I tore through dozens of ships as they came at me. I didn't slow down, just kept swinging my hammer, lightning ripping through space with every strike. When they got too close or came in from bad angles, I lashed out with raw magic, blasting flying Thanagarians out of the sky before they could even lock on.
By the time I reached the hyperspace bypass power source, the airspace directly above it was mine.
I stopped moving and hovered in place.
Then I began chanting.
The moment the spell started, everyone closed in around me. I could feel it, the shift. To the Thanagarians, I probably looked like an easy target. Just one guy floating in the open, not attacking, not dodging. They had no idea what I was doing.
And that was fine by me.
While I chanted, I kept half my attention on the battlefield. Soldier Boy was doing surprisingly well in the jet, weaving through enemy fire and gunning down dozens of ships with ease.
Guess that tracked. He was an actual soldier in his world.
Might Woman, Purity, and Panacea stayed close, forming a moving shield around me. Any ship or Thanagarian that got too close didn't last long. They tore through the attackers efficiently, ruthlessly, but controlled.
I'd quietly asked them to spare as many as they could.
Yeah, it was war. Yeah, they were trying to wipe us out. And no, I wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who got in my way or threatened the spell. But I still felt it, that hesitation, that sympathy.
They weren't born evil.
They were tired. Worn down by generations of war. Somewhere along the way, they convinced themselves that what they were doing was justified.
That didn't excuse it.
But it reminded me that mercy still mattered, when it was possible.
The chant grew heavier, power building around me, vibrating through my bones.
Two minutes.
Just two minutes, and this nightmare would end.
Superwoman POV
I grabbed a Thanagarian ship out of midair, spun with it, and hurled it straight into the mothership.
It exploded on impact.
"Do you have to do that?" Superman said as he flew alongside me. "We could just destroy the power cores. The ships would fall on their own."
"I know," I replied. "But this one was empty. Some of these ships are fully automated." I glanced at him. "X-ray vision helps."
"Oh. I see," he said, and a second later, his eyes narrowed in focus.
Now he was targeting only the empty ships, ripping them apart and slamming the wreckage into the mothership alongside me.
The mothership retaliated, raining down waves of burning debris and weapons fire. Gunfire rolled through the air, but thankfully, no kryptonite. Superman and I flew straight through it. The rest of the team had to dodge and weave.
I caught another empty ship, accelerated, and slammed it headfirst into the mothership's viewport.
The glass cracked.
That was my opening.
I launched myself forward, smashed through the weakened window, and tore into the interior. The control room erupted into chaos as Thanagarians rushed me.
Bad move.
Anyone who came within reach went down hard, disarmed, slammed into consoles, or knocked unconscious before they could react. One by one, the rest of the team burst in behind me.
Together, we cleared the room, detaining the remaining Thanagarians so they couldn't interfere.
Once it was quiet, Hawkwoman started scanning the area, her expression tightening.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Commander Hro Talak isn't here."
"If he's not on the bridge," Wonder Woman said slowly, "then where would a commander be during an operation like this?"
Green Lantern grimaced. "Guarding the hyperspace control, probably with a heavy security detail."
"Then we move. Now," Superman said. "If he activates that thing, Earth is done."
No one argued.
We took off immediately, flying deeper into the mothership, straight toward the hyperspace control room.
And whatever was waiting for us there.
"I'm going to find Hawkman," Hawkwoman said. "I know he's being held somewhere on this ship."
"I'll go with you," Wonder Woman replied.
The two of them peeled off immediately, heading deeper into the mothership to search for him, while the rest of us pushed toward the hyperspace control room.
Of course, they didn't make it easy.
Guards poured in to stop us, but we tore through them without slowing down. When we reached the control chamber doors, we didn't bother with access panels, we smashed straight through.
Inside stood Commander Hro Talak, flanked by a squad of elite guards.
And these weren't normal soldiers.
Their weapons glowed an ugly green, laced with kryptonite, shot through with a yellow alloy as well. Designed for Kryptonians and Lanterns.
So yeah. They came prepared.
"This is as far as you go," Hro Talak said coldly. "You will not destroy the controls. We've come too far. Lost too much."
"You don't have to do this," I said, stepping forward. "Call off your forces, and we can help you."
"Help us?" he snapped. "And how exactly do you expect to do that?"
"My leader, Mage King, gave me a message to deliver to you," I said.
A few heads turned. Except Stormfront, she'd been there when the order was given.
"What's the message?" someone asked.
"Mercy."
The word hung in the air.
"We do not give mercy," Hro Talak said flatly.
"No," I replied. "You didn't let me finish."
I looked directly at him.
"He's offering you mercy. Lay down your weapons. Step aside. Let us destroy the controls and recall every last Thanagarian soldier, and he will grant it."
Murmurs spread through the room.
"He'll heal your wounds. Return every piece of technology and every soldier we captured. He'll even open a portal to take you straight to the Gordanians, the enemy you actually want to fight."
Hro Talak's expression flickered, just for a moment.
"All of that," I continued, "despite everything you've done."
I let the silence stretch.
"But if you keep standing in our way," I said quietly, "that mercy comes off the table."
I took another step forward.
"He will personally destroy half your armada, every Thanagarian ship still in this system. From that point on, we will not spare lives. The prisoners we've taken will remain prisoners and be transferred to an off-world dimensional facility, where they'll spend the rest of their lives. Any surviving technology from your fleet will be seized and repurposed."
I raised my hand slightly, letting the threat sink in.
"The moment you attack us in this room, I send the message, and Mage King will know mercy is off the table."
I met Hro Talak's eyes.
"So tell me, Commander… do you really want half your people dead today?"
Black Noir POV
I was in the Watchtower with the Justice League, and by the time we secured the place, all the Thanagarian soldiers were already tied up.
Getting in had been easy. Taking them down was even easier.
Now it was quiet.
Too quiet.
I stood in the control room with Batman while he ran system diagnostics, checking every subsystem to make sure nothing had been sabotaged. We didn't speak the entire time, which I was fine with.
Eventually, he broke the silence.
"I've noticed you've been keeping an eye on me," he said without looking up. "You haven't left my side. Why?"
He wasn't wrong.
"Hope ordered me to," I said simply. "My job is to make sure you don't do anything stupid. If you try, I'm supposed to stop you, at any cost." I paused. "Non-lethal."
He turned to face me. "And what exactly did she think I was going to do?"
"She predicted you'd try to make amends by dropping the Watchtower onto the hyperspace bypass power source, after evacuating everyone."
Batman didn't deny it.
"That woman is frighteningly intelligent," he said. "And yes, the thought crossed my mind. But I decided against it. There were too many variables. I trusted her plan instead."
I nodded once. "You should've trusted it from the beginning. Things would've gone a lot smoother. The Watchtower probably wouldn't have been taken, civilians wouldn't have been captured, and no one would've been turned into slave labor."
He didn't argue.
"I'll take full responsibility for what happened today," Batman said.
"I'm sure you will," I replied. "But that decision isn't up to us. You're not on our team."
I met his gaze.
"That's for the Justice League to decide."
The room fell silent again.
And for the first time since this started, I got the sense that Batman understood exactly how close he'd come to making things even worse.
Kai POV
The chant ended.
The massive magical circle suspended above the hyperspace power source flared once, brilliant, blinding, and then collapsed inward. A flash of pure white light ripped through the air.
When my vision cleared, the power source was gone.
Reduced to ash.
Like it had never existed at all.
"…Alright," I said into the comms, exhaling slowly. "We're done here. Let's regroup with the others on the mothership."
We lifted off immediately. Everyone flew with me—except Soldier Boy and Ranger, who stayed in their jets, continuing to thin out the remaining ships just in case.
As we approached the mothership, it opened fire.
Then, suddenly, it stopped.
No warning. No last-ditch volley.
Just silence.
"Mage King," Superwoman's voice came through my earpiece, steady but relieved. "It's over."
She sent us her location. We flew through the breach she'd made in the hull and headed straight for the hyperspace bypass control chamber.
Inside, the sight said everything.
Thanagarian weapons lay scattered across the floor.
Dropped.
Surrendered.
"They laid down their arms the moment the power source was destroyed," Superwoman said. "They're ready to accept your offer, if it's still on the table."
"It is," I said without hesitation. "There's no point in spilling more blood. Call back every Thanagarian force still on Earth. Release all human slaves. We'll return your prisoners, and you'll leave this planet."
Commander Hro Talak stepped forward slowly.
"And the portal to the Gordanians?" he asked.
"I will still open," I replied. "From what I've seen, you've got more than enough soldiers left to finish that fight."
He held my gaze for a long moment.
"We do," he said finally.
"Good," I said. "Then this war is over."
Earth was safe.
Two hours later
It took a while, but everything finally settled.
All the Thanagarian tech used to build the hyperspace bypass was dismantled and secured. The civilians were freed and reunited with rescue teams. We returned every captured Thanagarian soldier, just like we promised. The mothership finished its repairs and was now hovering at the edge of Earth's orbit, ready to leave.
All that was left was one thing.
Opening the portal to their real enemy.
Once I locked onto the coordinates, it was easy. Almost routine.
Right now, my team, Hope, and a few members of the Justice League, along with the Hawk family, were still aboard the mothership.
"So," Hope said, arms crossed, "we have a deal. After you win your war against the Gordanians, you'll send me a shipment of Nth Metal."
"Yes," Commander Hro Talak replied. "We will honor our word once the war is won and the portal is opened."
Soldier Boy leaned toward me. "Did she really just make a business deal with an alien species… after we just ended a war?"
"That's Hope for you," I said. "A true businesswoman. Pretty sure she gets her inspiration from Emma Frost."
"Who?" Soldier Boy asked.
"Not important right now."
He squinted at me. "Do you just enjoy saying things we don't understand, waiting for us to ask, and then completely ignoring the explanation?"
"Yes," I said without hesitation. "I enjoy it a little. That's why I keep doing it. Why do you think I always tell Black Noir I'm glad his face isn't messed up?"
Soldier Boy laughed, even though he clearly had no idea what I meant.
A Thanagarian soldier stepped forward. "Commander, the ship is fully repaired. The fleet is assembled and ready to depart."
Hro Talak nodded, then turned to face us.
"I know there is nothing I can say that will truly make up for what I've done," he said. "I betrayed my closest allies and nearly destroyed an innocent world. But know this, for the rest of my life, I will work to atone for those actions. If Earth ever calls for aid, the Thanagarians will answer."
I tilted my head. "We appreciate that. But there is something you can say. Just… say you're sorry. That's where redemption usually starts."
He hesitated, then met my eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Hope opened her mouth. "Wait a minute was that a reference to—"
"Not important," I cut in.
I opened a portal back to Metropolis. "Let's just go home."
Hope shook her head, already smiling as she stepped through. The rest of my team and the Justice League followed after her.
The Hawk family stayed behind.
Hro Talak looked at them, his posture rigid but his voice heavy.
"I am truly sorry for what I did to all of you. If I had told the truth from the beginning, all of this could have been avoided." His eyes settled on them. "Katar. Kendra. I betrayed you both. I know I may never earn back your trust… but I hope that one day, you might forgive me."
Hawkman stepped forward first. He studied Hro Talak for a long moment, then extended his hand.
"I forgive you, old friend," he said quietly. "War has a way of changing even the best of us."
Hro Talak took the handshake, relief flashing across his face, just for a second.
Then, Hawkwoman and Hawkgirl moved at the exact same time.
Two fists.
One synchronized hit.
Hro Talak staggered back a step, barely, barely, keeping his balance. They hadn't used full strength, but it was more than enough to split his lip.
He rubbed his jaw with a wince. "I saw that coming a mile away from Kendra." His eyes flicked to Hawkgirl. "Looks like she takes after her mother."
Hawkwoman stepped closer, her grip tightening around her mace.
"We forgive you," she said flatly. "But if you ever pull something like this again, those years of friendship disappear. And I will personally take my mace and shove it so far—"
"Understood," Hro Talak cut in quickly. "Very understood. I still remember what you did to those Gordanians thirty years ago."
"Good," she replied, smiling sweetly, dangerously sweet.
Goodbyes were exchanged. Words left unspoken hung in the air, but the moment passed. One by one, they stepped through the portal.
I phased out of the mothership and hovered in open space.
With a single motion, I opened a massive portal, wide enough for the entire Thanagarian fleet to pass through.
I angled it toward their true battlefield.
Toward their real war.