Issue 4: "The Eye of the Storm"

She wanted to scream.

Clawing her way up from the darkness of oblivion, Arsinoe struggled to make a sound, but to no avail. Her vocal cords had been shredded and her throat sliced open.

The Cheetah! She did this to me… I only wanted to protect Diana…, to serve my princess…

“But Diana isn’t here, pumpkin.” A gravely voice intruded upon her silent musings. “She left you. Abandoned you to your fate.”

No… She would never…

A snort. “But she did. You never really mattered that much to her. You were always second best, anyway. She beat you in the tournament for the mantle of Wonder Woman, and made you her servant in Man’s World.”

No, it isn’t like that! I chose to follow her---.

“Where, child?”

A rough, calloused hand stroked her hair, and Arsinoe made an effort to open her eyes. The world swam in and out of focus.

“To a cold, uncaring place, devoid of love and truth and harmony? To your death in a strange city?”

Am I dead…?

The world came into focus. She did not recognize the place she was in, so full of glaring light and twisting shadows. The red flicker of fire was reflected on stony walls, and there was the unnatural glow of electric light as well. The face that lingered over her was pitiless and harsh--- a woman with iron grey hair and strange armor.

Am I in Tartarus? Panic was rising within her, and she twisted, trying to rise, only to discover she was strapped to the examination table, and IVs of weirdly colored liquids were flowing into her veins.

“No, you’re not dead.” The stern old woman continued to read her thoughts. “But you will be reborn, into a beautiful silver swan.”

Arsinoe’s terrified eyes continued to roam over her prone body. She was horrified to find herself transfigured! A shining liquid metal covered patches of her flesh, like armor. Razor-sharp claws extended over the tops of her hands, spikes like spurs protruded from her heels--- and suspended high over her was a set of glittering wings, as if waiting to be grafted to her body!

She began to thrash on the table, her throat making piteous, useless noises.

“There, there, now, child.” The old woman cooed without the slightest trace of real solicitude. “Your Wonder Woman has left you to your fate, but I will take care of you now. I will give you new sisters, and a new purpose…”

Her eyes wide, Arsinoe noticed for the first time the other girls hovering just behind the older woman. They were fierce as any Amazons, but armed to the teeth, and glaring coldly at her.

The older woman smiled, exposing square, blocky teeth.

“Now, you belong to Granny…!”

But the Battle of Paradise Island was not over.

Leaderless and demoralized, the spawn were nonetheless a dangerous horde. Struck by the Amazons in the front and surprised by the Marines in the rear, they reeled and struggled to regroup, still vastly outnumbering their enemies.

Both Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor in his X-99 struck from above, raining destruction on the spawn below. General Phillipus led a charge that threw the spawn back from the walls of Themyscira, and the Amazons again took possession of the hills around the city.

But time was not a friend to the Amazons and their allies: what they lacked in numbers, they made up in firepower, but still and all, there were only a few dozen Marines, to stand with perhaps a few thousand Amazons, and every moment, more of them fell to the horde.

The turning point came when the sun was at its zenith in the sky. Penelope saw it first, from her perch on the walls of the city. At first it seemed to be only a smudge on the water, but as she stared, the shape became distinct: it was a trireme--- in fact, it was a small fleet of them!

“Diana” The priestess called, pointing to the ocean.

Swooping up over the melee, Diana followed her sister’s finger, gasping at the astonishing sight. And on the decks of these ancient Greek ships Amazon warriors raised spear and shields and cried a fierce salute!

“What in Hera’s name…?” Diana breathed.

The Amazonian reinforcements beached their triremes on the shores of Paradise Island and stormed into battle with unmistakable gusto. Thousands of fresh warriors slammed into the flanks of the spawn army, turning it. At last, the back of the monster was broken. The once-invincible armada was smashed into disparate pieces and scattered, wailing into the hills, except where pockets of them made a final stand.

One such place was the hilltop where Hippolyta had died. Diana herself had retaken it, sweeping the enemy from the crest of the hill, with a little help from a last minute assault by Phillipus. It was from there she watched, baffled, as these strange new Amazons swept the field, driving all foes before them.

“Princess!”

Diana turned as Steve Trevor made his way toward her, a tall American officer at his side.

“This is Lt. Barnes, the C.O. of the Marine contingent aboard the USS Stiletto.”

“Permission to come ashore, Princess?” The Marine asked smartly with the trace of a smile on his handsome African-American face.

“Permission gratefully granted, Lt. Barnes. And please call me Diana.”

“No, ma’am!” Barnes objected good-naturedly, but Diana had little time for the friendly banter, or the stomach for it, on this field of such carnage. Besides, a group of the strange Amazons were coming up the hill towards them.

“Hola, sisters! And well met!” Cried Phillipus.

As the Amazons drew closer, the device on their shields became clear, a stylized alpha.

Diana’s breath caught.

“Goddesses! You are the folk of my mother’s sister!” She gasped as they came up to her. “You are the lost tribe of Amazons that followed Antiope!”

“Indeed!”

The voice that answered her was strong and rich--- and male. The new Amazons made way for him as he stepped forward to greet Diana. He was tall and light haired, with a full blond beard and clear blue eyes, dressed like one of Achilles’ own Myrmidons.

“Our tale is long and strange, but we are at last reunited.” His face was split in a wide grin, and he held his hand out to clasp Diana’s own.

“Would that my mother had lived to see the day we found her sister’s folk. I am Hippolytus, son of Theseus and Antiope, and Prince of these Amazons!”

That night, a great pyre was lit to burn the slain spawn of Uranus on the beaches of Paradise Island. The survivors of the horde, still great in number, were scattered across the island, leaderless and in complete disarray. Scouts reported to Diana that a great many of them were entrenched at the Bronze Gates, and the foe still swarmed the island, burrowing into bolt holes; it seemed that many pitched battles would have to be fought before their menace was gone forever. But for now, the Amazons and their allies had won a significant victory.

It was a time for somber celebration in the city. Somber because many of their sisters, including their beloved queen, had fallen, but joyous as well at the unlooked for reunion. Friends and sisters who hadn’t seen each other in millennia--- since Hippolyta and Antiope first parted ways in the days before Priam was King in Troy--- embraced and shared wine together once more.

Over a deep, full flagon, Hippolytus told the story of the Lost Tribe…


“It is told that in the days when Heracles deceived and enslaved the Amazons, when we first donned the iron bands that even I wear around my arms, there came a sundering: Hippolyta and her folk chose the way of peace, but Antiope would meet sword with sword and axe with axe. She and her folk pursued their vengeance in the world of man, whilst the goddesses led Hippolyta and her sisters across the waves to Paradise, and never did the sisters meet again.

“Warriors-born all, Antiope and her folk harried the ravagers, and the coming of the Amazons became a fearful thing. Soon there came a day when Antiope was face to face with her own ravisher, Heracles’ lieutenant, Theseus, and in that day she slew him---but not before she felt the first signs of his seed growing in her belly.

“I was born fatherless but beloved. I grew to manhood, trained in the arts of Ares by my mother and sisters, the only man allowed to dwell among them. But we had not found peace like Hippolyta’s folk--- we had chosen a different path, and wherever we went, we were reviled and feared and hunted. Tirelessly, we sought our place in Patriarch’s World, but met only distrust and hatred.

“So it was that the Minotaur came upon us. Like the judgment of the gods he fell on us, driving us from town to town, from land to land... determined to exterminate every Amazon alive! Weary of war, we fled before him and his host, but they harried as like wolves. At last, Antiope met him in single combat to give us time to sail away and she fell beneath his sword! The last sight I had of my mother was of the Bull--- long may he howl in Tartarus!--- standing over her body.

“We fled Man’s World then. To our everlasting grief, we sojourned briefly on the isle of Aeaea, where I spurned the amorous attention of the witch Circe. It was she who laid a doom on us saying that we would be cursed to sail the wine dark sea and never find a home until Hippolyta was reunited with Antiope! And as my mother was dead, the end of our long exile could only occur when immortal Hippolyta laid down her life...

“Thus are we reunited on a day of great sorrow, but can at least take solace that two sisters, long sundered from each other, are at eternal peace with each other in the Fields of Elysium!

“Holla, Hippolyta! Holla, Antiope!”

Much later, when most had gone off to long overdue rest and the city was dark and quiet, Diana retreated to the Temple of Athena. She knelt before the great marble statue of her chief patroness and prayed

For the glory of the goddesses of Olympus, I have been blessed with some little of your power to serve as your Wonder Woman, as my mother had before me… Grant me now your counsel, I beseech you, O Pallas, that I may know the way to protect my sisters and your faithful daughters…

The cold white marble was silent.

Diana kept a lonely vigil there, her head bowed, straining as to not miss the faintest whisper of the goddess.

She was not taken by surprise by the shuffle of feet behind her.

She whirled, expecting to see some raiding party of spawn, only to be confronted with Hippolytus.

“Peace, cousin!” He hold up his hands and walked slowly, non-threateningly, towards her. He wore that same, reassuring half-smile on his face that was there when they first met, one that Diana’s heart was still too raw to return. “I saw you come out here alone, and not return. The foul spawn of Uranus are still abroad on this island, and I was concerned for you.”

Diana relaxed a little.

“Never fear for me, cousin.” She sighed. “I am more than capable of taking care of myself.”

“So I’ve heard.” He advanced towards her, and sipped from the flagon he carried. He offered it to her, but she shook her head. “I have heard many stories this night of Wonder Woman. You are a legend even in Patriarch’s World, to hear the mortal Steven Trevor tell it. He is quite besotted with you.”

Diana did not answer, but watched him warily. She did not feel entirely comfortable in her cousin’s presence, did not quite like the way he looked at her, or her sisters. His smile bordered on being smug. Nor did she think it right that the fierce warrior Amazons of the Lost Tribe, be led by a man, even if it was Antiope’s son…

“I am counted as a not inconsiderable personage myself.” He went on. “At my birth, my warlike mother and sisters called down the blessings of Ares upon me, and I have never been bested in battle! I once wrestled a Cyclops, and twice raced Aeolus across the sky! Perhaps we could test ourselves against each other one day?”

“I do not think so.” Diana told him levelly. “The Amazons of Themyscira have never had much use for the ways of Ares. You are welcome on Paradise Island, cousin, but here we are dedicated to Truth and Peace. We war only when we must.”

Hippolytus nodded thoughtfully, wiping wine from his yellow beard.
“And yet the gods have seen fit to settle you here, mere miles from Doom’s Doorway.” He observed. “Truth and Peace are fine virtues, but the arts of Ares have kept you and your sisters alive lo these many millennia.”

“We give thanks to Artemis for our martial skills.” Diana snapped. “And lest you forget, Pallas Athena is a goddess of war, as well!”

For the second time, Hippolytus raised his hands, smilingly.

“Forgive me, cousin. I do not mean to bait you. I only mean to suggest that perhaps both our folk can learn a lot from each other.”

Diana forced herself to relax; deep down she wanted to like her cousin, and to rejoice in the return of her mother’s sister’s folk. But already it was apparent that they had taken such a different path, that they were so different…

No matter. They were kin. Distance and time had separated them, but the healing would have to begin. Diana took the first step: she stepped into her cousin’s surprised embrace, resting her head on his shoulder.

“If we are to survive, we must be one people.” She murmured. “There is a doom upon us, still waiting to fall. We must be united to fight it…”

At that. as if in answer to her spoken supplication, the empty stone eyes of the statue of Athena opened and looked down upon them. The Prince and Princess of the Amazons started, and knelt before the image of Athena.

Indeed, my champion, the cosmos itself is in gravest danger! Olympus is betrayed and my Lord Father Zeus is fallen! Spoke the statue in a clear, echoing voice. Diana felt her throat catch and her blood chill. The King of the Gods, dead---? If the enemy could do that, what hope did any of them have?

Dread Nemesis is stirring, she who was known in ancient days as the Lady Adrastaea, the Inevitable, She Whom None Can Escape. She is the ultimate enemy of all, and if she is allowed to awaken from her aeons-long slumber, she will fulfill the purpose the universe has granted to her--- utter annihilation of all existence, and a return to the primordial void!

“Pallas!” Diana gasped. “Tell me how she can be stopped!”

The statue’s face took on a gentle, patient expression.

Alas, my champion, what is inevitable cannot be avoided, and Nemesis is the very essence of inevitability. This fate awaits us all at the end of time--- but that time is not now, and what cannot be avoided, may yet be deferred!

“I--- I don’t understand, Pallas…” Diana frowned.

There is a chance that we can put off this fate, my champion, until its proper time… If Nemesis awakens fully, we are doomed, so our only hope is to lull her back to sleep…

“Only tell me how this might be done, Athena, and I shall do it!” Diana vowed fervently. Beside her, Hippolytus took her hand, letting her know she wasn’t alone.

Only the Syrinx has the power to lull Lady Adrastaea back to sleep. The statue of Athena declared stridently. You must find the lost Pipes of Pan, and play upon them in the presence of Nemesis herself. In this song alone lay our last hope…