The three-way battle for New Themyscira—and perhaps for the fate of the entire world—had officially begun.
Queen Diana raised her hand with savage authority and gestured toward the Amazon beast-masters. "RELEASE THE CERBERUS!"
Chains snapped and gates burst open. From the depths of a converted subway tunnel emerged a creature of pure nightmare—Cerberus, the three-headed hound of Hades himself.
Each of its three heads was the size of a bus, dripping with venomous saliva that sizzled where it touched the ground. Its eyes burned with hellfire and its roar shook buildings.
The Cerberus bounded into the battlefield alongside the Minotaur and both creatures began wreaking absolute havoc.
The Minotaur crashed through Atlantean formations like a living avalanche while Cerberus's three heads snapped in different directions simultaneously, catching soldiers from both Atlantean and resistance forces in its massive jaws.
Together, they crashed into the front lines, turning the Atlantean phalanx and the human resistance into a meat grinder.
On the Atlantean side, only three warriors were managing to hold their ground against the combined Amazon and The Resistance assault.
Orm (Ocean Master) fought with desperate precision, his trident creating whirlpools of cutting water. Aqualad moved like liquid itself, his water-bearers forming shields and weapons in rapid succession. Black Manta carved through enemy lines with his optic beams, his enhanced armor absorbing blows that would have killed normal men.
The Resistance forces engaged with coordinated fury. Grifter moved through the chaos with professional efficiency, his twin pistols never missing. Etrigan the Demon tore through soldiers with supernatural strength, reciting battle-rhymes as he fought. Deadshot provided covering fire with impossible accuracy. Godiva used her prehensile hair as both weapon and shield. The Creeper cackled maniacally as he bounced between enemies with unhinged agility.
But Queen Diana and King Arthur didn't care about the smaller skirmishes happening around them. Their eyes locked across the battlefield and they began moving toward each other with single-minded purpose. Every soldier—Amazon, Atlantean, or The Resistance—who got in their path was casually swatted aside or killed as they ran directly at one another.
Diana moved like a force of nature. An Atlantean warrior swung a trident at her head—she caught it mid-swing, snapped the shaft with one hand, and drove the broken end through his chest without breaking stride.
A resistance fighter tried to tackle her—she grabbed him by the throat mid-leap, hurled him fifty feet into the air where he crashed through a building's second-story window.
Two Atlantean warriors got in her way by accident—she shoved them aside hard enough to break bones, not even registering them as obstacles.
Her eyes never left Arthur. Years of war, years of hatred, years of loss—all of it was focused on the man across the battlefield. The man who had betrayed their alliance. The man whose affair with her had destroyed Mera and triggered this apocalyptic conflict.
"ARTHUR!" Her voice carried across the entire battlefield like thunder.
Arthur carved his own path of destruction through the chaos. An Amazon archer fired an enchanted arrow at his face—he deflected it with his trident, the arrow ricocheting to pierce through two nearby resistance fighters.
A human soldier with an RPG fired at point-blank range—Arthur raised his hand and the water in the air condensed into a solid shield. The rocket exploded harmlessly and Arthur sent a pressurized water-blade through the soldier's torso.
Three Amazons tried to surround him—his trident swept in a circle, the enchanted weapon creating a horizontal water-tornado that caught all three and flung them into building walls hard enough to leave body-shaped impressions.
His expression was murderous fury barely contained. Diana represented everything wrong with this war—the surface world's arrogance, the refusal to acknowledge Atlantis's superiority, the death of Mera.
"DIANA!" His roar matched hers in volume and rage.
Suddenly, energy blasts rained down from above. Victor Stone descended from the sky with his weapons systems fully activated, multiple targeting reticles tracking the massive Minotaur that was crushing resistance fighters beneath its hooves.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Plasma cannons struck the Minotaur's hide, actually managing to burn through its stone-like skin. The creature roared in pain and fury, turning its attention upward to swat at this flying annoyance.
Victor dove and weaved through the air, his mechanical reflexes allowing him to dodge tentacles and thrown debris. "Target locked. Initiating assault pattern Delta."
Grifter, sliding into cover behind a fallen pillar, barked into his comms while putting one bullet through the heads of two Amazons and two more into a pair of Atlantean guards with surgical precision. "Cyborg! Nice of you to show up! Did you invite us to our own funeral just to keep us waiting, or were you busy getting a wax job?"
He fired two more shots without looking—one bullet caught an Atlantean between the eyes, the second took another through the throat. Perfect accuracy born from decades of mercenary work.
Cyborg barrel-rolled to avoid the Minotaur's massive fist and responded while continuing to fire, "I was busy formulating a strategy with Batman! And I'm not alone—reinforcements are here!"
He charged his main cannon—a weapon system integrated into his chest that drew power directly from his Mother Box technology. The energy buildup was visible as blue-white light.
FWOOOM!
The beam struck the Minotaur's chest dead-center. The creature roared and actually staggered backward, smoke rising from the impact point. But it didn't fall—instead, it became even more enraged.
Before Grifter could ask who these reinforcements were, a sound like thunder split the air.
BOOM!
Everyone near the Cerberus turned to see the three-headed hound launched into the air—not by an explosion, but by a single devastating punch. The massive creature tumbled through the sky, its three heads howling in confusion, before crashing to the ground several hundred meters away with earth-shaking impact.
Grifter looked up to see the source of that punch. A figure slowly descended from the sky—a woman in a black suit with a white S-symbol emblazoned on the chest. Blonde hair, beautiful features and eyes that glowed faintly red with barely contained heat vision.
She touched down near where the Cerberus had landed and walked toward the recovering creature with calm, measured steps.
As Cerberus struggled to its feet and all three heads snarled at her, she moved faster than the eye could follow and punched it again—this time a controlled uppercut that launched it even higher.
"Damn," Grifter whistled before checking his magazine. "That chick is good. Maybe we'll live through the hour after all."
He turned back to his own battle and continued picking off enemies with precision, trusting the super-powered newcomers to handle the monsters while he dealt with regular soldiers.
Nearby, Lois Lane dodged a spear, only for the attacker's head to explode in a spray of red. She looked back to see Deadshot giving her a grim nod from a rooftop, his thermal eye glowing as he provided the cover she desperately needed.
...
On a rooftop overlooking the entire battlefield, a small group stood watching the chaos unfold below. Ethan, Elizabeth, Batman, Barry, and Billy Batson with his siblings all had different expressions as they observed.
Batman's voice was as gravelly and commanding as ever, "Take down Aquaman and Wonder Woman. If we can incapacitate both leaders, we can stop this war before the Kryptonians arrive."
Anna stepped forward with eager anticipation. "Leave Diana to me." Without waiting for an answer, she took flight and launched herself off the rooftop, streaking toward the battlefield like a meteor.
Jean followed with more controlled flight, "I'll handle Arthur." Her voice carried absolute confidence as she rose into the air, her red hair billowing like a flame.
Suddenly, the water beyond the shoreline began churning violently. Something massive was emerging—a kraken-sized octopus, its tentacles each as thick as tree trunks, its body large enough to dwarf buildings. It pulled itself onto land with horrifying speed and began indiscriminately crushing soldiers from all three factions with its tentacles.
Batman turned to Billy Batson without hesitation. "Deal with it." He pointed at the oceanic monstrosity.
Billy nodded seriously and his five siblings moved into formation around him. Together, they shouted the magic word, "SHAZAM!"
CRACK-BOOM!
Lightning struck all six of them simultaneously, merging their bodies in a flash of golden light. When the light faded, a single figure stood in their place—Captain Thunder, the combined Shazam of this timeline. He possessed all their power unified, making him significantly stronger than any single Shazam form.
Captain Thunder launched into the air and flew toward the giant octopus with electricity crackling around his body.
Batman turned his attention to Barry. "Find Thawne. He's definitely here—we have video footage of him saving Lois from Amazon forces earlier. He's watching and waiting to see you suffer."
Barry's jaw clenched and he nodded sharply. Yellow lightning began crackling around his body as he prepared to run. "I'll find him."
He took off in a blur, entering the battlefield at super-speed. From his perspective, everyone else was moving in slow motion. He began systematically knocking out both Amazons and Atlanteans while scanning every face, every shadow, looking for any sign of the yellow speedster.
Batman turned to Ethan one final time. "I need to join them. I believe you can enjoy this show of slaughter with your popcorn."
Without waiting for a response, Batman jumped off the rooftop. A grappling gun fired mid-fall, the line attaching to a building across the street. He swung through the air in a graceful arc before descending toward the battle in perfect cinematic style as his cape billowing dramatically.
Ethan chuckled lightly. "He sure knows how to make a dramatic entrance. All versions of him are natural showmen."
Elizabeth stood at the rooftop's edge and looked down at the battle with deep concern etched across her face. So much death, so much destruction, all because two people couldn't control themselves.
Ethan materialized two comfortable sofas from thin air using matter manipulation and sat down on one. "Come on, Elizabeth. Sit. No point in standing when we can be comfortable."
Her worried expression didn't change but she moved to sit beside him. Ethan also raised his hand and dozens of small, glowing orbs materialized around them—magic-enhanced recording drones that would capture the battle from multiple angles. The footage would be incredible.
...
Across the battlefield, multiple conflicts raged simultaneously.
Lightning crackled as Captain Thunder dodged tentacles and delivered electrified punches that actually hurt the massive creature. Each strike sent thousands of volts through its body, making it spasm and release whoever it had grabbed.
In one side, Victor's superior mobility and firepower combined with Grifter's strategic positioning was slowly wearing down the stone-skinned beast. Burns covered its body and one of its horns had been partially shot off.
Meanwhile, The Flash moved through the battlefield like yellow lightning, his perception cranked up to maximum. He knocked out dozens of soldiers per second while scanning faces, checking shadows, looking for any trace of red lightning or Reverse-Flash costume.
Further away, Thomas Wayne's Batman fought with lethal efficiency against the enhanced mercenary, Black Manta. Bat-weapons met energy beams. Martial arts met powered armor. Both men were killers fighting for survival.
Further away, the Resistance held the line against Orm and Aqualad, with Etrigan the Demon laughing as he bathed the Atlantean armor in hellfire.
The Atlantean commanders also held their ground against supernatural and enhanced resistance fighters. Water met hellfire. Tridents clashed with demonic claws.
And throughout it all, regular soldiers from all three factions continued to fight and die, their blood mixing on the streets of what had once been America's capital.
Arthur and Diana were finally about to meet in the center of the battlefield. Both had cleared paths through dozens of enemies. Both raised their weapons—trident and sword—preparing for the clash that would determine which leader survived.
They charged the final distance.
BOOM!
A figure slammed down between them with earth-shattering force. The impact created a shockwave that threw both Arthur and Diana backward several meters. Concrete cracked in a circular pattern around the impact point.
Both monarchs stopped their charge and stared warily at this new arrival.
The dust slowly settled and Anna emerged from the crater. She was wearing her distinctive green and yellow costume. She casually dusted herself off and flipped her hair back with her right hand in a deliberately theatrical gesture.
"Hello there," Anna drawled, her Southern accent thick with confidence. "What do we have here? A lovers' quarrel? Or did I walk into the wrong soap opera?"
Diana's eyes narrowed dangerously and her sword raised defensively. "Who are you, intruder?"
Anna's grin was predatory and excited. She slammed her right fist into her left palm with a resounding crack that somehow carried across the battlefield. "Someone who's gonna put some sense into you, Diana. But don't worry—I'll hold back just enough to make this fight memorable instead of over in two seconds."
Before Diana could respond, Anna moved.
Her fist connected with Diana's crossed arms—the Amazon Queen had barely managed to raise her bracelets in time to block. But even blocking wasn't enough. The force of Anna's punch sent Diana flying backward through the air, her body crashing through two buildings before she finally arrested her momentum.
Arthur watched this with wide eyes and immediately began calculating. If this newcomer was fighting Diana, perhaps he could ally with her temporarily to finally kill his enemy—
"Where do you think you're going, Arthur?" A voice spoke directly into his mind.
Arthur's head snapped around in alarm and he shouted to the empty air, "Who's there?! Show yourself if you dare!"
He looked upward and saw a beautiful woman with red hair slowly descending from the sky. Her body was surrounded by subtle golden light and her eyes glowed with power that made even Arthur's senses register danger.
Jean Grey touched down thirty feet from the King of Atlantis and her voice carried absolute authority, "You started a war because you couldn't control your hormones, you bastard. I'm going to make sure to deal with you once and for all."
Arthur's eyes narrowed with cold rage. His knuckles whitened around his trident's shaft. "I don't care who you are, surface dweller but this will be your grave."
He raised his trident high and slammed it into the ground with all his godly strength. The impact should have created a localized earthquake—shockwaves that would pulverize anyone standing nearby.
But Jean simply raised one hand and a red magic circle materialized in front of her. The shockwaves struck the barrier and dispersed harmlessly, unable to pass through the telekinetic shield.
Then Jean moved her other hand in a casual gesture—as if swatting a fly.
Arthur's body was grabbed by invisible force and hurled backward. He flew through the air completely out of control, his trident tumbling from his grip, his body ragdolling before he crashed into the ocean with a massive splash.
Jean's eyes began to glow with golden-red Phoenix Force energy. Her voice distorted slightly—echoing with cosmic power that made reality itself uncomfortable, "You are in a whole lotta trouble now."