Post by HoM on Jun 3, 2009 6:57:29 GMT -5
Diana was surprised at how soft Hippolytus’ lips were. He held her gently, one of his hands against her cheek, the other on her hip, holding her body close to his while she enjoyed the moment, her hands on his shoulders, her eyes closed.
“You have no idea,” Hippolytus whispered, his lips leaving hers for a split second, “how long I’ve wanted this… but…”
Diana smiled, but then Hippolytus stepped back from his Queen, and moved away into the darkness. She reached out for him, her fingers outstretched, but another hand met hers, and pulled her in close. Without a moment’s hesitation, Steve Trevor confidently took her in his arms, and swung her around, kissing her passionately, as if he’d been waiting a thousand years for the chance. Her smile grew wider, wider than she had for months, her stomach filled with butterflies at the sight of this man, and for a perfect moment of crystal clear clarity, she knew that this was right.
Diana pulled off his shirt and threw it to the floor, then she returned the kiss, deeper and for longer than Steve had done at first. He returned the favor by sliding her robes from her shoulders, and watching it fall to the floor around her feet. They were on the bed before Diana could think, hands fumbling gently and kisses being exchanged and then…
Diana’s sat up in bed abruptly. The morning sun light drifted through the open window of her royal chambers, and her hand was at her lips. “Thank you, Aphrodite,” she said quietly, “for the parting gift.”
Wonder Woman
Issue Thirty-Four: “The Good Old Days”
Written by House Of Mystery
Cover by Jina B.
Edited by Don Walsh
"She was the greatest of us," she said, "and she never gave up on anybody. Never gave up on me, or you, or the world. She fought gods, monsters and immortals, and in the face of everything she wore a smile that told us that everything was going to be alright. The world as we know it, the world today, would not be as it is if not for her. This story is important to me for a number of reasons, you'll find them out soon enough."
Wonder Woman’s bracelets sang as the bullets ricocheted from her wrists to the concrete below, her arms moving faster than any eye could follow. It was Tuesday. Someone had decided to break into a bank. She was nearby, recently returned from a stint amongst her sisters on Paradise Island, recuperating psychologically from the Hell they had all been through, side-by-side. Back in the moment though, the question was raised, who would win? Wonder Woman versus seven armed ‘professionals’? No contest. The men and women were easily apprehended, and she watched as they were driven away by the police. She watched as they went, then when the crowds formed not to gawk at the police action but her, she smiled and signed the books and the napkins they thrust into her face; when she was done, she flew high into the sky, and continued up...
The world was all around her. She felt the cool thermals lift up around her, she felt the drift and the sway of the currents and she felt alive. After all they'd been through over the past few months, now it was over, now they were free. She breathed in, attuned to the Earth, and soared across the sky ways, never faltering. Her pantheon was gone, they'd left the world to it's own devices, but she didn't mourn the loss, she celebrated it. Why shouldn't she? This was their final stamp of approval (not that she was seeking approval) that they believed in their champion. This was an acknowledgment that the world was in good hands.
What could go wrong?
"She fell from the sky-- we thought she was one of Darkseid's murder bandits, but it was something else entirely." General Traceur was one of the most experienced, decorated, and down-right grizzled men in the United States army. He always had the ear of the President of the United States of America, and at this moment in time, Maxwell Lord was still Commander-In-Chief. And loving it.
"Then what the hell is she, General Traceur? Who is she?" The President latticed his fingers, the images of their find flickering across screens before the assembled men and women. "What am I looking at?"
"She vanished after a battle with Wonder Woman during the early hours of the Apokolips Invasion, pre-Anti-Life infection. Her body is infested with alien technology... we've kept her sedated, kept her unconscious, because we think... if we wake her up she'll kill us all. DEO are locked out of proceedings, this is entirely an US Military operation. Faraday isn't getting his grubby hands onto this, who knows what he'd do..."
"Who is she?" seethed President Lord. "I had to cancel my golf session with the Prime Minister of England to come to this emergency briefing, so you tell me: Who is she?!"
"How can I have the most fun?" he asked no one in particular, his victims too busy mutilating each other in an attempt to remove the infestations of imaginary insects beneath their skins. "How could I have the most fun and make the most out of what I've stumbled on to here?"
"You... you don't know what you're doing!" General Traceur was the last man standing, shaking, scared, but his willpower strong enough to override the low level hypnotic suggestion placed inside his head. "I don't know... h-how you got in here, a-and I don't know w-what you want?"
"I want you to take your gun out of the holster I made you forget you were wearing, and I want you to put said gun in your mouth!"
Traceur nodded, and put the gun in his mouth. Tears streamed down his face as thoughts of his family flashed before his eyes. "Yyuhh wwwntt gtt awy wdd thss."
"Who said I want to?" Doctor Psycho grinned. "I want you to conveniently forget the names of your two beautiful daughters," Traceur gagged on the gun as memories faded from his head. "And I want you to pull the trigger!"
Traceur nodded, and the sound of the gunshot exploded out over the sounds of the scientists and military police crying over their ruined flesh. The General collapsed to the floor, and Doctor Psycho looked past the seething bodies and at the transparent tube that was in the center of the room, fluid keeping the body of a naked woman floating, untouched by the world. Alien circuitry was woven into her flesh, around her neck was a silver brace that seemed to be attached to the skin it touched, and her long blonde hair billowed out behind her. Doctor Psycho reached into her mind. Flashes of the past struck him, and his smile grew larger and larger across his face. "You knew her... and you hated her... oh, you dirty little thing, you will do just fine!"
Metal clashed against metal, sparks flying in every direction at the sheer power of the blow. Neither of them gave an inch. Neither of them backed down. Diana grit her teeth, her sword, crafted in the forges of Theymscira’s finest blade-smiths, sang with the vibrations that ran down the blade, and she roared as she kicked her attacker back, and readied herself for the next attack. Her attacker smiled slyly, and dove at her, her own blade whining as it swung down and clashed once more with Diana’s, more bright sparks exploding on impact. She ducked and dove, dodging sword strokes, and then unleashing a barrage of her own. For every inch she lost, she gained another, the eerie stalemate lasting for an age.
“You’re leaving your right flank exposed,” said Donna Troy, as she kicked Diana's right side with a sandaled foot.
Diana grunted with pain, but instead of allowing the impact to get the better of her, and before Donna Troy's foot could leave her vicinity, it was caught between elbow and hip, and pulled forward, wrenching Donna Troy’s center of gravity off-kilter. "I learnt that from the best," laughed Diana, before throwing her hand down to help Donna up.
"Wow, deja vu, right?" said Donna. "Guess neither of us is rusty enough to really warrant a prolonged sword battle up the marble staircase."
"No, apparently not." Diana sheathed her sword and picked up a towel. "How are you holding up?"
Donna Troy has recently discovered her true parentage. She had believed herself an orphan, shipwrecked and washed up on the shores of Themyscira, but no. Instead, she was the potential for good that the evil titan Kronus contained within him, seeped from his prison beneath the Earth in Gaia's bossom into reality. Pure good distilled into human form.
"I'm good. Really." Donna smiled, but Diana could feel in the pit of her stomach that she wasn't being one hundred percent honest. A side effect of being a clay princess with the blessing of the gods. "Aaaand I'm aware that I can't lie to you, but I'm doing good. The Titans are there to talk to, Raven especially..." she laughed, "... especially when it comes to questionable parentage."
"You are your own woman, Donna. I have told you this countless times. You could be whoever you wanted to be, and I'm so proud of you every day I live. I'm glad that you're dealing with this so well, but understand this... if you need someone to talk to, I'm always here. No matter what, I will always be there for you." Diana allowed herself a smile. "Now, I don't want to hold you up when I know you've got plans to see Kory and the others. I'll catch up with you later, we'll have that staircase duel even if it takes forever."
"Oh, totally." Donna pulled on her jacket and flew into the air, shooting out of the sky light above them in middle of Themyscira House, vanishing from sight within seconds.
The Lasso of Truth was back in her hands again. Without it, she had been susceptible to the influence of Kronus, but when Donna Troy had returned it to her, she was complete again. Life was good, she thought. Justice League monitoring duty was hers soon, but she didn't care-- basking in the sunlight beaming down from up on high, her smile transformed into a grin, and she laughed.
"We're trying to separate the Apokoliptian technology from the woman's skin, but so far, we are having no luck, Mr President." General Traceur was showing President Lord the special lab they'd set up around the woman that was floating in the vat before them. "We've gleaned information off the surface technology, targeting programs that assisted the use of her abilities, and we're applying that to our own missile guidance systems, but we are nowhere near being able to duplicate the sonic effect that the device around her throat is able to generate."
"Slow progress, General. Damn shame, I was hoping to have something to brag about at G10. Damn shame." Lord looked around. "And Wonder Woman has no idea we have the subject in storage?"
"Area 17 is classified Above Top Secret, sir. Not even the DEO are in on the inner working of this R&D lab. No, Wonder Woman isn't going to find out about this place before she dies."
"That's what I like to hear. I don't trust anybody that's come from an island paradise full of immortal women and no male guidance." Maxell Lord grinned. "Not that I wouldn't like to pay it a visit someday... covert ops and all that..."
"Of course, Mr President."
"Can you hear me, sweetheart?" Doctor Psycho was enjoying this too much. He'd blurred the minds of the men and women around them, and puppeteered his new weapon all the way from Area 17 to this quaint little establishment. He always had a thing for diners, and today was no exception. "You've been asleep for way too long, it's time you woke up and smelled some pain."
"Urgh, what... what... who are you?" Her eyes flickered open at long last, and her voice was a mechanical buzz. "Why... where am I?"
"New York New York! You can call me dear old Papa Psycho, and you, you have something on your mind, I'm sure?"
Her expression shifted from tired shock to grim anger. "Diana... Princess Diana. She abandoned me."
"Yes, she did indeed. Oh, and look where we are!" Doctor Psycho motioned out of the diner they were sitting inside, across the way, and at Themyscira House. "...There's no place like home."
The woman stood up abruptly, and the wings that had been sheathed in compartments at her back slashed open, tearing into the air. From her fingertips razor sharp talons extended, and a quiet buzzing began to fill the air as the device around her throat began to charge. "That witch stole everything from me! And then she..." The Silver Swan exploded with a super-sonic rage that blew the roof off the top of the establishment, debris flying everywhere. "I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!"
"Spouting clichés! You're my favourite kind of super-villain!" Doctor Psycho clapped his hands with glee. "This should be so fun!"
Wonder Woman heard the explosion from her chambers, and pulled on her cermonial costume within seconds. Her lasso in hand, she leaped out of the Embassy, and toward the commotion.
"WONDER WOMAN!"
Diana's eyes opened wide. "Arsinoe! You're alive?" Arsinoe, Captain of the House Guard at Themyscira House. She'd been attacked viciously by the Cheetah years ago**, only to resurface as a brutal avenging angel of Darkseid's wrath due to Desaad's foul techno-machinations***... and in the aftermath of the fight that only ended because Darkseid bought Apokolips into Earth orbit, this 'Silver Swan' vanished... Diana had always feared her old friend dead, or worse, mutilated further at Desaad's hands.
She didn't have a chance to say anymore. The Silver Swan collided hard with the Queen of the Amazons, and sent them both hurtling into Central Park, a crater forming at the impact of their landing. "You left me to be pawed at! To be picked apart! First you let the Cheetah tear out my throat, then you allowed Desaad to pollute my body with his foul Apokoliptian technologies! And then you abandoned me! ABANDONDED ME!" Each word was a sonic attack, growing and then fading as she breathed in and out, a metallic rasp sounding as the charge in the neck device jumped in output.
Wonder Woman punched up, grabbing Silver Swan by the shoulders. "They polluted your mind, Arsinoe, I never meant you any harm!"
"Yet harm me you did! Again and again by your ignorance!" Her razor sharp claws tore at Wonder Woman's flesh, but the Amazonian didn't cry out. Wonder Woman couldn't hear a word, her ear drums popped at the sonic screams of the Silver Swan, but could tell from Arsinoe's face she would not end this fight so easily. She saw Arsinoe's mouth scream, and the pain intensified in her head, but heard nothing. She could feel blood trickle from her ears, the pure animal rage demonstrated by her former friend unrelenting. Sparks flew as the claws scratched at Wonder Woman's breastplate, the Amazon Queen's armor torn up and shredded, and blood stained the metallic talons of the villainess. "Now it's your turn! Beg for my help! Beg me to stop!"
Wonder Woman said nothing for a moment. Arsinoe was too far gone for mere words. Diana knew she couldn't talk anyone down from insanity, it was virtually impossible, but she knew what she could do. "I'm sorry." Diana's hand shot up and grabbed the device that covered the Silver Swan's throat, and began to crush it. "I am so sorry!"
"DIANA! No! Get off--" The metal rended under Wonder Woman's grip, and then with a sudden pull, it came loose, and Arsinoe reeled back. Silent screams left her mouth as she clutched at her throat, and Wonder Woman rose up.
"Your mind has been fractured. I'm taking you home. Your sisters can help, Arsinoe. Your family can help you." Silver Swan slashed at Wonder Woman; even without her sonic scream she was a dangerous foe, and blood fell from the new gash in Diana's arm. "I will save you, Arsinoe. You have my word." She began to wrap the Lasso of Truth around the Silver Swan's wrists, preventing her from lashing out any more, and then she called upon the gift of Artemis, and began to whisper reassuringly to Arsinoe, "Just breathe, old friend, just breathe and welcome yourself into the open arms of slumber..." Arsinoe's anger faded, and her eyes closed. Within moments she was asleep, and Wonder Woman grimaced as the pain from her wounds hit her. She'd been caught unawares both times by the attacks meted out on her by the Silver Swan, but she knew that if the fight had continued any longer, innocent men and women would be injured, or worse, and she needed to reach her friend before she was lost completely.
"Well that's not fair, is it?!" Doctor Psycho stormed up to Wonder Woman, shaking his head. "You don't tear out the throat of a friend! And I thought you two were friends, weren't you? That's the story you're keeping to, anyway, isn't it, your majesty?"
Wonder Woman turned slowly, her eyes wide. She couldn't hear the little man's voice, but she recognized the face immediately. "Doctor Psycho..."
"What, you can't hear me? Shall I speak louder?" The last word was a telepathic scream, and Wonder Woman collapsed to her knees, clutching her already injured head. Doctor Psycho walked over to where she was hunched over, and placed his hands on her temples. "Just relax, and you'll be trapped in a catacomb of your worst nightmares forever." He grinned. "I was never in it for the prolonged battle, little girl. I dance the quick-step of murder and suffering and all I wanted was to hurt you but you hurt me instead. Unforgivable!! So now I'm going to make sure that even that green sonofabitch you've got watching your back won't be able to find you in your own head when I'm through..."
"You... talk... too... much..." Wonder Woman broke the hand-to-head contact that Doctor Psycho had, and pushed him back. "I may... not be able to hear... you..." She lifted him up, and he clicked his fingers whilst grinning maniacally, another psychic explosion racking Diana's brain, but she refused to stand down. "But you... use my... friends against... me?" She punched him across the grass, and he bounced twice before coming to a stop, heels over head. "You don't get to win."
"Boo-hoo," Doctor Psycho said, "I'll never stop coming, Wonder Woman. I'll throw men and women and children at you for as long as you're still alive, people you claim to protect will have their humanity stripped away until they come at you like animals, and you won't be able to breathe for the blood you will be surrounded by. You shouldn't have hurt me, you stupid girl! You shouldn't have made me--"
"Feel small?" Wonder Woman shot through the air, staying close to the ground, and then threw an uppercut at Doctor Psycho's face with such precision that his brain bounced off his skull and caused him to gag in surprise. "You don't get to threaten me, Doctor." Psycho attempted to make her swallow her own tongue, but his concussed brain struggled to focus on anything, her previous punch short circuiting his mind and making him unable to speak, let alone throw a psychic attack at her. "You don't get to threaten anyone."
Doctor Psycho swayed from side to side, barely able to stand. He looked her straight in the eye, and his final words were whispered telepathically, but even then, she could barely hear. "I'll... never... stop..."
"Yes, you will." Diana watched as the diminutive Doctor Psycho staggered, blood dribbling down his nose. "Because I'll be there to stop you."
Doctor Psycho finally fell, unconscious and bloodied on the grass of Central Park. The cool air bristled past Wonder Woman, and she smiled. Her body was in knots of pain, her ear drums were popped, her flesh gouged and slashed, and she knew she needed medical assistance, but she would not fall for this man. She wouldn't give up her mission of peace for anyone.
Sirens wailed, and the New York Special Crimes Unit swarmed onto the scene, taking Doctor Psycho into custody. Wonder Woman communicated with the officers through sign-language, the only noise in her head the buzzing of Silver Swan's vicious attack.
I have to go now, she said, as she picked up Silver Swan in her arms. No one questioned the action, no one tried to stop her, and Wonder Woman was soon inside Themyscira House, in the depths of the lower levels, and nearing the portal that would allow her to step through to Paradise Island.
The Purple Healing Ray performed perfectly, Wonder Woman's flesh knitting back together underneath it's glow as she lay on a bed. The Isles of Healing were neighbouring islands near Paradise itself, a dozen or so of these places serving different functions in conjunction with the main island. Diana pulled herself up, and looked to Adelpha, the closest thing the Amazons had to a 'doctor' amongst them. "How is Arsinoe?"
"Sister, Arsinoe's mind was shattered into pieces by the same men who broke her flesh. It would take more than a session underneath the Purple Healing Ray to heal those wounds," Adelpha said, slowly. "I have ideas, some may work, some may not, but the only way to find out is if we try. It may take a long time."
"Time is one thing we have an abundance of on Paradise Island," Diana said with a sigh.
"Gosh-darn," Maxwell Lord looked at Arsinoe as she floated inside the vat she had been placed inside. She was beautiful, strong, even with the Apokoliptikan implants peppering her body. "Such a damn shame." He shrugged. "You keep doing what you're doing, kids, your country thanks you!"
"We appreciate that, President Lord," nodded General Traceur. "We have other projects to show you..."
Maxwell Lord stood in the doorway of the lab, and turned back toward the Silver Swan. "Sure would be a terrible shame if that poor girl woke up with her hate for Wonder Woman still riding strong, wouldn't it?"
"Mr President, your nose is bleeding--"
"Oh," Max smiled, and took a red handkerchief from his breast pocket. "Don't worry about it. Don't worry about that at all."
Wonder Woman's mission was to bring peace to the world. It had been nearly ten years since she'd come to Man's World, and she'd fought alien gods, evil doubles, Nazis, dead heroes, more alien gods, fallen angels and more. And through it all, she persevered. Even in the face of defeat, she kept fighting, because that was all she knew to do. Fight for peace. Fight for humanity. Fight for those that cannot fight for themselves. She had a family: Donna Troy, her sister, and her other sisters and mothers on Themyscira. That wasn't her only family. Kal, Bruce, Hal and Barry and all the heroes of the Justice League were like family to her too. They shared a common cause, the wanting to better the world. To take it to a better place than it was before. Superman inspired, and so did she. To bring peace. To protect the world. To inspire.
Diana soared above the ocean. Arsinoe was home. Even in pieces, she could be helped, couldn't she? Wonder Woman would always try. Relentlessly, in the face of anything, anyone.
"Just one example of a day, a single day in the life of the greatest Wonder Woman to ever live. Sometimes it was about the universe, saving reality with hope in her heart and determination in her head, but other times... it was about a sister, lost to her for years but then found, broken but needing fixing..." Arsinoe smiled. "She saved me, that day, even if she didn't live to see it. My sisters never gave up on me, and they reached through the veil of sickness I'd been infected with, and I was whole once more. The future is as it is because of her. Diana. Wonder Woman. My sister."
“You have no idea,” Hippolytus whispered, his lips leaving hers for a split second, “how long I’ve wanted this… but…”
Diana smiled, but then Hippolytus stepped back from his Queen, and moved away into the darkness. She reached out for him, her fingers outstretched, but another hand met hers, and pulled her in close. Without a moment’s hesitation, Steve Trevor confidently took her in his arms, and swung her around, kissing her passionately, as if he’d been waiting a thousand years for the chance. Her smile grew wider, wider than she had for months, her stomach filled with butterflies at the sight of this man, and for a perfect moment of crystal clear clarity, she knew that this was right.
Diana pulled off his shirt and threw it to the floor, then she returned the kiss, deeper and for longer than Steve had done at first. He returned the favor by sliding her robes from her shoulders, and watching it fall to the floor around her feet. They were on the bed before Diana could think, hands fumbling gently and kisses being exchanged and then…
Diana’s sat up in bed abruptly. The morning sun light drifted through the open window of her royal chambers, and her hand was at her lips. “Thank you, Aphrodite,” she said quietly, “for the parting gift.”
Wonder Woman
Issue Thirty-Four: “The Good Old Days”
Written by House Of Mystery
Cover by Jina B.
Edited by Don Walsh
New Themyscira//Years Later:
[/b]"She was the greatest of us," she said, "and she never gave up on anybody. Never gave up on me, or you, or the world. She fought gods, monsters and immortals, and in the face of everything she wore a smile that told us that everything was going to be alright. The world as we know it, the world today, would not be as it is if not for her. This story is important to me for a number of reasons, you'll find them out soon enough."
Themyscira House//Now:
[/b]Wonder Woman’s bracelets sang as the bullets ricocheted from her wrists to the concrete below, her arms moving faster than any eye could follow. It was Tuesday. Someone had decided to break into a bank. She was nearby, recently returned from a stint amongst her sisters on Paradise Island, recuperating psychologically from the Hell they had all been through, side-by-side. Back in the moment though, the question was raised, who would win? Wonder Woman versus seven armed ‘professionals’? No contest. The men and women were easily apprehended, and she watched as they were driven away by the police. She watched as they went, then when the crowds formed not to gawk at the police action but her, she smiled and signed the books and the napkins they thrust into her face; when she was done, she flew high into the sky, and continued up...
The world was all around her. She felt the cool thermals lift up around her, she felt the drift and the sway of the currents and she felt alive. After all they'd been through over the past few months, now it was over, now they were free. She breathed in, attuned to the Earth, and soared across the sky ways, never faltering. Her pantheon was gone, they'd left the world to it's own devices, but she didn't mourn the loss, she celebrated it. Why shouldn't she? This was their final stamp of approval (not that she was seeking approval) that they believed in their champion. This was an acknowledgment that the world was in good hands.
What could go wrong?
The White House//Years Ago*:
"She fell from the sky-- we thought she was one of Darkseid's murder bandits, but it was something else entirely." General Traceur was one of the most experienced, decorated, and down-right grizzled men in the United States army. He always had the ear of the President of the United States of America, and at this moment in time, Maxwell Lord was still Commander-In-Chief. And loving it.
"Then what the hell is she, General Traceur? Who is she?" The President latticed his fingers, the images of their find flickering across screens before the assembled men and women. "What am I looking at?"
"She vanished after a battle with Wonder Woman during the early hours of the Apokolips Invasion, pre-Anti-Life infection. Her body is infested with alien technology... we've kept her sedated, kept her unconscious, because we think... if we wake her up she'll kill us all. DEO are locked out of proceedings, this is entirely an US Military operation. Faraday isn't getting his grubby hands onto this, who knows what he'd do..."
"Who is she?" seethed President Lord. "I had to cancel my golf session with the Prime Minister of England to come to this emergency briefing, so you tell me: Who is she?!"
*Before Justice League Vs. America
Area 17: Classified Military Research and Development Facility//Now:
"How can I have the most fun?" he asked no one in particular, his victims too busy mutilating each other in an attempt to remove the infestations of imaginary insects beneath their skins. "How could I have the most fun and make the most out of what I've stumbled on to here?"
"You... you don't know what you're doing!" General Traceur was the last man standing, shaking, scared, but his willpower strong enough to override the low level hypnotic suggestion placed inside his head. "I don't know... h-how you got in here, a-and I don't know w-what you want?"
"I want you to take your gun out of the holster I made you forget you were wearing, and I want you to put said gun in your mouth!"
Traceur nodded, and put the gun in his mouth. Tears streamed down his face as thoughts of his family flashed before his eyes. "Yyuhh wwwntt gtt awy wdd thss."
"Who said I want to?" Doctor Psycho grinned. "I want you to conveniently forget the names of your two beautiful daughters," Traceur gagged on the gun as memories faded from his head. "And I want you to pull the trigger!"
Traceur nodded, and the sound of the gunshot exploded out over the sounds of the scientists and military police crying over their ruined flesh. The General collapsed to the floor, and Doctor Psycho looked past the seething bodies and at the transparent tube that was in the center of the room, fluid keeping the body of a naked woman floating, untouched by the world. Alien circuitry was woven into her flesh, around her neck was a silver brace that seemed to be attached to the skin it touched, and her long blonde hair billowed out behind her. Doctor Psycho reached into her mind. Flashes of the past struck him, and his smile grew larger and larger across his face. "You knew her... and you hated her... oh, you dirty little thing, you will do just fine!"
Themyscira House//Now:
Metal clashed against metal, sparks flying in every direction at the sheer power of the blow. Neither of them gave an inch. Neither of them backed down. Diana grit her teeth, her sword, crafted in the forges of Theymscira’s finest blade-smiths, sang with the vibrations that ran down the blade, and she roared as she kicked her attacker back, and readied herself for the next attack. Her attacker smiled slyly, and dove at her, her own blade whining as it swung down and clashed once more with Diana’s, more bright sparks exploding on impact. She ducked and dove, dodging sword strokes, and then unleashing a barrage of her own. For every inch she lost, she gained another, the eerie stalemate lasting for an age.
“You’re leaving your right flank exposed,” said Donna Troy, as she kicked Diana's right side with a sandaled foot.
Diana grunted with pain, but instead of allowing the impact to get the better of her, and before Donna Troy's foot could leave her vicinity, it was caught between elbow and hip, and pulled forward, wrenching Donna Troy’s center of gravity off-kilter. "I learnt that from the best," laughed Diana, before throwing her hand down to help Donna up.
"Wow, deja vu, right?" said Donna. "Guess neither of us is rusty enough to really warrant a prolonged sword battle up the marble staircase."
"No, apparently not." Diana sheathed her sword and picked up a towel. "How are you holding up?"
Donna Troy has recently discovered her true parentage. She had believed herself an orphan, shipwrecked and washed up on the shores of Themyscira, but no. Instead, she was the potential for good that the evil titan Kronus contained within him, seeped from his prison beneath the Earth in Gaia's bossom into reality. Pure good distilled into human form.
"I'm good. Really." Donna smiled, but Diana could feel in the pit of her stomach that she wasn't being one hundred percent honest. A side effect of being a clay princess with the blessing of the gods. "Aaaand I'm aware that I can't lie to you, but I'm doing good. The Titans are there to talk to, Raven especially..." she laughed, "... especially when it comes to questionable parentage."
"You are your own woman, Donna. I have told you this countless times. You could be whoever you wanted to be, and I'm so proud of you every day I live. I'm glad that you're dealing with this so well, but understand this... if you need someone to talk to, I'm always here. No matter what, I will always be there for you." Diana allowed herself a smile. "Now, I don't want to hold you up when I know you've got plans to see Kory and the others. I'll catch up with you later, we'll have that staircase duel even if it takes forever."
"Oh, totally." Donna pulled on her jacket and flew into the air, shooting out of the sky light above them in middle of Themyscira House, vanishing from sight within seconds.
The Lasso of Truth was back in her hands again. Without it, she had been susceptible to the influence of Kronus, but when Donna Troy had returned it to her, she was complete again. Life was good, she thought. Justice League monitoring duty was hers soon, but she didn't care-- basking in the sunlight beaming down from up on high, her smile transformed into a grin, and she laughed.
Area 17: Classified Military Research and Development Facility//Years Ago:
"We're trying to separate the Apokoliptian technology from the woman's skin, but so far, we are having no luck, Mr President." General Traceur was showing President Lord the special lab they'd set up around the woman that was floating in the vat before them. "We've gleaned information off the surface technology, targeting programs that assisted the use of her abilities, and we're applying that to our own missile guidance systems, but we are nowhere near being able to duplicate the sonic effect that the device around her throat is able to generate."
"Slow progress, General. Damn shame, I was hoping to have something to brag about at G10. Damn shame." Lord looked around. "And Wonder Woman has no idea we have the subject in storage?"
"Area 17 is classified Above Top Secret, sir. Not even the DEO are in on the inner working of this R&D lab. No, Wonder Woman isn't going to find out about this place before she dies."
"That's what I like to hear. I don't trust anybody that's come from an island paradise full of immortal women and no male guidance." Maxell Lord grinned. "Not that I wouldn't like to pay it a visit someday... covert ops and all that..."
"Of course, Mr President."
New York City//Now:
"Can you hear me, sweetheart?" Doctor Psycho was enjoying this too much. He'd blurred the minds of the men and women around them, and puppeteered his new weapon all the way from Area 17 to this quaint little establishment. He always had a thing for diners, and today was no exception. "You've been asleep for way too long, it's time you woke up and smelled some pain."
"Urgh, what... what... who are you?" Her eyes flickered open at long last, and her voice was a mechanical buzz. "Why... where am I?"
"New York New York! You can call me dear old Papa Psycho, and you, you have something on your mind, I'm sure?"
Her expression shifted from tired shock to grim anger. "Diana... Princess Diana. She abandoned me."
"Yes, she did indeed. Oh, and look where we are!" Doctor Psycho motioned out of the diner they were sitting inside, across the way, and at Themyscira House. "...There's no place like home."
The woman stood up abruptly, and the wings that had been sheathed in compartments at her back slashed open, tearing into the air. From her fingertips razor sharp talons extended, and a quiet buzzing began to fill the air as the device around her throat began to charge. "That witch stole everything from me! And then she..." The Silver Swan exploded with a super-sonic rage that blew the roof off the top of the establishment, debris flying everywhere. "I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!"
"Spouting clichés! You're my favourite kind of super-villain!" Doctor Psycho clapped his hands with glee. "This should be so fun!"
Themyscira House//Now:
Wonder Woman heard the explosion from her chambers, and pulled on her cermonial costume within seconds. Her lasso in hand, she leaped out of the Embassy, and toward the commotion.
"WONDER WOMAN!"
Diana's eyes opened wide. "Arsinoe! You're alive?" Arsinoe, Captain of the House Guard at Themyscira House. She'd been attacked viciously by the Cheetah years ago**, only to resurface as a brutal avenging angel of Darkseid's wrath due to Desaad's foul techno-machinations***... and in the aftermath of the fight that only ended because Darkseid bought Apokolips into Earth orbit, this 'Silver Swan' vanished... Diana had always feared her old friend dead, or worse, mutilated further at Desaad's hands.
She didn't have a chance to say anymore. The Silver Swan collided hard with the Queen of the Amazons, and sent them both hurtling into Central Park, a crater forming at the impact of their landing. "You left me to be pawed at! To be picked apart! First you let the Cheetah tear out my throat, then you allowed Desaad to pollute my body with his foul Apokoliptian technologies! And then you abandoned me! ABANDONDED ME!" Each word was a sonic attack, growing and then fading as she breathed in and out, a metallic rasp sounding as the charge in the neck device jumped in output.
Wonder Woman punched up, grabbing Silver Swan by the shoulders. "They polluted your mind, Arsinoe, I never meant you any harm!"
"Yet harm me you did! Again and again by your ignorance!" Her razor sharp claws tore at Wonder Woman's flesh, but the Amazonian didn't cry out. Wonder Woman couldn't hear a word, her ear drums popped at the sonic screams of the Silver Swan, but could tell from Arsinoe's face she would not end this fight so easily. She saw Arsinoe's mouth scream, and the pain intensified in her head, but heard nothing. She could feel blood trickle from her ears, the pure animal rage demonstrated by her former friend unrelenting. Sparks flew as the claws scratched at Wonder Woman's breastplate, the Amazon Queen's armor torn up and shredded, and blood stained the metallic talons of the villainess. "Now it's your turn! Beg for my help! Beg me to stop!"
Wonder Woman said nothing for a moment. Arsinoe was too far gone for mere words. Diana knew she couldn't talk anyone down from insanity, it was virtually impossible, but she knew what she could do. "I'm sorry." Diana's hand shot up and grabbed the device that covered the Silver Swan's throat, and began to crush it. "I am so sorry!"
"DIANA! No! Get off--" The metal rended under Wonder Woman's grip, and then with a sudden pull, it came loose, and Arsinoe reeled back. Silent screams left her mouth as she clutched at her throat, and Wonder Woman rose up.
"Your mind has been fractured. I'm taking you home. Your sisters can help, Arsinoe. Your family can help you." Silver Swan slashed at Wonder Woman; even without her sonic scream she was a dangerous foe, and blood fell from the new gash in Diana's arm. "I will save you, Arsinoe. You have my word." She began to wrap the Lasso of Truth around the Silver Swan's wrists, preventing her from lashing out any more, and then she called upon the gift of Artemis, and began to whisper reassuringly to Arsinoe, "Just breathe, old friend, just breathe and welcome yourself into the open arms of slumber..." Arsinoe's anger faded, and her eyes closed. Within moments she was asleep, and Wonder Woman grimaced as the pain from her wounds hit her. She'd been caught unawares both times by the attacks meted out on her by the Silver Swan, but she knew that if the fight had continued any longer, innocent men and women would be injured, or worse, and she needed to reach her friend before she was lost completely.
"Well that's not fair, is it?!" Doctor Psycho stormed up to Wonder Woman, shaking his head. "You don't tear out the throat of a friend! And I thought you two were friends, weren't you? That's the story you're keeping to, anyway, isn't it, your majesty?"
Wonder Woman turned slowly, her eyes wide. She couldn't hear the little man's voice, but she recognized the face immediately. "Doctor Psycho..."
"What, you can't hear me? Shall I speak louder?" The last word was a telepathic scream, and Wonder Woman collapsed to her knees, clutching her already injured head. Doctor Psycho walked over to where she was hunched over, and placed his hands on her temples. "Just relax, and you'll be trapped in a catacomb of your worst nightmares forever." He grinned. "I was never in it for the prolonged battle, little girl. I dance the quick-step of murder and suffering and all I wanted was to hurt you but you hurt me instead. Unforgivable!! So now I'm going to make sure that even that green sonofabitch you've got watching your back won't be able to find you in your own head when I'm through..."
"You... talk... too... much..." Wonder Woman broke the hand-to-head contact that Doctor Psycho had, and pushed him back. "I may... not be able to hear... you..." She lifted him up, and he clicked his fingers whilst grinning maniacally, another psychic explosion racking Diana's brain, but she refused to stand down. "But you... use my... friends against... me?" She punched him across the grass, and he bounced twice before coming to a stop, heels over head. "You don't get to win."
"Boo-hoo," Doctor Psycho said, "I'll never stop coming, Wonder Woman. I'll throw men and women and children at you for as long as you're still alive, people you claim to protect will have their humanity stripped away until they come at you like animals, and you won't be able to breathe for the blood you will be surrounded by. You shouldn't have hurt me, you stupid girl! You shouldn't have made me--"
"Feel small?" Wonder Woman shot through the air, staying close to the ground, and then threw an uppercut at Doctor Psycho's face with such precision that his brain bounced off his skull and caused him to gag in surprise. "You don't get to threaten me, Doctor." Psycho attempted to make her swallow her own tongue, but his concussed brain struggled to focus on anything, her previous punch short circuiting his mind and making him unable to speak, let alone throw a psychic attack at her. "You don't get to threaten anyone."
Doctor Psycho swayed from side to side, barely able to stand. He looked her straight in the eye, and his final words were whispered telepathically, but even then, she could barely hear. "I'll... never... stop..."
"Yes, you will." Diana watched as the diminutive Doctor Psycho staggered, blood dribbling down his nose. "Because I'll be there to stop you."
Doctor Psycho finally fell, unconscious and bloodied on the grass of Central Park. The cool air bristled past Wonder Woman, and she smiled. Her body was in knots of pain, her ear drums were popped, her flesh gouged and slashed, and she knew she needed medical assistance, but she would not fall for this man. She wouldn't give up her mission of peace for anyone.
Sirens wailed, and the New York Special Crimes Unit swarmed onto the scene, taking Doctor Psycho into custody. Wonder Woman communicated with the officers through sign-language, the only noise in her head the buzzing of Silver Swan's vicious attack.
I have to go now, she said, as she picked up Silver Swan in her arms. No one questioned the action, no one tried to stop her, and Wonder Woman was soon inside Themyscira House, in the depths of the lower levels, and nearing the portal that would allow her to step through to Paradise Island.
**Wonder Woman #0
***Wonder Woman #9
***Wonder Woman #9
Paradise Island//Now:
[/b]The Purple Healing Ray performed perfectly, Wonder Woman's flesh knitting back together underneath it's glow as she lay on a bed. The Isles of Healing were neighbouring islands near Paradise itself, a dozen or so of these places serving different functions in conjunction with the main island. Diana pulled herself up, and looked to Adelpha, the closest thing the Amazons had to a 'doctor' amongst them. "How is Arsinoe?"
"Sister, Arsinoe's mind was shattered into pieces by the same men who broke her flesh. It would take more than a session underneath the Purple Healing Ray to heal those wounds," Adelpha said, slowly. "I have ideas, some may work, some may not, but the only way to find out is if we try. It may take a long time."
"Time is one thing we have an abundance of on Paradise Island," Diana said with a sigh.
Area 17: Classified Military Research and Development Facility//Years Ago:
"Gosh-darn," Maxwell Lord looked at Arsinoe as she floated inside the vat she had been placed inside. She was beautiful, strong, even with the Apokoliptikan implants peppering her body. "Such a damn shame." He shrugged. "You keep doing what you're doing, kids, your country thanks you!"
"We appreciate that, President Lord," nodded General Traceur. "We have other projects to show you..."
Maxwell Lord stood in the doorway of the lab, and turned back toward the Silver Swan. "Sure would be a terrible shame if that poor girl woke up with her hate for Wonder Woman still riding strong, wouldn't it?"
"Mr President, your nose is bleeding--"
"Oh," Max smiled, and took a red handkerchief from his breast pocket. "Don't worry about it. Don't worry about that at all."
Patriarch's World:
[/b]Wonder Woman's mission was to bring peace to the world. It had been nearly ten years since she'd come to Man's World, and she'd fought alien gods, evil doubles, Nazis, dead heroes, more alien gods, fallen angels and more. And through it all, she persevered. Even in the face of defeat, she kept fighting, because that was all she knew to do. Fight for peace. Fight for humanity. Fight for those that cannot fight for themselves. She had a family: Donna Troy, her sister, and her other sisters and mothers on Themyscira. That wasn't her only family. Kal, Bruce, Hal and Barry and all the heroes of the Justice League were like family to her too. They shared a common cause, the wanting to better the world. To take it to a better place than it was before. Superman inspired, and so did she. To bring peace. To protect the world. To inspire.
Diana soared above the ocean. Arsinoe was home. Even in pieces, she could be helped, couldn't she? Wonder Woman would always try. Relentlessly, in the face of anything, anyone.
New Themyscira//Years Later:
[/b]"Just one example of a day, a single day in the life of the greatest Wonder Woman to ever live. Sometimes it was about the universe, saving reality with hope in her heart and determination in her head, but other times... it was about a sister, lost to her for years but then found, broken but needing fixing..." Arsinoe smiled. "She saved me, that day, even if she didn't live to see it. My sisters never gave up on me, and they reached through the veil of sickness I'd been infected with, and I was whole once more. The future is as it is because of her. Diana. Wonder Woman. My sister."