INT. RUINED TEMPLE, THEMYSCIRA - NIGHT
The blood-red, full moon casts a spectral glow upon the petrified silhouettes of the Amazons. In the center of this stone cemetery, Felix Faust, clad in dark robes that seem to absorb the light, raises his arms to the corrupted sky. His arrogance is palpable, a venom poisoning the air around him.
"They laughed at me!" he shrieks into the night, his voice laden with decades-old bitterness. "Felix Faust, the failed Egyptologist, the delusional dreamer who spoke of gods and magic! They thought I had lost myself in the sands and old parchments."
A harsh, discordant laugh escapes him.
"Look at me now!" he screams, his eyes blazing with an infernal light. "I have struck a pact with a power their small minds cannot even conceive! I have become more than an ordinary human... I have become a god by mortal standards! Hahaha!!!"
With a theatrical wave of his hand, he traces a circle in the air. A trail of sulfurous fire follows his fingers, igniting to form a swirling portal that tears at the fabric of reality. Shadows lengthen, and the chill of the grave emanates from the circle.
From its depths, an overwhelming presence manifests. The voice that emerges is like the grating of a thousand tombs opening at once.
HADES
(Gravelly,cold voice)
Faust.Well? Where is my liberation? These fragments must break the seals that bind me to my realm.
Faust gives a slight bow, but his smile remains smug, cunning.
FAUST
There has been...a slight change of plans, my lord.
The portal's fire flickers, and Hades' anger becomes a tangible pressure that makes the marble beneath Faust's feet groan.
HADES
WHAT?!
FAUST
(Straightening up,toying with a spell between his fingers)
The fragments are scattered,it's true. But they are also fiercely protected. By guardians, enchantments, and worse... by the Justice League itself. Why take unnecessary risks when another can wield the shovel and pickaxe in my place?
HADES
(His tone is dangerously calm)
You play with fire,sorcerer. You swore to free me. Should you fail, it will not be your soul alone that I claim. It will be your entire being, burned for eternity in the rivers of oblivion. The consequences will be... personal.
A shiver, which he tries to hide, runs down Faust's spine. But his arrogance regains control.
FAUST
Failure is not an option.The reward—your unleashed power shared with me—will soon be ours. And the instrument of our victory is none other than the heir to the throne of Themyscira herself. Wonder Woman, desperate to save her people, has become my willing huntress. She will gather the fragments for us, unaware of their true purpose.
A silence falls, then an approving rumble, like a distant earthquake, emanates from the portal.
HADES
(Interested,sinister)
Hippolyta's daughter...Ironic. Very well, Faust. Proceed with your game. But remember the price of failure. Every fragment she retrieves brings us closer to my return. And to your ascension... or your damnation.
The fiery portal closed in a scorching breath, leaving Faust alone among the statues. He turned to the petrified form of Queen Hippolyta, a cruel smile on his lips.
"Do you hear that, Your Majesty?" he whispered. "Your beloved daughter is working hard for our cause. What a united family we make."
His mad laughter echoed once more in the stone silence of Themyscira, as the plans of gods and madmen continued to intertwine.