With her long legs dangling back and forth, Diana offered no resistance while being carried over Jack Kadere's shoulder. Whether she was honoring her promise out of fear that defiance would trigger a massacre of the Amazons, or whether she simply hadn't recovered from the shock of the God-Slaying Sword's destruction, even she couldn't say.
Jack surveyed the shocked and despairing faces of the gathered warriors and chuckled.
"Untie them all," he told Artemis. "As long as they don't resist, life continues as before. I'm only interested in her."
He punctuated the statement with a firm pat on Diana's backside, then hummed a little tune as he strolled toward the palace to prepare for some morning exercise.
Without the Lasso of Truth's influence, I wonder if she'll struggle. Can't expect her to be as proactive as Helena or Felicity—but resistance and struggle have their own appeal. The achievement of forcing Wonder Woman... now that's thrilling.
Artemis gave the order in a daze to release Hippolyta and the others. The newly freed Amazons still seemed bewildered, their movements sluggish as the chains fell away.
Hippolyta's expression shifted constantly as she watched her daughter being carried off.
"My Queen, if he truly traveled from the future, he won't stay long." Artemis's voice was hollow. "Diana still has time... time to seek revenge against him."
She understood Hippolyta's anguish, but sacrifices in war were inevitable. Just as Artemis had sacrificed herself by pledging loyalty to Jack Kadere, Diana's sacrifice protected Paradise Island.
It was worth it.
---
a/n: oops, I jumped the gun.
Bang!
Diana hit the mattress hard, and Jack leaned down to kiss her.
"Mmph—"
Pain flared at the corner of his mouth. He pulled back with a grunt.
He touched his lip with one finger. Bright red blood smeared across the pad. Jack smiled at the indignant, resolute woman beneath him.
"Now that has some kick to it."
If she could resist and chose not to, she wouldn't be Wonder Woman.
"Yesterday's vibe was all wrong," he said, letting out a low, wicked laugh. "Today... it's finally right."
He leaned in again.
Diana's arms shot up, her bracers vibrating violently as she channeled divine power. The shockwave blasted Jack off her body and slammed him straight into the stone wall. Dust rained from the ceiling.
Rolling his shoulders, Jack stood and fixed Diana with a predatory stare—the look of a beast ready to hunt.
He didn't need a mirror. He knew exactly how he looked right now: every inch the demon king, the final-boss villain destined to get pinned and thrashed by the protagonist at the story's climax.
Diana's hand brushed something on the bed. The Lasso of Truth—he'd left it behind. Her eyes lit up. She snatched it, unfurled the glowing cord, and faced him.
Round two. Imminent.
BOOM!
A deafening crash tore through the air from outside. Both of them snapped their attention toward the window. Flames shot skyward beyond the glass, thick smoke billowing. Screams and panicked shouts echoed across the compound.
Diana's expression shifted. She turned and hurled herself at the window.
CRASH!
Glass shattered as her body punched through and dropped from the height.
She froze the moment her feet touched earth.
In the square ahead, fire roared and smoke churned. Several Amazon corpses lay sprawled across the stones—and the living were killing each other. Had her mother and the loyalists begun resisting, clashing with Artemis's faction?
No. That wasn't right.
Diana spotted Artemis fighting hand-to-hand with her own warriors.
They were slaughtering one another.
"Stop! Everyone, stop!" Diana sprinted toward the chaos. "What are you doing? Why are you killing each other?"
She waded in, using her hands and the lasso to wrench apart combatants locked in murderous grapples.
"Mother!"
Swish!
A sword sliced past Diana's ribs, close enough to shave the fabric of her armor. Hippolyta was already winding up for another strike.
"Mother!" Diana caught her arms, shouting into her face.
Hippolyta's eyes flickered. It took a long moment for recognition to surface.
"What is happening here?" The queen's voice was hoarse. "Could it be—"
"It's not him." Diana shook her head, her tone calm and certain. "There are other intruders."
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Slow, mocking applause echoed through the firelight. The flames parted like curtains, and a figure strolled out from between them.
A woman.
She wore a form-fitting black dress, its fabric slashed and riddled with deliberate holes. Her hair was buzzed nearly to the scalp on the sides, longer on top, styled in a severe undercut. Pitch-black eyeshadow ringed her eyes, and her lips were painted the same shade of void. The overall effect was unmistakably Gothic—theatrical and cruel.
"Who are you?" Diana demanded, dropping into a fighting stance.
"I am your sister," the woman replied, smiling.
Sister?
Diana's gaze swept the carnage—the bodies, the blood, the dazed warriors still trembling from whatever madness had seized them. Her expression hardened.
"I don't have a sister like you."
"She really is your sister."
Jack Kadere's voice drifted down as he descended from above, landing lightly at Diana's side. He looked thoroughly entertained.
"I have to admire that old lecher Zeus," Jack said. "The man could father children with literally anyone. Your siblings include more than just Ares—this punk-rock princess is named Eris."
"The Goddess of Discord?" Diana's eyes widened.
"The very same." Jack nodded. "The one who triggered the Trojan War with a golden apple. Your mother should have met her. After all, years ago, humans, the gods of Olympus, and Atlantis joined forces to repel Steppenwolf's invasion of Earth."
Diana glanced instinctively at Hippolyta. The queen's expression was grim, her voice low. "She should be dead. The gods... the gods were all killed by Ares."
"Pfft." Eris's laugh was derisive. "If the gods were truly dead, you wouldn't have survived this long. My jealous mother Hera would never let any woman who bedded my father Zeus draw breath."
Hippolyta's face went pale.
"What are you doing on Paradise Island?" Diana's voice dropped, hard and commanding.
"Paradise Island?" Eris tilted her head, feigning confusion. "I thought this place had already become a slave island. That's why I came—to help you, dear sister." Her gaze slid to Jack, amusement glittering in her dark-rimmed eyes. "As for you... how did you acquire divine power? Could it be you're also one of my father's bastards?"
"I am your father," Jack said, grinning.
Eris blinked. Then she burst out laughing. "I'm afraid my mother wouldn't agree."
"Doesn't matter." Jack shrugged. "I don't mind conquering her in bed."
Eris paused. She lifted her chin, addressing the heavens. "Mother, did you hear that? Someone wants to conquer you in bed."
The sky remained unchanged. Whether Hera hadn't heard or simply chose not to respond, no answer came.
"Undo your tricks," Diana snapped, raising her voice as she readied herself to strike. "Or I'll make you."
"Wanna try?"
Eris arched an eyebrow, her smile widening.
The words had barely left her mouth before Diana launched herself forward.
BANG!
No one clearly saw what happened. One instant Diana was mid-charge; the next, her body hurtled backward, smashing through a stone wall and collapsing into the rubble.
"Weakling," Eris said.