Diana was surprised to see that Nathan was still conscious and from the looks of it, he was seriously pissed, but what truly astonished her was the fact that he was able to transform.
He had been talking about it in anticipation, the first step to unlock a Saiyan's true potential as he would describe it. She always thought he was exaggerating, maybe to preserve his pride, since he couldn't easily accept that she was stronger than him. But now she knew he clearly wasn't exaggerating.
She had felt that he was stronger than before when she hit him with her shield. He felt even stronger than when he used his Ikari to boost his strength just a week ago. Even now she felt she should still be able to handle him even if he used his Ikari state, if barely, and with the help of the other members of the Justice League.
She was confident in her prowess and that of her team. How could she not? It was a strength that she had cultivated with her loved one's help.
Because of Nathan's training and his sparring and suggestions, she and the others had grown stronger, faster, and more skilled. Not only that, she was able to make good use of her divine blessings and reach heights that could be said to be blasphemous.
Even Nathan, with his endless pride, had acknowledged that he could only compete with her if he became a Super Saiyan. A legend that was told by his people to have last appeared a thousand years ago.
Now she had to reconsider the thought that she could beat him. The strength he exuded was palpable. His aura soared into the sky as if it was a pillar supporting the heavens. His already surprisingly high strength ascended to heights that were clearly out of her reach, but she had to try. She clenched the hand that wasn't holding her shield to a fist, still hesitant to draw her sword at Nathan.
The tension was high as they stared at each other until Nathan broke it by moving. Her eyes widened when he just raised his arm and pointed his palm at her. The sparring sessions against him and the fights she had seen him in against other people made her caution skyrocket by the simple gesture.
She knew what was coming. It could be felt in the surrounding atmosphere, creating goosebumps from the static electricity. She didn't even see the attack built up when she protectively raised her shield.
She didn't even see the ki beam, not daring to stick her head out of the protective shadow of her shield, but she felt it. It slammed into her shield with vengeance, her stance almost faltering in an instant, but she held strong. The soil made of grass and rocks gave in underneath her feet as if it were sand on the beach. Her feet sliced through it like hot knives through butter as she was pushed backward.
She couldn't angle her shield since the pressure was too high to adjust it and the attack area too even, so she could only hold on. She supported her shield with her other arm and her shoulder. It was the only thing stopping the ki beam. The searing hot attack only separated by her divine shield, her lifeline.
The ki beam divided into several streams behind her after hitting her shield. Dispersing like a waterfall on a rock. She could see how the little drops and stray beams of pure energy devastated the environment with frightening destructive energy as they pulverized anything it came in contact with.
She knew Nathan had worked on controlling the area affected by his attacks, but that didn't make the attack any less potent. In fact, the opposite was the case. Because of the small range of the attack, it grew in strength and in its ability to cause destruction.
Her arms and her shoulder were getting sore from keeping the attack at bay and it didn't seem to lose any power even after she was being pushed for several kilometers. Though she knew that the attack had barely lasted a second. Nathan had probably already used this moment to head back to the demon's house. She needed to stop him!
She gasped slightly when her back hit the side of a mountain. Her momentum wasn't hindered by the mountain at all as she was pushed through it. Diana's surroundings were only lightened up by the attack that pushed her through solid rocks as if it was nothing.
Only after she exited the mountain and was carried on for a few kilometers did the attack vanish. It fizzled out like a water hose running out of water.
She lowered her shield, taking deep breaths as she rolled her sore shoulder and looked at the path of devastation left in her trail. Even though the ki beam was only the size of her shield, the temperature alone had burned a 5-meter-wide path through the surroundings. The walls of the hole in the mountain were glowing red with dripping liquefied stones.
She didn't stop to look at the damage and just pushed herself off the ground, leaping back into battle. She was just glad that there weren't any near neighbors, while the few that were around were already brought away by Zatara beforehand.
While running back, she heard a loud booming noise akin to a cannon shot. From afar, she could see the two figures clashing.
Superman punched at the now golden-haired Nathan's face after he shot Diana away. His punch didn't land. Nathan caught it with his palm. The resulting shock wave making their hair flutter and the dirt disperse around them.
It was a shocking sight to beholden, but Superman didn't stop to think about it. He knew he couldn't give Nathan time to retaliate. Even when Nathan was weaker, he was a troublesome opponent, not to mention now that he became a Super Saiyan and seemed to be even stronger than Superman.
He quickly punched out with his other hand, only for it to be caught again. Interlocking his hands with Superman's hands as they struggled for dominance. At least Superman gritted his teeth while Nathan had a sneer on his face. "You might have grown stronger..." Nathan commented before Diana saw him pull his head back before slamming it into Superman's face.
Superman grimaced as his nose broke and blood spurted out, staining Nathan's face with blood. With a tornado kick, Nathan sent Superman skipping over the forest's floor and through several trees that broke like twigs in the wind.
"...but you are no match for me." Nathan finished before he set his gaze back to the demon's house. Seeing this kind of strength, she knew she couldn't hold back any longer. Her hands drifted to her hip before unsheathing her sword, the Sword of Athena.
She rushed towards him and slashed at his back, only for Nathan to easily side-step the attack before slamming his elbow into her raised shield. The clash with her shield created a loud gong with the energy dispersing to their surroundings, pushing all the dirt and rocks away from the impact. The ground cracked.
A lot of dust was stirred up. Her arm holding the shield was trembling hard and before she could do anything, a kick tore through the stirred-up dust into her side, knocking the wind out of her. She slid over the ground for several meters before dropping to the soil that was revealed due to their attacks cracking open the earth.
After stopping, she couldn't help it any longer and drop to a knee. She tried to take a deep breath, failing miserably with the stinging pain of what she assumed was a broken rib.
Nathan appeared next to her. He chopped at her neck. Before he could complete the attack, Superman arrived. Superman had flown at him at breakneck speed and punched out with all his momentum. Nathan leaned back, used his arms on the ground as support before kicking Superman into the sky.
Diana weakly slashed at Nathan, only for him to complete his backflip before stomping onto the blade. She didn't drop the blade and paid for it immediately as Nathan kicked her head like a football. Blood splattered over the ground as her lip was busted open.
She dropped to the floor, helpless and dizzy, while Nathan continued his path before being stopped by Green Lantern. Green Lantern enveloped Nathan inside a round green barrier, giving Diana and Superman some time to regain their bearings.
Diana stood up on trembling legs. She almost fell over, using her sword as a crutch before she shook her head, trying to disperse the dizziness she felt. She took a step towards Nathan, who had shattered Green Lantern's barrier with a single punch. Her legs accelerated in pace into a jog before she sprinted at full speed. From the corner of her eye, she could see Superman fly back into the battle as well.
Nathan folded Green Lantern with a kick to his stomach, letting him fall to the grass. Green Lantern was in a fetal position, grimacing as he held his stomach.
Just as Nathan wanted to continue his way, a sudden boom sounded out after a red blur slammed into Nathan. The blur continued by carrying Green Lantern away. Nathan took a step back, with his eyes widened as he looked around for the Flash.
Diana mid-run bent her legs, straining all her muscles before mustering a mighty leap towards Nathan with her sword raised. Superman broke the sound barrier with ease and flew directly at Nathan.
Superman arrived first and punched at Nathan's head. Nathan tilted his head out of the way to the side and twisted his body slightly before retaliating with a devastating hook to the chin. The man of steel's trajectory changed at a 90-degree angle as he was sent flying.
Diana had closed in directly afterward, giving him no opportunity to dodge. She slashed down at his torso, only for him to raise his hand. Fierce golden aura surrounded it, blocking her sword dead in its tracks. The aura was stirred up but otherwise left his arm completely unharmed.
Her eyes widened, but she didn't stop. She unleashed a whirlwind of slashes, but all her attacks were blocked with ease. Her shield protected her from the worst counterattacks, deciding to tank all the lighter counters. She was feeling the strain already.
A scream from the house distracted Nathan long enough for her to slam the edge of her shield into his throat. Nathan winced slightly, and she took the opportunity to slash at him again. A thin line on his armor appeared as her sword cut into it. There was no injury. Just as she wanted to pull back, she saw a golden orb fly out of Nathan's hand.
The orb slipped underneath her shield with shocking nimbleness before crashing into and picking her up by the stomach. Being carried several meters into the air until she twisted to the side, letting the orb carry on without her before it exploded brightly. The resulting shock wave created by the explosion coincidentally pushed her towards the house.
Using the momentum, she overtook Nathan, who was being assaulted by the Flash. Her attention turned to the house when the ceiling exploded and several tentacles slammed through Zatara's magic barriers and into Hawkgirl's mace while passing through Martian Manhunter.
From the corner of her eye, she saw a blue blur with a red cape approach the battlefield. First, she thought it was Superman, but she quickly realized that it was his cousin, Supergirl! Supergirl looked at Nathan before turning towards the demon with a shocked expression on her face.
"Supergirl! Help Zatara-" Diana started, but another voice cut through hers.
"Kara, help Raven get away. I can handle these fools!" Nathan called out, making her question his plea for a moment before remembering what Zatara had said about the demon needing another person.
"Hawkgirl, watch out! Supergirl is also being controlled!" Diana's shout made the other woman turn around just fast enough to block Supergirl's punch with her mace.
The force pushed Hawkgirl back. Supergirl didn't relent and continued to pursue her, pressuring Hawkgirl with surprising skill. Diana hadn't known that Supergirl was such a good fighter. She was skilled enough to suppress Hawkgirl.
Supergirl grabbed onto Hawkgirl's mace before using it to throw Hawkgirl away. Hawkgirl opened her wings and almost instantly stopped her ascent. She gritted her teeth and electricity sprung over the surface of her mace as she glared at the younger woman, whose eyes were fiercely glowing red.
Heat vision. The attack was blocked by the mace, giving Diana enough time to assess the situation. Nathan was being hugged by Superman and retaliated by slamming his head back into Superman's face, but the man of steel held on. Nathan struck back with his elbow, loosening Superman's hold. Before Nathan could send Superman flying with a backfist, a red blur saved him.
Nathan raised his hand and fired several ki blasts at Flash, but he was too fast to be hit. Flash had grown tremendously after learning the existence of the speed force, so even Nathan, as a Super Saiyan, looked troubled with that kind of speed. With all his strength, he couldn't quite catch him, but this meant little if they couldn't accomplish their goal.
They couldn't stop him. The red blur slammed into Nathan from behind, but when he tried to grab Flash, he disappeared. A giant green fist slammed into Nathan from the side but a backhand completely obliterated the construct as if it wasn't there before shooting Green Lantern down with a ki blast.
Diana didn't hesitate any longer and headed to the demon's house. The others could delay him for a few minutes. During that time, she needed to take that demon down to let Zatara do his work.
Diana arrived and hovered next to Hawkgirl, telling her to engage the Kryptonian while she would help Zatara. Hawkgirl nodded and held off Supergirl, who wanted to help the demon the moment she saw Diana head towards it. Just as she was about to pressure the demon, the ground rumbled.
Several hover robots shot out of a secret door and attacked Diana and Martian Manhunter, distracting them for just a moment, but that was all the demon needed. They had severely underestimated the demon's strength.
They had thought that Zatara would be enough to contain her, but now the demon suddenly overpowered him. The demon broke through barriers and runes conjured up by Zatara before slamming him into the ground.
Martian Manhunter reacted quickly, becoming intangible to dodge the androids, and instantly brought Zatara out of danger just as another tentacle slammed at him.
A gigantic shadow in the form of a raven with two sets of red eyes surrounded the demon. It grew in intensity now that it wasn't restrained by Zatara anymore. Next to her, Supergirl positioned herself with her fists raised. A moment later, Nathan dropped in front of the two with a snarl on his face. He looked uninjured, with just his armor being broken in some areas.
Flash blurred next to them with a badly battered Green Lantern in tow. Surprisingly, Flash's arm seemed to be broken. He was struggling and sweating heavily. He probably was caught by Nathan. Superman arrived shortly afterward, holding his slightly drooping shoulder while his face was dripping with blood. Zatara and Martian Manhunter looked the best with just a few bruises as they gathered with the other members of the league.
The members of the League had seen better days, especially those that had faced Nathan, but if they needed to, they would continue the fight.
"I will tear you apart!" The demon shouted as she wiped away the blood dripping out of her nose. The Leaguers tensed at that, but the demon, fortunately, and confusingly, calmed down when Nathan pressed a hand on her shoulder.
"She is not a threat." Nathan started as he looked at them. "She had sought help, and I offered her mine." He said as if it was normal and the demon hadn't just announced that it would kill them.
"You can't be serious!" Green Lantern said with venom in his voice, making Nathan frown. "She is a child of Trigon, for fuck's sake! She probably made you think you helped her out, but she is manipulating you!"
The demon frowned. "I didn't manipulate anyone!" Her demonic features receded, revealing a young woman's face.
Diana had lots of experience in detecting lies with and without her lasso, and for some reason, she couldn't tell whether the demon was lying. While they argued, Superman called out to his cousin, "Kara, what are you doing?! Come here."
Hawkgirl's mace sparked, "Don't Superman. She is one of them. The demon already controls her."
Supergirl glared at Hawkgirl. "She is not controlling anyone! I am protecting my friend from getting hurt by you assholes!"
Diana could feel the gazes snap towards her when she took several steps toward the three, interrupting the argument. She pulled her lasso from her hip and presented it to the demon, "If you truly aren't controlling them, then you should be able to prove it, right?"
"I..." The demon hesitated.
"You just have to tell us under the bind of the lasso of truth that you haven't messed with their minds, should be easy for you if you tell the truth, right?" She held up the now golden glowing lasso.
The demon was about to say something, but then kept her mouth shut. She was clearly not willing to reach out to the lasso. Diana's gaze landed on Nathan, who was frowning at her with open hostility, which wasn't something she enjoyed seeing, but he would understand once she explained. "See? If this demon had nothing to hide, then this shouldn't be a problem for her-"
Nathan shook his head. "She doesn't control anyone. There had been an accident where she had to repair my mental defenses, which would fall under that question of messing with my mind. Ask a more specific question." He argued, making Diana hesitate.
She shook her head as she realized that these were just excuses put into his mind by the demon. Or maybe he just saw her in such a favorable light that he couldn't accept the truth. Even if the demon's crimes were confessed by her, Nathan would probably find other excuses.
There was no point in talking anymore, but she wasn't sure whether they could take the three in a head-on battle. Just dealing with the demon and Supergirl might be doable, but Nathan was a problem. The fact they were able to put up a fight was only because Nathan was holding back significantly to not accidentally kill them.
They only needed Zatara to contain that demon to disperse her spells, and he couldn't do that with Nathan in the way. Diana's gaze wandered to the demon. Maybe she could kill the demon and disperse the spells that way. Usually, killing the caster of the spell dispelled the effect as well. Nathan stepped protectively in front of the demon again as she thought about that point.
"She is under my protection...and I won't back down. So, you either fuck out of my city or get fucked up." His eyes glowed with such an intense hostility that she froze. The others grew tense as well. The brief clash with Nathan had already clarified that as long as he was with the demon, they wouldn't be able to get close.
They needed to get Nathan away from here, then they could take out the other two. Just as the tension was about to turn into another fight, a voice called out.
"Stop." The extraordinary quiet jet from Batman made itself known. The camouflage turned the jet invisible and was only noticeable because Batman had opened the cockpit and jumped out of it.
"You are going to retreat." Batman stared at them, but no one moved. "Now!" He growled at them before they finally retreated hesitantly. Diana didn't move an inch. It was only after Superman dragged and convinced her to let Batman handle it she reluctantly walked to stand aside.
Batman had turned towards the three. He glanced at the demon and Supergirl before staring at Nathan. "Our mission had been tense and we are still on the edge. There had been some problems. We will discuss this issue another time on the Watchtower."
Nathan nodded before he squinted slightly. "I hope you don't plan to attack her when we are discussing things, right? I won't be going this easy the second round."
"No. We won't." Batman simply said before he retreated into his jet. He glared at Diana when he saw she was still standing there. "Diana." He called out sternly.
Diana glared at the three who were observing her. A sudden beeping sound attracted her attention. She looked down at the message before looking at Batman. Convinced to drop it, for now, she retreated with the others.
...
All the members of the Justice League, except for Shallot, were gathered in the meeting room inside the Watchtower. They were treating their wounds, with a few being worse than others, but most members could heal fast, so it didn't represent a huge issue for them.
Seeing that Batman had the attention of the others, he spoke, "You just experienced firsthand the changes we have created due to messing with the timeline."
"Wait. Didn't you say that it created a fixed timeline or whatever?" Flash asked, confused. After all, that was what Vandal Savage had proclaimed, and it was the reason he needed another time machine in the present and the past.
"That's what we thought, and it appears to be true...to some degree." Batman started before he turned around and displayed something on the big screen. "I have good and bad news. Good news, nothing changed on earth except for some newspaper articles, but other than that, nothing major was affected by our interference..."
The big screen Batman had turned on displayed a library. To be exact, the computers that were publicly available to use inside a library could be seen. It didn't take long until it revealed why Batman showed them this video.
Nathan could be seen walking into the library before sitting in front of a computer. The video sped up until a few hours before Nathan sat back and blankly looked into the air.
"Look at his screen." Batman said as the video zoomed closer to the screen while enhancing the quality of the picture to reveal a picture of them in the second world war.
"He saw us in a newspaper...why is that important?" Flash asked.
"It's a newspaper of the second world war with a picture of us in it." Batman added. Diana looked at the date of the video. It was a date before she had left Themyscira before they had met.
"Presumably, the Shallot in our timeline hadn't seen us in the newspaper, which resulted in different treatment for us. I am not sure why exactly-" Batman started before Diana finished for him.
"In the end, seeing us being able to travel into the past might, might have changed every interaction from that point onwards." The pieces of her changed rooms and missing pictures could be explained by this... The implications were great and she could see how it would affect the dynamic of the team, and how it would have affected their relationship.
He had rarely talked about his past and wanted to let it rest, so she didn't pressure him into revealing it. She was immortal and had enough time to wait for him to open up to her, but now she might never get the chance anymore. Would they ever have the chance to be this close again, especially after she had attacked him?
Diana sat down, cupping her face with her hands before running her hands through her hair as she sat up straight again, "What about that demon?" Ignoring the pitying looks of the others.
"He had met up with Raven after she had tried to contact us at the Watchtower. Probably a desperate attempt after she had witnessed the attack by her brothers in Portland."
"Portland was attacked by demons?" Superman's eyes widened at that. It wasn't something that had happened in their past.
"Yes, and from what I could gather, it had nothing to do with her... Robin had created a team with her in Jump City. The me of this timeline clearly knew of this Raven, but had decided that any intervention was unnecessary for now. I don't trust her... but I trust Robin's judgment and according to him, she had not shown anything that would warrant mistrust from him."
"Are you saying Shallot isn't being controlled by her?" Diana asked, though not knowing which answer she would like more. A timeline where they had never been together, or him being brainwashed to distance himself from her. Of course, she didn't want Shallot in any danger or being mind controlled, but the other possibility meant that their past, their affection, their future plans were no more...
"...We need to investigate for ourselves. Once we invite him to the Watchtower, Zatara and Constantine can run some tests on whether he is being magically manipulated. Your lasso will help with this as well."
"If Shallot had changed... does this mean it is only us?" Flash suddenly asked, only bringing them to another issue that they had overlooked until now.
Batman slowly nodded at that, "Leaguers with the code name Green Arrow, Black Canary, Atom, and Zatanna had currently not been invited to join the team. Connections to other heroes made through Shallot's suggestions are not known or only under my observation for now. Except for Constantine, the Justice League had made no direct contact with any of them."
The others couldn't help but frown at that. The heroes that supported them in other cities had been incredibly helpful, as they were willing to take over part of the burden. Not knowing if they could or were willing to help them now made them uneasy.
To be fair, Diana didn't think it would be a problem hard to solve. They hadn't been heroes because of Nathan. It just made getting to know them easier.
"Is there anything else we need to know?" Diana asked. She didn't feel well about the overall situation and would rather want to spend the time alone right now.
Batman silently looked at her for a moment. "There are still a lot of changes that were created by this that are under review, but I advise everyone to check the reports of past missions to get to know if there were any significant changes for you personally. I invited Shallot for tomorrow. Superman, inform Aquaman of our meeting."
With that, Diana stood up and walked out of the meeting room. She was about to head back to her room when she remembered what it looked like. Knowing that it would feel unfamiliar and cold, she headed towards the training room, wanting to vent some of her stress, since there was no way she could sleep now.
The previous stress and fatigue had long turned into anxiousness and anger. When she entered the room, she immediately called out to the A.I. "Turn the gravity to 500." She waited for a moment, but nothing happened, even after waiting for several seconds.
She headed to the manual control and found some functions were missing. After realizing that these were functions that Nathan had suggested, she knew they wouldn't be available any longer. This only frustrated her more before deciding to use the simple hard-light simulation mode. Though a question remained, how did Nathan grow stronger without the Justice League's training facilities?
Diana was surprised to see that Nathan was still conscious and from the looks of it, he was seriously pissed, but what truly astonished her was the fact that he was able to transform.
He had been talking about it in anticipation, the first step to unlock a Saiyan's true potential as he would describe it. She always thought he was exaggerating, maybe to preserve his pride, since he couldn't easily accept that she was stronger than him. But now she knew he clearly wasn't exaggerating.
She had felt that he was stronger than before when she hit him with her shield. He felt even stronger than when he used his Ikari to boost his strength just a week ago. Even now she felt she should still be able to handle him even if he used his Ikari state, if barely, and with the help of the other members of the Justice League.
She was confident in her prowess and that of her team. How could she not? It was a strength that she had cultivated with her loved one's help.
Because of Nathan's training and his sparring and suggestions, she and the others had grown stronger, faster, and more skilled. Not only that, she was able to make good use of her divine blessings and reach heights that could be said to be blasphemous.
Even Nathan, with his endless pride, had acknowledged that he could only compete with her if he became a Super Saiyan. A legend that was told by his people to have last appeared a thousand years ago.
Now she had to reconsider the thought that she could beat him. The strength he exuded was palpable. His aura soared into the sky as if it was a pillar supporting the heavens. His already surprisingly high strength ascended to heights that were clearly out of her reach, but she had to try. She clenched the hand that wasn't holding her shield to a fist, still hesitant to draw her sword at Nathan.
The tension was high as they stared at each other until Nathan broke it by moving. Her eyes widened when he just raised his arm and pointed his palm at her. The sparring sessions against him and the fights she had seen him in against other people made her caution skyrocket by the simple gesture.
She knew what was coming. It could be felt in the surrounding atmosphere, creating goosebumps from the static electricity. She didn't even see the attack built up when she protectively raised her shield.
She didn't even see the ki beam, not daring to stick her head out of the protective shadow of her shield, but she felt it. It slammed into her shield with vengeance, her stance almost faltering in an instant, but she held strong. The soil made of grass and rocks gave in underneath her feet as if it were sand on the beach. Her feet sliced through it like hot knives through butter as she was pushed backward.
She couldn't angle her shield since the pressure was too high to adjust it and the attack area too even, so she could only hold on. She supported her shield with her other arm and her shoulder. It was the only thing stopping the ki beam. The searing hot attack only separated by her divine shield, her lifeline.
The ki beam divided into several streams behind her after hitting her shield. Dispersing like a waterfall on a rock. She could see how the little drops and stray beams of pure energy devastated the environment with frightening destructive energy as they pulverized anything it came in contact with.
She knew Nathan had worked on controlling the area affected by his attacks, but that didn't make the attack any less potent. In fact, the opposite was the case. Because of the small range of the attack, it grew in strength and in its ability to cause destruction.
Her arms and her shoulder were getting sore from keeping the attack at bay and it didn't seem to lose any power even after she was being pushed for several kilometers. Though she knew that the attack had barely lasted a second. Nathan had probably already used this moment to head back to the demon's house. She needed to stop him!
She gasped slightly when her back hit the side of a mountain. Her momentum wasn't hindered by the mountain at all as she was pushed through it. Diana's surroundings were only lightened up by the attack that pushed her through solid rocks as if it was nothing.
Only after she exited the mountain and was carried on for a few kilometers did the attack vanish. It fizzled out like a water hose running out of water.
She lowered her shield, taking deep breaths as she rolled her sore shoulder and looked at the path of devastation left in her trail. Even though the ki beam was only the size of her shield, the temperature alone had burned a 5-meter-wide path through the surroundings. The walls of the hole in the mountain were glowing red with dripping liquefied stones.
She didn't stop to look at the damage and just pushed herself off the ground, leaping back into battle. She was just glad that there weren't any near neighbors, while the few that were around were already brought away by Zatara beforehand.
While running back, she heard a loud booming noise akin to a cannon shot. From afar, she could see the two figures clashing.
Superman punched at the now golden-haired Nathan's face after he shot Diana away. His punch didn't land. Nathan caught it with his palm. The resulting shock wave making their hair flutter and the dirt disperse around them.
It was a shocking sight to beholden, but Superman didn't stop to think about it. He knew he couldn't give Nathan time to retaliate. Even when Nathan was weaker, he was a troublesome opponent, not to mention now that he became a Super Saiyan and seemed to be even stronger than Superman.
He quickly punched out with his other hand, only for it to be caught again. Interlocking his hands with Superman's hands as they struggled for dominance. At least Superman gritted his teeth while Nathan had a sneer on his face. "You might have grown stronger..." Nathan commented before Diana saw him pull his head back before slamming it into Superman's face.
Superman grimaced as his nose broke and blood spurted out, staining Nathan's face with blood. With a tornado kick, Nathan sent Superman skipping over the forest's floor and through several trees that broke like twigs in the wind.
"...but you are no match for me." Nathan finished before he set his gaze back to the demon's house. Seeing this kind of strength, she knew she couldn't hold back any longer. Her hands drifted to her hip before unsheathing her sword, the Sword of Athena.
She rushed towards him and slashed at his back, only for Nathan to easily side-step the attack before slamming his elbow into her raised shield. The clash with her shield created a loud gong with the energy dispersing to their surroundings, pushing all the dirt and rocks away from the impact. The ground cracked.
A lot of dust was stirred up. Her arm holding the shield was trembling hard and before she could do anything, a kick tore through the stirred-up dust into her side, knocking the wind out of her. She slid over the ground for several meters before dropping to the soil that was revealed due to their attacks cracking open the earth.
After stopping, she couldn't help it any longer and drop to a knee. She tried to take a deep breath, failing miserably with the stinging pain of what she assumed was a broken rib.
Nathan appeared next to her. He chopped at her neck. Before he could complete the attack, Superman arrived. Superman had flown at him at breakneck speed and punched out with all his momentum. Nathan leaned back, used his arms on the ground as support before kicking Superman into the sky.
Diana weakly slashed at Nathan, only for him to complete his backflip before stomping onto the blade. She didn't drop the blade and paid for it immediately as Nathan kicked her head like a football. Blood splattered over the ground as her lip was busted open.
She dropped to the floor, helpless and dizzy, while Nathan continued his path before being stopped by Green Lantern. Green Lantern enveloped Nathan inside a round green barrier, giving Diana and Superman some time to regain their bearings.
Diana stood up on trembling legs. She almost fell over, using her sword as a crutch before she shook her head, trying to disperse the dizziness she felt. She took a step towards Nathan, who had shattered Green Lantern's barrier with a single punch. Her legs accelerated in pace into a jog before she sprinted at full speed. From the corner of her eye, she could see Superman fly back into the battle as well.
Nathan folded Green Lantern with a kick to his stomach, letting him fall to the grass. Green Lantern was in a fetal position, grimacing as he held his stomach.
Just as Nathan wanted to continue his way, a sudden boom sounded out after a red blur slammed into Nathan. The blur continued by carrying Green Lantern away. Nathan took a step back, with his eyes widened as he looked around for the Flash.
Diana mid-run bent her legs, straining all her muscles before mustering a mighty leap towards Nathan with her sword raised. Superman broke the sound barrier with ease and flew directly at Nathan.
Superman arrived first and punched at Nathan's head. Nathan tilted his head out of the way to the side and twisted his body slightly before retaliating with a devastating hook to the chin. The man of steel's trajectory changed at a 90-degree angle as he was sent flying.
Diana had closed in directly afterward, giving him no opportunity to dodge. She slashed down at his torso, only for him to raise his hand. Fierce golden aura surrounded it, blocking her sword dead in its tracks. The aura was stirred up but otherwise left his arm completely unharmed.
Her eyes widened, but she didn't stop. She unleashed a whirlwind of slashes, but all her attacks were blocked with ease. Her shield protected her from the worst counterattacks, deciding to tank all the lighter counters. She was feeling the strain already.
A scream from the house distracted Nathan long enough for her to slam the edge of her shield into his throat. Nathan winced slightly, and she took the opportunity to slash at him again. A thin line on his armor appeared as her sword cut into it. There was no injury. Just as she wanted to pull back, she saw a golden orb fly out of Nathan's hand.
The orb slipped underneath her shield with shocking nimbleness before crashing into and picking her up by the stomach. Being carried several meters into the air until she twisted to the side, letting the orb carry on without her before it exploded brightly. The resulting shock wave created by the explosion coincidentally pushed her towards the house.
Using the momentum, she overtook Nathan, who was being assaulted by the Flash. Her attention turned to the house when the ceiling exploded and several tentacles slammed through Zatara's magic barriers and into Hawkgirl's mace while passing through Martian Manhunter.
From the corner of her eye, she saw a blue blur with a red cape approach the battlefield. First, she thought it was Superman, but she quickly realized that it was his cousin, Supergirl! Supergirl looked at Nathan before turning towards the demon with a shocked expression on her face.
"Supergirl! Help Zatara-" Diana started, but another voice cut through hers.
"Kara, help Raven get away. I can handle these fools!" Nathan called out, making her question his plea for a moment before remembering what Zatara had said about the demon needing another person.
"Hawkgirl, watch out! Supergirl is also being controlled!" Diana's shout made the other woman turn around just fast enough to block Supergirl's punch with her mace.
The force pushed Hawkgirl back. Supergirl didn't relent and continued to pursue her, pressuring Hawkgirl with surprising skill. Diana hadn't known that Supergirl was such a good fighter. She was skilled enough to suppress Hawkgirl.
Supergirl grabbed onto Hawkgirl's mace before using it to throw Hawkgirl away. Hawkgirl opened her wings and almost instantly stopped her ascent. She gritted her teeth and electricity sprung over the surface of her mace as she glared at the younger woman, whose eyes were fiercely glowing red.
Heat vision. The attack was blocked by the mace, giving Diana enough time to assess the situation. Nathan was being hugged by Superman and retaliated by slamming his head back into Superman's face, but the man of steel held on. Nathan struck back with his elbow, loosening Superman's hold. Before Nathan could send Superman flying with a backfist, a red blur saved him.
Nathan raised his hand and fired several ki blasts at Flash, but he was too fast to be hit. Flash had grown tremendously after learning the existence of the speed force, so even Nathan, as a Super Saiyan, looked troubled with that kind of speed. With all his strength, he couldn't quite catch him, but this meant little if they couldn't accomplish their goal.
They couldn't stop him. The red blur slammed into Nathan from behind, but when he tried to grab Flash, he disappeared. A giant green fist slammed into Nathan from the side but a backhand completely obliterated the construct as if it wasn't there before shooting Green Lantern down with a ki blast.
Diana didn't hesitate any longer and headed to the demon's house. The others could delay him for a few minutes. During that time, she needed to take that demon down to let Zatara do his work.
Diana arrived and hovered next to Hawkgirl, telling her to engage the Kryptonian while she would help Zatara. Hawkgirl nodded and held off Supergirl, who wanted to help the demon the moment she saw Diana head towards it. Just as she was about to pressure the demon, the ground rumbled.
Several hover robots shot out of a secret door and attacked Diana and Martian Manhunter, distracting them for just a moment, but that was all the demon needed. They had severely underestimated the demon's strength.
They had thought that Zatara would be enough to contain her, but now the demon suddenly overpowered him. The demon broke through barriers and runes conjured up by Zatara before slamming him into the ground.
Martian Manhunter reacted quickly, becoming intangible to dodge the androids, and instantly brought Zatara out of danger just as another tentacle slammed at him.
A gigantic shadow in the form of a raven with two sets of red eyes surrounded the demon. It grew in intensity now that it wasn't restrained by Zatara anymore. Next to her, Supergirl positioned herself with her fists raised. A moment later, Nathan dropped in front of the two with a snarl on his face. He looked uninjured, with just his armor being broken in some areas.
Flash blurred next to them with a badly battered Green Lantern in tow. Surprisingly, Flash's arm seemed to be broken. He was struggling and sweating heavily. He probably was caught by Nathan. Superman arrived shortly afterward, holding his slightly drooping shoulder while his face was dripping with blood. Zatara and Martian Manhunter looked the best with just a few bruises as they gathered with the other members of the league.
The members of the League had seen better days, especially those that had faced Nathan, but if they needed to, they would continue the fight.
"I will tear you apart!" The demon shouted as she wiped away the blood dripping out of her nose. The Leaguers tensed at that, but the demon, fortunately, and confusingly, calmed down when Nathan pressed a hand on her shoulder.
"She is not a threat." Nathan started as he looked at them. "She had sought help, and I offered her mine." He said as if it was normal and the demon hadn't just announced that it would kill them.
"You can't be serious!" Green Lantern said with venom in his voice, making Nathan frown. "She is a child of Trigon, for fuck's sake! She probably made you think you helped her out, but she is manipulating you!"
The demon frowned. "I didn't manipulate anyone!" Her demonic features receded, revealing a young woman's face.
Diana had lots of experience in detecting lies with and without her lasso, and for some reason, she couldn't tell whether the demon was lying. While they argued, Superman called out to his cousin, "Kara, what are you doing?! Come here."
Hawkgirl's mace sparked, "Don't Superman. She is one of them. The demon already controls her."
Supergirl glared at Hawkgirl. "She is not controlling anyone! I am protecting my friend from getting hurt by you assholes!"
Diana could feel the gazes snap towards her when she took several steps toward the three, interrupting the argument. She pulled her lasso from her hip and presented it to the demon, "If you truly aren't controlling them, then you should be able to prove it, right?"
"I..." The demon hesitated.
"You just have to tell us under the bind of the lasso of truth that you haven't messed with their minds, should be easy for you if you tell the truth, right?" She held up the now golden glowing lasso.
The demon was about to say something, but then kept her mouth shut. She was clearly not willing to reach out to the lasso. Diana's gaze landed on Nathan, who was frowning at her with open hostility, which wasn't something she enjoyed seeing, but he would understand once she explained. "See? If this demon had nothing to hide, then this shouldn't be a problem for her-"
Nathan shook his head. "She doesn't control anyone. There had been an accident where she had to repair my mental defenses, which would fall under that question of messing with my mind. Ask a more specific question." He argued, making Diana hesitate.
She shook her head as she realized that these were just excuses put into his mind by the demon. Or maybe he just saw her in such a favorable light that he couldn't accept the truth. Even if the demon's crimes were confessed by her, Nathan would probably find other excuses.
There was no point in talking anymore, but she wasn't sure whether they could take the three in a head-on battle. Just dealing with the demon and Supergirl might be doable, but Nathan was a problem. The fact they were able to put up a fight was only because Nathan was holding back significantly to not accidentally kill them.
They only needed Zatara to contain that demon to disperse her spells, and he couldn't do that with Nathan in the way. Diana's gaze wandered to the demon. Maybe she could kill the demon and disperse the spells that way. Usually, killing the caster of the spell dispelled the effect as well. Nathan stepped protectively in front of the demon again as she thought about that point.
"She is under my protection...and I won't back down. So, you either fuck out of my city or get fucked up." His eyes glowed with such an intense hostility that she froze. The others grew tense as well. The brief clash with Nathan had already clarified that as long as he was with the demon, they wouldn't be able to get close.
They needed to get Nathan away from here, then they could take out the other two. Just as the tension was about to turn into another fight, a voice called out.
"Stop." The extraordinary quiet jet from Batman made itself known. The camouflage turned the jet invisible and was only noticeable because Batman had opened the cockpit and jumped out of it.
"You are going to retreat." Batman stared at them, but no one moved. "Now!" He growled at them before they finally retreated hesitantly. Diana didn't move an inch. It was only after Superman dragged and convinced her to let Batman handle it she reluctantly walked to stand aside.
Batman had turned towards the three. He glanced at the demon and Supergirl before staring at Nathan. "Our mission had been tense and we are still on the edge. There had been some problems. We will discuss this issue another time on the Watchtower."
Nathan nodded before he squinted slightly. "I hope you don't plan to attack her when we are discussing things, right? I won't be going this easy the second round."
"No. We won't." Batman simply said before he retreated into his jet. He glared at Diana when he saw she was still standing there. "Diana." He called out sternly.
Diana glared at the three who were observing her. A sudden beeping sound attracted her attention. She looked down at the message before looking at Batman. Convinced to drop it, for now, she retreated with the others.
...
All the members of the Justice League, except for Shallot, were gathered in the meeting room inside the Watchtower. They were treating their wounds, with a few being worse than others, but most members could heal fast, so it didn't represent a huge issue for them.
Seeing that Batman had the attention of the others, he spoke, "You just experienced firsthand the changes we have created due to messing with the timeline."
"Wait. Didn't you say that it created a fixed timeline or whatever?" Flash asked, confused. After all, that was what Vandal Savage had proclaimed, and it was the reason he needed another time machine in the present and the past.
"That's what we thought, and it appears to be true...to some degree." Batman started before he turned around and displayed something on the big screen. "I have good and bad news. Good news, nothing changed on earth except for some newspaper articles, but other than that, nothing major was affected by our interference..."
The big screen Batman had turned on displayed a library. To be exact, the computers that were publicly available to use inside a library could be seen. It didn't take long until it revealed why Batman showed them this video.
Nathan could be seen walking into the library before sitting in front of a computer. The video sped up until a few hours before Nathan sat back and blankly looked into the air.
"Look at his screen." Batman said as the video zoomed closer to the screen while enhancing the quality of the picture to reveal a picture of them in the second world war.
"He saw us in a newspaper...why is that important?" Flash asked.
"It's a newspaper of the second world war with a picture of us in it." Batman added. Diana looked at the date of the video. It was a date before she had left Themyscira before they had met.
"Presumably, the Shallot in our timeline hadn't seen us in the newspaper, which resulted in different treatment for us. I am not sure why exactly-" Batman started before Diana finished for him.
"In the end, seeing us being able to travel into the past might, might have changed every interaction from that point onwards." The pieces of her changed rooms and missing pictures could be explained by this... The implications were great and she could see how it would affect the dynamic of the team, and how it would have affected their relationship.
He had rarely talked about his past and wanted to let it rest, so she didn't pressure him into revealing it. She was immortal and had enough time to wait for him to open up to her, but now she might never get the chance anymore. Would they ever have the chance to be this close again, especially after she had attacked him?
Diana sat down, cupping her face with her hands before running her hands through her hair as she sat up straight again, "What about that demon?" Ignoring the pitying looks of the others.
"He had met up with Raven after she had tried to contact us at the Watchtower. Probably a desperate attempt after she had witnessed the attack by her brothers in Portland."
"Portland was attacked by demons?" Superman's eyes widened at that. It wasn't something that had happened in their past.
"Yes, and from what I could gather, it had nothing to do with her... Robin had created a team with her in Jump City. The me of this timeline clearly knew of this Raven, but had decided that any intervention was unnecessary for now. I don't trust her... but I trust Robin's judgment and according to him, she had not shown anything that would warrant mistrust from him."
"Are you saying Shallot isn't being controlled by her?" Diana asked, though not knowing which answer she would like more. A timeline where they had never been together, or him being brainwashed to distance himself from her. Of course, she didn't want Shallot in any danger or being mind controlled, but the other possibility meant that their past, their affection, their future plans were no more...
"...We need to investigate for ourselves. Once we invite him to the Watchtower, Zatara and Constantine can run some tests on whether he is being magically manipulated. Your lasso will help with this as well."
"If Shallot had changed... does this mean it is only us?" Flash suddenly asked, only bringing them to another issue that they had overlooked until now.
Batman slowly nodded at that, "Leaguers with the code name Green Arrow, Black Canary, Atom, and Zatanna had currently not been invited to join the team. Connections to other heroes made through Shallot's suggestions are not known or only under my observation for now. Except for Constantine, the Justice League had made no direct contact with any of them."
The others couldn't help but frown at that. The heroes that supported them in other cities had been incredibly helpful, as they were willing to take over part of the burden. Not knowing if they could or were willing to help them now made them uneasy.
To be fair, Diana didn't think it would be a problem hard to solve. They hadn't been heroes because of Nathan. It just made getting to know them easier.
"Is there anything else we need to know?" Diana asked. She didn't feel well about the overall situation and would rather want to spend the time alone right now.
Batman silently looked at her for a moment. "There are still a lot of changes that were created by this that are under review, but I advise everyone to check the reports of past missions to get to know if there were any significant changes for you personally. I invited Shallot for tomorrow. Superman, inform Aquaman of our meeting."
With that, Diana stood up and walked out of the meeting room. She was about to head back to her room when she remembered what it looked like. Knowing that it would feel unfamiliar and cold, she headed towards the training room, wanting to vent some of her stress, since there was no way she could sleep now.
The previous stress and fatigue had long turned into anxiousness and anger. When she entered the room, she immediately called out to the A.I. "Turn the gravity to 500." She waited for a moment, but nothing happened, even after waiting for several seconds.
She headed to the manual control and found some functions were missing. After realizing that these were functions that Nathan had suggested, she knew they wouldn't be available any longer. This only frustrated her more before deciding to use the simple hard-light simulation mode. Though a question remained, how did Nathan grow stronger without the Justice League's training facilities?
