"Come in," Thena called out.
The door opened and Wonder Woman stepped in, dressed in her hero costume. She looked around the table with a warm smile.
"Good morning, everyone."
"Morning, mom," Thena and Terra responded together.
"Morning," Max said.
"How is everyone today?"
"Good," Terra said, finishing the last of her cereal.
"The usual," Thena said, side-eyeing Max. "Just encouraging dad to get a hobby,or a job,because apparently he's been getting too bored."
"That is not true," Max said.
"Riight," Thena said.
"I don't think that's the case," Wonder Woman said, glancing at Max.
Max exhaled quietly in relief. At least someone wasn't accusing him.
"Good timing, mom," Thena said, already hurrying to finish her cereal. "I've been meaning to spar with you as well since dad has been ducking me for days."
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Wonder Woman said. "It'll have to wait,I'm here to discuss something serious with your father."
Thena paused mid-spoonful. "What a bummer."
She finished her cereal in record time, pushed back her chair and stood up.
"Since you two are so intent on ducking me" she glanced between Max and Wonder Woman "I'll be in the training grounds when you need me. Ciao."
She vanished.
Wonder Woman stared at the empty space where Thena had been, then turned to Terra with a slightly confused expression.
Terra set down her bowl. "Ever since she got her powerup she's been itching to test herself. Against you, against dad,she's convinced she can beat you both and give dad a serious run for his money."
"Don't worry about her," Max said. "She'll wish she never issued that challenge once we're done." He turned to Wonder Woman. "So,what do you want to discuss?"
"Can you come with me to the Hall of Justice?" Wonder Woman asked.
Minutes Later
Max and Wonder Woman flew high above the city, heading toward Washington D.C. where the Hall of Justice was located. The silence between them stretched on for a while before Wonder Woman broke it.
"Batman asked me if I know why Nina left her original timeline and chose to come here," she said.
"What did you tell him?" Max asked.
"Nothing. It isn't my place to tell them." She glanced toward him. "And I think you have good reasons for keeping it hidden."
Max closed his eyes briefly and exhaled.
"Honestly,even without the full details, you'll all be learning about it soon enough regardless," he said.
Wonder Woman's brow furrowed. "Is the powerful entity you told me about,is it coming for us?"
"Yes." He paused. "On my travels through different universes, searching for someone, I briefly encountered him."
Flashback
The moment Lucifer left the diner, Max heard it,panicked screaming from outside. Several of the other patrons rushed to the windows. Through the glass, a massive crowd of people could be seen running in the opposite direction, desperate and scrambling over each other.
Max stood up and walked out the door to see for himself.
And there it was.
A wall of blue energy moving across the horizon, obliterating everything in its path, Buildings, streets, people,everything it touched simply ceased to exist. Max watched it for a single second and understood immediately.
Antimatter.
'So that's what happened to some of the Earths I passed through.'
He couldn't fight this right now,he'd lose badly and he knew it. Thinking fast, he activated the time ring.
Nothing happened.
He tried again. And again. The ring wasn't responding.
The wall of antimatter was closing fast.
Max shifted every ounce of power he had into his defense,Haki, chakra and ki layered together as tightly as he could manage,and braced as the antimatter wall swallowed him whole.
He closed his eyes.
When he opened them, he was floating in a pitch black void.
A massive dark figure loomed before him, a ball of crackling energy already formed in its palm and ready to fire. Max reacted instantly channeling ki into both hands and launching two ki bombs simultaneously toward the figure.
The figure released its own blast in the same moment. The ball of antimatter dwarfed Max's ki bombs by a factor of thousands.
Then the two ki bombs merged.
They combined mid-flight into a single gigantic sphere of purple energy that collided head on with the antimatter blast, the impact generating a powerful explosion that rippled outward across the void.
Max tried the ring again.
This time it worked as he was pulled away in an instant, leaving the void and the figure behind. The being watched the space where Max had been, its expression unreadable behind the darkness.
Its eyes narrowed in quiet annoyance.
This being,or rather, one of many of its avatars currently moving through the multiverse erasing universes one by one,was known as the Anti-Monitor.
-End of Flashback
"What happened?" Wonder Woman asked, pausing mid-flight. Max stopped beside her.
"He tried to kill me," Max said. "I barely escaped in time."
"So he's stronger than you." It came out as a statement rather than a question, the shock of it settling over her slowly. Even now,after everything she had seen Max do, after watching him destroy Apokolips and kill Darkseid,there were still beings out there that vastly outclassed him.
"At the time, yes. Even now." He held her gaze steadily. "But don't worry. I've beaten him before. I'll do it again."
Wonder Woman searched his expression for doubt and found none.
"So like I said,don't worry about him." He paused. "But can you do something for me?"
He moved closer to her.
The distance between them shrank in a way that made her suddenly very aware of it. She felt her heart rate pick up before she could stop it, a warmth creeping up her face that she had absolutely no intention of showing. She kept her expression composed. Barely.
"What is it?" she asked.
"If something happens to me" Max's voice was quiet and unhurried "I'm leaving Thena and Terra in your care." He held her gaze. "Can you do that for me?"
End of Chapter..
Chapter 42:Braniac descends
Chapter 43:Constantine?
Chapter 44:Heroes from a different timeline?