Chapter 2: The Attack on Gateway City

Gateway City, California, June 14, 1999

Cars screeched to a halt as a black-robed figure appeared in the middle of the road. His face was covered by a mask and he held a polished black wand in his hand.

Car horns were blaring as the man looked around, taking in his surroundings. Suddenly, he raised the arm holding his wand and pointed it at the nearest car. There was a loud explosion, and the car went up in billowing flames and smoke. He then turned to another car, which also exploded.

There were people screaming, leaving their cars and running for cover. When the cars around him were all reduced to burning heaps of metal, he moved on to nearby buildings.

London, England

It was a warm summer evening that Harry Potter found himself waiting anxiously on the hidden Platform 9 ¾. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a train approaching; this sound was quickly followed by the Hogwarts Express. The train took a few minutes to stop completely, and then students started shuffling out, looking for parents, and trying to carry their trunks without running into each other. He saw a few familiar faces, but there were several long minutes before he saw what he was looking for: the vibrant red hair of his girlfriend, Ginny.

"Ginny, over here," he called to her.

"Harry!" Ginny screamed when she saw him, and then ran into his arms as he stood up; she then kissed him on the lips.

"I'm so glad to see you," she said, beaming.

"Me too. It seems like Christmas was centuries ago."

"Where's everyone?" asked Ginny, looking around.

"They're all pretty busy at the Burrow, so it's just me."

"Mum isn't planning some kind of party is she?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

"Oh look there's Hermione," Harry said quickly. They both looked to see the bushy-haired girl walking towards them.

"Harry, it's good to see you." said Hermione, grinning happily as she hugged him.

"It's good to see you, too," he said.

"I can't believe it's really over now," said Hermione, only with a hint of sadness.

"It should be fun to see what you do with all of that free time you'll have from not having to study all the time," said Harry, "What am I saying? You'll probably burn your way through an entire library by the time summer's out," he added, causing Ginny to chuckle. Hermione smiled reluctantly.

"I wish I could chat longer, but mum and dad are expecting me at home. But we should all get together soon. I've got so much to tell you and Ron about seventh year!"

"That sounds like fun," said Ginny.

"Yeah, we'll do that soon," said Harry.

"Alright, write to me; I hope to see you soon." She hugged Ginny and waved at both of them as she disapparated.

"Are you ready to go home now?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, let's go," she said as she went to pick up her trunk.

"No, no, no, I'll get that," he said, taking the trunk from her.

"Well, thank you. You're such a gentleman," she said with a chuckle.

They were just about to disapparate when they heard someone calling, "Harry!"

They turned around and saw a small boy running towards them, a camera hanging from his neck.

"Dennis!" Harry said with a smile on his face.

"Hiya, Harry." Dennis said, excitedly, catching his breath.

"How have you been?"

"Great! Fifth year's been the best so far!"

"I see you survived your O.W.L.s?" Harry said with a chuckle.

"They were hard," he made a face, "but Hermione helped me study. I probably passed them all thanks to her," he said, "Plus I did get a lot of great pictures of me and my friends studying."

"That's great. You'll have to show them to me once they're developed."

"Sure thing, I'll do that soon. By the way, mum and dad wanna make sure that it's definitely alright for me to stay with you while they're gone."

"It's no problem at all, Dennis," Harry said with a chuckle, "You've got no problem sleeping in a dog house do you?" he asked while playfully ruffling Dennis's hair again. Dennis laughed and pushed his hand away.

"Can we play Quidditch?" Dennis was practically bouncing with excitement. "I may try out for the team next year!"

"That's great. I guess we'll have to get you practicing then won't we? What position do you want to play?"

"Seeker, like you were." Dennis began to blush a little in embarrassment.

"That's a very good choice. You'll be better than me in no time." Dennis grinned at Harry's approval. "Why don't you go meet with your dad now and I'll see you in Diagon Alley in a week."

"Ok. See you then, Harry."

"Let's go," said Ginny. They both held hands and disapparated, reappearing outside the front door to the Burrow.

As Ginny opened the door and stepped inside, she heard a loud chorus of, "SURPRISE!"

Gateway City

"Downtown is in ruin after a string of mysterious explosions. At the center of the chaos appears to be some sort of meta-human. His identity is currently unknown but he is wearing dark robes and a mask. More on this story coming up as events unfold," the telecaster announced over the news.

Meanwhile the mysterious figure was moving further along in the city, causing devastation in his wake.

"Stop this," came a commanding female voice. He turned around and stared at her for a few seconds.

Without warning, he raised his wand and sent a green flash of light at Diana, which she blocked with her bracelets.

"There's no pint in fighting. You might as well surrender." She was surprised to hear an almost inhuman growl from behind his mask. He began firing more beams of light, not even taking the time to aim. He seemed to be in a blind fury.

She flew at him with both fists extended in front and hit him in the chest. He was knocked back several feet. Diana moved towards the seemingly unconscious villain. Suddenly, he sprung up and blasted her back. She landed hard on the concrete ten feet away, causing it to crack.

Diana propped herself up onto her elbows. "That didn't even tickle," she said, pushing herself back to her feet. He growled again in frustration and continued firing curse after curse at her. Her arms were a blur of motion as she blocked each of them. Some of them bounced off of her bracelets and scattered.

"It's time to end this," she said, blocking another green curse so that it was reflected back at him. He jumped out of the way just in time, but landed badly on his ankle. There was an audible crack as it broke. He tumbled forward with a cry of rage and pain. His mask fell off as he hit the ground and Diana was able to see his face. He was an older man in mid to late forties with long white-blonde hair. He snarled in anger at her.

In his moment of distraction, Diana was able to unhook her lasso and whipped it around him.

"Now you're going to answer a few questions," she said, pulling him toward her. He continued to struggle, even with his broken ankle, "Who are you?"

He stopped struggling and, breathing heavily, said, "Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy."

She pulled the lasso a bit tighter, "Why have you attacked this city, Mr. Malfoy?"

He suddenly became confused, "I don't- I don't know."

He looked around, "Where- where am I?"

"You're in Gateway City, California," she said, suddenly concerned.

"What's happening?" He began sweating profusely.

"Are you alright?" asked Diana as he began groaning in pain and hunched over.

When he looked back up, his eyes were glowing red.

"Ares!" she yelled before the man in front of her burst into flames and crumbled to ashes, "No!" She stared at the blackened ashes in disbelief.

Suddenly, Diana heard what sounded like several cars backfiring. Looking up, she saw that she was surrounded by a group of people wearing robes similar to the one that had just burned to death. They also carried wands. They began firing at her; red beams were coming at her from all directions. She blocked and dodged them as she started moving through the group, punching and kicking at her attackers.

Then, while she sent one of them flying from a punch to his jaw, one of the red beams hit her. Then another, and before she knew it she had taken ten hits. She continued fighting for as long as she could, but her head began to feel fuzzy and her movements sluggish.

Finally, taking three more hits, she collapsed into unconsciousness.

HPAP

What is Ares Planning? Who were the wizards that attacked Wonder Woman? Read on and find out…