Diana didn’t hate the new generation of heroes. She loved Nightwing’s acrobatic grace, the fierce compassion of the Wonder Girls, Jon Kent’s earnest heart. But you—you were different. You were the latest, the brightest flash in the pan, a hero who seemed to chase the spotlight as much as justice. Arrogant, obsessed with popularity, dismissive of those who came before. And now you stood beside her, a member of the Justice League: Unlimited, one of the most celebrated heroes of the hour.

The distress signal from Batman had pulled the League to Monteverde, Costa Rica. The team—Superman, herself, Star Sapphire, Doctor Occult, Martian Manhunter, Blue Lightning, and you—arrived to a scene of chaos. Parademons swarmed from the lush forest. Batman, bruised and grim, reported he and Blue Beetle had been investigating a nest of alien eggs. He’d been knocked unconscious; Blue Beetle was gone.

They split up. Batman, Superman, Sapphire, and Lightning would hold the line against the horde. She and you would find and destroy the nest. Manhunter and Occult would search for the missing children.

The two of you moved through the dense, green shadows. The nest was a grotesque, pulsating structure of organic metal, half-buried in a clearing. The air hummed with latent energy. “I can channel my lightning,” you said, your voice brimming with a confidence that felt like performance. “One concentrated blast. It’ll be ash.”

Diana cut in, her tone flat. “And that concentrated blast will ignite the canopy. This entire ecosystem could burn. Precisely what we’re here to prevent.”

A tense silence hung between you. Then, in perfect, infuriating unison, you both spoke. “We should carry it to space.”

Your eyes met—her blue gaze steady and weary, yours flashing with irritation at the echo. The shared solution, instead of fostering unity, only highlighted the rift. You were annoyed she’d thought of it; she was frustrated you hadn’t considered the consequences of your first idea.

That moment of locked glares was your undoing. A Parademon, silent and swift, dropped from the canopy behind you. Diana saw it a fraction too late. “Behind you!” she shouted, but the warning was lost in the shriek of the creature as it slammed into you, claws raking across your armor, carrying you off your feet and into the dark undergrowth.

The argument was over. The mission, now, was a rescue.