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  The instant the shadow swallowed them, Harley wrapped an arm around Diana's waist and flew out into the open with a crackle of blue white lightning.

  To Harley, the world slowed to a crawl.

  Dust froze midair. The distant battle sounds became stretched echoes, distorted and meaningless. She looked up and saw Giganta. Her colossal foot descended toward the ground, toes spread, skin thick as armored stone, casting a shadow that blotted out the sun.

  Harley's lips curled into a grin.

  "Oh," she whispered, delighted. "Hahaha! Ain't ya too big for a gal?"

  Harley put Diana down on the ground, away from Giganta, then she flickered downward, stopping directly beneath the descending foot.

  Lightning poured from her hand, condensing instantly into shape and structure.

  A massive nail formed beneath Giganta's foot. Harley planted it upright, adjusted the angle slightly, and nodded in satisfaction.

  "Perfect."

  Harley did not stop.

  She blurred away again, reappearing several hundred meters in the air. Lightning surged around her arms as she shaped it again. A colossal mallet materialized, glowing blue white, its head the size of a small house.

  Harley's grin widened.

  "Whack-a-Mole!"

  She smashed Giganta's toe.

  Then she stopped moving.

  Giganta's foot slammed into the ground.

  The lightning nail pierced straight through flesh with a wet, thunderous crunch. Blood erupted outward in a violent spray as the massive toe nail was ripped free and launched through the air like shrapnel.

  The ground shook.

  "ARGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!"

  Giganta screamed.

  It was not a roar of anger or challenge. It was raw, agonized pain that tore through the air and echoed across Themyscira. Her massive leg buckled as she collapsed backward, hands flying down instinctively toward the ruined foot.

  "Oof," Harley said sympathetically. "Yeah. That is gonna hurt tomorrow."

  Diana just stood and watched as Giganta transformed back to her normal size. She grabbed her leg and rolled on the ground in pain. Diana's left eye twitched and she shivered a bit as if she could feel pain just by seeing the scene unfold before her eyes. Had it been her, she would have tried to tackle Giganta, but Harley... Well, Harley improvised in the most painful way possible.

  However, they did not even have time to breathe.

  The air temperature dropped rapidly as a blue blast streaked toward them from the treeline. Ice crystallized midair, expanding into jagged shards as the beam shot toward them.

  "Oh great," Harley said. "Discount Elsa."

  She did not dodge.

  Harley pointed a finger at the oncoming attack. "Boom!"

  Divine lightning erupted outward in a focused arc. It met the cryo blast head-on and annihilated it in an explosion. The lightning continued without slowing, striking Blue Snowman square in the chest. Her armored suit sparked violently, systems overloading as she was hurled backward into a marble boulder. The structure cracked, then collapsed, burying her under stone and ice.

  Harley blew air over her finger. "One snow cone. Extra crispy."

  Just then, something fast and feral leapt from the shadows.

  Cheetah.

  She moved like a blur and went straight for Diana with a loud snarl.

  Diana reacted instantly.

  Her shield snapped up just as Cheetah collided with her. The impact rang like a struck bell, sending a shockwave across the grass. Diana slid back a few meters, boots carving furrows in the earth, but she held her ground.

  At the same moment, a glass vial shattered nearby.

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  Green vapor hissed outward.

  Doctor Poison emerged from the forest, already preparing another throw, her mask reflecting the battlefield in dull metal hues.

  Diana took it all in at once.

  She straightened, shield raised, sword flashing into her hand.

  "I will handle them," she said firmly to Harley.

  Harley glanced over her shoulder, already feeling the change in the air.

  The sea was moving.

  Not naturally.

  Water rose in towering spirals near the cliffs, churning violently as something ancient and furious surfaced from the depths. Queen Clea ascended within a column of seawater, her eyes glowing, arms raised as the ocean itself bent to her will.

  Waves slammed against the shore, climbing higher and higher.

  "You handle her," Diana said.

  Harley cracked her knuckles, lightning crawling eagerly over her skin.

  "Ooooh," she said with delight. "Sea witch. You picked the wrong day."

  Diana met her eyes briefly.

  "She controls water," Diana said. "Lightning is your advantage."

  Harley gave her a sharp salute. "Copy that, Princess."

  They split.

  Diana charged forward, shield-first.

  Cheetah met her head-on, claws raking against metal as they clashed in a flurry of motion. Diana pivoted smoothly, shield bashing Cheetah aside before spinning and driving her sword pommel into the woman's jaw. Cheetah flew backward, skidding across the ground, only to leap back up with a feral scream.

  Behind them, Doctor Poison hurled another vial.

  Diana threw her shield.

  It struck the vial midair, detonating it safely away from her as the shield ricocheted back into her grasp. Without slowing, Diana hurled her lasso, the golden rope snapping forward and wrapping around Doctor Poison's arm. Diana threw her up into the air before slamming her down on the ground. Poison's bones shattered as she coughed out blood and blacked out.

  Cheetah roared in rage and lunged again.

  Diana braced herself.

  Elsewhere, the sea rose higher.

  Queen Clea pointed at Harley, and massive tendrils of water lashed toward Harley like living whips. Harley dodged the first, then the second, lightning flashing as she danced through the air.

  "Oh, come on," Harley called out. "At least buy me dinner before trying to drown me."

  Clea sneered and clenched her fists.

  The ocean answered.

  A towering wall of water surged toward Harley. She stopped flying and took a deep breath.

  "I don't like your attitude, ya old cougar," Harley declared as she summoned more lightning, flooding the air and the sea alike. Bolts speared into the incoming wave, superheating the water instantly. Steam erupted violently as the wave collapsed into a roaring cloud, the remaining water snapping and recoiling as if burned.

  Clea's eyes widened. "What the hell are you?"

  Harley shot forward through the steam like a living thunderbolt.

  She slammed into Clea with a lightning-wreathed punch that detonated point-blank. "I'm inevitable." Electricity surged through water and flesh alike, ignoring resistance, flooding every channel Clea relied on to command the sea.

  Clea screamed as she was hurled backward, crashing into the cliff face with enough force to crack the stone. The surrounding water fell slack, crashing back into the sea in uncontrolled waves.

  Harley hovered, lightning crackling softly around her.

  "Rule number one," she said brightly. "Do not fight lightning in a swimming pool."

  Clea did not get back up.

  Harley looked toward Maureen's location.

  Across the battlefield, Diana stood over a groaning Cheetah, shield planted firmly against the woman's chest, pinning her to the ground.

  ...[Meanwhile> Maureen's side]...

  The palace of Themyscira disappeared beneath a rising sky of ice.

  Maureen hovered high above the stone spires, her expression cold, eyes glowing with a luminous blue hue. Wind howled violently around her as the temperature plummeted in an expanding radius. Clouds formed unnaturally fast, swirling and thickening until daylight dimmed beneath their weight.

  Below her, the palace grounds erupted into chaos.

  Amazon warriors rushed from corridors and courtyards and shot arrows. But it was useless against her enhanced form. The arrows bounced off her harmlessly.

  Maureen raised one hand.

  Ice rain began to fall.

  It was not gentle. Each shard struck like a spear, punching through stone, shattering columns, and pinning warriors to the ground without killing them. Frost crawled instantly across armor and skin, locking bodies in place before they could react.

  Hypnota screamed as the top of the palace shattered and she barely dodged.

  She stood up. Her eyes burned with violet light as she pushed her power outward, desperately trying to reinforce her control.

  "Obey me," she shrieked. "Fight back and kill that bitch."

  She even tried to put Maureen under her control.

  "Kneel before me," Hypnota yelled as she shot her hypnosis beam, but Maureen was far away from her reach. Even with the enhancement of the artifact she got from Ares, she couldn't reach Maureen.

  The storm answered her instead.

  Maureen clenched her fist.

  The ice rain intensified, transforming into a full hailstorm. Massive chunks of enchanted ice slammed down like meteors, obliterating towers and collapsing roofs. The palace cracked apart layer by layer, ancient marble screaming as it split and gave way.

  Hypnota staggered as cold seeped into her bones.

  "No," she whispered. "No, no, no."

  "This ends now," Maureen said quietly.

  She dropped her hand.

  Absolute zero swallowed the palace.

  Ice surged upward in a blinding flash, engulfing Hypnota completely. Her scream cut off instantly as her body and magic froze solid, psychic energy shattering like glass trapped in amber. The artifact necklace on her neck shattered at once, dissolving into nothing.

  Maureen then removed all the ice, except for Hypnota and the criminals trapped within.

  Across the island, Amazons gasped as the pressure inside their minds vanished.

  Swords fell from numb fingers. Shields clattered to the ground. Warriors dropped to their knees, clutching their heads as clarity returned all at once. Confusion, shame, and relief rippled through them in waves.

  Maureen flew down and stood before Hypnota.

  "It's over."

  ...

  Elsewhere, far from the devastation, a different escape unfolded.

  Deep beneath the cliffs on the far side of the island, an old submarine slipped free from a hidden dock. Its hull was old, scarred by time, but still functional. Rusted engines roared to life as it submerged quickly, vanishing into the dark water.

  Inside, Jinx laughed breathlessly, hair wild, eyes glittering with manic delight.

  "Wooo," she said. "Talk about timing."

  A handful of criminals crowded around her, some injured, all shaken, but alive. The submarine lurched as it dove deeper, alarms flickering weakly.

  "Next time," Jinx added cheerfully, tapping a control panel, "we do chaos first and planning later."

  The submarine vanished into the depths, leaving Themyscira behind.

  Above the island, the storm cleared completely.

  Sunlight broke through the clouds and spilled across ruins, battered hills, and warriors slowly rising to their feet.

  The battle for Themyscira was over.

  Only the Doom's Doorway remains...

  ----