A lingering silence settled between them as they hovered above the city below.
Wonder Woman looked at him for a long moment before she spoke.
"You don't have to ask," she said softly. "They are my daughters too. Whatever happens,they will always be taken care of. I promise you that."
She moved closer, closing the distance between them, and looked him directly in the eyes. He returned her gaze without flinching.
"But I have to ask you something," she said. The hint of worry that crept into her voice was subtle but unmistakable. "Why are you speaking as though you might not make it, when you just told me not to worry?" She held his gaze steady. "Please don't lie to me, Max."
Max smirked.
"Because anything can happen," he said simply. "I always prepare for the worst case scenario." He reached out and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She stiffened slightly at the contact. "I said I'll win." His eyes held hers for just a moment longer. "Then you'd best believe it."
He dropped his hand and flew forward.
Diana watched him go. For just a fraction of a second,there and gone before anyone else could have caught it,a flicker of disappointment crossed her face.
Then she composed herself and 8flew after him.
They flew the rest of the distance in silence.
The Hall of Justice came into view shortly after, and as they touched down they found Superman, Batman and Cyborg already waiting for them.
"Glad you could join us, Max," Cyborg said in greeting.
Max nodded. "What did you want to discuss?"
"Hasn't Diana filled you in?" Superman asked, glancing toward Wonder Woman.
"I thought we would discuss it together here," Diana said. A hint of irritation had crept into her tone.
"O...kay," Superman said slowly, wisely choosing not to pursue it further.
Batman spoke.
"The matter at hand is a possible invasion," he said, his voice carrying its usual measured gravity. "Elaborate" Max said.
"A few days ago, Kara Zor-El finally revealed her true intentions for coming to Earth," Cyborg said, stepping forward. "She attacked us without warning. Based on everything that happened and what we've gathered since, we have strong reason to believe she was a scout,sent here to assess Earth's defenses and report back.
Her secondary objectives were to either recruit, abduct or eliminate Clark" he glanced briefly at Superman "along with dismantling as much resistance on Earth as possible in the process."
"Where is she now?" Max asked.
"Contained and suppressed," Batman said. "She isn't going anywhere."
"What about the invasion timeline?"
"Unknown. It could be anytime from now,we could be looking at a full Kryptonian army arriving in Earth's atmosphere with very little warning."
"They shouldn't be a problem," Max said. "I don't have any planned trips as of yet so I'll deal with it accordingly when the time comes."
Superman hesitated. "Can you..not kill them?" After everything they had witnessed Max do recently, the question wasn't unreasonable. No one besides the league had lived to tell the tale of crossing him, and a full Kryptonian army would be well within his capabilities to simply erase.
"As long as they don't give me a reason to," Max replied. "I won't."
A brief silence followed.
"Well," Cyborg said slowly. "That's reassuring."
"Anything else?" Max asked.
Batman held his gaze.
"Yes,what happens in the future?"
The atmosphere in the room dropped instantly.
Wonder Woman's expression shiftedworry flickering across her face before she could fully conceal it. Superman and Cyborg exchanged wary glances.
Max sighed deeply and opened his mouth to start explaining when the alarms went off.
The sound cut through the Hall sharp and urgent, red emergency lighting flooding the room in pulses. Cyborg was already at the monitor before anyone else had moved, fingers flying across the interface. His expression shifted mid-keystroke.
"Guys."
Everyone turned.
"There's a gigantic unidentified object entering the atmosphere."
Cyborg looked up from the screen.
"It's them," Batman said matter-of-factly.
Every eye in the room turned to Max.
"Stay put," he said then he vanished.
The group stood in the sudden silence, puzzled expressions exchanged all around as the monitor continued beeping loudly behind them.
Meanwhile in Training Grounds
Thena hovered above the ruined landscape, smoke and dust drifting lazily through the air around her. Above her, a gigantic spherical mass of rock and earth floated in slow rotation,the byproduct of a morning spent using planetary devastation as a testing ground.
She had spent yesterday mapping the full capabilities of the Truth Seeking Orbs. The results had been...extensive. Every elemental bloodline could be recreated through them. Every single one, including Dust Release, which meant that through the orbs alone she now had access to all of them.
The excitement of that discovery had been surreal,but it was wearing off.
Because she hadn't earned any of this herself. Not the way Nina had. Nina had pushed herself past every limit, had begun recreating Kekkei Genkai from scratch through sheer will and ingenuity,Scorch Release, Dust Release, all of it built with her own hands. Thena had been handed power that Nina had bled for.
The thought sat uncomfortably in her chest.
She was still turning it over when she felt a presence behind her.
She spun and was already somewhere else entirely.A city to be exact,Max and Terra who was just as confused about the situation now standing besides her.
"What's going on, dad?" Terra asked. She had been perfectly comfortable at home before Max had snatched her away without warning. "Why am I here?"
"I brought you both here to enjoy the show," Max replied, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"What show?" Terra asked.
"Thena" he turned and pointed upward "versus that."
They all looked up.
A massive fortress of a spaceship was descending slowly through the clouds, its shadow spreading across the city below like a second nightfall. The sheer scale of it drew gasps from the civilians on the streets around them who had already begun to scatter.
"What is that?" Thena asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she tracked it.
"A supposedly Kryptonian invasion," Max replied.
A Boom Tube opened beside them. Cyborg, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman stepped through one after another, taking in the scene. Superman's jaw tightened the moment he saw the ship. Wonder Woman's hand moved instinctively toward her lasso.
Thena turned to Max with a puzzled expression.
"I don't sense any life aboard that ship." She paused. "Are you sure it isn't something else?"
"Just as I thought," Max said quietly.
He turned toward Batman who had already begun piecing it together and came to a conclusion.
"It's a drone. Sent ahead by the Kryptonian survivors from the empire." He paused, his eyes still fixed on the descending ship. "Unless" he paused"there was no empire to begin with."
End of Chapter
Chapter 43:Constantine?
Chapter 44:Heroes from a different timeline
Chapter 45:The truth about the multiverse.
You can read advanced chapters at patreon.com/darker knight