With the Mother Box in hand, Steppenwolf was immediately delighted and prepared to summon a Boom Tube.
Unfortunately, two golden beams struck his hand at that moment. The violent impact forced his arm upward, and the Mother Box slipped from his grasp.
Steppenwolf turned and lunged after it, only to find that his feet merely shattered the ground beneath them. Instead of leaping forward as he intended, he remained where he was.
"Where are you going, doggy?", Alex grabbed one of the spikes on Steppenwolf's back armor and swung with force, throwing the giant body over four meters tall. It happened to collide with the approaching Vera, and the two crashed into a building together.
Alex teleported beside the Mother Box and reached down to pick it up.
A grappling hook suddenly landed on the Mother Box.
The cable attached to it retracted, carrying the Mother Box into the air.
In midair, Batman stood at the jet's entrance. He caught the Mother Box in his arms and headed inside.
At the same time, Aquaman Arthur shouted as he jumped from the hatch. His silver trident pointed at Alex as he thrust forward.
A cold look appeared in Alex's eyes.
He shot upward and slammed directly into Arthur, driving him into the jet.
A fireball erupted inside the aircraft. Black smoke poured from it as the jet spun out of control and crashed into a nearby building. Its wings swept through the structure like sharp blades, causing window after window to explode.
Bruce jumped from the out-of-control aircraft.
When Alex reached the hatch, he saw Cyborg Victor flying over. Grabbing Batman's cape, Victor lifted him and flew upward.
Alex emerged from the aircraft and hovered in midair.
Golden light suddenly shone from his eyes.
Victor, who was flying at high speed, suddenly glanced back.
Two golden beams were tearing through the air toward him.
The metal on his back shifted and transformed into a shield.
Alex's heat vision struck the shield, creating a fireball that blasted Victor away.
Bruce crashed down with the Mother Box and landed on a rooftop.
He rolled several times to absorb the impact, ran to the edge, and jumped off.
His cape spread out, and he glided through the air like a real bat.
But at that moment, Alex burst out from a building and struck Bruce in midair, knocking Batman down toward the street.
In the middle of it, Bruce fired a grappling hook and caught the outer wall of a nearby building.
He swung toward a third-floor window and crashed through it.
Entering an office, Bruce rolled repeatedly before finally stopping when he hit a pillar.
He had barely taken a breath when he saw Alex fly in.
Alex landed on the floor, walked toward Bruce, and held out a hand.
"Give it to me, Bruce."
Bruce pushed himself up against the wall and ran.
Alex shrugged.
His eyes lit up as he prepared to kill Batman.
Suddenly, a huge, blurry ripple burst into the building.
Wherever it passed, stone and concrete split apart and collapsed.
It struck Alex instantly.
At first, Alex paid it no mind.
The next second, he discovered that the biological force field from the Justice Cape was being torn apart by the ripple.
Only then did he take it seriously and use his own Level 4 biological force field to resist it.
Even so, the ripple pushed him straight out of the building.
After being cut through by the blurry ripple, the dozens-story-high building split cleanly down the middle and immediately collapsed.
Alex shouted and pressed one hand against the ripple that was still trying to cut through him.
With his other hand, he clenched a fist and punched it.
The ripple shattered.
Only then did he see Vera in the distance.
The woman was in a kicking stance.
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Zeus Armor, Hermes Boots
Trait 2: Vacuum Slash Wave
While wearing the Hermes Boots, the user can kick at extremely high speed, creating a vacuum wave capable of cutting through most substances.
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Alex glanced at the boots on Vera's feet.
'Good stuff.'
One strike had torn open the biological force field of the Justice Cape.
The force field provided by the Justice Cape was roughly at Level 2 strength.
Back when fighting Doomsday, Superman Clark's biological force field had been about the same.
Those divine boots of Vera's could unleash a vacuum wave capable of tearing apart a Level 2 force field.
That kind of attack was already quite frightening.
With the Justice Cape's biological force field torn apart, Alex's Super Regeneration talent could regenerate force fields.
However, force fields provided by equipment were clearly outside the scope of that recovery.
It could only restore itself over time.
Until then, the Justice Cape only retained its effect of negating one fatal injury.
While Alex was being occupied by Vera, Bruce landed on the street and was about to have Victor come pick him up.
A roar suddenly sounded overhead.
Steppenwolf dropped from the sky.
The monster immediately spotted the Mother Box in Bruce's hands.
Batman instantly fired his grappling gun and prepared to move.
Steppenwolf roared, grabbed Bruce's cape, yanked him over, and smashed him into a car.
The vehicle caved in from the impact.
Its windows shattered into fragments.
Steppenwolf reached for the Mother Box in Bruce's hands.
Two heat vision beams struck at the same time.
Steppenwolf cried out and was blasted away.
Only then did Alex and Vera pull their attention back from Steppenwolf.
One landed on Bruce's left side, the other on his right.
Steppenwolf stopped, roared in anger, and jumped back into the scene.
Then Victor descended from the sky and appeared beside Alex, watching his every move.
On the street opposite them, the sound of rushing water suddenly grew loud.
A stream swept across the road.
Arthur jumped down from it and arrived near Steppenwolf with his trident.
Three factions.
Six people in total.
Aside from the Flash, Barry Allen, everyone else had arrived.
Alex whistled, "This is rare. Everyone's here. If the timing were different, I might have invited you all to a party."
Steppenwolf looked at Alex, then glanced at Vera.
Among everyone present, these two were the people he feared most.
During their earlier exchanges, Steppenwolf had already realized that even after being enhanced by the Mother Box, he still could not be sure of victory against either of them.
Even so, he spoke proudly, "You have no idea what you're doing. You primitive creatures, do you really think you can resist the Great Darkness?"
"I suggest you give up that idea. If you do, you'll still have time to say goodbye to your families before the darkness arrives."
Vera chuckled, "Those words would sound more convincing coming from your master. As for you, don't think getting a little stronger means you can talk to me like that."
Aquaman Arthur's gaze moved back and forth between Vera and Steppenwolf.
Then he said, "I don't like her, but this time, I admit she's right."