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Description

A large, bewildered man, fused with cybernetic components, was running through the streets of the city of Kyoto, Japan, smashing through cars and infrastructure and running down cops trying to stop him. Years ago, the man, known as Ares, washed up on the shores of Southern Japan after the explosion that destroyed the American research lab he was born in, in the Ulang Archipelago in the Asian Pacific. Ares awoke upon the shore and had been living there ever since, feeding off of both wild fruits and animals, drinking river water, and sleeping in a hand-made shelter. Now, Ares was rampaging through the city streets, destroying whatever is in his path. In Athens, Greece, Diana Trevor, the superhero known as Wonder Woman, saw news footage of Ares’ rampage and took on her costume, weapons, and stealth jet to confront the monster of a man. Arriving in Kyoto, Wonder Woman talked to local authorities and learned that Ares had not been seen after causing his destructive rampage. She assisted first responders in cleaning up as much of the devastation as she can when she was approached by two little kids. The kids, Shouko and her little brother Shosuke, made it apparent that they had tried to make friends with Ares, who they called Oki-kuma (‘Big Bear’), in the forest. They asked if WW was here to help Oki-kuma, because “he’s scared” and “when he’s scared he breaks things.” WW told the kids that she’s here to help their friend, and to also help clean up the mess he was making because he can’t help himself when he’s scared. The truth she couldn’t bear to tell them is that Ares is going to prison for as long as humanly possible. In the night, Wonder Woman searched the ruins of the devastated city for Ares, whom she found cowering in a broken-down convenience store. She knows that Ares was scared of something, but couldn’t shake what he represented to her in the back of her mind: A promise made by the Cult of Algol that they would enslave Diana’s own young children, Michael and Louise. Ares saw Wonder Woman, remembered her, and instinctively backed into a corner in terror.
Diana took off her mask and put down her weapons to show she means Ares no harm, and she put out her hand. Ares gingerly reached for her hand… and then a burning blade emerged from his abdomen, as he was stabbed in the back! Ares, injured, swung at the figure behind him, and it was revealed to be a woman in white robes and a hood, robotic armor, and a golden face mask, wielding the flaming blade. WW regained her weapons and mask and helped Ares fight the figure, realizing that this woman was hunting him with deadly weapondry! After a long fight that moved from the disaster zone and still-populated areas, Ares seized the weakened woman by the throat and was about to throttle her to death… when he saw Shouko and Shosuke watching him. Realizing what he was doing, he dropped the weakened woman and fell to his knees. WW tied her up as Kyoto police closed in on Ares… then even more women in the same costume, with the same weapons, attacked from the shadows! They took down the officers and subdued Wonder Woman long enough to tie up Ares in electrical taser cords and and summon a VTOL that hoisted him away. WW broke her bonds and ran back to her ship, but they detonated explosives that damaged it beyond being able to track their VTOL. The women approached her and gave a dire warning:

“Soon, you shalt join him, but only when the God of Gods demands this of you. And this fate is inevitable…
for NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS!”
The Manhunters all disappeared in clouds of smoke, leaving Wonder Woman alone to contemplate this…

Notes:
* Instead of being martian heroes, human vigilantes, or robotic alien marauders, the Absolute Manhunters are something different. Who these assassins serve and what they want with Diana and Ares is a story for another day...

Description

A large, bewildered man, fused with cybernetic components, was running through the streets of the city of Kyoto, Japan, smashing through cars and infrastructure and running down cops trying to stop him. Years ago, the man, known as Ares, washed up on the shores of Southern Japan after the explosion that destroyed the American research lab he was born in, in the Ulang Archipelago in the Asian Pacific. Ares awoke upon the shore and had been living there ever since, feeding off of both wild fruits and animals, drinking river water, and sleeping in a hand-made shelter. Now, Ares was rampaging through the city streets, destroying whatever is in his path. In Athens, Greece, Diana Trevor, the superhero known as Wonder Woman, saw news footage of Ares’ rampage and took on her costume, weapons, and stealth jet to confront the monster of a man. Arriving in Kyoto, Wonder Woman talked to local authorities and learned that Ares had not been seen after causing his destructive rampage. She assisted first responders in cleaning up as much of the devastation as she can when she was approached by two little kids. The kids, Shouko and her little brother Shosuke, made it apparent that they had tried to make friends with Ares, who they called Oki-kuma (‘Big Bear’), in the forest. They asked if WW was here to help Oki-kuma, because “he’s scared” and “when he’s scared he breaks things.” WW told the kids that she’s here to help their friend, and to also help clean up the mess he was making because he can’t help himself when he’s scared. The truth she couldn’t bear to tell them is that Ares is going to prison for as long as humanly possible. In the night, Wonder Woman searched the ruins of the devastated city for Ares, whom she found cowering in a broken-down convenience store. She knows that Ares was scared of something, but couldn’t shake what he represented to her in the back of her mind: A promise made by the Cult of Algol that they would enslave Diana’s own young children, Michael and Louise. Ares saw Wonder Woman, remembered her, and instinctively backed into a corner in terror.
Diana took off her mask and put down her weapons to show she means Ares no harm, and she put out her hand. Ares gingerly reached for her hand… and then a burning blade emerged from his abdomen, as he was stabbed in the back! Ares, injured, swung at the figure behind him, and it was revealed to be a woman in white robes and a hood, robotic armor, and a golden face mask, wielding the flaming blade. WW regained her weapons and mask and helped Ares fight the figure, realizing that this woman was hunting him with deadly weapondry! After a long fight that moved from the disaster zone and still-populated areas, Ares seized the weakened woman by the throat and was about to throttle her to death… when he saw Shouko and Shosuke watching him. Realizing what he was doing, he dropped the weakened woman and fell to his knees. WW tied her up as Kyoto police closed in on Ares… then even more women in the same costume, with the same weapons, attacked from the shadows! They took down the officers and subdued Wonder Woman long enough to tie up Ares in electrical taser cords and and summon a VTOL that hoisted him away. WW broke her bonds and ran back to her ship, but they detonated explosives that damaged it beyond being able to track their VTOL. The women approached her and gave a dire warning:

“Soon, you shalt join him, but only when the God of Gods demands this of you. And this fate is inevitable…
for NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS!”
The Manhunters all disappeared in clouds of smoke, leaving Wonder Woman alone to contemplate this…

Notes:
* Instead of being martian heroes, human vigilantes, or robotic alien marauders, the Absolute Manhunters are something different. Who these assassins serve and what they want with Diana and Ares is a story for another day...