Sensation Comics Issue One
"Count My Skeletons, My Dear Daughter"
By Joey West
The Island of Themyscira
A rustling is heard in the Amazon night as the bushes move wildly in the strong winds of winter, the streetlight-esque fires swiftly being put out by the sudden gasps of air. From the bushes comes Artemis, a natural hunter who brings home tomorrow's breakfast in her clothed bag from which comes a strange scent. Open scratches are scattered across her left arm, the morning feast did not go down without a fight, along with the scratches comes a busted nose, the tip coming slightly off course. Entering her home, she is greeted by a chokingly thick black mist, but no signs of an actual fire taking place. As she passes through, the sound of weeping is heard, constant weeping until she reaches her mother's bedroom.
"Mother?"
"Artemis, thank the gods they... they didn't find you too."
Artemis's eyes click to her mother's hands, bloody, but not by her blood. The red liquid drains from the two bracelets held in her hands, her mother's tears turning some of it into a pink translucent colour.
"Sister..." Artemis sighs, putting her hand over her mouth. She turns to see a pile of ash in the middle of her mother's bed, in the centre a small skeleton, one of a child.
"We must tell Hippolyta of this. Tell her it's taken another"
Two Weeks Later
Her foot taking off from the rotting wood of her ship, Wonder Woman steps onto Amazon Land, the warm breeze of her motherland jumping at her like a pouncing tiger. Princess Diana of Themyscira has returned to her home. Staring forward at the old paradise sunset, she heads onto the island, her sisters turning in wonder at their champion's return. Sunlight shoots off her lasso of truth, it glowing as it bounces off her leg while she walks. Whispers are heard, the news quickly spreading of Wonder Woman's return home. There are two kinds of murmurs spreading throughout the island of women, one kind of betrayal and deceit, and the other kind of bravery and heroism. She decides to follow the murmurs, knowing that they will lead to their Queen, her mother.
As the word spreads across the island like a plague, the Amazon Princess is led to a towering temple made of strikingly white stone. The eyes of Zeus stare down at her, the large white statue of the god glares at her with fury, Pegasus looking to be letting out a ferocious roar. She makes her way into the temple, finding her mother sitting at the edge of a large, traditional Greek bath. Her robes are as purely white as the stone of the temple, her golden crown like a sun, Apollo blessing it with his glow.
"Diana. Welcome home"
"Mother. It's been quite a while."
Diana approaches her mother, her mother giving her a disappointed glare as she sits down next to her mother, removing her muted blue boots and putting her feet into the water.
"I see you haven't been taking care of the suit I gave you."
Hippolyta dips her hand into the water, washing her still youthful face and looking at her daughter's covered in grime and dry blood. "I'm surprised you actually decided to come."
"My sisters are being slain in their own homes, despite what anyone may think, you must know that I haven't turned my back on you or anyone."
"That's not what the rest of the island thinks."
A few minutes pass and Diana is led to the scene of the most recent crime, accompanied by two royal guards whose faces have an overly stern look. Their spears let out a loud clicking noise as the end clangs against the hard rock of the east end of the island. They leave her at a small hut made mostly out of crude rocks, the stench of burning rubber coming from the centre of it. A few amazons gawp as their sister enters, who instantly notices the baby-like skeleton sitting in the centre of the first room. Two bracelets lie next to it, both bloodied and one of them with a large crack in the centre.
"Impossible." Wonder Woman sighs, noticing in the corner of her eye an old friend, Artemis.
"You chose the right time to come back, sister."
"It seems."
"Everybody's been-"
"I know."
"You won't find anything, I've looked far and wide for any clues or..."
"You have little sources outside of the island. Was there anything else here, anything at all?"
"Yes. A black mist."
Diana removes an outside device from her pouch, Artemis stepping back, her eyes widening. The Amazon Princess turns to Artemis.
"You might want to get out of the hut."
Artemis begins to walk out, Wonder Woman calling for her.
"Artemis, I'm sorry about what happened to your sister."
She nods, leaving the hut as Diana presses a button on the device, putting a small chip on her bracelet. She drops it, a blinding blue light flashing from the centre of the machine, spreading around the room until the light is collected back into it. She opens her eyes, collecting it and activating it.
"Not on my land." Hippolyta speaks, looking at Diana.
"Mother."
"You're not using that here, not anywhere on this island. Man's world-"
"Your people are being slaughtered in their own homes. People's daughters and sisters! If you and the rest of the island can't stop being like children I might just leave the killer to it."
Hippolyta stays silent, Wonder Woman giving her a killer glare before pressing another button, which lets out a loud click, the light returns, forming a virtual reality net of the room as it is right now.
"When did this happen?"
"A few days ago", her mother sighs.
"I need an exact number."
"Three days"
Twisting a piece on the device, the net changes, still showing the room but simulating the events of the past few days, in a way rewinding time. She skips backwards three days, finding what she's looking for.
"What is this?"
"Just something a man who likes to dress up as a bat fashioned up."
"Hmph."
Reaching a point where the bright neon blue net forms the crime scene before her, she rewinds a few minutes, finding a cloud of dark blue light levitating, the individual particles highlighted by bright white dots. An even darker tone of blue shows the silhouette of a child, who places the bracelets and the skeleton on the floor, it disappearing within the mist once it has done so.
"A ghost, Diana."
"Indeed."
Diana pauses the playback of the events, pointing the device at the ghost and pressing a button, the silhouette's colours turning into a crimson red.
"What're you doing?"
"Following it."
Diana puts out her hand, her sword flying into her palm like a bullet and her lasso of truth glowing. She reaches into the corner of the room, finding a circular Amazonian shield with the sign of the eagle embossed on it.
"And what do you intend to do when you find it?"
"Kill it, for good this time."
She puts the shield strap across her shoulder, the large metal object hanging from her back. Walking powerfully out of the hut, she follows the red shadow of a ghost, the local amazons watching their princess.
A few hours later
A red light peers around a corner, the following a dark, armoured and furious silhouette, ready for battle. She rolls over an organic looking light source, it's spherical in shape, but its slight movements make it seem like it's almost alive. Wonder Woman steps out of the darkness, turning off her time device, her face full with righteous fury. A bright yellow shine screams out of the Amazon Warrior's sword, inside of the reflection, a dark grey mist in the shape of a human man. Crackling thunder and red lightning strike in the centre of the clouds on the figure, an eventual lightning rod runs off the figure every few moments, its eyes glowing a bright red.
"You've killed my sisters."
"Yes, we have killed our sisters."
"Our sisters?"
"We are the ghost children, the lost sons of the Amazons. You didn't expect all Amazon births to be girls, did you?"
"What... what did they...?"
"They killed us as mere children. Took away our flesh and skin, left our bones."
"The skeletons."
"We are taking their daughters away and giving their sons back."
"I'm sorry. But you know I have to kill you."
"Kill us, sister. Kill us."
Raising its arms, a crescendo signs the arrival of a large and bold lightning strike, and with a flash of light, an army forms before Princess Diana's very eyes.
"Er-alright."
Removing her shield from her back, she holds it close to her chest, lifting up her sword, proudly. The army of ghosts stare at her, waiting for her to make the first move, which she does. Leaping into the crowd, the Amazon begins to swipe at the ghosts, reducing them to dust as the sword cuts through. Throwing her shield, it ricochets against the wall, bouncing around the wall and cutting the heads of a large majority of the army. As one tries to hit her from behind, she swings her arm from behind her, hitting it with her shield and it being reduced to dust, the particles flying into the air as she kills another three.
She twirls her sword with her fingers, jabbing one from behind and then beheading the other from the front. Trying to bring a club to her face, a ghost throws his fist, Diana blocking it with her bracelet and smacking both of its ears with the two metal bands which surround her wrists. There's one left, Diana finishes him with a quick jab to the chest, but he seems to be able to stay alive for a few seconds.
"Your... your people have killed more than us. They killed the innocent."
"I'm just letting your souls rest."
Diana stays silent, withdrawing her sword from its body as it turns to dust, hitting the surface of the caverns. She stands there, dropping her shield and looking at the collection of child skeletons that glare at her like hell.
Themyscira Central Temple
Washing her face with the amazingly still water, the mother of Wonder Woman sits at the pool, letting out a shallow look into the now bronze sky. The clanging of metal is heard, the Queen of the Amazons turning her head to find a member of the guild.
"Princess Diana has completed her task."
"Excellent, where is she?"
"She's opted to leave, my Queen."
END
