In the shattered heart of Gotham City, amid the smoking ruins of Wayne Enterprises in the Diamond District, the air still trembled from the aftermath.
Thump.
Kara hit the ground hard enough to crater concrete.
Dust billowed around her in suffocating waves. Gritting her teeth, she exhaled with controlled force, the blast of breath tearing through the haze. Patrol cars and police cruisers skidded backward as the shockwave rolled over them.
When the dust finally cleared, he was not there.
Pain flashed across her face as she dropped to one knee.
"Damn it. Where did your voice go, damn it!"
She pushed her hearing to its limit, scanning every frequency across the planet. Heartbeats, engines, whispers, gunshots, oceans shifting against continents. Everything.
Except him.
Frustration broke through her composure. She buried her face into the rubble of Wayne Enterprises.
A quiet, broken sound escaped her.
Then a familiar voice cut through the silence.
"I'm not dead yet. Why are you crying like you're at my funeral?"
Kara's head snapped up.
"Axel?"
He stood a short distance away, casually shaking viscous green biological fluid from his hand. His posture was relaxed, almost bored.
Her eyes dropped to the substance.
"Whose blood is that? I've never seen anything like it. Where did you go?"
Axel smirked.
"Took a detour somewhere even a so called Supreme God cannot reach. On the way back, I swung by to see Darkseid at the Source Wall. He's still stuck there. Poor bastard."
He flicked the last of the fluid away. What remained had belonged to a Parademon he had crushed mid flight.
Then he gave Kara a firm slap on the backside.
Her eyes widened.
"So even with Wayne Tower collapsing early, your ritual was not interrupted?"
Axel laughed, louder this time.
"There was never any ritual. Freedom cannot be defined, so it sure as hell cannot be interrupted. The second I died, I became freedom. Who exactly is supposed to restrain me? Myself? And why would I cage myself for some half baked goal I set on a whim? Screw that."
He slid an arm around her waist, fingers drifting lower with deliberate provocation.
"Let's go. Wayne Manor."
"Understood."
Kara lifted him and shot skyward.
Half a second later, Axel punched her chest in annoyance.
"Just hold me. Why are you carrying me like I'm your bride?"
"Because I'm happy."
She grinned and accelerated.
They did not make it far.
A blazing figure intercepted them midair. Flames coiled around her like living armor.
Axel squinted.
"What the hell is this? Why is she on fire too?"
Before he could continue, the warrior spoke.
"Why did you kill Doctor Kent, Axel?"
Diana Prince hovered before them, eyes burning with fury, sword engulfed in divine flame.
Kara tensed, preparing to throw Axel aside and engage.
He vanished from her arms before she could move.
The flaming blade sliced cleanly through him.
His body fell.
And then he reappeared, standing directly in front of Diana, grinning.
He waved at Kara.
"Go handle the mess at the Manor. I'll entertain her. I need the exercise anyway. Wouldn't want to embarrass Gotham."
His corpse evaporated behind them.
In the same instant, he appeared again, this time wrapping both arms around Diana and pressing his lips against hers.
"Ptooey!"
Her fist punched through his chest. She tore his heart free in one savage motion.
Axel looked down at it in her hand.
"If you've got no heart, is that still freedom, Little Diana?"
He took it back from her.
Then he bit into it.
Like it was an apple.
Blood poured down his chin as he chewed. The cavity in his chest sealed itself in seconds. Power surged through him, thicker, denser.
Even Diana froze.
He swallowed and spread his hands.
"You're not scared, are you?"
"I'm disgusted," she snapped. "Completely disgusted."
Her blade came down toward his skull.
He caught it barehanded.
The edge sliced through flesh instantly. It carved into muscle, bit into bone.
Crack.
The sword lodged in his hand.
Axel hissed through clenched teeth.
"That hurts like hell. But it works."
He pulled the blade free and handed it back to her.
"You know what the funny part is? Injury, death, humiliation, it all makes me stronger. Think about how many times you've killed me this week."
He shifted into a fighting stance.
Then his already shredded pants slipped off entirely.
For a brief moment, there was silence.
Diana's flames sputtered out.
"You are the most revolting bastard on this planet," she said through gritted teeth. "Even demons have standards."
She slammed her Amazonian bracelets together.
A blast of divine force erased Axel completely.
A second later he stood there again, fully dressed in fresh clothes, though blood still stained his collar.
He picked imaginary lint from his sleeve.
"Give me a second next time. I was changing."
Diana inhaled slowly, visibly restraining herself.
"You are a devil. I should have left you alone."
She turned and shot into the sky.
Axel blinked after her, then teleported and grabbed her ankle mid flight.
"Hey, don't ditch me. I'm not done."
"You can go torment that S woman," she shot back. "I'm finished."
"But I killed Doctor Kent. Don't you want revenge?"
"Of course I do. But I need answers first. I'm returning to Themyscira to search our archives and consult the gods."
She met his gaze.
"Knowing that, do you still dare let me leave?"
He grinned.
"Of course. But before you go, how about one more kiss?"
"Absolutely not, you insufferable…"
He cut her off by pulling her down and kissing her again.
When he released her, he laughed.
"Relax. We'll see each other again. Nobody gets rid of me now. Nobody."
His hand flashed downward, slipping beneath the edge of her armored skirt and squeezing hard.
Diana kicked him away with explosive force.
His forearm severed cleanly at the wrist, trapped by the enchanted armor. The detached hand remained where he had placed it.
She stared at it, trembling with rage as she yanked it free and flung it aside.
"You are every heroine's nightmare," she said, voice shaking. "If you truly wanted to, could you not violate any woman on this planet at will?"
Axel tilted his head thoughtfully.
"Huh. Didn't consider that angle."
"You do not need my reminder," she snapped. "You are already insane. The only mercy in this entire nightmare is that you possess some twisted fragment of restraint."
For the first time since their clash began, her anger faltered. The weight of him, his immortality, his unpredictability, it pressed down on her.
She looked close to tears.
Axel watched her in silence, grin fading into something softer.
She turned and flew away without another word.
He did not stop her this time.
For a moment he remained suspended in the air, watching the shrinking silhouette of the Amazon.
Then he laughed under his breath.
When the laughter ended, fire curled around his body.
He vanished.
He reappeared inside the ravaged halls of Wayne Manor, stepping over debris as though entering a hotel lobby.
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