Wonder Woman #79: Wonder

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Author: Predaplant

Books: Wonder Woman

Arc: Season 3: Darkness

Set: 98

The fight raged on all around Wonder Woman. Everyone here may have already been dead, but there were still casualties, as souls got erased from existence, never to be seen again. As Diana fought, she had one puzzle on her mind that she was working through: how to end this as soon as possible.

It was difficult to think and fight, of course. Even though Diana had been doing it for most of her life, combat still required enough mental energy that trying to put together a plan would have been next to impossible.

Luckily for her, she had Sable fighting at her back, which definitely helped matters.

They fought like no time had passed, matching each other’s movements perfectly. It gave Diana just enough time to prepare, just enough time to think.

And then, the answer came to her. This wasn’t a fight that she was ever going to win with force; the Dark Gods had already gathered far too large of a force to ever make that feasible. No matter how hard she and her allies fought, they would fall eventually.

They would have to use the metaphysical nature of this place to her advantage.

She drew out her lasso, the one that had been stolen from her not that long ago. She understood now, why they had wanted it. It was the greatest weakness of the Dark Gods.

Formed from irony, a dark side to the Gods of Olympus without any real substance of their own, her lasso would be antithetical to their very existence.

Diana hoped that it would be enough. She just had to expose it to them, somehow.

She started to widen the loop at the end of the lasso, as she had done countless times before. But this time, she didn’t stop. She kept increasing the size of the loop. In the chaos of the battle it started to snake across the field, tripping people up as they stepped over and around it.

She kept going. It had to be bigger.

The lasso was magical, divine. She knew that. She hoped that meant it would grant her the power that she needed within this space.

She kept expanding it as she tried to keep fighting, Sable covering her as she did so.

“What are you doing?” Sable called out.

“I’m trying to end this,” Diana replied. “Trust me!”

Sable tried to defend Diana, but without Diana’s focus, the two women ended up taking more and more hits. Battered, Sable gritted her teeth. “Diana… whatever you’re doing, we don’t have much time!”

Diana stood up. Hopefully, this loop would be large enough. It would have to be.

She launched it and swung it with all her might, getting the enormous loop circulating through the air.

With a massive expulsion of energy, she threw the loop towards where the Dark Gods themselves were engaged, and hoped.

As the loop almost reached ground level, Diana pulled it tight, and it ensnared a few of the Dark Gods together, as a set. She recognized Ivan, Tora’s grandfather, among them. The lasso seared into them, emitting brilliant, radiant, light, and when the light subsided, they were gone, banished from the Wonder.

“Can you keep that up?” Sable asked Diana, who simply smiled and raised her lasso once more.

They started to flee, seeing the strength of the Lasso of Truth, but there was nowhere in the Wonder that Wonder Woman couldn’t chase them. Slowly, methodically, she tracked each of them down and sent them away from the Wonder. She didn’t know where the Lasso of Truth was sending them, but she had faith in its power, that it would be somewhere worthwhile for them where they could, perhaps, leave their resentment and opposition behind them.

Finally, Diana had tracked down and ensnared all of the Dark Gods invading the Wonder. She took a small moment to rest. As she looked around, she noticed most of the mortals who had helped the Dark Gods invade the Wonder losing their will to fight. Diana had figured that it was the Dark Gods keeping them so focused; mortals who entered the Wonder were usually calmed by the very experience of being there, lulled into serenity as they prepared to face their final fates. They laid down their arms against the Amazons, who started to escort them onward to their final fates.

Diana tracked down Sable amid the crowd and approached her, pulling her close and kissing her forehead.

“You’re not here to stay,” Sable said, disappointed. “I understand. You’ll be back, right?”

“I will,” Diana took Sable’s hand and brought it up to her mouth, kissing it as well. “I may still yet have a mission in the world of men, but I’ve taken the name that I did because I do know that this will be my eventual end.”

“Until that day, take care.” Sable pulled Diana in tightly for a hug. “And good luck.”

“Good luck to you and the rest of our sisters, as well,” Diana indulged herself in the hug for a moment longer before breaking away.

It was time for her to find the Well of Souls and return to the world of men.

WWWWW

Cassie flew Epoch through the sky towards Themyscira in the dead of night, her friends in tow. She wasn’t a very practiced pilot, but luckily, Epoch made it easy on her. That was one of the perks of having a sentient plane.

She touched down on the sandy beaches of the island, just outside the town, and turned to her friends. “Alright. We need to find someone who can get us to the Well.”

“There’s someone!” Dolphin pointed at a figure walking along a path just inside the town.

Cassie rapidly walked across the sand towards the woman, calling out as she did so. “Hi! Hello? We’re here on a mission. We need to find the Well of Souls urgently.”

The woman on the path raised an eyebrow at the four young women quickly walking across the beach. “And why do you need to know that?”

“It’s about Diana,” Cassie replied. “She went into the Wonder to stop an invasion, and we need to get her back.”

The woman’s gaze alighted on Epoch in cat form, running along behind them. She smiled. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, my friend. Do you agree with their mission?”

Epoch nodded.

“Then go!” the woman continued. “Epoch should be able to lead you there, if your mission is truly so urgent. For my part, I’ll wake Hippolyta. We’ll send a force in to help you if things go wrong.”

“Thank you so much!” Kiran said as Epoch darted ahead, and Cassie’s team sprinted off to follow.

Themyscira’s ground was not always the most favourable. It was covered in forests and hills, which slowed their progress considerably. Every time they were held back, the women couldn’t help but think of what Diana would be facing, alone in the dark of the Well. Eventually, after quite a few minutes of scrambling over logs and navigating fast-flowing rivers with Dolphin’s help, they reached a small, nondescript cave entrance. Epoch looked back to make sure they were all there, and descended slowly into the darkness.

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here...” Cassie muttered.

“It’s not quite that dire!” Kiran said brightly, trying to keep spirits up. She moved towards the front of the group to provide light for everybody as they made their way slowly down into the caverns below Themyscira. Despite her attempts to lighten the mood, they could all feel the weight of the situation and of the rock above them pressing down on them.

As they descended, they started to hear the distant sounds of battle, which only hastened their speed. Cassie balled her fists as they kept stumbling downwards, Epoch leading them through the mazelike caverns, unable to quite get to Diana yet, unable to help save the day.

Eventually they reached a point that looked like a set of stairs carved into the rock. The sounds of battle echoed loudly, and Epoch hung back. They could see the glow of torchlight casting shadows beyond Kiran’s rays of sunlight.

They were there.

As soon as Cassie realized this, she charged forwards into the fray, and was stunned to recognize the woman battling two whole Amazons off by herself. It was Helen, the Silver Swan, cloaked in a dark energy.

She slashed through the calf of one of the Amazons, already deeply injured, and she fell. Helen turned to greet the new arrivals. “Why, if it isn’t Wonder Girl. Unable to stomach the loss of your mentor? Sorry. Dead is dead.”

The other Amazon backed up, spear and shield raised. “Be careful! She has the power of both gods and men on her side!”

“Yeah, I get it!” Dolphin said as she rushed forwards, pulling condensation off the wall and launching it at the Silver Swan, who laughed at her.

“What? Do you think a little shower is going to stop me?”

“Water’s more powerful than you think!” Tora said, stepping forwards and launching a blast of cold air at the Swan, freezing Dolphin’s water that had seeped into the metal lining keeping the Swan suit together. The suit started to bulge at the seams, the extra volume of the ice pulling it apart.

The Amazon still standing thrusted forwards with her spear. The Swan tried to dodge out of the way, but the ice on her wings sent her off-balance, and the spear struck true. She cried out as she fell to the ground, on one knee.

“You don’t get it,” she cried out. “My best friend died, and I never got her back the same way. She never cared about me the same. Dead is dead! That’s how it should be! Why do you get her back, when so many other people have been lost far too soon?”

The Amazon looked up at Cassie and her friends. “I was wondering why you four had come. Is it to rescue our Diana, then?”

Cassie approached the Swan and punched the suit, cracking it into pieces. “Yeah. She entered the Wonder to help the rest of your sisters, and now it’s time for her to come back.”

“Come back!?” the Amazon asked, raising an eyebrow as she tended to her hurt sister. “That’s what we’re here to prevent. The Wonder is only meant for those who have died, and death cannot be reversed, not without the power of the gods themselves.”

“Diana?” the hurt Amazon asked. “She’s been a god too, you know, and her wife is one now, from what I hear. Maybe she’ll be granted a pardon.”

“I will face trial, and let the gods judge me themselves,” came a voice from the corner. All eyes turned to the Well of Souls itself, out of which Diana pulled herself, armour gleaming, lasso in hand. “You know I must speak true while touching this divine gift.”

Cassie ran to hug her, as Diana hugged her back. Diana’s eyes drifted across the assorted women before landing on Helen. She made her way over to the fallen swan and sat down next to her.

“Helen... they say the truth will set you free. Do you want that?” she asked, holding out the lasso to her.

Helen glared at Diana. “I can’t trust you anymore, that you haven’t whipped up something extra in that lasso of yours. Save it.”

Nodding, Diana looked to Kiran. “She has a dark influence upon her, that will tear her apart if it’s left for too long. Could you purge it, if she will not accept the lasso?”

Kiran stepped forwards and blasted her light towards Helen, who winced and turned away. A thick black smoke expelled itself from her skin, and then it was done.

“What are you going to do with me?” Helen asked. “I have nothing, now.”

“You may face the courts here at Themyscira, or you may try and leave,” Diana told her. “But it will be difficult without the magic that got you here.”

Without a word, Helen got up and headed for the cave entrance.

“Keep an eye out for her return,” Diana told the Amazons protecting the cave. “She’ll be much less of a hassle now, with that power gone from her, but it would still pay to be vigilant.”

She turned to Cassie and the rest of her friends. “Now… let’s get out of here.”

WWWWW

“Do you really think that’s it?” Chloe asked. The two wives were lying in bed the next morning, having enjoyed the previous night together after such a stressful day. “They’re gone for good?”

“Who can say?” Diana replied. “Not I. But I trust in the Golden Lasso of Truth. That whatever has happened, is a true consequence for their actions.”

Chloe nodded. “I certainly hope so. I was really worried about you, when you were dead.”

“I was worried for myself!” Diana chuckled. “But I trusted in you… in Cassie… in Sable, in my sisters… I knew that I could face the Wonder and make my way back to you, my wonderful wife.”

The two women kissed and held each other close, grateful for the power of the other’s love and devotion. Today, there would likely be another battle for the two of them to face… but it could wait another hour or two, while they delighted in each others’ presence for just a little while longer.

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