Bang. Bang. Bang.
On the cramped dock, Diana and Firstborn clashed with brutal intensity.
She was completely outmatched.
Her equipment had been upgraded. She was the new God of War now—no longer a demigod but a true deity holding a divine office, and a powerful one at that. None of it mattered. Firstborn was a tank barreling down a highway, and it didn't matter if you were a sports car or a limousine—you got crushed all the same.
"This is painful to watch."
Jack Kadere observed for a moment, then tilted his head toward Diana.
"Promise me one condition, and I'll deal with him."
"What condition?" Diana blocked a hammering blow, barely. "What are you trying to pull now?"
"Just tell me yes or no."
"If you promise to restore my mother and the other Amazons on Themyscira—turn them back to normal—I'll agree!"
Jack laughed, genuinely amused. "You've changed. Used to be such an innocent thing. Now you're negotiating."
"Do you agree or not!"
Diana caught Firstborn's descending fists with both hands, arms trembling under the weight.
"Fine. I promise."
…
"Hmph. Overestimating yourself."
Cassandra's sneer cut through the chaos from the sidelines. "Who do you think you are? No man or god can stop Firstborn."
Before Jack could respond, Lilah spoke up beside him.
"Who do you think you are? No man or god speaks to my Master like that."
She waved her hand. A bolt of fire streaked toward Cassandra.
Cassandra was a demigod, but her power was Word-Spirit—and it had been crippled. Even at full strength, she was more mouth than muscle. She scrambled to dodge, barely avoiding the flames.
Lilah pressed the attack, rising into the air. From above, she hurled fire continuously, driving Cassandra into a panicked retreat across the dock.
"Hurry—help me!"
Diana had no time to check on Lilah. Firstborn's blows were coming harder and faster. She was barely holding on.
BANG.
A sound like the sky splitting.
Jack Kadere stood exactly where Firstborn had been a heartbeat ago, fist slowly retracting. Firstborn skidded across the ground twenty feet away.
Jack glanced at Diana with a smile. "What were you saying?"
Fast.
Diana hadn't even tracked the movement. One moment the crushing pressure was there; the next, Firstborn was airborne.
"You keep getting stronger," she said, expression complicated.
"No." Jack shook his head, still smiling. "I've always been this strong. I just haven't met anyone who required it until now."
Were all his previous opponents simply that weak?
Diana thought of Eris. Ares. Both crushed like afterthoughts. She still had no idea where his true limits lay—or if they existed at all.
Wind howled across the dock.
Firstborn launched himself forward, fist already swinging.
Jack met him head-on.
The collision sent Diana stumbling back several steps. Seawater beside them surged upward, hanging suspended like a frozen waterfall. The ground beneath both men cratered instantly, and for a moment—an instant that felt like an eternity—time itself seemed to stop.
"You're going to lose," Jack said, grinning.
"Hmph." Firstborn's only response.
They struck again, almost simultaneously.
Firstborn's technique was crude—primitive, savage—but his raw strength and regeneration were extraordinary. His divine power carried something else, too. Something that pressed against the mind like a physical weight.
Hatred.
Pure, concentrated hatred. It radiated from him in waves, violent and cruel, as if it wanted to slaughter every god in existence and tear heaven and earth apart.
Fight everything.
Kill everything.
The pressure made Diana's expression turn grim. Made Hera's legs buckle, dropping her to the ground. Made the woman in the rumpled shirt want to turn and flee.
"Diana's power is weaker than yours," Jack said. "Even her demigod-era strength stacked fivefold wouldn't match you."
His aura shifted.
"But you're still trash."
Hatred erupted from Jack—stronger than Firstborn's, denser, almost visible in the air. The kind that made Diana's knees give out, forcing her down, trembling. The kind that changed the color of the sky and sent palpitations through the gods watching from Olympus.
"You—" Firstborn's expression twisted. This power was familiar. This was his power.
"Infinite Superposition. Double."
Jack rarely announced it anymore—too theatrical—but right now, he felt exhilarated.
His eyes gleamed as he threw the punch.
BANG.
Firstborn blocked. The impact drove him back—one step, two steps. Before the third, Jack's fist was already there.
The blow caught Firstborn's face, snapping his head sideways. Before he could fall, Jack's other fist hammered him back the other direction.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Like a punching bag, Firstborn rocked back and forth under the barrage. A dozen blows. His face became unrecognizable—features still present but the skin entirely gone, raw red muscle exposed beneath.
Jack leaped.
His fist came down like a meteor.
CRASH.
Firstborn slammed into the earth. The ground caved inward. His body bounced once, twice, then went still.
Motionless.
The same Firstborn who had killed Lennox with a single strike. Who had beaten Diana without effort. Crushed and laid out by Jack Kadere.
The display of power was terrifying.
"You really can take a hit." Jack examined his injured fist. The damage was already healing, flesh knitting back together at visible speed.
He turned to Diana.
She lowered her gaze, avoiding his eyes.
"Are you hiding from me?" Jack released his divine power. The monstrous pressure—the hatred—vanished instantly.
Diana exhaled and looked up again. "The way you looked just now. It was terrifying."
"I'm not going to eat you. What are you afraid of?" He paused. "Actually—wait. Can I eat people now?"
Firstborn had an ability to absorb language and memory through consumption. When he'd crawled out of the Earth's core, he'd devoured a scientist who discovered him just to learn English.
Jack filed that thought away for later.