Wonder Woman’s hardened expression softened seeing the state they were all in. Despite the confidence they oozed she could tell something was wrong. 

“This is harming you.” She stated more than she said. Despite how they had embarrassed her she would acknowledge them as good warriors.

Warriors that didn’t deserve to be used and burned up like coals on an open flame.

“Of course it is! We have been pushed past our limits for far greater power at the cost of our lives.” Salza said with no hesitation looking at his hands as electricity snapped between the limbs. “We cannot allow you to embarrass us.” His body glowed with impossible electrical density pushing back against Wonder Woman’s own newly awakened power.

“We were made to burn! Don’t worry about us sheelah, just enjoy this last fight!” Jeice said each step sizzled and burned the ground around him as he began to glow like a miniature sun.

“Yeah! What’s the point of living and having all this power yet you can’t cut loose!” Dore said like a kid who just can’t understand an adult's reasons. Dore’s body slowed down in its growth. Steam rose from his massive frame, his muscle fibers hardened beyond human comprehension.

The time for words was over despite Wonder Woman having come to respect the three. Even if they were machines. 

They charged together with drops of rain impacting them with the heavens above laying witness to this final confrontation. It sizzled and steamed against Jeice and Dore, Salza’s electricity snapped at each drop like an angry snake.

Wonder Woman met them head-on, her newfound lightning bursting outward in an omnidirectional shockwave that hurled debris everywhere. Jeice struck first, his flaming kicks whistling through the air that followed behind them. She blocked with her forearms her lightning and aura diminishing what would have left severe burns even on her.

The collision ignited shockwaves of heat and thunder that charred the already broken earth and turned any exposed rock to slag and powdered dust. 

Dore lunged next, grappling her with enough strength to topple a mountain. But after her awakening, she was far beyond what she was before. She twisted mid-air, flipping the massive android over her shoulder while simultaneously kicking Jeice across the face, sending him skidding across the ground.

With her divine strength, she slammed Dore into the earth, the ground fracturing underneath them. It cracked, tremors running up her legs from the power behind the slam enough to create an artificial earthquake. Whatever tree stumps that remained were uprooted from the shockwave that whipped out across the land. Even the clouds above weren’t spared as they parted. 

They quickly formed back together with more and more lightning slamming down around them. Salza slipped through the lightning storm each bolt he twisted and deftly evaded not once slowing down in his mad rush towards her faster than before. 

He struck with precision that matched his ferocity. His hands blurred, each motion sparking dozens of micro blasts that turned the air itself into a storm of electric death. Her lightning and his clashed pushing against one another for dominance. Despite the boost to his power she was still strong enough to wrestle control ensuring his attacks were reduced.

He grimaced, eyes glaring up at her hatefully yet she could see respect in his eyes. The kind a warrior had when acknowledging they had met their match.

It didn’t stop him in the slightest as he never once let up on his all-out assault. But Wonder Woman wasn’t idle. She had become a force of nature blocking one strike, sidestepping another, then after what had to be several hundred blows exchanged in merely a few seconds she made her move.

Her counterpunch sent a ripple of thunder that Salza finally had to disengage, narrowly leaning back under the attack that managed to cut down and incinerate several trees miles away.

Dore’s hands broke through the ground under her grabbing her legs. “Now Salza!” Jeice yelled to his comrade.

Both leapt back while Diana with a golden aura surrounding her shocked Dore who despite his hands becoming blackened and cracking the flesh around them with his massive body spasming kept his iron-clad grip around her doing his best not to let her move.

Both Salza and Jeice slid next to each other, arms held out with runes forming along their bodies. Energy formed around them coming off in waves of heat and electricity. The two raised a hand each with a stream of fire and electricity twisting and melding together.

Wonder Woman with a stomp on Dore's head had him rattled before she looked towards the blast coming for her.

A hand raised with a crackling bolt of golden lightning formed in her hand. Tossing it like one would a spear it met the blast. Despite the power increase the two had gained the bolt parted the wave of fire and lightning. 

“No way!” Jeice exclaimed, his eyes widening comically.

The bolt exploded, erupting across the area light flashed before them all like a miniature sun had just been born. Then it dissipated with Wonder Woman exerting her will over it not wanting to do more damage than necessary. 

The bolt faded away showing nothing but destruction in the aftermath. Both of them had managed to evade the attack coming up from both sides with Dore having let go some time ago rising from the ground like a zombie.

Jeice, Salza, and Dore all charged her at once. When this first started Wonder Woman couldn’t hope to block or dodge all of these strikes let alone counterattack. 

Now?

She was handling them. They were able to land a few hits but they did nothing to her beyond a mild bit of pain. Those hits were only because of their teamwork.

A lariat was ducked, a series of punches with fire shooting out of them were evaded and sidestepped, and every electrified punch or kick was blocked and countered. On and on it went the three giving their all with the shockwaves from their strikes making the crater they were in even deeper.

Deftly avoiding three strikes when the three saw an opening that was instead a trap to make them overextend. All three had their smiles wiped off their faces when with a low leg sweep she knocked all three off their feet. She didn’t stop, her leg continued slamming into Dore then the other two before sending them flying off. 

They flipped through the air landing. Each of them looked far worse after that exchange of blows. Whatever bruises or injuries they had quickly healed over yet they were beginning to get slower. Whatever power boost they got was beginning to take its toll.

“We’re not finished yet!” Jeice yelled, sounding frustrated that they couldn’t do more than just a few love taps.

“That’s the spirit!” Dore exclaimed happily despite the situation they were in.

“Last resort boys! We have no choice since we are running out of time.” Salza commanded them with the other two growing serious.

They charged at her as the battle raged on with the three shrugging off any damage she did to them yet she was only slightly winded while they were beginning to grow sluggish. They were still more powerful than they were when she first fought them but now they were getting weaker. Punches and kicks that could shatter multiple city blocks now would only topple a few buildings.

“I see you have this well in hand Wonder Woman.” A voice said. 

She looked over while countering and knocking back the three with a combo of punches. She saw it was Aquaman though he looked like he had an even worse time than she had. 

His armored shirt was ripped in places, blood leaked from his nose, and he had several bruises across his body. 

“What happened?” She asked.

The three disengaged, staying back this time sizing up Aquaman while they looked between one another as if they were having a silent conversation.

“Silhouette… he has my trident.” Aquaman bit out sounding angry. Not at Silhouette but at himself.

Wonder Woman’s expression was grim knowing full well what that weapon and symbol of Atlantean rule could do in the wrong hands. 

“We have to stop him.” She said turning away from the three before they appeared in front of her and Aquaman.

No words needed to be said with Wonder Woman knowing full well what they intended to do. Even Aquaman who had not been privy to the fight had faced a few villains and overzealous minions to know when someone was trying to slow them down.

“Aquaman, I'll catch up.” She stepped forth as Aquaman questioned her.

“Are you sure?” He looked wary after seeing the devastation wrought by their fight and unsure if she could fully take all three. He hadn’t questioned what was going on with Diana but he knew there were more important things than that which needed their attention.

“Yes.” He didn’t need any further reason to trust his comrade and one of the greatest warriors he had ever known.

When Dore moved to intercept him he was launched back from a vicious upper cut. The three engaged her while Aquaman felt more and more humbled. He had lost the symbol of his rule and now had to leave his friend to fight off enemies on her own. Regardless of whether she could handle them he didn’t like leaving her behind.

The three before her were desperate doing everything they could to take her down. Yet they had become slower and their bodies showed damage that not even their healing could fix. 

Cracks along their bodies with blackened edges of their flesh. Fluid leaked out steaming and hissing when it touched the ground. “Give up. You need not be destroyed. You have fought valiantly but you have lost, take pride that it took this newfound power for me to defeat you three.”

Wonder Woman tried reasoning with them. Even if they were mere machines, they had a warrior's pride to them. One that she could respect. It reminded her of her early days with the All-Star Squadron. Every fight was given its all.

Except this time the three were going to die not for their people or a nation but a madman’s whims.

They chuckled tiredly. “Appreciate the ol’ compliment sheelah but no can do,” Jeice said with a content smile on his worn and tired face.

“This is the end. We have used up too much and our bodies have reached the point of no return. Despite embarrassing my brothers and me…” Salza said his teeth grit before he relaxed, giving her a begrudging look of respect, “You are the greatest fighter we have ever faced. Completely turned the tables without me understanding how you managed to achieve this power.” He gave a shallow nod towards her.

Wonder Woman didn’t know how to feel. On one hand, she didn’t like how they had embarrassed her but on the other, she appreciated the acknowledgment and honesty. She looked towards Dore who gave a simple shrug before smiling.

“No point in regrets. You look back and you'll end up tripping when you move forward.” She blinked owlishly at what she had believed to be a simple giant. Even his two comrades froze before looking at him like he had grown a second head. “What?”

Jeice looked towards Salza. “It really is the end. When Dore is making wise-sounding statements we are buggered beyond reason.”

Dore tilted his head not understanding what Jeice just said but he and Salza chuckled. Even Wonder Woman had to stifle a laugh. 

They all soon got back into their fighting poses ready to end this. 

Without another word said only the crack of the thunder, the rain hitting the ground, and the howl of the wind could be heard.

Dore was the first to rush to her. She aimed a kick to take his head off to be quick and give him some mercy instead he leaned back to her surprise grabbing her in a diamond shattering hug with the other two soon joining him. Jeice gripped her in a tight headlock, his legs wrapped around her arms.

Salza had gripped her hand sticking out past Dore and holding onto it and her leg that bent back. It was an odd sight but one that made her eyes widen when she felt what happened next.

The heat began to increase even more, making the air and rain steam and evaporate. The sphere of no rain grew and grew, becoming nearly two miles in diameter.

All three of their bodies glowed brighter and brighter. She was about to break free but by the time she could, they would blow up. She had seen things like this before from suicide bombers back in World War II.

She knew what they aimed to do. She gathered more of that power that had awakened inside of her as it heeded her call. Golden energy flooded out of her making her break free that much easier. But that wasn’t the purpose. 

Even the golden bolts of lightning from above came out of the sky and wrapped around the four of them before anyone knew it the three exploded in a blast made up of heat, fire, and the will to see their fight finished to the bitter end.

…

I could see the explosion all the way from my boat which was zipping across the water moving far faster than a boat should have any right to. Back in my old life the record for the fastest boat was three hundred and seventeen miles per hour. 

The sleek black craft with the top covered by a retractable top was reaching five hundred. With the engineers working their magic and my newly gained and growing understanding of technology bleeding over letting me pilot it made it a breeze to handle and control it. Or it was when I nearly veered out of control when a sudden massive head-splitting headache made itself known.

The boat nearly spiraled and went airborne sending up plumes of water. My hands gripped the wheel and with several adjustments had some flaps open up on the boat for drag helping slow it down enough with some course corrections it remained in the water its chaotic movements ceased. 

Checking over the feed I saw my vitals were mostly fine. Despite the echoes of what was just dropped into my head, I hadn’t ever felt better. It even beat out my getting a full body work over from Heli. Felt lighter than air, the partially opened gates of my mind now pulled open fully. Ideas swirled in an endless sea of thought, of so much I could do with everything.

The blast lit up the night sky not unlike that of a nuke pulling me out of my thoughts. Whatever drones had been left after the clash and whatever the hell power-up Wonder Woman got had been fried after that. There was an odd feeling in the back of my head when I saw through the feed what happened. Like I could feel or sense whatever was powering her now.

It was a shame to lose the three androids that fast already but it was a sacrifice that had to be made. Either they get captured and dismantled or kept around if Wonder Woman got soft towards them and then she would immediately come for me.

I didn’t fancy my odds against her with her newfound strength. I could hold my own if certain factors were tipped in my favor beyond a certain metal. But those factors needed to be skewed heavily in my favor and that would never happen. The only way that could happen would be if she decided to throw all logic and reason to the side and walked into a trap.

A chopper passed overhead firing several rounds at my boat. The bullets from the chopper pinged off the metal not even leaving a scratch. “Really? You decide to use your eyes now?”

I could only feel annoyed by this. Guess they realized their sensors and other methods of searching an area using technology were not working and swapped to more esoteric ways. 

With a few quick presses of some buttons and using my suit's hud had the chopper begin to stall out. The blades slowed down enough with it jerking around. The pilot could fight it all he wanted but it was a foregone conclusion. The nuisance fell into the wake I left behind sinking into the depths.

It would have been nice to keep the trident but it was part of the deal. Black Manta wouldn’t risk screwing this up. That weapon from what I gathered could only be used by someone with magical capabilities. 

He couldn’t use it. And he wouldn’t give it to Ocean Master. Too big a risk since we both knew he would do something stupid with it. Something big enough that it might draw too much heat onto either one of us. Far more than what this stunt would generate.

Black Manta works for him but that doesn’t mean he is loyal. He saw a chance to get to Aquaman through him. With that trident, he had a nice new deterrent. And if he thought to use it as a weapon against everything then he would be dealt with.

The cloud of smoke and flames high in the sky parted for a moment as something shot out of it leaving a gaping hole. “Guess it was too much to expect that to hold you down…” I muttered seeing through a few sensors that could catch her that she was heading right for me.

A hand raised up touching a monitor quickly altering the targeting mechanisms of the various fighter jets flying blind.

Wonder Woman with that white streak in her hair zoomed close to me only to have to raise a barrier when several missiles fired from the jets believing her to be me impacted. Smoke, shrapnel, and fire fell from the sky before she shot out of it completely unharmed. After that, the jets continued their pursuit. 

The pilots themselves tried to fight my control over their jets but it did them no favors that they had so many automated pieces to it that made it so I had wrestled most control from them. Unless they knew the hardware well enough and could somehow mess with it mid-flight they were not going to take back control.

Wonder Woman beyond stopping when the missiles impacted her shot straight for me. The jets veered all over the place, the pilots still having some control trying to get the jets to abort but I remained steadfast. 

The machine guns whirred to life peppering bullets right at the Amazon. She veered to the side moving deftly around the jets that chased her. It was like a lone hawk fighting off a group of crows.

The jets were fast and sleek, far more agile than a simple crow. Yet they may as well be when compared to Wonder Woman. The jets struggled to even keep up with her. The only reason they were stalling her was that I took control of a few that were further ahead of her who could run an interception.

She flew low to the water with the jet above firing its entire salvo of missiles. The rockets honed in on her each of them moving in from several angles to cover any way out. Not that it mattered when a sudden burst of speed she flew past each of them before they all detonated.

She whizzed through several of the jets taking off wings from a few with the pilots ejecting out once the jets were disabled my control now fully gone. The last jet fired at her exposed back while she smiled gently at the grateful pilot parachuting down who waved at her.

Her smile was wiped off when the high-caliber rounds simply bounced off her skin harmlessly. She didn’t even bother to dodge before looking back. She flew up to the jet keeping pace with it ripping the cockpit open with the pilot ejecting out before the jet was ripped in half by Diana.

I managed to get some distance but it was for naught when a boom was followed by the water along the river's surface being parted. A gold streak is coming in behind me. 

I glanced back down at the feed only to see she was gone. Knowing what she was up to, the boat's engine stopped as the momentum carried it forward before I braced when the boat slammed into something making the back end of it go nearly straight up in the air.

But I saw what it was and it wasn’t a rock or obstacle. At least not a natural one. Chest pressed against the now bent wheel staring down at the unimpressed Wonder Woman who simply held a hand out with it pressed into the boat. A dent had formed at the point of impact.

The metal for this boat could take a full artillery salvo from a modern battleship and shrug it off. 

The boat slammed back down as I pulled myself off the boat's wheel before pressing a button. The top of the boat slid down, pulled back with the sounds of the river's water and the wind along with various jets and helicopters in the distance searching.

“You're welcome,” I said, getting up out of my chair and adjusting my trench coat's collar.

Wonder Woman didn’t even deign to respond with a quip. Instead, she appeared in front of me landing in the middle of my boat.

Hand clasped around my coat collar pulling me into the air staring into my sole eye not hidden behind the gas mask. “This ends now.” She growled out. “I don’t know what you are but I can feel what’s inside of you! Nothing but a force of oblivion, a destructive force that would end everything!” 

“What are you talking about?” I asked her, now genuinely caught off guard. I have done evil but I wasn’t some ancient primordial force of annihilation. 

“I couldn’t feel it before but after what your machines did I can feel it coming from you.” She cocked her fist back as my eyes widened in surprise. She was going for the kill.

Before she could do anything or I could activate my contingency something unexpected happened. The water surrounding the boat became incredibly turbulent. The wind picked up howling like a banshee on Halloween, the water churned and frothed forming waves that no river should be creating.

Wonder Woman’s hardened expression turned into one of concern as she looked between me and the river that was getting more and more violent.

“Diiiiana!” A distorted voice said aloud for both of us to hear. 

It sounded like gargled water forced down someone’s throat deep in the darkest depths amidst a hurricane at sea. The water beside the boat surged rising before forming a vague man’s face with the frothing white foam of the river making a beard for it.

“Hooow dare you encroach upon my domain!” The thing roared as the waters around us began to increase in turbulence. The boat rocked and moved along with the waves that were slamming into the shoreline damaging buildings in the distance as the river overflowed flooding the land.

“Lord Poseidon!" Diana proclaimed dropping me before kneeling and bowing her head in respect, “I mean no such offense! I was trying to apprehend and destroy this evil that had sought to take the trident you had allowed the rulers of Atlantis to use.” She looked over at me with a glare before looking up towards the shifting mass of water. 

“You mean every offense. My brother's children should know better than to attempt to usurp my authority over the oceans!” The thing roared out the wind surging with it and bolts of lightning struck nearby trees and buildings in the distance.

“No Lord Poseidon I would never!” Wonder Woman exclaimed eyes wide not understanding why he would believe such a thing.

I stepped in between her and the construct of water. “Greetings oh great and powerful Lord Poseidon!” I bowed with an arm sweeping out in respect.

“While I can appreciate the respect you have already insulted me by taking the trident, my gift to the Atlanteans, now move aside so I may punish my niece for her arrogance and you after her!” He growled out his watery form moving around the boat like a Killer Whale circling a stray Orca’s child. 

I had to hold back a wince when I was told about being punished. By Poseidon himself. Well, it’s time to use the tried and true tactic of weaseling my way out of this and turning it around in my favor.

“Ah, but you see Lord Poseidon, everything I did was in your name.” My words made the water entity still which was more unnerving than the turbulent waters that made up his ever-shifting form.

“Explain yourself.” He demanded of me while Wonder Women watched with wide eyes taken aback at me talking with the shaker himself.

“It was a test to see if the Atlanteans were worthy of the right to hold the trident you so graciously gifted them with. If they so easily lost your trident would you think of them worthy now?” I came up with this load of hooey on the spot.

Wonder Woman gaped at me worming my way into Poseidon's potentially good graces. “You were not!” She accused me but quickly fell silent when the water construct rose above us both dripping and splashing globs of water across the inside of the boat.

“You will remain silent until I address you.” He glared down at her before turning to me. “And you have a point. They indeed were not worthy if they so easily lost my trident. It would seem my gift wasn’t something they appreciate any longer.”

Poseidon looked like he was thinking something over before shrugging looking back down at me with a gentler gaze even if his form still screamed wanton violence. “State your reward for what you desire and I will see it done so long as it is within reason.” He said it as both a reward and a warning.

Enjoy what I have to offer but do not overstep and take advantage of my generosity.

“I only ask that I may suggest what her punishment will be!” I held a finger up doing everything in my power not to run and try to hide. I don’t know what it was but it was like I could feel this otherworldly energy around us. 

Like how Wonder Woman described what she felt from me and I assume that is how she tracked me. But the one around us was like a mounting tension of violence that coiled tighter and tighter until it would unload on the unfortunate souls caught in its wrath. Which could be the two of us.

Poseidon in Greek myths was rather infamous for his mercurial moods, especially his rage which matched how unpredictable and ferocious the ocean could be. Which is why it was both stupid and suicidal on my part to step in and speak up when he was only looking at Wonder Woman. 

But she was needed for the future conflict to come. She was also a hero who had helped many people. I’d rather not have a hand however indirect and unintentional it was in her getting killed or beaten to a pulp by her uncle. It was already bad enough that I tarnished her reputation despite it being shown that the androids she destroyed were just machines.

“Very well. So long as it isn’t a light punishment. What do you suggest?” The temperamental god of the ocean asked me, sounding skeptical.

“A one-on-one fight. Me against Wonder Woman. It shows both your younger brother and the other gods your mercy. You are not a rabid beast but a god of reason. Your niece is perplexed and doesn’t realize she has made a faux pas. Let this lowly mortal be your instrument of both her punishment and mercy.”

I bowed even lower, my arm held out at the side as the churning of the water remained constant. Wonder Woman was silent and I knew she had to be staring at me in surprise and confusion.

“Ha! Hahahahaha!” The construct of water laughed making the boat and me shudder from the vibrations with the water rippling and the land groaning in the distance. “I don’t quite know what you are but a mortal? That’s a good one!” The face made from water threw its face back and bellowed out a hearty chuckle.

Hearty for Poseidon. For us and the poor capital of the country, we were getting rocked back and forth to the point that both me and Wonder Woman were tumbling along the floor.

“Very well. You will fight Diana as my champion and the instrument of her punishment.” 

The water dropped suddenly splashing back down and sending the boat back with the wave. The river calmed down enough so it wasn’t flooding the land but still rocking the boat enough to make it known he was still not happy.

We both turned to face one another. Diana looked worse for wear, the armor she had wasn’t her normal hero armor instead a bronze styled armor covered her. Her eyes glowed that blue that matched some of the bolts of lightning above with me feeling a strange power from her now that I gave her a look over.

Where Poseidon’s was deep and turbulent while chaotic hers was a fast, free, untamable wind that went where it pleased. Yet the feeling of ozone was like a bolt of lightning ready to strike down anything that got in its way towards whatever called it to the earth.

“You took a big risk doing that… Why?” She asked me, eyes narrowed like she was trying to figure out a riddle that remained elusive.

“I already said why. Mercy.” Using my suit's sensors and hud the metal plates around us shifted sliding back and retreating into open gaps. Instead of black we had a gray metal sheet that felt unnatural. 

It made your skin want to retreat away from touching it and not just because of the radiation on it. Wonder Woman warily looked around while keeping her face on me not once letting me out of her sight. 

“Mercy?” She scoffed, even sounding amused at the notion. “You do realize I am far stronger than I was when we first battled. You will lose and be punished alongside me. I know Lord Poseidon better than you and he will punish you for embarrassing him as his representative.”

She fell into a stance but remained where she stood. “You say that as if I am going to lose. You're not going to go easy on me?” I fell into my own stance waiting to bait her in.

“No. You are going to face judgment for what you have done.” She took several steps closer.

“Aw, do you still hold a grudge when I made you into the rocket's red glare from the pledge of allegiance?”

She sprang forward with speed far surpassing anything I had seen before. Even faster than Flash and I was currently using Ultra Jet and she still moved fast enough that it was useless.

My saving grace was that I had predicted exactly when, where, and how she would attack. A fist that would have me seeing stars lashed out with the metal plates of depleted necronium around my wrist made a shield that her fist slammed into it.

The androids weren’t the only ones using the simulator to get better at fighting people like Wonder Woman. She was far stronger and faster, but she was still that same warrior at heart.

All that power and speed meant nothing if she was still going to use her same moves. Instead of getting pressed into the side of the boat and through a newly made hole in the side of it I was only pushed back as my boots slid against the radioactive metal a meter or two. No worse for wear, even my arm felt nothing from the attack that surely should have crushed the bone to dust.

“Agh!” Wonder Woman clutched at her hand that punched the necronium shield cradling it looking at it in shock, eyes wide. Her knuckles were beet red, slowly turning purple as she tried to clench and unclench her fingers. All of whom were slow to respond, each one earning her a wince feeling the pain of what looked like a broken hand.

My hurried steps made her look up in time to see a fist clad in the same metal she realized wasn’t normal. She backed away but she was far slower than she was before when touching the metal with her feet. It was like she was wearing weights across her body that slowed her down.

She was still far faster than an ordinary human could ever hope to match. Despite the pain she must have been in she closed her broken fist before taking whatever scraps she had left of her toga she wrapped her fist tightly in them. 

I rushed forward keeping the pressure on her as she evaded each strike. She tried to counter only to stop after the first few hits made her cry in pain when she impacted the shield. The shield wasn’t the biggest, only enough to cover my chest but it was more than enough to put her between a rock and a hard place.

“What did you do?!” She demanded.

“Oh nothing much, just developed a metal that can repel magic,” I said pushing her right where I wanted her.

“That’s impossible-- what?!” She exclaimed in surprise when necronium cuffs were placed around her ankles sealing themselves tightly. 

She pulled away from the mechanical arms that went back into the floor of the boat. The metal had the exact effect I had hoped it would have on her.

I stepped forward and she tried to move out of the way but instead of avoiding it like she had hoped she instead got a face full of a necronium shield.

Spit and blood escaped her nose and mouth as she stepped back unsteadily, arms raised defensively. She looked like she couldn’t comprehend what was even happening right now.

“Not used to being the weaker one in a fight I see. Hey Poseidon! Are you enjoying this? I doubt many can say they saw one of the Lord of the sky’s kids humbled in such a way.”

The ship rocked with the water churning but not violently. Like a school of fish was jumping in and out of the water with a few bolts of lightning above that were silver in color brought that to an end. Wonder Woman watched with a look of horror on her face.

“Relax Wonder Woman. I am not going to cripple or kill you. Just beat you. You should be accustomed to that over on your island.” I calmly told her stepping and going to town on her.

Her armor's magic did nothing beyond protect her besides the metal it was made out of. Each blow was softened enough to hurt her but nothing more than that. Over a dozen blows landed into her armored stomach, the metal dented and deformed. She wheezed like a deflated bagpipe but she stood stubbornly.

She threw out a few punches each easily dodged or blocked. The shield she always made sure to abort a punch when it looked like she was about to hit it. The sky above grew darker the clouds circling above but no bolt came down nor did the turbulent winds hit us like it was the surroundings.

Stepping in after she threw a punch for my head that left her exposed, a good right hook impacted her jaw, sending her toppling to the floor of the boat. She tried to get up only to stop when I pinned her to the floor straddling her stomach.

Fist and shield impacted her head ringing it like a gong leaving behind bruises. She growled and fought with all she had to get me off but she couldn’t. She still had some strength and power from whatever had happened to her but it was reduced to such a point that it may as well have been negligible.

“You might think I'm a monster or cruel Wonder Woman,” I said in between shoving away a sloppily thrown fist and grabbing her by the hair, “But know this.”

I slammed her head into the deck of the boat, the metal banging and ringing with each impact. By this point, her arms had fully covered her head as she all but gave up on even trying to fight back staying fully on the defensive.

“I do care enough about you and your group of Justice Friends not to do any serious harm to any of you. If I didn’t care I wouldn’t have stepped in. The world needs people like you in it even if the people are too stupid or blind to understand that when they so easily turn against you. But it also needs someone like me.”

I was about to get back up only to stop when a pair of deceptively muscular thighs wrapped around the back of my head trying to pull me back down while she rose with a fierce expression telling me the fight wasn’t over.

“I appreciate the concern but I can hold my own powers or not!” She bellowed in rage, her arms wrapping around my shield arm, managing to slam it once into my face before I stopped her from making me hit myself again.

Hand gripped tightly around her throat made whatever she was about to say die on her tongue before I got up and slammed her back-first into a nearby console. The metal dented from the force but she remained resolute in staying wrapped around me. Her legs tried to close around my throat but even with her remaining strength it was doing nothing.

Grabbing a leg prying it off and pulling sharply on it pried her out of the deformed console before she was sent flying back-first into the wall near the hatch that led further into the boat. The metal shifted and buckled but held strong while she slowly slid forward, almost falling but catching herself. 

A nearby pipe that had been knocked loose from the impact was grabbed by her before she held it up ready to continue. I simply sighed, shaking my head. “Does it make it any better that I am beating you with my love?” I asked her before she rushed towards me with a cold glare at the dark joke.

The shield deflected the pipe before she went for a leg sweep still capable of fighting like a trained warrior despite going through what had to be multiple concussions but it did nothing regardless.

Her leg impacted the side of my own and it was like a child trying to wrestle a fully grown oak tree down. Without her magically imbued gifts she was helpless. Not completely since her skills as a fighter were still there helping as best as they could. If it wasn’t for countless simulations against her it would be a far closer fight than what it was right now.

I would still win but she would be capable of putting up a much better fight when I haven’t faced mirror versions of her multiple times. It’s like a souls based game. The first couple of times against a particularly annoying boss seemed far more difficult initially but it becomes easier when you fight them enough learning all their attacks and combos.

The pipe clanged against the shield bouncing off before I shield-bashed her into the chest shoving her as she grabbed onto the shield. Her legs dug into the floor but she couldn’t stop my momentum. She gasped when she slammed into the deformed cavity in the wall with me pressing her further back into it.

“Do you realize how much damage can be done with the trident?” She asked me frustration and anger lacing her words. Her hands gripped the edge of the shield trying to push it back or angle it enough to escape.

“A necessary thing to have when you and your friends are constantly interfering. Especially with the greater threat that looms over us all.” I said cryptically.

“What threat? Yourself?” She shot back, getting enough room before she slammed her leg right between my own. We stood there for a moment before I looked down just as she did in confusion before I looked back at her with my head tilted.

Before she could comment on the lack of a reaction I grabbed her by the back of her hair pulling harshly getting a grunt out of her as she gripped my hand. Her strength was nothing to look down on but as things stood I was the stronger between the two of us now.

I dragged her across the floor, her footing now gone as she tried to drag her heels in. She even punched into my side which accomplished a whole lot of nothing but I could respect the effort.

“Behold Lord Poseidon, your niece's face forever imprinted in the metal of my boat!” I proclaimed loudly to our surroundings with my arms held aloft.

Something Wonder Woman didn’t like in the slightest with how much she was hitting me. With a swift pull, I yanked her head back before slamming her screaming face into the metal of the dashboard.

Pulling her back a trickle of blood leaked out of her nose while her mouth was slightly ajar with a dazed and unfocused look to her eyes. A glance at the console showed a metal imprint of her face, eyes scrunched up, mouth open in the metal.

“It’s kind of like Play-Doh.” I mused aloud before she grabbed hold of my arm, twisting it as she flipped through the air throwing me.

“Don’t insult me by dismissing me so easily.” She hissed using the back of her hand to wipe her nose and mouth. It smeared the blood more than anything.

Perks gained: Mineral Rights (Diabolical) (200CP) You have, through some underhanded but fully legal means, acquired a metric ton of rights to various mines and harvesting operations the world over. In practical terms this means you will have a sufficient amount of raw metals, ores, minerals, and other physical resources to build or construct whatever you desire all without paying a dime for it. You can also sell the excess on the open or black market, or simply stockpile it all for yourself. This will follow you to other Jumps, providing a steady stream of physical resources and allowing you to live the life of a mining magnate, or always have sufficient resources for your industrial ambitions.