"Oh... yes... yes... come on... hiss... oh yes..."
A not-quite-closed hotel room door was permeated by a back-and-forth friction of sounds.
The passionate revelry made Diana, passing Room 404, shake her head with a smile and graciously close the door for the three occupants inside. Before closing the door, she vaguely heard a voice, authoritative yet with a hint of playfulness, from within asking: "Are you still feeling naughty?"
Then, the door clicked shut. Her ears were instantly much clearer. The local customs of this hotel were truly... rustic.
"Here we are, this is Lothar's room." After leading Diana around two more bends, Mera, who had returned to her room and draped a thin white veil over herself, knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock...
After a long moment, there was still no answer from inside.
"Lothar? Are you there? It's Mera."
"Lothar—" Mera's knocking halted abruptly. The silently opened door revealed Lothar's eyes, which made her feel as if she'd plunged into an ice abyss. Though only for an instant, Mera truly felt it.
"What do you want?" Lothar's face was cold as he looked at the two women before him. They were generally dressed as they had been on the observation balcony earlier, but now, Mera and Diana both wore thin veils.
"We need to talk, Lothar." Diana spoke up, easing some of the pressure on Mera.
"Talk about what?" Lothar felt a bit puzzled. He was certain he didn't know this Diana. What was there to talk about?
"About the peace of this world."
BANG!
Lothar simply slammed the door shut, giving the two graceful ladies the cold shoulder.
"Lothar, listen to me, I'm not joking, I—"
"AHHHHHH!!! MONSTERS!! MONSTERS!!!" Diana, still knocking, tried to explain herself but was interrupted by several high-pitched screams.
"What?" Diana and Mera exchanged glances, seeing confusion and bewilderment in each other's eyes.
"GRRK!" A monster with wings resembling a dragonfly's roared as it burst through the window of Room 404, continuing its hunt for food fueled by fear.
By the time Mera and Diana rushed over, Room 404 was already littered with corpses. The "important figure," dressed in a suit on his upper body and nothing below, was disfigured. At his feet lay several naked female corpses.
The dignitary, who had come to Kansas on an assignment, had fallen in his privately booked Room 404, along with the beautiful socialites he had summoned through his influence.
"They've come." Diana quickly walked to the window and looked up. The monsters flying in the sky matched the descriptions Bruce Wayne had given her.
"What?"
"Who?"
"No time to explain! Follow me quickly!"
"I'll try my best to hold off these monsters! You go evacuate those people!" Diana leaped, and the sky over the beach instantly flashed with lightning and thunder!
"AH!!!!" A roar from the demigoddess. Diana, bursting through the window, crossed her arms, her gauntlets clanging together. An incredibly powerful energy burst forth from her body!
BOOM!
Blue-violet lightning struck, and Diana's figure soared out of the lightning, her appearance completely transformed! The easily removed bikini was replaced by valiant armor, and a golden lasso now hung at her otherwise bare waist. The round shield and long sword on her back perfectly transformed Diana into a brave warrior!
"Everyone, get out of here quickly! Hurry!" Mera, controlling the water currents on the beach to repel the relentless monsters attracted by fear, suddenly spotted a familiar back in the crowd.
It was Lothar, back in his loose black combat suit.
"Your Highness Lothar, are we just leaving like this?"
"Ms. Mera is currently engaged in battle." Lothar's figure melted into the panicked crowd, walking steadily away. His gaze was unwavering: "Did you find the information I asked for?"
"Regrettably, Your Highness Lothar, Woz has not found specific information on that mysterious energy source." Woz on the panel bowed in apology. It, too, was troubled.
Woz, which could practically access all network data on Earth, simply couldn't find much information on that energy source. The fact that it could even retrieve its name, "Mother Box," was already the limit.
VROOOM!
The roar of an engine drew the monsters' attention. Countless eyes turned towards Diana's back. A silver sports car, like an arrow released from a bow, appeared out of nowhere after a drainpipe turn, descending from the sky and crushing two still-snarling monsters!
"Barry! Get everyone out of here!"
"Got it!"
The supercar's side wings suddenly opened after Bruce Wayne's voice dropped, unleashing a barrage of specially made bullets onto the dense monster horde in the air!
SCREECH!!!
The tires screeched against the ground as Bruce Wayne maneuvered. The modified side weapon system fired wherever it drove, perfectly demonstrating what it meant to be utterly ruthless.
Suddenly, a glimmer of light appeared in the dim sky. A giant axe, as if traversing two dimensions, instantly sliced Bruce Wayne's supercar in half!
"Tell me, where is the Mother Box, you Atlantean!" A tall, formidable figure emerged from a descending beam of light, its cruel gaze fixed on Mera.
THUMP.
Lothar, far away, suddenly stopped, turning back to look at the armored figure with the giant axe on the beach.
"Woz?"
"Your Highness Lothar, you heard correctly." Woz confirmed that Lothar wasn't hallucinating.
"Who are you?!"
"How do you know about the Mother Box?!" On the beach, Mera's face, now targeted, instantly changed. What a joke! The Mother Box was a treasure protected by their seven undersea kingdoms for generations.
"My name is Steppenwolf."
"And the Mother Box is what your ancestors stole from me!" Savage killing intent condensed. The spinning great axe directly knocked away Diana, who was holding her long sword and trying to block him.
Steppenwolf's figure appeared before Mera, revealing a cruel smile. Then, with a backhand slap, Barry Allen, who had been moving at high speed, instantly fell onto the beach, his eyes closed.
"Diana! Barry!" Bruce Wayne, pulling two folded energy weapons from the shattered trunk of his car, gritted his teeth and unleashed energy bullets at Steppenwolf. It was useless.
"That irritating Kryptonian is dead. No one can stop me now."
"Now, tell me, current guardian of the Mother Box, where is it located?" The sharp great axe returned to Steppenwolf's hand. He directly pressed the axe blade against Mera's neck, commanding her from above.
"How do you know I'm the guardian of the Mother Box?" Even sensing the breath of death, Mera remained unyielding. The Mother Box was too important; she would never reveal its location.
"That's none of your concern. Now you have only two choices."
"Tell me the Mother Box's location, or die." Steppenwolf's axe blade advanced another three points, its chilling gleam already cutting Mera's fair skin, drawing a small trickle of crimson blood.
Steppenwolf smirked. Suddenly, a strong sense of danger surged within him. Before his body could react, Steppenwolf, still holding his great axe, was blasted away by a beam of energy!
"Actually, she has a third choice."
A figure that should have already departed descended from the sky, its not-so-broad shoulders shielding Mera.
Golden hair and green eyes, stirring a tumultuous air current!
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