Disclaimer: All the characters in this story are property of WB and DC Comics. I own nothing, nor am I using this for personal profit. Just fun. :D


Diana of Themyscira absently ran a long finger around the rim of her iced mocha, gazing down at the Earth; a sapphire gem in a sea of stars. Her life before leaving her beloved home was a...peaceful one – it was quiet, and content. She had her mother, she had her sisters, and that was all she had needed. Her journey into Man's World was, to put it mildly, a shock – the world outside of her island was filthy; dirty, corrupt, and heavily favoring those with the lack of scruples to trounce upon the weak to achieve their goals. Though she would never admit it, her first few weeks in that strange new world was nothing short of terrifying.

But Amazons did not succumb to fear. They overcame it.

Though the trials she faced her numerous, and not without personal sacrifice, she stood now, seven years later, a beacon for her people – for all people. Injustice and oppression would not be permitted to hold sway on Man's World or any other, so long as she could lift her sword and wield it for those who couldn't do so themselves.

She distractedly tapped her fingernails against the nearly-empty cup, her azure eyes wandering to the cluster of satellite readings in front of her. Organized supervillain activity had tapered off in the past six months, but that still didn't stop individuals from trying to take advantage of a decaying situation. Southeast Asia was getting hit hard with a pandemic, fast acting, and fast spreading. China, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar all issued nationwide quarantines. Neighboring countries, and the world at large, issued safety warnings for anyone who traveled; they even went so far as to deny their own people entry back into their homeland, if they believed to be within a hundred miles of an affected zone. A logical choice, but she sympathized with those displaced, never the less.

Panic was beginning to take root among the populace of Man's World. And anywhere panic went, mayhem surely followed.

02.
Trial by Fire

Diana felt a gust of wind rustle her hair, and smiled over her shoulder, flashing brilliant white teeth. "Hello, Flash."

"Heya, Wondy!" he waved in greeting, grinning wide. "Sight-seeing?"

"Just catching my breath," she replied, taking a sip of her mocha. "It's been pretty hectic lately."

The Scarlet Speedster nodded, pivoting on his heel to casually rest his hip against the sophisticated array. "I'll bet. I think I've seen you more in the news than in person the past couple of months."

She nodded. "That's probably because you have. I admit, I've almost been wishing for some villain to try his hand at world domination. It would certainly provide more excitement than diplomatic functions."

"Hey, be careful what you wish for," Flash mock warned, smirk still on his lips. "'Cause if someone tries to take over the world, that means we all have to chip in, and personally? Explaining to Linda why I missed our anniversary would really suck."

"But, wouldn't she know why?" she asked, curious.

He shook his head despairingly. "Relationship 101, Di – if you miss your anniversary, you're automatically in the dog house."

She cocked her head to the side in minor confusion. "Why would she want you to sleep there?"

Wally beamed, leaning down to wrap his arms around her in a squeezing hug. "I have so missed you!" He glanced up at the nearby clock and made a point of doing a double-take. "Whoops, almost eight, gotta run! See ya, Wondy!" She raised a hand as he zoomed off, a blur of red, and shook her head. That man could make Superman dizzy.

A figure walked through the door Flash just exited, large hands balled into fists at his sides. The smile left her face. Speaking of which. "You talked to him?"

Superman frowned as he came to a halt behind her. "I talked at him," he clarified, his baritone laced with frustration. "He didn't seem interested in anything I had to say."

She sighed wearily, kneading a temple with her left hand. "Stubborn man," she muttered under her breath. "How did he look?"

Kal's frown deepened. "Like a walking corpse." He raked a hand through his thick black hair, expression pinched. "I'm really concerned about him. Even after he left, he didn't look that...worn out." His eyes caught hers, and she struggled not to be taken aback by the sheer amount of distress in them. "There's something wrong, Diana. I know it. And he won't say anything."

Her aristocratic features hardened. Depositing the remainder of her mocha into a nearby wastebin, she stood, ready for battle. "Maybe to you, he won't," she challenged, ready to stalk off to the teleporter and give that obstinate, self-righteous man a lesson in humility. He couldn't serve any purpose if he was floundering about in the Underworld.

Before she could manage two steps, Superman rested a hand on her shoulder, halting her. "Diana, don't. Going charging down there demanding an answer is only going to make him clam up even more."

Her fingers hooked around the golden, glowing lasso on her hip. "Then I'll have to make sure he opens up."

A klaxon cut off whatever reply Superman had in mind. Argument forgotten, the heroes rushed out of the sterile, computer-lined room, even as Mr. Terrific called. "Superman, Wonder Woman, meet me on the bridge."

Wonder Woman's lips stretched into a small, ironic grin. "Careful what you wish for."

"Huh?" Superman grunted.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Let's go."


Mr. Terrific heard the elevator doors slide open with a hiss and shifted his posture to acknowledge them. His fingers worked over the controls with efficiency as he brought up a view of Hong Kong, flames dancing across the flickering hologram. "Volcana and Firefly," he explained, hitting a switch and bringing up a digitized blue-print of the damaged area. "They appeared approximately twenty-five minutes ago and have been laying waste to downtown Hong Kong."

"Hong Kong," Diana echoed, brows furrowed. "Isn't that one of the cities the Chinese government has put under strong quarantine?"

"Which is why they called us," Mr. Terrific answered, enlarging the display of the wrecked cityscape miles below them.

Superman nodded. "Right. Let's go."

Both Superman and Diana were halfway to the transporter when he called out, "Superman, wait!"

The Man of Steel stopped, hovering in mid-air with a questioning gaze. Despite himself, Holt couldn't help but think that Superman was as close to a God as he would ever believe to exist. "We don't know the exact nature of the infection; moreover, if it would affect metahumans."

"Your idea?" Superman asked.

He merely pointed at the technicians waiting just outside the soft blue glow of the transport pad. The two followed his gaze and saw what the blue-clad techs were holding in their grasps.


Diana frowned when the world materialized in front of her, gawking at the thick yellow Hazmat suit that covered her. "This won't exactly inspire confidence to the locals."

"Better that than the alternative," Superman replied with a shrug, gaze sharp and focused. "Remember what Mr. Terrific said. We can't afford to break containment on these suits; we don't know if the toxin is airborne or not. Play it safe."

She took in her surroundings, assessing the situation. In the sub-half hour that the two firebirds had to themselves, they had all but decimated a sizable portion of Hong Kong's financial district. Jets of flame shot out from windows and doorways, heavy columns of smoke engulfing the buildings and choking the bright blue sky into a sulfurous yellow. The air, even through the breathing apparatus built into the suit, stank of soot and ash. "Tell that to them."

Kal turned to the right, launching himself into the air. "This way!"


Garfield Lynns loved hot women.

Volcana casually stepped through a floor-length window, glass crunching under her heels as her hips swayed in all the right ways. Stopping short of a sealed door, she rose one elegant hand and pressed it against the reinforced steel. In the span of seconds, it sizzled and melted like butter, molten metal pooling on the ground and igniting the scratchy red carpet.

He felt the heat across his armored feet and legs as he walked through their newest blaze, gazing lovingly into its hypnotic dance as though it held the secrets of the universe. For him, it did. The future was written in those flickering colors, he just needed a big enough flame to see the whole picture. And who better to paint that picture for him than the Queen of Fire herself?

She glanced over her shoulder, past that long mane of wild red hair, and blew him a kiss. "Are you coming?"

A pyromaniac and assertive. It didn't get hotter than that.


It was eerie how deserted everything was. Superman streaked through the streets, barren save for the destruction Volcana and Firefly had wrought. If he remembered his time zones right, it should have been about 10 o'clock in the morning – this place should have been booming. Aside from the crackling of flames, the silence in downtown Hong Kong was downright deafening.

He stopped at a bank: Chen Republic Holdings. He was momentarily surprised that it was written in English, before he remembered Hong Kong's rather conflicted history. Noting the broken glass – and the melted safe near the back of the building – he concluded they had reached their destination.

"They're in here," he stated, flying inside.

Diana followed shortly behind, flanking him.


Claire Selton used to adore rubies. Maybe it had been growing up watching the Wizard of Oz, or from the necklace her father had given her as a birthday present, but she was always fascinated by them. Their color, their luminosity, the way they glinted so perfectly in the sunlight. Staring at the veritable treasure trove of jewels nestled within a safe-deposit box – opened courtesy of Firefly – Volcana felt like a child again. "Beautiful," she whispered, holding a ruby up to let it catch the ambient light from the fire outside. "Isn't it?"

"It's amazing," Firefly responded, crouched next to her. His attention, though, seemed more focused on the rest of the contents of the box. Volcana didn't care. She indulged in her nostalgia, watching as the ruby glittered in the warm red hues. So perfect.

A shadow fell across the jewel, killing its spark.

She whirled around, red eyes wide. Superman and Wonder Woman stood silhouetted against the wall of fire she'd created, effectively blocking their way out. "A little far from home, aren't you?"

So, Superman decided to pay his respects, did he? She could use the challenge. "Hey, lover-boy," she cooed at her partner in crime, "up for a double date?"

She heard the grin in his voice as he hefted his flamethrower. "Always."


Diana ducked another fireball, twisting her torso to allow a column of flame to sail harmlessly past her. As she dropped her altitude, Volcana smiled, all fangs, and sped down towards her. She easily blocked a right cross and countered with an elbow to the villainess' jaw. "There are other places to attack."

Volcana reeled, plummeting fifty feet before righting herself mid-air, wiping at her mouth. "Yeah, but other places aren't abandoned."

She charged.


Superman easily sidestepped his flamethrower's spray, appearing unimpressed. Firefly frowned. Well, this wasn't going to work. He decided to try his hand at aerial combat, and took to the sky.

"This place is a hot zone," Superman stated, giving chase. "The entire city's been quarantined."

"So I heard," he huffed, weaving around and through plumes of smoke. Superman was invulnerable, but that suit he wore wasn't. If he could just get him close enough to a fire... "I figure I'm doing these guys a favor." He wheeled around and fired his weapon again. The Man of Steel dove under the haphazardly aimed shot, the ball of flame instead colliding with a building behind him. The steel blackened upon impact, the plexiglass windows melting with a hiss.

That seemed to annoy him. "By destroying everything?"

"By purging it," Firefly answered, his voice eerily calm. Fire destroyed germs, after all. Fire destroyed weakness. He was performing a civil service, though he was sure the vaunted League would never see it that way.

Firefly careened around a smoldering building, hoping to lose his pursuer in the billowing smoke. Naturally, then, he was surprised when the jet pack was forcibly torn from his back with one monumentally powerful hand while his beloved flamethrower was crushed with another. He shrieked, clamoring to hold onto his demolished weapon with both hands – now the only thing keeping him airborne – as he gaped at the two-hundred foot drop that awaited him if Superman suddenly decided to play for keeps.

He put on a brave face. "It doesn't matter what you do to me, Volcana's already turned Wonder Woman to ash!"

Inconveniently, Wonder Woman chose this time to dive past them both, a flailing Volcana held in what appeared to be a headlock, as she slammed them both into a concrete roof.

Superman raised an eyebrow at him through the sealed blue visor. "You were saying?"


Snared within the unbreakable Lasso of Truth, the two firebirds remained semi-conscious at Diana's feet. Surveying the damage, she pressed a finger against the communicator in her ear. "Wonder Woman to Watchtower. We've got Firefly and Volcana subdued, but we could use some help putting out these fires. Do you know the ETA of emergency personnel arriving on the scene?"

Static crackled over the transmission. "Negative, Wonder Woman. No emergency personnel is en route."

She and Kal balked. "What?" he exclaimed. "Dozens of buildings are in flames!"

"The quarantine is absolute, Superman," Mr. Terrific explained tensely. "All inhabitants of Hong Kong have been ordered to remain at home, indoors until further notice. Disobeying that edict carries a harsh penalty."

Her face tightened in utter disbelief. Kal had already taken off to put out the nearest fire. "But what about firefighters? Police officers? Doctors? People will need supplies and medical attention after a while."

"According to the reports," he answered, "there are several authorized stations with Hazmat-ready units for every day needs."

"And for non-everyday needs?"

"You're looking at it, Princess."

She couldn't believe it. Given the virulence of the disease, leaving them to their own devices was a veritable death sentence. Just when she thought Man's World couldn't show more depravity to their kin, something always proved her wrong. "Could you contact one of those 'authorized stations' and let them know they have a major situation?"

More static. "I've contacted the Chinese government with a status update. They said they're gearing up a battalion to take control of the situation. They should be mobile within the hour."

"Within the hour?" she barked.

"Don't shoot the messenger, Diana, I'm doing all I can up here," he retorted. Mr. Terrific sounded as pleased about the situation as she was.

"Right," she replied contritely. "I'll keep you apprised. Wonder Woman out."

She tightly secured the duo to a nearby lamp-post, uttering, "Don't even try to escape. You won't like me tracking you down." With that finished, she gazed at the city around her, lifeless and crumbling, and sent a silent prayer to Hera to watch over these people.

Somebody had to.

To be continued...