The world was in chaos. Parademons swarmed through every major city on the planet, laying waste to everything in their path. The skies above Washington were filled with their screeching forms, and the ground below was covered in rubble. Among the chaos, news anchors desperately reported from their studios, their voices barely concealing the terror that had gripped the world.
"Breaking news from Washington," one reporter's voice trembled. "The White House is under siege by these unknown creatures. We're receiving reports of widespread destruction, with the President's safety currently unconfirmed—"
The camera cut to footage of the White House being ripped apart by Parademons. Dark figures swooped down from the sky, tearing chunks of the historic building apart as explosions rocked the scene. The ground shook, and pillars of smoke filled the air as the iconic structure crumbled to the ground.
Not far away, in a quiet corner of the city, Wonder Woman stood in front of an ice cream cart, smiling warmly at a little girl who was happily eating her cone. Beside her, Trevor stood in his military uniform, watching with a small grin.
Then, the world changed in an instant.
With a deafening roar, a Parademon smashed into the ice cream cart, sending debris flying. Wonder Woman's instincts kicked in immediately. With lightning-fast reflexes, she scooped the girl up and shoved Trevor back, keeping them both safe from the attack.
"There is my true calling," she muttered under her breath as she drew her sword, her eyes locking onto the Parademon as it screeched at her.
In one fluid motion, she swung her blade, slicing cleanly through the creature before leaping into the air. The sky was filled with dozens more, they growled with malevolent hunger. She raised her lasso and, with a flick of her wrist, ensnared one of the flying demons, pulling it close and cutting through its torso with a swift motion.
Parademons kept coming, their numbers seemingly endless, but Wonder Woman pressed on. Her sword flashed in the moonlight as she hacked through them, each blow perfectly timed, each swing lethal. But there were too many. For every Parademon she cut down, five more filled its place.
She glanced back down at Trevor, who was still on the ground, his eyes wide as he took in the destruction. "Trevor! Get someone here! Start evacuating civilians!" she shouted.
A Parademon she had killed fell from the sky, smashing into a parked car with a deafening crash. The vehicle erupted in a ball of fire, sending debris flying everywhere. Trevor nodded and sprinted toward the chaos, already reaching for his radio to call for backup.
---
S.T.A.R. Labs
Inside S.T.A.R. Labs, all hell had broken loose. Victor Stone lay unconscious in a pod, the result of a catastrophic explosion that had rocked the facility just minutes before opening a portal. His father, Dr. Silas Stone, had been forced to use alien technology in a desperate attempt to save Victor's life. The machinery around Victor hummed and crackled as the tech fused with his broken body, melding flesh with metal in a way no one had ever seen before.
Outside the lab, the Parademons had broken through, tearing apart walls and equipment as they made their way toward the room where Victor was held. They screeched as they poured in, their claws clanging against the steel floor, drawn by the alien tech integrated into Victor's body.
As the Parademons stormed the lab, Victor's pod opened with a hiss. The metal fused with him, forming armor over his broken body, strengthening him. The tech was alive, adapting, and his vision flickered as a new voice entered his mind.
"Systems online. Power levels optimal."
Victor's eyes snapped open, now glowing with a red hue. Without hesitation, he sprang from the pod, his enhanced body moving with newfound strength. He unleashed a barrage of energy blasts from his arm, disintegrating the nearest Parademons before they could react. He moved quickly, dispatching them one by one with brutal efficiency.
But there were too many.
A group of Parademons ganged up on him, slamming him into the wall with enough force to crack the steel. They clawed at him, peeling the tech from his body in a grotesque display of violence. Victor groaned in pain as they tore pieces of metal off his limbs. The alien tech inside him responded, a green, goo-like substance fusing new components from the surroundings onto him, replacing what was lost.
"System breach detected. Countermeasures activated."
With a surge of power, Victor's body propelled itself upward using jet propulsion from his legs. He shot into the air, blasting the Parademons off him with a sonic boom, sending them crashing into the walls. They were obliterated by the shockwave, their remains scattering across the lab floor.
More Parademons rushed in, their numbers unyielding, but just as they began to flood the room, a red blur appeared.
"Whoa! I came as quick as I could!" Flash said, speeding through the lab at lightning speed, knocking Parademons left and right before they could react.
Victor, still recovering from the attack, looked up in time to see one Parademon sneaking up behind Flash. Before he could say anything, his system took over.
"Offensive mode: White Noise Cannon enabled."
Victor's right arm morphed into a massive cannon that hummed with energy before releasing a blinding white beam. The blast disintegrated the Parademon instantly, leaving nothing but ash in its wake.
Flash turned around, his eyes wide with shock. "Uh… was that… you?"
Victor, still getting used to his new body, nodded. "Yeah. That was me."
Flash blinked, then gave a nervous laugh. "Remind me not to stand in front of you when you're aiming that thing."
———
Metropolis, once a thriving city, had become a war zone. The abandoned printing warehouse in the industrial district exploded with a deafening boom as more Parademons poured out, their numbers seemingly endless. The screeches of the creatures filled the air as they swarmed the sky, intent on overwhelming the heroes who had assembled to defend the city.
In the next instant, over a hundred Parademons were skewered mid-flight by glowing white energy needles. Above them, Toneri floated gracefully, his eyes cold and focused.
"Chidori Senbon," he muttered, and more Parademons were pierced by the lightning-infused needles before they could even comprehend the threat.
But it wasn't enough. More and more emerged from the building, their numbers swelling with each passing second. Toneri's gaze hardened. His fingers sparked with lightning, and he muttered another jutsu.
"Raiton: Raiha (Lightning Style: Thunder Blast)."
From his fingertips, streams of thunder branched out in every direction, striking the Parademons with deadly precision. The air boomed with the deafening sound of thunder, and the Parademons were reduced to ash as the lightning coursed through their bodies. The destruction was absolute, but as the ashes settled, even more Parademons began to emerge.
'Their numbers are too much... and they're increasing by the second,' Toneri thought, his Byakugan allowing him to see the entire battlefield. His thoughts were interrupted by a flash of red light as a beam of heat vision nearly grazed him.
Superman flew into view, crashing through the horde of Parademons like a force of nature, smashing and squashing them like insects. At the same moment, Green Lantern busted out of another section of the building, his hammer construct swinging with immense force, sending Parademons flying. He quickly shifted his constructs, summoning heavy machine guns that fired rounds into the sky, mowing down Parademons before they could attack. One Parademon smashed into him, but he swiftly changed his construct back into a hammer, swatting the creature away.
Batman emerged from the shadows, evading attacks with his expert martial arts, planting bombs on the Parademons as he moved. With precise timing, the bombs detonated, obliterating the creatures. He looked over at Green Lantern and shouted, "Lantern, encapsulate the building! Keep them from leaving!"
"Yeah, yeah," Green Lantern grumbled, swatting away more Parademons. "Why don't you just tell Lunaris to do it?"
Batman narrowed his eyes, spotting Toneri, or Lunaris as he was known, floating above the battlefield. "Because he seems to be doing something now..."
Toneri had flown higher, his mind still racing with thoughts. 'Time to match them... number for number.'
His Byakugan shifted, veins pulsing around his eyes as they transitioned into the glowing Tenseigan. A green transparent aura enveloped him for a moment as his chakra responded to his call, and he muttered quietly, "Kugutsu Tensei: Puppet Reincarnation."
The air around him pulsed, and with a massive puff of smoke, the sky was covered in thick clouds. The horizon was obscured as the entire battlefield was blanketed by a vast cloud of smoke. Below, Batman narrowed his eyes, watching the sky. "What is he doing? What's that smoke? Is it some kind of toxin?"
Before he could speculate further, another pulse of chakra from Toneri's body dispelled the smoke, revealing an army. Green Lantern's eyes widened in disbelief.
"No... freaking... way," he breathed.
Over one hundred thousand puppets, all created by Toneri, filled the sky. Some floated on their own, while others rode on puppet birds, surrounding their creator like an army ready to march into battle. Toneri's voice echoed with authority as he gave the order.
"Spread out across the planet. Secure the civilians, and kill any monsters in your way. Once you've done that, create barriers around the cities to prevent any more Parademons from entering. Help with damage control. When you're done, await further instructions."
"Yes, my Lord!" the puppets responded in unison before dispersing in groups. They flew at incredible speeds in all directions, creating a buffeting wind as they left. Their mission: protect the world.
Toneri floated above, watching as his army moved to carry out his will. 'That levels the playing field,' he thought as some of his puppets began to chase after the Parademons in the sky, shooting them down with white energy blasts.
Below, the battle became less desperate as Toneri's puppets joined the fray, aiding the heroes in cutting down the hordes of Parademons. Green Lantern swung his hammer, knocking back another group of attackers while Batman continued to evade and plant explosives, his attacks becoming more strategic with the puppets handling the brunt of the force.
In the next moment, a red glow filled the sky as Superman, surrounded by a swarm of Parademons, unleashed a burst of heat vision, pushing them away. He glanced to his left and saw another massive group heading toward him. "Come on!" he growled, grabbing a nearby truck. "Smile for me!" He began smashing the Parademons with the truck as if it weighed nothing, tossing it around like a toy before using his heat vision to detonate it in a fiery explosion.
Just then, his superhearing caught something. He froze for a second, then flew away in a blur of speed, leaving the others behind. Green Lantern sighed in frustration.
"And there goes one of our big guns..." he muttered.
"Lunaris is gone too," Batman added grimly, his eyes narrowing as he watched Toneri fly away, chasing after something only he seemed to sense.
"Fantastico," Green Lantern grumbled, his tone sarcastic.
The battle raged on, but the tide was turning in their favor, thanks to Toneri's puppets. Even as they continued to kill Parademons, Toneri flew toward the source of a dense concentration of enemies. His Tenseigan had detected over thirty thousand Parademons in one area, and he knew he had to act fast before they could overwhelm the city.