Do you two really clash this badly?
Thea was speechless. She only remembered these two fighting to the death in the Flashpoint Paradox, but this wasn't Flashpoint... These two were fighting for no reason. Thea wanted to break it up, but she didn't even know where to start.
She turned her head, intending to ask Kahina to speak up, persuade them to stop, and then quickly take her to get the Scepter. That was the proper course of action.
But as she turned, she saw Ya'Wara's two jaguars wagging their tails and fawning all over Cheetah. Cheetah had woken up at some point; her yellow eyes emitted a mesmerizing glow.
Ya'Wara was constantly saying something to Mera. The Aquaman's wife looked a bit unhappy, but she still raised both hands. Massive currents of water emerged; she wanted to break down the hard ice trapping Cheetah.
"Stop!"
Thea knew this situation was like a cheap soap opera, but she still had to exchange Cheetah for Amanda Waller's "huge favor." She had to stop them from releasing Cheetah. Without time to put on armor, she instantly cast three fire arrows, aiming straight at Mera.
"Surface Dweller! You dare attack me!"
It was unclear if Mera was having a spectacularly bad day, but she seemed possessed by the spirit of a grumpy idiot. Water swirled around her hands. With a gentle stroke, the water transformed into dozens of icy-sharp arrows, meeting Thea's magic arrows.
The two volleys intersected in the air. Thea's magic was purer, while Mera won in quantity. The two fought to a draw.
"Ya'Wara, what are you doing! They aren't bad people..." Kahina hurriedly grabbed the brown-skinned woman who was about to besiege Thea.
"Kahina, you're okay?... But my animal companions say they are bad people?" Ya'Wara also sensed a problem and hurriedly turned back to call her pets.
But her pets, who would usually die for her, didn't respond to her call at all. The two jaguars were striving to help Cheetah break free.
Looking at Cheetah's beastly vertical pupils, even the simplest person would know there was a problem. Helplessly, no matter how Ya'Wara called, the two jaguars ignored her. Claws broke, they used teeth; teeth chipped, they used heads to ram. Small cracks gradually appeared on the hard ice covering Cheetah.
"You two stop the jaguars! The woman in the ice has blood on her hands; she cannot be let out! If you have time, talk some sense into this woman opposite me!!"
Thea's strength was higher than Mera's, so she still had the leisure to observe the battlefield.
Aquaman's two little friends could only go pull the two jaguars. Kahina had been chased by Black Manta for dozens of miles and was long exhausted. Ya'Wara didn't dare use a heavy hand on her pets. The two pulled tails and legs, but the jaguars ignored them, only knowing to save Cheetah. For a moment, the scene was extremely ugly.
"Idiots!"
Thea almost lost it. Mera opposite her had red eyes and wouldn't listen to explanations at all. Ice spikes, ice arrows, water dragons, water arrows didn't stop. On the other side, Diana could slightly suppress Aquaman, but she was stubbornly protecting Black Manta, so the deadlock couldn't be broken for a while.
"Help me hold off those two jaguars." Thea released the Elk from her ring—the one usually just eating and sleeping—and instructed in a low voice.
The Elk immediately sensed the Cheetah God possessing Cheetah's body. Especially since the opponent had stolen the power of the Moon Goddess, which made the Elk even more dissatisfied. But it faithfully executed Thea's order. Whenever the two jaguars approached, it used its antlers to push them back.
"Does your friend understand English?! Someone talk to her!" Thea dealt with Mera's fierce attacks, feeling utterly speechless. What a couple. They're both impossible.
Aquaman's two companions hurriedly shouted loudly, trying to make Mera stop.
But this Queen of Atlantis acted as if she couldn't hear, continuing to attack Thea fiercely.
Needless to say, this was definitely the work of the Cheetah God possessing Cheetah. The opponent's methods weren't brilliant; they just happened to meet Mera's fiery temper, igniting instantly. It wasn't without reason that Mera would later be chosen by the Red Lantern Ring of Rage.
However, temper did not equal strength. Despite her super-level performance, she was inevitably suppressed by Thea. Her water control ability came from her racial bloodline (Xebel). Underwater, it would be infinitely powerful, but on land, it was just the same few tricks back and forth.
Thea's single water attribute wasn't as good as Mera's, but Thea's methods were extremely rich. Fireballs canceled ice arrows; Wind Blades, Light Spears, Shadow Arrows, plus a barrage of control and debuff spells, were thrown out overwhelmingly.
"I'll pull her away! You guys go talk to that guy with the fork!" Fearing their battle would break the ice on Cheetah, Thea took out a Lantern Ring, put it on, conjured dense chains to bind Mera, and flew into the distance.
Run out of a certain range, the mind control effect disappears, and she should wake up, right?
Thea calculated well, but she flew a bit too fast. The two women on the ground were a step slow. And she didn't factor in Aquaman.
"You dare hurt my wife!"
Seeing Thea bind Mera and run, Aquaman instantly saw red. Risking a hit from Diana's sword, the trident in his hand gathered a massive amount of electric light. A lightning ball the size of a washbasin was thrown at Thea.
"You think only you can use lightning?!" That idiot couple was really getting on Thea's nerves!
She took out the artifact longbow, nocked Zeus's Lightning Bolt, and fired an arrow at the lightning ball below.
The lightning ball from Aquaman's trident was white, like a storm brewing in the ocean. Thea's lightning arrow was deep blue, quiet as the sky, yet containing deadly danger within that tranquility.
Two divine artifacts capable of emitting lightning power welcomed their first collision since the day they were forged.
One was like a roar from the ocean; the other like divine punishment descending from the sky. Atlantis's artifact represented the last glory of that lost civilization: firm, tough, undeniable. Thea's Arrow of Zeus carried the spirit of the gods: supreme, great, invincible.
Two bolts of lightning of different colors finally intersected. Time seemed to freeze.
The first second was calm, as if the fierce scene before didn't exist. But the next second, the two masses of energy finally exploded violently.
BOOM!—
Both masses of energy vanished. The exploding sound seemed to pierce the air. Massive energy spread in all directions. The two women who were about to speak could only drop to the ground to avoid the shockwave sweeping through ten miles of rainforest.
This round seemed like a draw, but Aquaman had been injured by Diana earlier, and the trident's charging time was too short to fully unleash the artifact's power.
Thea fought even more hastily. Her lightning magic was a mix of Fire, Wind, and Water. What she shot was just the power inherent in the arrow, far from her maximum damage limit.
Both were very unhappy. They charged energy simultaneously, preparing for the next wave of attacks.
Although Mera was bewitched, she still recognized Aquaman. Breaking free from the construct chains, she wanted to come up and double-team Thea.
Naturally, Diana couldn't just watch. She also intervened to block Mera. The four people swapped opponents, gearing up for a muddled second round.