Batman arrived at the conference room and took his usual seat. He looked around. He immediately noticed Wonder Woman looking at him from across the table. When she saw him looking back, she winked at him., fortunately, he'd long since managed to control blushing, as well as other signs of emotion. His face remained completely deadpan as he continued to scan the room. His eyes locked on J'onn, who gave him a friendly wave. "Hello, Batman. Did you enjoy yourself?" "Shut it, Cupid," Batman grumbled bitterly, hoping that the Martian was reading his mind so he could give him a few more choice words.
"Alright, as soon as The Flash get here, we can get the meeting underway." Superman stated, taking charge. "Don't wait up, I'm right here." Flash said, appearing out of nowhere.
"Okay then, let's get started. We need to assign duties for tonight." Superman continued. J'onn stood up, holding a chart. Diana, your duty has been rescheduled as per your request. Superman, if you could quickly scan from New York to Trenton tonight, it would be greatly appreciated." Superman nodded in compliance, and the Martian continued; "Batman could you focus on Boston tonight? I sense trouble in the Northeast..."
"I can't make it."
"Why?" asked Superman. The Green Lantern cut in; "You got... 'other plans?'" he asked, shooting a glance at Wonder Woman who looked down at the table. The rest of the team laughed.
"I'm needed in Gotham tonight."
"It's fine J'onn, I'll just put Boston on my route tonight." Superman said. "I can probably skip New York, there's a new guy there that seems to have it covered." "Who is it?" "Some oddball who thinks he's a spider. He's a bit green, but he's a nice enough kid. Er- not there's anything wrong with being green, J'onn."
"Very well. Batman is off the hook. Flash and Shayera, I'll keep you here on call if anything arises in the West coast. Does anybody else have anything else to add?" Flash raised his hand. "Yes, Wally."
The Flash stood up and cleared his throat. "Batman and Wonder Woman, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-" He just barely ducked in time to avoid a Batarang aimed at his head.
"Yes... well... I believe this concludes the meeting. Carry about your business." The Martian said. The team got up to leave. As Batman passed through the door, Wonder Woman brushed past him. As she walked away, he could see her strongly accentuating her movements. "She's got it bad..." a voice behind him said.
Batman turned around to see none other than one of his oldest friends, the young magician Zatanna. "Unfortunately, Bruce, you're just about the worst guy that a girl could fall for. Learned that one the hard way. Although Diana seems to be doing well... Got farther than me, anyway." "I told you, she's just a good friend." "Can it, Bruce. You and I both know that that's a load of crap." She always had been one of the very few people who could put him in his place. "Besides... that's not what the papers say. And it certainly isn't what the Martian says." 'You're welcome again.' Batman silently cursed himself for not building a device to shield himself from the Martian's telepathy.
"Get to the point." "I'm not trying to make a point, I just had to see it for myself. The Batman in love... Go figure. I guess I've seen it all, now." Zatanna chuckled softly to herself as she walked away, leaving Batman to wonder if he'd ever hear the end of this.
Wonder Woman headed for her invisible jet in the landing bay. She boarded, did up her seatbelt, and entered coordinates for her destination. Finally, once all of the preparations had been made, she took off. She sat back to contemplate her journey; it seemed as if every time she returned home, she was met with disaster. It felt good to be returning to Themyscira for a positive reason for once. About an hour later, she approached the island. On the shore, she saw a striking woman with long blonde hair; she landed the plane and ran to greet the woman. "Mother!" She exclaimed happily. "Diana... It is good to see you again." Said Hippolyta, embracing her daughter. "But why have you returned to Themyscira?" Diana grinned widely. "Mother... it seems that at long last, I've found a lover."
Hippolyta's joyful expression slowly faded to sadness. "Oh, Diana... I have feared this day since you first left Themyscira. It would seem that the day approaches that you truly leave us for man's world... I always knew that you would leave us some day. You've always had a warrior's spirit, even stronger than that of your sisters." Hippolyta looked into Diana's eyes. "You must keep in mind that by marrying, you will be revoking the ways of the Amazons. As such, you will become mortal..."
Diana looked at her in shock. "Does that mean... My power?" "No, your powers are provided by Athena's Armor, which will continue to protect you, Amazon or not. However, you will lose the privilege of eternal life and youth. But enough on that sad subject. Why don't you tell me about him?" "You've already met him, mother. He was the man in black who helped to save Themyscira from Felix Faust and Hades."
"Ah... The aggressive gloomy one?"
"Yes, mother. The aggressive gloomy one."
"Diana, I can't say that I'm happy about this... But as your mother, I must look out for your happiness. If he will make you happy, then know that you have my blessing."
"Thank you, mother. It means the world to me." After a brief conversation and a bittersweet goodbye, the two women hugged, and Diana departed.
Batman stood on a rooftop, brooding as usual. He was vigilantly watching the streets, feeling disaster as if disaster were about to strike. As he watched the streets, he heard a quiet voice; "Meow."
Without turning around, he replied; "Can I help you Selena?" "Call me 'Catwoman, if you don't mind. I guess everybody knows by now, but there's no need to dilute my image any further... I thought that you of all people would understand."
"Shouldn't you be out robbing a jewelry store?" "Not tonight, Bats. I'm just here to talk." "You've come to the wrong place." "Then I'll try to be brief. You see, I heard through the grapevine that you had a girlfriend!" Batman froze visibly; he knew that he would have to take hits as Bruce Wayne, but now his worst fears had been confirmed. Diana had been romantically connected to Batman. Finally, he composed himself. "Where did you hear that?" "So it is true..." Catwoman replied with a hint of disappointment in her voice. "Where did you here it?" Batman repeated, his anger growing. "I can't tell you about the original source... It's just a rumor that's been floating around the underground." Batman furrowed his brow; he knew what had to be done. He would have to break things off with Diana before somebody was hurt. Little did he know that he was already too late.
About a half an hour into her trip, Diana saw a strange blip on he radar; she looked behind her to see a helicopter closing in fast. She saw the doors of the helicopters to reveal the silhouettes of a very large man, and a petite woman. The woman pointed in the general direction of Wonder Woman's jet. The large man nodded a bit nervously, and then proceeded to jump from the helicopter. Without a second thought, she maneuvered the jet so that he would land on the nose; she completed the maneuver, and he landed with a heavy thud. Slowly, the man looked up; she could now clearly see his face; it had the appearance of being completely covered in scales. He looked at her and grinned, revealing his horribly sharp teeth. He balled one of his hands into a ball, and punched directly through the skin of the jet to hit the engine. He then pulled his fist out of the engine, and punched though the glass of the cockpit, hitting Wonder Woman directly in the face in the process. Her head snapped back, leaving her momentarily stunned. He took advantage of her moment of weakness to throw in a bomb that began to emit a green gas. Wonder Woman began to fade, as her plane nose-dived towards the ocean.
When she woke up, she heard helicopter blades spinning above her, and voices around her. She couldn't help but notice that she was soaking wet. In her semi-concious state, she could only hear snippets of the conversation. "Whatever, Croc. My point is, you almost lost her in the ocean! Think about how much trouble we would have been in if you'd screwed this up!" "Ivy, she's waking up! Hurry up and give her another dose of that stuff, quick!"
Wonder Woman felt a gloved hand cover nose and mouth. She began to notice a sweet smell, and she heard no more.
Author's note: Will Wonder Woman escape from her mysterious captors? Will batman be able to help her? Tune in tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!
All kidding aside, I really like how this chapter turned out. I'm pretty proud of myself; I've somehow managed to get ten chapters up in less than 24 hours, which is quite an accomplishment, at least by my admittedly low standards. There may or may not be a new chapter up tomorrow; I'll do my best to work on it while I can, but I have to work tomorrow. I promise that I'll be up to speed again later in the week, when I have a bit more time to work on it. Also, I'd like to get a couple reviews for this chapter and chapter 9; I really did not like chapter 9, and would love some suggestions about how I could make it a bit better.