The threat outside really wasn't much. Thea decided the arrangement Diana had proposed was actually rather amusing — and besides, it had been her own fault for starting things.
Pinned arms meant the padded coat she usually wore was completely out of the question. Her Divine Vestment robe, on the other hand, was entirely unaffected. She gave a light, graceful spin and slipped it on — both hands clasped behind her back, radiating the practiced composure of a seasoned master.
Diana, with a smile playing at the corners of her mouth and triumph written all over her face, clasped on her battle armor.
The two women dissolved the soundproof barrier. The heroines soaking in the hot spring did a collective double-take at the sight of them fully dressed.
Several heroines with enhanced senses immediately detected the disturbance outside. The pool erupted — a magnificent surge of motion as everyone began getting out and changing.
Zatanna and Raven, both magic-users, were the fastest by far. They shed the water from their bodies in an instant, clothes on, done.
The others with powers were equally creative — ice, fire, electricity, plant manipulation — each one used her abilities to dry off and suit up in seconds.
The non-powered heroines were a beat slower, but only a beat. How to change out of civilian clothes and into a battle suit as fast as humanly possible was lesson one, day one, for every hero team in existence.
Barbara and Laurel moved with practiced efficiency. Aside from faint damp streaks in their hair, they looked exactly as they always did.
"I thought Star City was supposed to have decent law and order," said Vixen — the Zambesi heroine, who used her totem to channel an animal spirit and get a look at the threat in the distance. She had the expression of someone deeply unsurprised. "Guess not."
"Ha." Thea was magnanimous about it. "Just a minor headache. Consider it an opening act for the Justice Girls' very first gathering — a bit of live entertainment."
She glanced over at Shado on the far side of the pool, who had already pulled on her green hood and picked up her bow. Thea lowered her voice and murmured to Vixen, "I heard you know Oliver too — don't tell me you and my brother also...?"
"Don't be ridiculous. We're just good friends," Vixen said flatly.
Thea kept her opinions to herself. Women who hadn't been linked to Oliver were rarer than unicorns, but she wasn't going to press the point.
Even if this impromptu entertainment hadn't been her idea, she felt there was something genuinely memorable about assembling every heroine in one place and going out to fight together — so she pulled Felicity, Lois, and Iris into the group as well.
Those with flight ability launched directly from the rooftop. The rest had magic, powers, or glider wings. The truly flight-impaired were scooped up by Carol Ferris of the Star Sapphire Corps, her ring conjuring a glowing construct that swept them all along.
A crowd of heroines streaked through the air toward the commotion, every single one curious about whoever had been stupid enough to cause trouble here, tonight, of all nights.
The attackers and defenders were locked in a fierce exchange — sustained gunfire crackling through the street. For security, Thea had hired Blackwater's all-female division to handle protection detail. Every last one of them was a combat veteran. The generous pay, combined with the knowledge of exactly who they were protecting, meant they were trading fire with the intruders in a completely composed fashion.
When Thea's group arrived, a low, unhurried male voice was saying, "Oh my? Someone important must be inside. I only wanted to take a look around..."
He didn't finish the sentence. A cluster of figures dropped from the sky and cut him off. Someone who can fly under their own power in this era is almost never a pushover — his eyes swept across the assembled group.
Thea wasn't wearing her signature padded coat. The hooded Divine Vestment she had on was far less recognizable. Diana, however, was unmistakable — there was almost no one in the world who wouldn't recognize Wonder Woman. The middle-aged man's gaze narrowed slightly. He hadn't expected to run into superheroes just by following a stray magical energy reading.
He scanned left and right. No sign of Superman. No sign of Batman. That was reassuring. The male heroes had always overshadowed the women — even the celebrated Batgirl and others who'd been active for years barely registered on this man's personal threat radar.
"Anyone know who this is?" Thea asked the group, utterly unbothered, as though he wasn't standing right there. She had a hunch, but she wanted confirmation.
"He's the Shadow Sorcerer's fellow disciple — Damien Darhk," Sara Lance, the White Canary, said in a perfectly even tone. "Word is he knows some magic. On any normal day he'd be a serious problem." She paused. "With this many heroines on scene, he'd be finished one kick at a time."
So it is him. Thea looked at the pale, heavy-set man standing in the street. The main villain of Arrow Season 4 — and he'd managed to bumble right to her doorstep. Of all the rotten luck.
"Same name as Damian?" Raven, ever the darkly amused one, stepped forward to volunteer. "Let me deal with him. What gives him the right to share that name?"
"Me! Me! My energy weapons are incredible!" Stargirl shot her hand into the air like she was answering a question in class, then charged forward — only to look around and realize the total headcount below, including Darhk and his mercenaries, barely cracked thirty. This barely counts as a warmup.
"And me—" Supergirl's knuckles were itching after a full day of getting pounded by Alex.
"You've got a nerve!" Damien Darhk was not accustomed to being dismissed. In his estimation, aside from Diana, this entire collection of women posed zero threat to his formidable magical abilities. He was both thinking it and acting on it — his right hand shot open, and an invisible shockwave of force surged upward toward the assembled heroines.
His twenty-odd fully-armed mercenaries raised their weapons and opened fire.
Who would step up to meet it? Thea glanced at Zatanna, then at Raven. In the end it was the dark princess who lost patience — Raven backhanded Darhk's magic aside with one lazy sweep of her arm. No finesse. No technique. Pure brute force, like swatting a fly.
"This fight isn't worth my time," Thea said with serene detachment. "Anyone who wants to play, go down and have fun. Don't kill them. The rest go to Star City PD afterward. Their leader goes to the Oversight Commission." She gestured vaguely. "You're welcome."
Stargirl was already diving. The rest of the heroines exchanged glances, trying to figure out whether these goons were paid actors or just extraordinarily unlucky.
With cheerful laughter, they each picked a target.
"Kara — remember this morning's drills. No powers," Alex grabbed Supergirl's arm and whispered sternly. Kara sighed and resigned herself to fighting like a regular person — throwing honest punches and kicks at a bewildered mercenary.
Thea, catching Diana's amused look, casually picked one for herself as well.
Hands still bound behind her back? Irrelevant. Her psionic ability wasn't impaired in the slightest. She seized a hapless mercenary with her mind, muffled his scream, and sent him spinning up — caught him — spun him up again. The man experienced the sensation of being a human yo-yo operated by someone who wasn't touching him.