With the heavy gun destroyed, the momentum of the battle shifted completely.
"Move!" Steve shouted.
The group pushed forward out of the trench and toward the village of Veld, where the Germans had been holding the civilians hostage.
Gunfire erupted again as German soldiers rushed to stop them.
Steve took cover behind a broken cart and fired his pistol, dropping a soldier who had just stepped out from a doorway.
"Sameer!" he called.
Sameer dashed across the muddy street and slid behind a shattered wall. He fired quickly with a rifle he had taken from one of the fallen soldiers.
"Two on the balcony!" he shouted.
Charlie had already spotted them.
He rested his rifle against a broken beam, took a steady breath, and squeezed the trigger.
Two precise shots rang out.
Both German soldiers collapsed from the balcony above.
Chief moved silently through the side alley, faster than the others expected. He came up behind a group of soldiers attempting to flank them and knocked one unconscious with the butt of his rifle before disarming another.
"Clear!" Chief called out.
Ahead of them, Diana was already inside the village square.
German soldiers rushed her from multiple directions.
One fired point blank.
Diana raised her shield and deflected the shot before slamming the shield forward into the soldier's chest, sending him crashing through a wooden table.
Another lunged at her with a bayonet.
She twisted aside, caught the rifle, and flipped the man over her shoulder before knocking him out with the hilt of her sword.
The remaining soldiers hesitated.
Then Daniel stepped into the square beside her.
"Well," he said calmly, looking at the remaining Germans. "This seems unfair."
The soldiers fired.
Daniel casually stepped forward.
Before the bullets even reached him, the shadows around Daniel twisted and surged forward like living hands, grabbing several soldiers and slamming them hard into the ground.
The remaining Germans froze in shock.
Then—
A sharp crack echoed across the village.
A sniper rifle fired from the upper window of a distant building.
The bullet tore through the air toward them.
Daniel glanced toward the building.
"Well… I'll take care of it," he said.
His body sank into the shadows at his feet and vanished.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Then from the rooftop of the sniper's building—
A massive black skeletal hand suddenly erupted from the shadows.
It rose into the air like something pulled straight out of a nightmare and slammed down with crushing force.
The entire building collapsed under the impact, stone and wood exploding outward as the hand disappeared as quickly as it came.
Silence fell over the street.
Sameer slowly lowered his rifle.
"Hey, Steve…" he said cautiously. "Already you tell me—did you invite some kind of witch or demon to this mission?"
He pointed toward the collapsing building.
"I mean, that lady at least still looks human. She blocks bullets and throws soldiers around, sure… but that guy?"
Sameer shook his head.
"He disappears into shadows and summons giant skeleton hands out of buildings. That man is definitely not normal."
"That man…" Steve said, glancing toward the ruined building where the sniper nest had just collapsed. "He has… some history."
Sameer raised an eyebrow.
"And very strange circumstances," Steve continued, rubbing the back of his neck. "Circumstances I'm pretty sure you don't want to know about."
Sameer stared at him for a moment.
"You're telling me there's an explanation for that?" he said, pointing toward the crushed building.
Steve sighed.
"Yes."
"And you're not going to tell us?"
Steve looked at the battlefield where Diana was still fighting through the last of the German soldiers.
"Trust me," he said. "You'll sleep better if you don't ask."
After the German soldiers were driven out, the fighting finally stopped.
For the first time in weeks, the village was quiet.
The villagers slowly began stepping out from their homes and cellars. Some were still frightened, others looked exhausted—but many of them smiled with relief when they saw the soldiers who had freed them.
An elderly man approached the group and shook Steve's hand repeatedly while thanking them in broken English.
Children ran around Diana, staring at her shield and armor with wide eyes.
Sameer laughed softly. "Well, this is certainly a better reception than usual."
Not long after, a man hurried over carrying a large camera.
"You! Please stand together!" he said excitedly. "The people must remember who saved the village."
The group exchanged amused looks but eventually agreed.
They gathered in the center of the square.
Diana stood in the middle, still holding her shield. Daniel stood beside her, casually holding her hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Steve, Sameer, Charlie, and Chief stood on either side of them.
The photographer quickly adjusted the camera.
"Stay still!"
Daniel raised his left hand and flashed a relaxed peace sign, looking far too casual for someone who had just destroyed half the German defense line.
The camera flashed.
And the moment was captured forever.
***
A/N: Hello guys! The Wonder Woman arc will probably end in about 10 chapters.
I wanted to ask—are you all okay with the next arc being based on "In Time" movie? It's one of my favorite movies, and there's barely any fanfiction about it. Even though it's a more modern, normal-world setting, I really like the idea of how the world would react if someone like Luke suddenly appeared there.
Let me know—if you're interested, say yes in the comments. Otherwise, I'll go straight to the DC modern-verse.
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