On the distant island of Themyscira, home to the Amazons, and the place where Diana was born, her mother, Queen Hippolyta, stepped off their horse. She approached the domed structure that housed their peoples' Mother Box.
A few of her warriors flanked her as she went inside.
"Any changes today?" She asked the ranking warrior.
"No, my queen."
Hippolyta sighed. "The Box has slept for millennia. Since the First Age. Why did it wake at all?"
As she said the last word, the light coming from the crack in the Box disappeared.
"This is the first time it's gone dark since the crack appeared."
"Maybe it's gone back to sleep..." One of the warriors around the Box suggested.
Hippolyta turned to face her. "Evil does not sleep. It waits."
The light returned, brighter this time. A hollow blue column appeared next to it, the force of it throwing the Amazonian warriors back. They quickly recovered as a group of winged humanoids emerged from inside, holding energy weapons. Parademons.
Then, from inside the column, a larger figure dropped down. He was a grey-skinned Apokoliptian, his gold armor covering him from his horns to his feet. His axe was almost as big as himself, and had orange energy coursing throughout it's blade.
Steppenwolf.
He stood and looked around at the amassed warriors around him.
"Defenders," He muttered to himself. "They have failed a hundred thousand worlds. They always fail."
He raised his voice, now speaking to the Amazonians themselves.
"I've come to enlighten you to the great darkness!" He bellowed. "I will bathe in your fear."
"Daughters of Themyscira!" Hippolyta shouted. "Show him your fear!"
"WE HAVE NO FEAR!"
One of the warriors let an arrow fly, and it struck a Parademon in his chest. The other Parademons opened fire, the warriors fired arrows and swung their swords, chaos all around the Mother Box.
Steppenwolf stepped towards the Box, cleaving any warriors who came for him. The warriors who were still alive rushed at Steppenwolf, pushing him back with all their might as he reached for the Mother Box.
Hippolyta lassoed the box and pulled it towards her.
"No!" Steppenwolf shouted. He began pulling the warriors off of him like splinters.
Hippolyta rushed out of the building, ordering the guards to seal it. She slid out under the stone door, Mother Box under her arm, as the ground began to rumble.
She handed the box to one of the horse riders. "Protect it with your life."
The group of horse riders rushed away from the crumbling stone structure. Hippolyta looked behind her and saw that the entire portion of the island that housed the structure had collapsed and had fallen into the ocean.
She stared down at the water. All those warriors, gone. And for what?
Another warrior came over, leading a pair of horses. She saw Hippolyta looking down at the water and chose not to speak.
The Parademons flew out of the water, and Steppenwolf leapt up after them, descending towards the convoy of horses.
He slammed his axe into the ground, the energy knocking multiple riders and their horses down. He then turned around and cleaved another rider who had come after him, then stared at the remaining riders, who had escaped his initial attack. Growling, he followed them.
The Parademons flew after the riders as their master followed close behind.
Steppenwolf was surrounded by riders, who continuously shot arrows at him, to no effect. His armor was too strong to be pierced by such primitive weapons. The riders lassoed his legs, causing him to lose his balance.
Steppenwolf pulled on the lassoes, taking multiple horses and throwing them into others. He then grabbed his axe and cleaved a warrior before looking after the rest of the riders - Hippolyta hand joined them.
One of the Parademons was able to get a hold of the Mother Box and it's holder, flying up into the air before being shot with an arrow and dropped to the ground. The warrior fell as well, the box's casing shattering upon impact with the ground. Steppenwolf saw this, and the warrior quickly tied a rope to the box, then tied the other end to an arrow. She fired the arrow as Steppenwolf killed her with his axe.
The box flew between a pair of horses, one of them being ridden by Hippolyta. The other rider jumped the distance between the two horses, grabbing the Mother Box in the process. "Got it!"
Steppenwolf jumped onto the ground next to them, knocking the horse to the side. This caused both Hippolyta and the Mother Box to be dropped onto the ground.
Hippolyta crawled over to the dead horse to find that it's rider was being crushed under its dead weight.
Hippolyta crawled over and grabbed a bow, loading an arrow.
"Noble queen, why do you fight?" Steppenwolf asked. She fired the arrow, which Steppenwolf caught in his hand and crushed. "You can't save her. You can't save any of them. The great darkness is coming."
He turned to see thousands upon thousands of Amazons on horseback coming straight for him, but it didn't matter.
A portal opened above him. "Now we will find the others."
He teleported away.
An Amazon came over to the injured Hippolyta. "He's gone back to his universe."
"No. He's gone to the lands of Man, to find the other two boxes. We must light the ancient warning fire."
"The fire has not burned for five thousand years. Man won't know what it means."
"Men won't. She will."