Chapter 60:

A Lesson in Knowing Your Place

DC: The Infinite Villain

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"Why have the Legends not come back yet? They can travel through time and they are still this slow. What are they doing, pretending to be police?"

Damon muttered, then looked at Hippolyta.

"You have been holding it in for a while. Say what you want to say."

Hippolyta considered for a moment before asking, "Did you truly come from the future? What happens to Themyscira in that future?"

Damon curled his lip, bored.

"I knew you would ask that. After Diana leaves Themyscira, kills Ares, and becomes Wonder Woman, Themyscira will become a symbol. I do not know every detail, but Steppenwolf will return. He will come to Themyscira to reclaim the thing you are guarding."

Steppenwolf.

Hippolyta's expression shifted as she remembered the war from long, long ago.

Back then, humans, gods, Atlanteans, and even allies from beyond the stars had joined forces to drive Steppenwolf away. If he returned, how would Themyscira stop him?

"That is the difference between New Gods and old gods."

Damon continued.

"One Steppenwolf is already difficult for you to deal with. Steppenwolf comes from Apokolips and serves Darkseid, the god of that world. Technically, Darkseid is his nephew, but Darkseid's father, Yuga Khan, became obsessed with the Source Wall and got pasted onto it. That is why Zeus died, and why the gods died. They could not win."

He smiled suddenly, thinking of an interesting possibility.

"If you cannot win and you do not want to die, all you can do is tuck your tail and hide."

Maybe Zeus had known that New Gods would replace old gods. If his personal strength was not enough, perhaps he had tried to make up for it with numbers.

Have enough children, and if one cannot win, send a crowd.

What if one of them turned out brokenly powerful?

Someone like Wonder Woman, for example.

"What exactly is the Source Wall?"

This was the second time Damon had mentioned it.

One Steppenwolf had required gods, Earth, and allies from the stars to repel him. What about the stronger Darkseid? What about Darkseid's father, Yuga Khan?

For the first time, Hippolyta felt the future darkening.

"The origin of everything."

If Damon remembered correctly, the Source Wall was the boundary of the known universe. Beyond the Wall was the Source, the origin of all answers, all existence. The Source had created gods and metahumans. The Entity, origin of life and the first of the emotional spectrum entities, had also come from beyond the Source Wall.

The Source Wall possessed a special nature. Anything in the universe that touched it would be stuck there. Living beings would be fixed to the Wall without consciousness, like plants.

Yuga Khan, the father even Darkseid feared, had been trapped there.

So had Superboy-Prime in the comics.

The only being who had ever escaped the Wall by his own power was Yuga Khan, god of the Source. And later, that fool got himself stuck again.

Being pasted to the Source Wall was not entirely without benefit.

At least it protected you from universe resets.

After all, when someone like the Flash could not clean up his own mess, he rebooted everything.

That was what happened when a man ran fast enough.

Speaking of people who were fast, the Legends were still slow.

"The origin of everything? Then..."

Hippolyta wanted to ask more, but Damon cut her off impatiently.

"Enough. I am not an encyclopedia. And even if I were, encyclopedias are bedtime reading. I would rather have your daughter ask me in bed."

Hippolyta's expression stiffened.

Apparently bedtime reading could be interpreted that way too.

Damon was annoyed by how slowly the Legends were moving, so he simply turned and headed back.

They had just returned when they heard excited cheers.

Then they saw Artemis and Diana fighting.

Leaving aside their combat techniques, one was a demigoddess whose divine power had just awakened, and the other was a new goddess of discord who had just gained the Source. The two were roughly matched.

"Mother."

"Master."

The noise suddenly fell silent.

When the two fighters saw Damon and Hippolyta, they stopped.

"How does it feel?"

Damon casually asked Artemis.

Artemis answered with visible excitement.

"Incredible. It is as if I have endless power. And I am still not familiar with it. I can become stronger."

"Master, may I challenge you?"

Artemis's voice was filled with exhilaration.

Damon smiled and raised his hand.

Bang.

Artemis instantly felt pain burst through her head, and her entire body slammed into the ground.

She was stunned.

She had not been on guard, but she still had not seen Damon's movement clearly. And that strength... such a casual slap had left her head ringing and the world spinning.

"Showing off in front of them is fine. Showing off in front of me gets you killed."

Damon spoke flatly, then strolled away under everyone's shocked, speechless stares.

That was a lesson in knowing your place.

Even Eris had been blown apart by one punch from Damon. What chance did Artemis, a rookie who had only just gained the Source, have?

Diana helped Artemis up.

"Are you all right?"

"I am fine."

Artemis shook her head. She was still dizzy.

"Intruders!"

A sudden shout startled everyone.

More intruders?

A rushing sound came from the sky.

A warship slowly descended through the air, its wind forcing people to narrow their eyes.

Bang.

The ship landed, and the hatch slowly opened.

Rip Hunter, captain of the Legends, stepped out in his trench coat. Sara Lance, the White Canary, followed with Captain Cold, Leonard Snart, and Heat Wave, Mick Rory.

"People of Themyscira, hello."

Rip looked at the hostile Amazons surrounding them and hurried to explain.

"I apologize for the intrusion. Please do not be alarmed. We are here for Damon Keller."

"You are the Legends?" Diana asked.

Rip froze, then nodded.

How did they know?

Did Damon tell them?

What the hell had Damon done?

As Rip was still thinking, Diana suddenly rushed toward him.

"Do not attack. We mean no harm. We are here to help you solve your problem."

"You are the ones who brought the problem to Themyscira."

Diana snorted and knocked Rip Hunter down in an instant.