"Whoo, exciting!" Axel reappeared behind Diana, pointing at his eyes.
"Do you know what it feels like to be sliced in half vertically, Diana? Your field of vision expands in ways you won't forget!"
As he spoke, Axel tumbled to the ground. Diana spun around, chasing him, her longsword raised.
"Then I'll help you open your heart right now!" she shouted, driving the Sword of Hephaestus deep into his chest, pinning him to the floor.
Axel coughed up blood, his hand gripping her blade. "Instead of opening my heart, try opening my mind. Smash my head, and fine — I won't feel a thing. But a wound to the heart… that's truly heartbreaking!"
With incredible strength, Axel pushed himself off the sword, pressing his chest against her hilt and grasping her wrist with his blood-soaked hand.
"Don't worry, Diana. No matter how deeply you hurt me, I take it as care. I hope more people like you appear in my life; then life wouldn't be a series of petty skirmishes."
He smiled, then burst into flames. In a blink, he stood beside her.
"Do you feel the warmth I brought, Diana? That's a flame lit by my life. Doesn't it move you?"
"Get lost!" Diana snapped, elbowing him in the chin. Axel rolled his eyes in pain but vanished in a burst of flames before she could follow up.
Moments later, he appeared surveying two women in the background. "What's your room number? I'll need to straighten you out later," he chuckled before disappearing again, reappearing in front of Diana.
"You really are uncatchable," Diana said, frowning.
"Uncatchable? Diana, haven't I already stolen your heart?" Axel laughed, leaning closer and reaching for her hand.
Diana's kick shattered his right hand into a bloody mess. Axel shook his head in mock regret.
"Don't be so heartless. This hand at least reached your heart."
"If you could shut up, maybe I'd be a little kinder," Diana said coldly, turning away. Ten meters out, she paused.
"You don't just chase power from Death. Every time I struck you, I left you alive, and each time you returned stronger!"
"Of course," Axel said, nodding. "If I relied only on Death, you'd be toying with me each time. I'm no one's toy — you all are mine! My abilities exist for absolute freedom. Power is just a tool; without it, freedom is meaningless. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Every setback, every wound, becomes my strength. Understand?"
He shook his ruined right hand, then bowed theatrically to her.
"For now, it's a pity. I've grown too little, too slowly. I couldn't make you fight at full strength, Diana. But one day, I'll return the favor, and that day will come sooner than you think."
He spontaneously combusted, reappearing in his original position, his hand fully healed. Diana exhaled deeply, facing the most troublesome enemy she had ever encountered.
Axel was uncatchable, untouchable, even artifacts like the Lasso of Truth could not bind him. How could she fight someone so slippery, so unpredictable? He was like a chewed piece of gum stuck in a knot of hair: impossible to remove, impossible to ignore.
Before tonight, Diana had thought Axel just a reckless young man who stumbled into power. But now, she realized he understood her identity and the gods behind her. Though he claimed humanity, he operated with the precision of an ancient, nearly unstoppable relic — a deity of chaos who could shape epic narratives alone.
Diana snorted and leaped into the clouds. Axel, seemingly reluctant, raised his right hand and shouted skyward:
"My dear, are you sure you don't want a little more… intimacy?"
Whoosh! The Sword of Hephaestus descended from the sky, its blade slicing subatomic particles as it pierced Axel's chest. Diana pulled it free, retreating into the clouds.
"I will uncover your true identity, unknown deity. I think I already have a clue! Axel, tell me, are you really not Loki?"
"I'm Los Angeles, haha!" Axel laughed, gave her the middle finger, and vanished in flames.
Gotham trembled in the wake of their battle. Citizens and authorities alike were forced to witness superhuman power unleashed in their city. Bruce and Lucius, watching from surveillance, could barely comprehend it.
"Why do beings like this exist on Earth?" Lucius muttered. "How can the same bodies as ours unleash such power? Even if they were monstrous or alien, it would be easier to accept than this."
Bruce pressed his hands to the table, silent.
"Bruce, what are you thinking?" Lucius asked.
Bruce exhaled deeply. "Gotham was familiar, even broken. Now… it feels alien. To contend with superhumans like them, I need decades-advanced labs, tech far beyond civilization's current reach. Armor, biotech, iterations… I need years just to catch up. They are enemies I shouldn't face at this stage. Time is my enemy, and I must race it to stand a chance."