[Paradise Island — 1917]
Amazonians were never polite to intruders, regardless of circumstance—least of all an intruder who had dared to provoke their queen and refused to surrender.
There was no need for Hippolyta to give the order. The warriors surrounding Jack Kadere had already launched their attack.
Amazonians never feared battle.
A lethal rain of arrows poured down. Jack leaned back sharply, one hand catching the sand as he twisted aside, the other sweeping through the air to snatch several arrow shafts mid-flight. He landed in a crouch and whipped them back using a League of Assassins' throwing technique.
Thwip-thwip-thwip.
Several Amazonians charging with spears and short swords collapsed, shafts buried in shoulders and thighs.
Jack surged forward before they hit the ground, fists and feet striking like a predator descending on prey.
These Amazonians were strong—truly strong—but against someone who had copied the combat skills of dozens of the world's deadliest fighters, they stood no chance. Without even stacking his power, not one of them could endure a single blow. Warriors crumpled in rapid succession. Even Hippolyta, who drew her sword and swung with furious precision, took a boot to the chest and went down hard.
Jack caught her wrists before she could recover, wrenched them behind her back, and pinned her with one hand. He straddled her spine, scooped up her fallen blade, and pressed the edge against her throat.
"Since you won't let me ride the horse," he said pleasantly, "I'll settle for riding a person."
Hippolyta thrashed beneath him. Sand ground into her cheek.
"Don't blame me," Jack continued. "Blame the ones who dumped me here. I warned them they'd regret it. Whatever suffering comes to Paradise Island—that's on them."
"You will pay for this." Hippolyta's voice was a snarl through clenched teeth. "I promise you."
"Who's going to make me pay? You?" Jack tilted his head, amused. "Diana the Godkiller? Old Zeus? Surely not Ares—he'd burn this island to ash before he helped you."
Hippolyta went rigid beneath him.
"You—who are you?" Her voice dropped, cold with shock. "How do you know these things?"
The Godkiller was Paradise Island's greatest secret. The weapon meant to slay Ares, God of War. Everyone believed the Godkiller was a sword, but only Hippolyta knew the truth: the Godkiller was not a blade at all.
It was her daughter.
Only a god could kill a god.
This stranger possessed terrifying strength, spoke of the Godkiller with casual familiarity, and referred to Zeus and Ares without the faintest trace of reverence. Who was he?
"Queen!"
"Mother!"
Two voices rang out from across the beach. Hoofbeats thundered closer. The first rider was Antiope, general of Paradise Island and Hippolyta's sister. She took in the scattered warriors and the queen pinned beneath a stranger's weight—and without slowing, she nocked an arrow and loosed it at Jack's skull.
The second rider wore golden armor that left her shoulders bare, a battle skirt that ended high on her thighs, and her dark hair pulled back in a single braid. Strong jaw, high cheekbones, full lips set in a hard line. Tall—nearly six feet—with the broad shoulders and defined arms of someone who had trained for war since childhood. Her eyes burned with fury and fear in equal measure.
Diana. The Godkiller herself. Wonder Woman.
"Now it's getting interesting," Jack murmured.
He flicked the sword casually. Antiope's arrow split down the middle, the halves hissing past his ears. The smile hadn't left his face as he launched himself forward.
Mid-leap, his body vaulted clean over Antiope's horse. His blade cracked against her bow arm as he passed, knocking her sideways out of the saddle. She hit the sand hard and rolled.
Jack landed in a crouch—directly in Diana's path.
Her horse was slower than her aunt's. She hadn't closed the distance yet.
Jack's fist cocked back and swung.
CRACK.
The punch connected squarely with the horse's skull. Bone caved. The animal's forelegs buckled instantly, pitching forward, and Diana was flung from the saddle like a stone from a sling.
Her body carved a long furrow through the sand before skidding to a halt beside her mother.
"Mother—are you all right?" Diana scrambled to help Hippolyta rise, her voice tight with urgency. "Who is he? Did Ares send him?"
"I don't know."
Hippolyta's gaze was locked on the stranger. Behind him, Antiope had already regained her feet. She nocked another arrow and charged, firing as she ran.
Amazonian archery emphasized raw power over finesse. Each arrow flew straight and true—but predictable. Orthodox. The furious general loosed shot after shot in rapid succession, and Jack deflected every single one with lazy sweeps of his borrowed blade.
The instant Antiope closed to melee range, she swung her bow like a club.
Jack's sword blurred.
Shnk.
The longbow split cleanly in two. His follow-up kick caught her square in the chest.
Her breastplate cracked down the center. Antiope crashed onto her back and did not rise.
"Antiope!"
Diana was already moving. The woman who had trained her since childhood lay motionless in the sand—and Diana did not hesitate. She launched herself skyward, soaring high, then plunged down at Jack like a meteor.
BOOM.
The beach cratered beneath her landing.
Diana raised her head, searching for her target—
—and found a fist haloed in golden light filling her vision.
CRACK.
The impact sent her spinning. Sky and sand traded places. She slammed into the ground twenty feet away and lay there, chest heaving, the world tilting and blurring around her.
So much pain. So dizzy.
She had never felt anything like this. She had been beaten so thoroughly she couldn't even stand.
Golden light rippled across Jack Kadere's body. Divine power flooded through him—warm and intoxicating, utterly unlike anything he had copied before.
He had copied Diana's abilities.
As a demigod, Diana had been blessed by the gods of Olympus from birth. Every aspect of her being was enhanced, and she carried within her a fragment of true divine power. The old gods—Zeus, Poseidon, the rest—had faded, replaced by New Gods like Darkseid. But even so, even as a mere demigod, Diana's power was extraordinary.
The pity was that she didn't know it yet. She hadn't faced the truth of what she was. She had barely scratched the surface of her own strength.
Azure lightning crackled to life around Jack's arms, coiling through the golden glow like a serpent through sunlight. Two radically different energies merged and surged, washing over his body in alternating waves.
He looked like something descended from heaven.
Hippolyta stared at him, her face bloodless.
"Ares..." The name slipped from her lips before she could stop it.