Days passed in a blur. And with each passing one, Aeon Biotech began to plant its roots.
Anna Marie was the first to find the place.
A modest but promising space in Washington D.C.—downtown, close to both the Capitol and major R&D corridors. The price wasn't cheap, but the potential? Limitless.
Ethan didn't even hesitate. Using telepathy, he quickly identified potential investors and used their money, the building was bought, renovated, and redesigned within a month. Sleek glass walls, an eco-friendly infrastructure powered by solar tech hybrids, and top-tier labs humming with potential—Aeon Biotech had officially begun.
Ethan found himself entrenched in political dealings, something most would find exhausting. But for him, it was another puzzle to solve. His company, Aeon Biotech, was being hailed as the next big thing in green innovation, and world leaders were eager to shake hands with a superhero whose tech promised to make the world cleaner, safer, and more sustainable.
Of course, politics was never clean. But Ethan had his edge.
A little nudge here, a slight mental push there—his telepathy ensured that key figures felt an unwavering loyalty to the company. It wasn't mind control, not exactly. He didn't strip them of free will. He just… made sure they understood the vision, the necessity, the brilliance of Aeon Biotech. The rest followed naturally.
Aeon Biotech's promise to make Earth greener, cleaner, and the fact it was a company build by a Superhero was enough to bring eager proposals to his desk—LexCorp, Wayne Enterprises, Kord Industries. But Ethan declined them all for now. Not because they weren't useful. But because timing mattered more than ambition.
Meanwhile, Anna Marie had carved her own space in this new life. A place called Afterlife.
She spoke of it often. How she found it by accident one rainy evening, drawn in by the warm glow of neon and the laughter that floated from its doors like music through a dream. And more importantly, she spoke of its owner.
"Her name's Didi," Anna had said once, flopping on the couch beside Ethan. "You'd really like her. She's got this vibe. Like… not normal. But in a good way."
Ethan raised an eyebrow. That name—it tickled the edge of his memory. "Didi?"
Anna smirked. "Yeah. Don't make that face. You look like you just swallowed a lemon."
Now, Anna took Ethan to meet with her friend. Diana was occupied for the day—some meetings with Steve Trevor—so Ethan and Anna made their way to Gotham alone. He masked their presence with a mild telepathic veil, ensuring no one paid them any attention. Surveillance cameras might pick him up, sure, but he didn't care.
Eventually, they found it—a neon sign buzzing faintly in the morning gloom:
AFTERLIFE
The bar was closed. A sign in the window said it would open shortly. Ethan took in the brick facade, the soft scent of old wood and beer still lingering in the air.
Then the door creaked open.
And there she was.
Didi stepped out in her usual attire—leather jacket, boots, an aura that seemed to belong more to a myth than a bartender. She looked effortlessly cool, her crimson eyes scanning the street casually before landing on Anna.
"Hey!" Anna waved with a grin. "Perfect timing!"
She turned to Ethan. "Come on, I want you to meet her."
As soon as Didi met Ethan's gaze, His eyes widened, 'Oh, fuck.'
That name. That ankh.
She's not just a bar owner. She's Death. Death of The Endless.
Anna, blissfully unaware of the tension, grabbed his hand and pulled him forward. "Didi, this is Ethan, my boyfriend. Ethan, meet Didi."
Didi extended her hand with a small smile. "Pleasure."
He hesitated, then took her hand.
The handshake lasted barely a second.
BOOOOM!!!
The entire bar behind them exploded as two figures crashed down through the roof, sending wood and neon flying into the street.
The shockwave sent dust and splinters in all directions.
"..."
BOOOOM!!!
Another blast ripped through the debris, and a body was flung out of the wreckage like a rag doll.
It hit the pavement hard, skidding to a stop near Ethan's feet.
It is Superman.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His suit was torn. He groaned and struggled to his feet, glaring toward the remains of the bar.
Anna gasped before stepping back in shock. "...Superman?" she then turned to the bar, "What the hell—?!"
Then, from within the smoldering remains of Afterlife, a new figure emerged.
Tall. Brutish. Pale skin. Muscles like slabs of metal wrapped in black leather and chains. His crimson eyes burned with delight, and a large cigar hung from the corner of his mouth.
He cracked his knuckles. "Don't tell me that's all the Last Son of Krypton's got," he said, voice gravelly and cruel. "That was barely worth gettin' outta bed for."
"Well," Didi said calmly while glancing at the wreckage of her bar, "there goes the morning shift."
Anna turned to her, confused and angry. "Your bar and home just got destroyed—and that's the first thing you say?"
Didi smiled calmly. "I can always fix it later. The important thing is, no one was inside… and no one got hurt."
Ethan sighed, thinking to himself, 'I have to admit… Marvel feels a lot more peaceful compared to the DC Universe right now.'
The smoke still curled lazily from the ruins of the Afterlife bar as Superman slowly pushed himself off the cracked pavement. Bits of brick and scorched glass slid from his back as he stood upright, eyes locking onto the three figures behind him.
He recognized the man in the middle instantly.
"Ethan?" Superman is surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Ethan had dropped his telepathic field. No longer hiding, not that it matters now. He stood calmly in the middle of the chaos with hands in the pockets of his pants.
He raised a single hand and waved lazily in deadpan expression. "Was planning to have a normal morning. You know, coffee, maybe a chat. Definitely didn't include explosions and alien brawls in the itinerary."
He turned toward the tall, leather-clad brute standing just a few feet away.
The white-skinned giant with a bloodied grin was covered in leather, spikes, and attitude. A lit cigar hung from his mouth as he puffed once, releasing a plume of smoke.
Ethan raised a brow. "And who's the macho biker cosplay?"
The brute barked a laugh, showing off fanged teeth. "Name's Lobo. Intergalactic bounty hunter. Not a pleasure to meet ya."
He jabbed a thumb toward Superman. "Now if you meatbags don't mind—"
He bared his teeth. "I got a bounty to collect, and this one's worth a fortune. So if you'll excuse me—"
He growled, "—I got a Kryptonian to pound into the dirt."
Before anyone could respond—
CRACK!
A sudden, ear-splitting boom rang out as a blur of motion slammed into Lobo's face, sending his massive frame hurtling backward like a meteor struck by a railgun. He crashed through a parked car, flipped through the air, and landed with a thunderous impact that tore up the concrete in a 30-foot radius.
Ethan didn't even flinch.
Superman's eyes widened.
Didi blinked once, then looked at the one standing where Lobo had just been.
It was Anna Marie. She stood there with fists clenched, chest heaving with fury. Her eyes blazed gold, lips curled in a snarl, and her shoulders trembled not from fear—but from rage.
"How dare you…" she hissed, "You destroyed her home, you piece of garbage. You destroyed her bar!"
Before Lobo could even groan, Anna moved like a blur and delivered an uppercut that sent him soaring into the air. She then launched into the sky as a streak of red and black. She caught up to the still-tumbling Lobo in midair, grabbed him by the back of his jacket, and slammed her fist into his jaw.
CRACK-THOOM!
The sky shuddered with the impact. Lobo's head snapped back, and for a second, time itself seemed to halt as his eyes rolled upward.
"You got no right," Anna growled as her voice is trembling. "She's a good person! Always smiling and is ready to help others. You think this is funny to destroy her home?"
She hit him again... And again... And again.
Each punch was a hammer of fury—augmented by years of absorbing strength and training. Her fists blurred with speed as she drove her knuckles into his face, chest, and ribs. Bones cracked. Blood sprayed.
Every hit echoed like a thunderclap, sending shockwaves through the sky.
"You destroyed her home!"
WHAM!—Lobo's left eye began to swell.
"You destroyed her bar!"
KRAKK!—Two teeth flew from his mouth.
She shouted, "She's such a kind person! Her bar and home were destroyed, yet she's just happy no one was hurt! And she smiled through it like it didn't hurt! And that's not okay!"
With a final scream of fury, Anna reeled back and slammed her fist directly into his chest with so much force that the shockwave split the clouds.
The impact exploded like a sonic boom.
Lobo's body shot downward like a meteor—dragging air and fire in his wake. The sound barrier shattered around him as he crashed into the ground below, ripping up half the street in an explosive shockwave.
BOOOOOMMM!!!
Glass shattered for five blocks. The ground cracked open like a broken eggshell.
Anna landed a second later, smoke curling from her fists as she walked through the crater. Lobo was lying there—barely conscious, twitching, face a bloodied mess.
And she wasn't done.
She knelt down and began punching again. Once. Twice. Ten times. Her rage was focused, controlled, but no less brutal.
Ethan and Superman are now floating a few feet away, the wind from the shockwaves tossing Ethan's coat around him like a storm.
Superman is stunned and eyes wide as he watched Lobo get turned into pulp.
He finally turned to Ethan, hovering slightly in the air, his voice almost cautious. "…Who is she?"
Ethan's lips twitched. "My girlfriend."
Superman turned toward him. "She's terrifying."
He met Superman's eyes and added calmly, "Only when she's angry. That guy? He pissed her off. Now he's paying for it."
As if to emphasize the point, Anna roared and drove a fist into Lobo's gut. A burst of blood erupted from his mouth.
Superman hovered slightly closer and began hesitating. "Should we stop her?"
Ethan shook his head. "I think that idiot's healing factor is better than yours. Let her work off the rage." He couldn't help but smile—Anna looked incredibly hot when she was angry.
He then glanced at the small drone silently recording everything and smiled.
But even battered and broken, the Main Man wasn't down for good. 'She hits hard… damn hard,' he thought, blood dripping down his face. 'But this is starting to get fun.'
With a grunt and a twisted grin, Lobo suddenly snapped up, catching Anna off-guard.
WHAM!
A powerful uppercut slammed into her midsection, launching her backward like a cannonball. She flew through the air, crashed through the corner of a brick building, and tumbled across the asphalt in a trail of dust and debris.
"Ugh—" Anna groaned, rolling onto her side, one arm clutching her stomach.
Lobo stood slowly, bones snapping back into place. He spat blood and a shattered tooth onto the ground, then wiped his mouth with the back of his glove.
His grin returned. "Now that's more like it," he growled, eyes gleaming. "Finally—a real fight!"
He cracked his knuckles and began walking toward Anna, his boots crunching the rubble beneath his feet.
---------------
Inside the heart of the Batcave, where the hum of servers echoed against stone walls, the World's Greatest Detective stood motionless.
Rows of monitors glowed in the dark, casting pale blue light on the chiseled face of Bruce Wayne. His arms were crossed, jaw clenched, eyes locked on the main screen as footage looped silently before him.
The destruction was unmistakable.
Gotham's Eastside had turned into a warzone.
Smoke rose from collapsed buildings. Streets were torn apart. Emergency sirens wailed in the background of the scene like a mournful song. Civilians lay injured. Some covered in debris. Others... weren't moving.
His eyes narrowed when the footage shifted.
A woman. Her form blurred across the screen with terrifying precision. She moved like a blur, but there was something more about her. Her punches tore through the bounty hunter with brutal efficiency.
Bruce's hands moved over the keyboard as he zoomed in, analyzing her frame-by-frame.
He watched her expression twist in fury. Watched as she launched Lobo through the sky and into the earth with the force of a meteor.
"...She's a new one," he muttered, voice low and thoughtful.
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Author's Note:
Anna is seriously pissed—RIP Lobo.
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