The Restless Box
Themyscira.
The island, isolated from the world for thousands of years, had lost its former peace.
The sky was no longer perpetually clear. Heavy lead-gray clouds piled overhead.
Purple lightning snaked through the depths of the clouds, rumbling dully.
Diana descended and landed on the white marble plaza outside the Divine Temple.
Armed Amazon warriors had packed the plaza shoulder to shoulder.
Hundreds upon hundreds of women in dark-gold armor stood in tight formations, holding spears and bows.
Their spearpoints aimed straight at the central temple's doors.
No one spoke. Only the sea breeze stirred the metal plates of their armor.
The crowd parted to form a path.
Artemis strode toward her, her expression grim. Sweat had plastered her long golden hair to her cheeks. She gripped her double-bladed battle axe in her right hand, the muscles of her arm bulging from the strain.
"Princess." Artemis came to meet her.
"What happened to the Oracle Stone?"
"It's not the Oracle Stone." Artemis turned toward the imposing temple and its closed doors. "It's the thing underground. It's come 'alive.'"
Diana's gaze darkened.
Underground, in the sealed chamber, lay the forbidden object they had guarded for generations.
"Any casualties?" Diana strode toward the temple.
Artemis kept pace beside her, speaking rapidly. "None among the outer guards. But the four high priestesses guarding the chamber are all down. The energy coming off that thing is bizarre. Ordinary magical barriers can't stop it. I ordered everyone out of the temple and sealed every exit."
"And the queen?"
"She's at the palace, reinforcing the island's defensive array. She told me to tell you that no matter what happens, we must not let that box leave the chamber."
Diana reached the temple's ten-meter-high bronze doors.
She planted both hands against the cold bronze beast heads and pushed with all her strength.
Boom!
The massive doors scraped open.
Diana drew Magic-Breaker, held it in a reverse grip, and strode into the temple.
Artemis followed close behind, her battle axe held across her chest.
They crossed the empty front hall and reached the entrance to the underground chamber.
A steep stone staircase spiraled down before them.
The walls on either side had once been covered in exquisite murals depicting ancient humans, Atlanteans, and Amazons joining forces to repel the armies of Apokolips.
But now the murals had changed.
Diana stopped.
Thick black liquid seeped from the carved outlines of the Parademons in the murals.
It dripped down the walls onto the steps, hissing faintly as it ate into the stone.
The carved monsters looked as though they were about to break free of the rock.
"That wasn't there ten minutes ago." Artemis lowered her voice. Magical light shimmered along the blade of her battle axe.
"Come on." Diana hurried down without stopping.
The deeper they went, the thicker the air became.
At the bottom stood a stone door covered in ancient Greek sealing runes.
Cracks riddled the door. Blinding red light pulsed through them like an enormous beating heart.
Diana kicked the damaged door apart.
Stone fragments flew as the two of them rushed into the sealed chamber.
The chamber was vast and circular.
Twelve massive pillars, each wide enough for three people to encircle, stood around its perimeter. Thick bronze chains wound around them.
The other ends of those chains should have been fastened to the stone platform at the chamber's center.
Now the platform had been reduced to powder.
A cube forged from an unknown metal infused with divine power—the Mother Box—hovered in midair.
It was no longer an inert object that had lain dormant for thousands of years.
The metallic patterns on the Mother Box's surface flipped and rearranged at a frantic pace.
Its transformation defied human geometry. Gears meshed and metal scraped against metal with the piercing sound of a beast grinding its teeth.
Rings of tangible red energy spread outward from the Mother Box.
At the edge of the chamber lay four high priestesses in white robes.
Blood ran from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths. Strange black, web-like patterns covered their skin. They were unconscious, and their vital signs were dangerously weak.
"Get them out!" Diana shouted.
Artemis immediately rushed toward the priestesses.
The moment she drew near, a wave of red energy swept over her.
Artemis raised her battle axe to block it, but the impact forced her back three steps. Sparks burst across the axe's surface.
"The energy's repelling us!" Artemis gritted her teeth and steadied herself.
Diana kept her eyes locked on the Mother Box hovering above them.
The cube spun faster and faster. Its grating had risen to a shrill scream.
Stones began to rain from the chamber's vaulted ceiling.
It had to stop.
Diana bent her knees and launched herself off the ground.
The stone floor exploded beneath her, leaving a crater as she shot toward the Mother Box like an arrow from a bow.
Magic-Breaker flashed cold and bright as she slashed at the dense red glow around the box.
Clang!
The blade struck the energy wave with a deafening metallic crash.
A tremendous recoil surged through the hilt and into Diana's right arm.
The web of her hand split open, spraying blood.
The dagger was said to cut through any magical barrier, yet against this raw cosmic energy, it sank in less than an inch before sticking fast.
"Stop!" Diana roared. She slammed her left palm against the end of the hilt, trying to drive the dagger deeper.
The Mother Box seemed enraged.
The metal blocks on its surface suddenly contracted inward, then expanded violently.
Boom!
A sphere of violent red energy erupted from it.
Diana took the blast head-on.
It hurled her backward like a kite with a severed string, slamming her into a massive pillar.
The pillar snapped in half and crashed down.
Diana rose from the rubble and spat blood onto the floor. She brushed the dust from her clothes, her eyes turning deadly.
Artemis dragged two unconscious priestesses to a safer distance and shouted, "The sealing array has completely failed!"
The Mother Box's shifting reached a fever pitch.
Blinding red light filled the entire chamber.
At the height of the flare, space at the chamber's center suddenly tore open like a piece of cloth.
A pitch-black rift appeared out of nowhere.
Unstable currents crackled along its edges.
No light shone within it—only endless depth and cold.
At that moment, gravity throughout the chamber went haywire.
Broken stones, blood spilled by the priestesses, even the remains of the fallen pillar began to float upward.
Diana drove her dagger into the floor and held herself steady.
A voice came from deep within the rift.