The world was burning.
Belgium's fields had once been green, alive with crops and villages, laughter of children echoing across riverbanks. Now they were nothing but mud and ash, torn apart by artillery fire and poisoned gas. Black smoke curled into a sky already bruised by war, blotting out the pale light of dawn.
Among the chaos, one figure moved with divine purpose.
Diana of Themyscira. Amazon. Warrior. Daughter of Hippolyta.
Her sword gleamed like a shard of lightning, her bracelets sparking as bullets ricocheted harmlessly away. She cut through Hydra soldiers as though they were reeds before a storm. Their strange, glowing weapons stolen from alien relics were powerful, yes, but against her speed and fury, they meant little.
To the mortals around her, she was myth come alive. To Hydra, she was death.
But not all soldiers feared her.
From across the battlefield came another. A man wrapped in blue and red, carrying not a sword but a shield. He charged through fire and mud with a determination that should have belonged to gods, not men. His shield smashed Hydra rifles, deflected blasts, and broke bones with each strike. His presence rallied the crumbling Allied line.
Steve Rogers. Captain America. The Soldier out of time.
Neither should have been there. Diana belonged to another world, hidden away from men's wars. Steve was a man displaced from his own reality, hurled into this one by forces neither understood. Yet here they were, their paths colliding in the crucible of battle.
And when they saw each other, it was as if the war itself held its breath.
Diana's blade caught the light of a burning tank as she turned, eyes locking on the shield-wielding soldier. He was not Hydra. He was not German. Yet he fought with a strength unlike any man she had seen. His movements were disciplined, but there was rage in him too rage that burned as hot as her own.
Steve saw her the same way. A woman cutting through Hydra like a storm, her beauty fierce, her power terrifying. Not an enemy soldier. Something else. Something dangerous.
They moved toward one another almost without choice.
The clash was inevitable.
Steel rang against steel as Diana's sword slammed against Steve's shield. The impact cracked the ground beneath them, the shockwave scattering mud and rubble. Soldiers on both sides froze, watching gods collide.
Diana pushed forward, her strength immense.
Steve gritted his teeth, bracing.
Neither gave an inch.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice carrying above the thunder of distant guns.
"Name's Steve Rogers," he growled, shoving her back a step with his shield. "And you're in my way."
Her eyes narrowed. "This is not your fight, soldier."
"It's everyone's fight," he shot back. "And I don't take orders from strangers with swords."
She struck again, blade flashing. He blocked, pivoted, countered with a strike from his shield that sent sparks across her bracers. They circled each other, testing, probing, neither willing to yield.
Around them, Hydra soldiers tried to take advantage, but their weapons were deflected, crushed, or sliced apart in the crossfire of the duel. Steve and Diana fought with such ferocity that neither Hydra nor Allied dared come between them.
It was a battle of wills as much as strength.
Sword and shield. Fire and steel.
Minutes stretched into eternity. Diana's hair whipped around her face, rain mixing with sweat as she pressed forward. Steve's arm ached beneath the strain of constant blows, but his will was iron. Each saw in the other not just an opponent, but a mirror of their own defiance.
Finally, as if by unspoken agreement, they broke apart. Breathing hard, glaring through the storm of war.
Diana's eyes flicked toward the Hydra artillery nest looming in the distance, its energy weapon charging for another devastating blast. Steve's gaze followed, then returned to her.
For one heartbeat, an understanding passed between them.
The real enemy wasn't each other.
Without a word, they turned. Together.
She leapt forward, sword flashing. He sprinted at her side, shield raised. Their combined assault was unstoppable her blade cleaving the weapon apart, his shield smashing through the soldiers manning it.
The explosion rocked the ground, flames lighting the night sky.
For the first time, they stood side by side. Breathing hard. Covered in mud, blood, and ash.
Steve gave her a look, half a smirk despite the chaos around them.
"Not bad… for a swordswoman."
Diana's lips curved, but it wasn't quite a smile.
"And you… are less useless than most men."
The world burned around them, but in that moment, something else had been forged. Not trust. Not yet. But something that would grow far more dangerous.