How could she smoothly buy herself a month? Thea's beautiful eyes began darting around as she schemed.
Hanging up a "Closed for Business" sign definitely wouldn't work. Setting aside her own side's morale issues, Steppenwolf—hiding in his basement practicing with his axe—wouldn't agree to that either.
Both sides were itching for a fight, ready to go all out. Suddenly telling them the battle date was postponed by a month? Nobody could accept that.
She needed to find a reason both sides could accept for a ceasefire. Thea scratched her head and let her mind wander.
But it was useless. Neither feigning illness nor deliberately slacking would work. After all, two great beings were watching from the outer realms. Just fooling the people in front of her wouldn't be enough.
What to do? Originally she'd wanted to finish this fight quickly and wrap things up. Now she needed to buy time. Life was truly unpredictable.
Suddenly, a thought entered her mind—not her own thought, but an external consciousness. Or rather, the World Will had given her a vague notion.
Is this because I've grasped the Soul domain? Is the World Consciousness—the collective consciousness of souls—actively responding to me?
She let her mind sink completely, striving to receive the information the world was transmitting.
So chaotic! World Consciousness wasn't entirely composed of souls, and her understanding of the Soul domain was still shallow. She could only read a small portion.
But Thea knew the clue she needed was on this planet—possibly not far from her.
Someone could help her divert those two great beings' attention? Thea doubted Earth-2 had anyone brilliant enough to make Highfather and Darkseid shift their focus to something else entirely.
Yet the World Consciousness seemed absolutely certain such a person existed. Holding onto a sliver of hope, she began searching with psychic power and super-vision.
Five minutes of searching later, when she spotted a certain man and woman, she knew the World Will hadn't deceived her. No wonder shamans and spirit mediums liked consulting ancestral spirits. This was basically the magical world's search engine. The spirits, being dead with nothing else to do, apparently knew all the gossip...
Thea didn't need to consult ancestral spirits. She went straight to their boss, the World Will. Larger search scope, better results.
Looking at the couple hiding and evading within her field of vision, she smiled with genuine delight. Though she didn't know why they were hiding here, buying herself a month would be more than enough.
She rubbed her cheeks, trying to compose herself into something more urgent and serious.
She ordered her subordinates to summon Orion.
The second-generation god arrived quickly. Though he was Highfather's adopted son, his rank was below Thea's as Legion Commander. He offered a slight bow in respectful greeting.
"Commander, are we moving up the attack? I'm ready!" Orion declared eagerly.
Thea couldn't help side-eyeing him. If this battle maniac knew she was planning to delay, he'd probably explode. Fortunately, she'd found a good excuse.
Putting on a careful, cautious expression, she signaled Orion to calm down. Then she cast a Water Mirror spell, showing him the couple she'd found to serve as a distraction.
"Scott and Big Barda? They're... they're in this universe?" Orion stared at the screen and then at Thea's poker face, completely stunned.
Red bodysuit with a yellow mask, plus a garish green cape—color coordination so hideous it hurt to look at. This was Scott Free, God of Escape. Future superhero known as Mister Miracle. But to New Gods, that title was meaningless, because he was Highfather's biological son.
Years ago, Highfather and Darkseid had exchanged sons to form an alliance. Highfather had taken Orion; Darkseid had taken Scott.
Uncle D didn't share Highfather's nurturing nature. He'd dragged Scott back and subjected him to all manner of torture—stress positions, the rack, the works.
As Highfather's son, Scott hadn't fallen into darkness. Instead, he'd risen up and escaped from Apokolips. And he hadn't escaped alone—he'd absconded with the captain of Granny Goodness's Female Furies, a woman named Big Barda.
The image Thea showed Orion was of them hiding somewhere in the American Midwest.
"We have to rescue him!" Orion truly viewed Highfather as his real father. He showed no concern that his biological brother's return might mean the adoptive father would abandon him. His urgency was genuine.
"Exactly. You're absolutely right, Orion. This mission is crucial. I can't move freely right now. Take a team immediately and rescue Scott. If necessary, we can abandon this battle and escort Scott back to New Genesis first!"
Thea spoke with absolute conviction. This moved Orion deeply. Retreating without a fight against Steppenwolf would sacrifice Thea's reputation and authority within the Legion! Her loyalty to Highfather was this strong—he couldn't fall behind!
Right then, under Thea's urgent gaze, he took a dozen trusted soldiers and set off to find Scott.
Scott wasn't easy to find. He was the God of Escape, the world's greatest escape artist. His talents in stealth and evasion were probably maxed out.
Without the World Consciousness tipping her off, Thea wouldn't have even noticed another New God on this planet. That alone showed how skilled he was at hiding.
Moreover, he clearly just wanted to be with Big Barda. He probably had no desire to return to New Genesis.
But that wasn't Thea's concern. She only needed to buy some time.
Watching Orion rush off, she didn't forget about Steppenwolf's side either. She sent word to Wotan the sorcerer, having him hypnotize an ordinary person and plant images of Scott and Big Barda in their mind, arranged to look coincidental, then let DeSaad capture them.
Learning that Apokolips traitors were on this planet sent Steppenwolf and DeSaad into ecstasy. Capturing Highfather's son while also dealing with traitors? That was worth more than conquering an entire universe!
As Darkseid's right and left hands, they understood their master's preferences perfectly. Conquering universes was expected; capturing traitors was a major achievement.
This sparked a heated argument between them. Finally, DeSaad—the God of Pain and master sorcerer—won out, arguing that since Thea hadn't moved, Steppenwolf shouldn't either. He took his own trusted followers to capture Scott.
The next few days were absolutely lively.
Not knowing how his location had been exposed, Scott and his wife began their flight. Working with Orion, they twice repelled DeSaad. But every time Orion turned around hoping to reconnect with his sort-of brother, he found Scott had already bolted. He had no choice but to keep chasing.
Three groups played cat and mouse—from North America to South America to Europe. Along the way, Thea and Steppenwolf both committed more troops to this New God marathon while very tacitly reminding their subordinates not to let any accidents trigger full-scale war.
Scott was just too good at running. Even without trying, he could cover several thousand kilometers (about 1,800-3,100 miles). Once actual battle began with fireballs flying everywhere, finding him became impossible.
Both commanders were perfectly aligned. Neither mentioned the decisive battle. The confused soldiers' questions were magnificently ignored.
Old Batman was getting antsy. They'd agreed on three days. It had now been over ten days. Neither side had made a move. Did negotiations fall through? Is just sitting around staring at each other how gods fight their battles?
He had to admit—their traditions were pretty intense!