A dark green energy beam erupted from deep in Doomsday's throat, thicker, brighter, and deadlier than any before.
The beam split into five branches in midair, each locking onto one of the five figures struggling to rise. They streaked toward them like five spears of light thrown at once.
Natasha raised Square Hammer to guard her chest. Blue-white lightning exploded across its face, knocking the spear of light half an inch off course. It grazed her shoulder armor and blasted a deep, charred hole in the ruined wall behind her.
Thor met one beam head-on with Mjolnir. The instant hammer and light collided, he flew backward like a baseball hit out of the park, crashed through a storefront's rolling shutter, and vanished amid shattered glass and toppled shelves.
Tony's thrusters spat blue-white flame, barely carrying him clear of a direct hit. But the beam's wake grazed his right arm, scorching a web of black cracks into the composite armor.
Diana's Lasso of Truth coiled into a golden shield of light in midair and took another beam head-on. A hairline crack spread across the shield, and the impact drove her back five or six meters.
Wanda's Chaos Magic shield shattered completely under the fourth spear of light. Dark red fragments scattered in every direction like fireflies caught in a gust.
She stumbled back two steps and dropped to one knee. A thread of dark red blood ran from the corner of her mouth.
Five figures, five directions—all driven back at once.
Doomsday stood amid the rubble, dark green energy roiling over his body like boiling water. A savage red light churned in his dark red eyes.
He slowly turned and bounded toward the skyscrapers of downtown Metropolis once more.
Natasha pushed herself halfway up behind the ruined wall. Ash and debris