It was truly an unlucky streak for the Legends Squad.
From the moment they set out, things had gone sideways. Sara Lance, the White Canary, almost left the team because her sister got a boyfriend. They managed to send the troublemaker to Paradise Island, a place ruled by the future Wonder Woman, Diana, and countless Amazon warriors. It seemed like the timeline might be fixed after that, but what happened?
Sara stayed, but the Birds of Prey team emerged. The only difference was that without Su Sheng, the Birds of Prey operated more under the radar. No one knew she was still alive, so her story remained unchanged: betraying the League of Assassins, wanting to protect her family, dying, and then being resurrected to join the Legends Squad. In other words, her personal history didn't change, but the crisis of her leaving the team was avoided. They hoped to kill Vandal Savage and bring Su Sheng back, but the Legends Squad earned their reputation as the "Dumpster Fire Team" for a reason. Savage remained alive and kicking, Hawkman ended up dead, and they were being hunted like mad dogs by Chronos, a time bounty hunter sent by Rip Hunter's former boss, the Time Masters.
What to do?
They decided the best course of action was to return Su Sheng first, which turned out to be a classic example of "if you try hard enough, anything can go wrong."
Paradise Island, under the rule of future Wonder Woman and countless brave Amazons, was now enslaved by Su Sheng. Even more astonishingly, these warriors had no intention of resisting.
Could you believe it?
It was as absurd as Vandal Savage surviving a simple glass of water when they couldn't kill him.
It wasn't that they didn't understand; it was just that the world had changed too fast.
Surrounded by the Amazon warriors and watching Su Sheng lead people into the Waverider, Rip Hunter felt his gut twist with regret.
On the Waverider, Artemis, Diana, and Hippolyta curiously examined the ship's futuristic technology.
"This... ship can really travel through time?" Diana asked curiously.
Su Sheng waved her off without answering, his attention focused on the Birds of Prey team and Helena.
After Su Sheng "disappeared," Felicity had taken the initiative to find Laurel and Catwoman, and they started forming a group to search for him. One wanted to find her boyfriend, another wanted to discover her sister's real killer, and the third sought software to wipe her criminal record clean. Along the way, they took down some criminals, gradually forming the Birds of Prey team. Meanwhile, Helena, who had lost the evidence that Su Sheng had disappeared, was also determined to find him. What a coincidence, she thought, I want to find him too! Helena went directly to the Birds of Prey team to make things simple and gave them two choices.
Either hand over Su Sheng, or hand over the deleted evidence.
Want Su Sheng? They were looking for him too. Want the evidence? It was deleted.
And so, the standoff began.
Gathering new evidence was too difficult, so Helena decided to go it alone as the Huntress. Though Catwoman stayed out of it, Laurel, a lawyer, and Felicity, driven by kindness and justice, refused to quit. This deepened the rift between them, though it wasn't to the point of life and death, the conflict was undeniable. The Birds of Prey team repeatedly foiled Helena's attempts to kill Frank, and Helena, in turn, caused plenty of trouble for the Birds of Prey. Working alone was tough, but overall, the battles were evenly matched.
It wasn't exactly what Su Sheng had envisioned, but the Birds of Prey and Huntress were now at odds, with no one having time to dwell on other matters.
Mission accomplished.
"Are they here to pick you up? Will you... go with them?" Diana asked as she approached Su Sheng.
Artemis and Hippolyta also looked over, waiting for his answer.
"Reluctant to let me go?" Su Sheng teased, placing a hand on Diana's shoulder.
Diana snorted and pushed his hand away. "No matter where you go, I will find you and make you pay."
"Then you'll never be able to forget me," Su Sheng chuckled dismissively. "Artemis, bring them over."
"Yes, Master," Artemis replied, and not long after, she returned with the Legends Squad in tow.
Su Sheng looked at the downcast Legends Squad and clicked his tongue. "You tried so hard to play hero, and now look where it got you. You're the ones who messed up Paradise Island, turning its people into my slaves, even Wonder Woman herself. Have you thought about the consequences of this? What if Wonder Woman decides to hate men for this and never joins the Justice League? What if she takes revenge on men all over the world? Do you realize how much of a failure you've become? Do you feel worthless? Do you despair..."
Su Sheng grinned broadly. "Because at least you were right to worry!"
"…"
"We'll take you back and fix this time anomaly," Rip Hunter said, turning to Hippolyta, Diana, and Artemis. "I promise we'll restore things and make sure what he did never happens."
"Heh... hehehe..."
Rip Hunter's words were met with laughter from Su Sheng. As he laughed, he pointed at the Legends Squad one by one before finally aiming his finger at Hippolyta, his voice dripping with mockery. "What's funny is, even if you had the chance, even if I didn't stop you, they... would never agree!"
"Are you insane?" Kendra Saunders, the Hawkgirl, couldn't help but shout.
"He's always been a lunatic," Sara Lance, the White Canary, added.
"Sometimes, you don't know what despair really is until you stop trying," Su Sheng said, then turned to Hippolyta. "Tell them, as the Queen of the Amazons who has become my slave, do you want them to change this?"
Change what happened? And who would stop the Goddess of Strife, Eris?
"I don't want to!" Hippolyta declared firmly.
"How could this be?" Kendra exclaimed in disbelief.
"Artemis, who sacrificed herself to save her people, do you want to change everything that happened?" Su Sheng asked again.
"My Master, anyone who tries to change all of this is my enemy!" Artemis declared, her gaze sharp as she stared down the Legends Squad. She was now the Goddess of Strife.
Silence fell over the group.
The Legends Squad couldn't understand why this was happening.
As Su Sheng turned his gaze to Diana, they couldn't help but hold onto a glimmer of hope. Surely Diana, who had been forced into this, would want it undone, right?