Paradise Island. Legend held that Zeus himself had created it. A magical barrier surrounded the island, rendering it invisible to modern technology.
From a distance, there was nothing but endless ocean. Anyone who drew closer would find themselves lost in a disorienting fog—so thick and strange that ordinary sailors never dared venture in.
The Waverider's small expedition ship passed through the fog, and the world transformed.
The haze vanished. A clear blue sky stretched overhead, layered with white clouds. The seawater below was so transparent it seemed to glow. And rising from its center was a magnificent island.
Sheer cliffs. Lush forests. In the distance, a cluster of buildings crowned the heights.
"This is Paradise Island," Sara murmured. "It's beautiful."
She set the ship down on the shore.
The cabin door opened. Sara Lance and Jack Kadere stepped out onto golden sand.
Jack inhaled deeply, a satisfied grin spreading across his face. "I'm already starting to like this place. Sure you want to leave me here?"
"I've seen what you can do, but the Amazons aren't ordinary people. Don't cause trouble—for me or for yourself. Find somewhere to hide. I'll come back for you soon."
Before leaving the Waverider, Sara had pulled everything Gideon had on Paradise Island. She meant every word.
She wasn't worried Jack would cause problems here. She was worried he'd get himself killed.
This was Paradise Island, after all.
Jack shrugged, unbothered. "Don't say I didn't warn you. Don't come crying to me later."
Sara snorted softly, shook her head, and climbed back into the ship.
Jack watched the vessel rise and vanish into the sky, then turned to face the island with a lazy smile.
He'd always thought the name was apt. For the Amazons, this place was a hidden paradise, cut off from the outside world. For a man? An entire island populated solely by women?
That was a different kind of paradise.
Should I shout something dramatic? 'Paradise Island—here I come!'?
He considered it seriously for a moment, then dropped the idea.
Because the Amazons had already found him.
Atop the cliffs—easily thirty meters high—several figures appeared. Helmets. Leather armor. Bows drawn. Their skin tones varied, but every one of them looked carved from the same warrior mold: sharp-featured, powerfully built, no softness anywhere.
*Thwip. Thwip. Thwip.*
They leaped from the cliff.
In midair, they drew and loosed. Arrows bit into the rock face, trailing ropes. The warriors swung down, landed smoothly, and had fresh arrows nocked before their boots touched sand.
They advanced on Jack in a cautious semicircle, arrowheads gleaming.
The whole sequence had taken maybe ten seconds. Fluid. Precise. Practiced.
Jack didn't flinch. His dark eyes moved from one warrior to the next, openly curious.
"Hi." He flashed a bright smile. "Hello."
The Amazons glared back in stony silence.
Jack clicked his tongue. Rude.
Hoofbeats thundered in the distance—and then, suddenly, much closer. A group of mounted warriors arrived in moments.
"My Queen." One of the archers inclined her head toward the lead rider. "How should we deal with this intruder?"
The woman on the white horse was unmistakably different from the others.
Long golden hair. A gleaming diadem resting against her brow. Leather armor that left her shoulders bare, layered beneath a flowing fleece-lined cloak. Her thighs gripped the horse's flanks, muscular and exposed above knee-high boots of burnished gold.
Hippolyta. Queen of the Amazons. Mother of Diana.
"Only him?" Hippolyta asked.
"Only him, my Queen."
"Bring him. We'll question him properly."
She began to turn her horse—
"Can I ride your horse?"
Every Amazon went rigid.
Hippolyta's head snapped back toward him. Her eyes narrowed.
"Intruder. Are you mocking me?"
Jack spread his hands, still smiling pleasantly. "I just want to try riding a horse. You don't exactly find good ones back where I'm from. And yours is the best-looking one here." He tilted his head, almost wistful. "I'm no prince on a white steed, but still—a guy can dream."
"Seize him."
Hippolyta's voice was ice.
The Amazons surged forward, faces hard with righteous fury.
"Legends," Jack murmured, watching them come. "I did warn you not to regret this."
He crouched low, shoulders hunched, as if surrendering—
That's it? He's giving up already?
A few of the warriors almost sneered. All that bravado, and he folded the moment they moved. Typical.
Infinite Superposition. Twenty times.
Jack's fist drove into the sand.
BOOM.
The beach cratered. A shockwave roared outward, hurling the nearest Amazons off their feet. Horses screamed. Riders tumbled. Hippolyta hit the ground in a tangle of limbs and golden hair.
Jack straightened slowly, withdrawing his fist from the depression in the earth.
He looked at the stunned faces around him and sighed.
"Why does it always have to be like this?" He shook his head. "I just wanted to ride your horse. Not you."