"Do you like it?" Hippolyta asked.
'Like it? I would put my face between your boobs and motorboat...' John thought, but he couldn't say that out loud because they were still in the early stages of their relationship, and with all the work over the past month, they got very little alone time.
"Love it," He said, trying very hard to keep his voice steady. "You look amazing."
Hippolyta smiled faintly, her cheeks tinted just enough to make his heart trip.
"I was… a little nervous," she admitted, looking down at herself. It was a rare moment of vulnerability for a Queen, standing so exposed before a man for the first time. But she was kinda happy because she was doing something intimate for her fiancé.
John swam across the pool and extended his hand toward her. "Join me..." He said with a warm smile.
Hippolyta walked over and as soon as she took his hand, he gave a playful tug, pulling her into the pool.
"Ooomph!"
She hit the water with a splash, gasping as she surfaced. Before she could wipe the water from her eyes, John had her wrapped in a hug. She laughed, throwing her arms around his neck.
"I can't believe you just did that," she giggled, shaking wet hair from her face.
"I couldn't resist," John grinned.
She laughed again, eyes shining as she looked up at him. Then she leaned in and kissed him. The kiss was slow at first, deep and gentle. Her body pressed against his in the water. John wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss as he ran one hand up her spine and into her wet hair.
Hippolyta's fingers tightened on his shoulders, her sigh soft as she melted against him. Then she broke the kiss, resting her forehead against his.
"This is nice," she whispered.
"It is," John said. "No world-ending threats. No paperwork. Just you and me."
"Mmm..." she murmured, a playful edge to her voice. "No paperwork."
He chuckled, tightening his hold. "That's the best part."
She tilted her head, studying his face.
John took her hand and nodded toward the edge. "C'mon, let me pour you some wine." They swam over to the edge and sat down in the water. John used a little magic to bring another glass from the minibar and poured a glass of wine for her.
She took it, leaning against him slightly, her head on his shoulder.
They drank in silence for a while, watching the city's lights begin to glitter as the sun dipped lower.
'This is such a beautiful view...' Hippolyta thought, looking at the sky. 'And a beautiful company.'
John finished his wine and set the glass aside. He took her empty glass too, placing it next to his, then turned to face her fully.
Hippolyta looked up at him, her expression soft.
He traced the line of her jaw with his thumb. "You know," he began, "I've been thinking..."
"Hmm?" she prompted, her eyes curious.
"About us."
"What about us?" Her voice was quiet, her gaze steady.
"Everything. The beginning, the now... the future." He paused, choosing his next words carefully. "Back then, when I proposed the marriage... I told myself it was a strategic move. A necessary political step for both our worlds."
He watched her face, seeing her expression soften, her posture relax slightly.
"But I was lying to myself. It was selfish," he continued. "I fell for you hard. From the moment I saw you, I was mesmerised by you. And everything that came after, the battles, the late nights, the early mornings... it just made me want you more."
Hippolyta's lips parted slightly, her breath catching. She pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the steady thud of his heart. "John..."
"I love you," he said, the words heavy and absolute. "I am in love with you. Do you think it was selfish of me to put you in the middle as a bargaining chip for helping Themyscira just to get close to you?" He looked straight into her eyes, exposing the guilt he'd been carrying. "I could have helped you without asking for anything in return. Yet I didn't."
He paused, his thumb still resting against her cheek. "Does that make me a bad person?"
Hippolyta opened her mouth to answer.
But...
Power spiked so violently that the air itself rippled. The pool water surged outward in a sudden wave, sloshing over the edge as a deep, concussive boom rolled across the city. Windows far below rattled. Birds scattered into the sky in panicked clouds.
John's head snapped east.
He felt it instantly. It was the same power signature that he felt when Kraang tried to escape. 'Tsk. Don't tell me that unstable portal created a double loop!'
His expression hardened.
"Trouble," he said, already rising out of the pool.
"SHAZAM!"
Lightning tore down from the sky and wrapped around him in a blinding flash. The rooftop shook as thunder cracked overhead. When the light faded, John hovered above the water in his Shazam form, electricity crawling lazily over his shoulders.
Hippolyta stepped back, spun once, and golden light wrapped around her body. The bikini vanished in a flare of magic, replaced by polished Amazonian armor, her sword and shield forming in her hands as if they had always been there. She put them on her back.
They locked eyes for a fraction of a second.
Then they shot up into the sky.
The air cracked as they broke the sound barrier, streaking east toward the border park in twin blurs of lightning and gold.
They did not make it far before two more signatures joined them.
Harley rocketed up from below, mallet already slung over her shoulder. "Please tell me I did not just feel a space fart," she yelled over the wind.
Maureen flew alongside her, cloak snapping behind her, eyes glowing faintly as she focused on the disturbance. "That was not a fart," she said calmly. "That feels like an unstable energy surge."
John grimaced. "Yeah. A big one."
They pushed harder.
The eastern park came into view within seconds, trees bending wildly as distorted gravity pulled at them. The ground below was scorched in a wide circle, grass flattened as if something massive had slammed down from the sky.
And at the center of it all was chaos.
A purple portal flickered in and out of existence, its edges jagged and unstable, folding space like torn fabric. Every pulse sent shockwaves through the air, warping light and sound.
A gigantic spaceship was half inside the portal and half outside. It was huge, with a damaged and smoking hull. Alien metal glowed softly along broken seams, and strange symbols flashed on damaged panels.
John hovered lower, eyes narrowed.
"Well," Harley said, floating beside him, craning her neck. "That's new."
John read those strange symbols using his Wisdom and understood the language. They were Kryptonian, which could mean three things. Inside that ship was either Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Power Girl (Kara Zor-L), or one of Zod's men.
"Is it hostile?" Hippolyta asked.
"Only one way to find out," John flew down, grabbed the front part of the ship and pulled it out of the unstable portal.
Sizzz!!! As soon as he pulled it out, the portal vanished.
He put down the ship on Kahndaq's land.
The ship hit the ground with a heavy metallic groan, sand and dust blasting outward in a wide ring. Its engines sputtered once, twice, then died completely. Cracks of glowing blue energy crawled along the hull before fading.
John and the others landed beside the ship.
"So," Harley said, squinting at the ship. "Are we about to meet Space Jesus, Space Karen, or Space Nazi?"
"Nope. This is a Kryptonian ship," John replied.
"Another Blue Scout?" Harley asked.
"We'll know once we open it," Maureen said as she walked closer and touched the surface.
Suddenly, the sky to the east filled with sound.
Jets.
Dozens of them.
Kahndaq's early warning systems flared to life across the horizon as aircraft from neighboring nations screamed toward the border. Fighters, drones, surveillance planes, all fanning out into tight formations. They stopped short of the invisible line that marked Kahndaq's territory, hovering and circling like nervous predators.
None of them crossed.
Not a single one.
John glanced up and smirked. "They were fast."
"They were already watching," Maureen said. "That portal spike lit up half the planet's sensors."
Below the circling aircraft, armored ground vehicles began to line up on the far side of the border. Soldiers took positions. Cameras zoomed in. Satellites adjusted orbit.
The world was watching.
John folded his arms and looked at the ground unit. He blinked forward and hovered on the border.
"You boys lost?" He asked loudly.
He looked back at the ship. "That thing fell on my land, so I'll take it. You're free to fight over it, but I doubt that'd change anything. So, kindly take your merry band and fuck off. And you know what, I'm kinda sick of you people arriving with your cavalry for every little thing. The peace treaty is already in place. Now, should I take this little stunt as a declaration of war?"
A black SUV stopped beside one of the armored cars.
The door opened, and Amanda Waller stepped out first.
She wore her usual dark suit. She surveyed the scene like she owned it, with her usual deadpan expression. The soldiers, the jets, the ship, and then John, hovering at the border with lightning still faintly crawling over his shoulders.
A blond woman who looked, at first glance, like an assistant, got out of the car. She was young, neat, clipboard in hand, hair pulled back tight.
John's eyes narrowed the moment she stopped beside Waller.
'Ah! Ancient witchcraft magic. Enchantress, huh?' He thought.
"Well, well," Harley muttered under her breath. "That one smells like HR and human sacrifice."
Maureen's gaze lingered on the blond woman for a second longer than necessary. "She's giving off a creepy vibe."
"Ancient magic," Hippolyta mumbled.
---
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