The wind moved gently across the cliffside. Minutes passed before Max spoke.
"...Aren't you curious?"
Diana didn't look at him. "...About what?"
"Did she tell you then?" Max asked?
"She said she would tell us when it was all over." A pause. "But circumstances... I've had my suspicions."
Max nodded slowly. "Wouldn't you like to know the truth?"
"Yes." Diana's voice was quiet. "But I thought it was something you would tell me when you were ready."
"This isn't the right time." Max said.
Then, after a long beat he spoke.
"Because it should have been a long time ago."
"As you may have already been connecting the dots..." Max began. "Nina was Thena. From a future that no longer exists."
Diana's brow furrowed. "What happened?"
"...A lot. Which eventually led to the erasure of the universe by a very powerful entity."
Diana tensed. "Who? Is it one of the entities you told us about before?"
"No." Max's voice remained steady. "And don't worry about it. I'll handle it properly this time."
A brief silence passed before Diana spoke again.
"So Thena was a paradox."
"Yes. The only thing keeping her from sharing the same fate as the universe was a powerful artifact."
Max reached down and slid the time ring from his finger. He held it on his open palm for a moment, then slowly closed his fist around it,tightening until the veins along the back of his hand began to rise.
"The time ring."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
A long pause.
"...Because it wasn't my choice." His eyes stayed on the horizon. "I thought I could fix it first. Tell you everything after." Max said,as he kept his eyes on the horizon.
"But things tend not to go as planned. And in the end... I couldn't change anything."
"I could have revived her," Max continued, his voice lower now. "Bought her more time. But what would I have been bringing her back to?" He paused. "Day in and day out I could see she was in pain. From everything she went through."
His fist tightened around the ring.
"And what makes me feel most powerless... is that no matter what I did, I couldn't change that."
A Week Later
Batman, Cyborg, Flash, Superman, and Wonder Woman stood in the Hall of Justice. Batman had called the meeting, and the others had come without question.
"What's this about, Bats?" Flash asked.
"There's something we need to address." Batman turned to Wonder Woman. "Has Max told you who Nina really was?"
"Yes," Diana said. "What does that have to do with this meeting?"
"Wait,what do you mean?" Barry asked, looking between them.
"Had none of you noticed?" Cyborg said, glancing around the group.
Superman shrugged,just as clueless.
Cyborg looked to Diana. "Should I tell them?"
Diana nodded.
"Nina and Thena are the same person," Cyborg said.
Barry's eyes went wide. "Wait,you mean she was Thena? From another timeline?"
"Yes," Diana confirmed.
"Then what was she doing here?" Superman asked.
"That's not the most important question," Batman said, his voice measured. Everyone turned to him. "The more important question is...what forced her to leave her timeline behind in the first place."
A silence settled over the room as the weight of that sank in.
"Has Max told you anything else?" Superman asked, looking at Diana.
"As of yet,no,he has only told me about her true origin," she said. "You're welcome to ask him yourselves." Wonder Woman deliberately lied.
"Then that's what we should do," Barry said. "We go to Max and we sit down and talk this through."
Superman nodded. "All of us."
"No," Batman said. "There's no need for that."
The others looked at him.
"I'll go alone. There are still a variety of reasons she might have chosen to leave her timeline that don't concern us as a group." He paused. "Not everything needs to be a full debriefing."
"That makes sense," Cyborg said. "Given everything that's happened, this is a sensitive topic. All of us showing up to question him at once could easily come across as aggressive."
A few of the others nodded in quiet agreement.
Batman was just about to share his observations on Supergirl when the doors exploded inward.
The blast was deafening. Shards of metal and concrete flew across the room in every direction, sending the entire group instantly to their feet and on guard.
A cold voice cut through the settling smoke.
"It was only a matter of time before my cover was exposed. Though the invasion did make things considerably easier for me,if only more of you had perished."
The smoke cleared.
Supergirl stood in the doorway. The warmth and innocence on her face gone. Her face was completely expressionless, her posture imposing.
"Kara" Superman stepped forward, his voice caught between confusion and dread. "What are you talking about? What's going on?"
"I gave you enough time to come with me to New Krypton," she said, her eyes fixed on him. "But you made things harder than they needed to be." She tilted her head slightly. "I understand why. You've lived amongst these lower life forms for so long you've started seeing yourself as one of them. Pretending to be something you are not and never will be." Her lip curled. "Their so called protector. How pitiful."
"Finally decided to show your true colors," Cyborg said flatly.
His right arm morphed into a cannon and leveled itself at her. Batman's hand moved silently into his utility belt, fingers closing around a handful of kryptonite smoke bombs. Flash settled into his stance. Diana's lasso was already in her hand.
"Whoa,everyone stand down." Superman moved in front of the group, arms slightly raised. Then he turned back to Kara. "Kara, we can still talk about this. We can still go to New Krypton, like you wanted. Just-"
"I've said enough."
She reached up and tapped the S symbol on her chest.
Nanites poured out from it immediately, spreading across her suit like living liquid, forming a dark layer of armor that sealed itself over her frame piece by piece. A helmet constructed itself last, a red visor igniting across where her eyes had been.
She dropped from the air and landed on the floor with a dull, heavy thud. The ground cracked beneath her feet.
When she spoke again, her voice was distorted and semi-mechanical.
"All shall fall before the Kryptonian Empire."
She launched forward.
"Attack!"
End of Chapter.
Chapter 35:A looming threat
Chapter 36:Exchanging eyes
Chapter 37:The Anti-Monitor crisis
Dang it's been a long ride guys,with this chapter we've finally arrived to the final arc,and damn I've been busy these days I originally thought I would finish this fic this month but from how things look now that might be next month though don't worry,I will ne finishing this arc this month,atleast I think i will, anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter, till next time!.