to prepare himself to meet his own Fate, Andrew F. Hartley saw how wrong he was.

“Coward.” Holding the little bastard firmly against the wall by the neck with one hand, Lord Ares God of War balled up his big catcher’s mitt sized fist and punched straight the Brit’s very well kept chest. Reaching inside Andrew Hartley’s rib cage Ares grabbed a firm hold on the man’s beating heart and ripped free. With the heart still beating and Hartley still squirming Ares held it up for the dying man to see. “You never needed this anyway and now you really are a heartless son of a bitch.” Ares released his grip and Andrew F. Hartley, his pretty blue eyes staring in disbelief at the heart beating in Ares’ hand slumped to the floor. Heart still in one hand, Ares reached into the front pocket of his leather pants and brought out two gold coins, he tossed them into Andrew F. Hartley’s dying lap. “For the Ferryman,” Ares intoned and watched the light faded from Andrew’s eyes as he squished the warm heart in his hand, blood and other assorted goodies exploded into the air and covered the corpse of Andrew F. Hartley. “Granddaughter!” Ares bellowed and then gave the fresh corpse a boot to the face and ending it all with his favorite Last Insult, Ares picked his big booted foot off the floor and stomped on Hartley’s balls. Just like his heart they burst like grapes and made a mess inside Hartley’s designer jockey short.

At the sound of shuffling behind him Ares turned around heatedly with Hartley’s empty heart still in his hand.

“Oh my god!” Annie screamed at the sight of the now defunct heart in Ares’ hand. Colleen wrapped her arms around Nick’s wife and turned her head away from the gruesome sight of Andrew Hartley. Looking up at her Grandfather, Colleen smiled wide and nodded her head to show her approval of what Ares had done.

“Where’s your Mother?” Ares dropped the useless organ onto Andrew F. Hartley.

End Chapter Five
Tarnished Heroes:Something Happened on the way to Heaven
Continue to
Chapter Six