DISCLAIMER: Wonder Woman was created by William Molten Marston. I do not own any of the main characters involved in this story. This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, though it takes cues from other established continuities created for Wonder Woman and other characters of the DC Universe.
September 20th, 8:43 AM, EST
Themyscira
Aquaman looked around, rather irritated. Frankly, that wasn't quite the look that most men would have when they were surrounded by legions of undead, all looking to consume him. Most men would be terrified. However, he was not most men. He was Aquaman, born Orin, son of Queen Atlanna, raised as Arthur Curry, and now the King of Atlantis.
"You know, this wasn't exactly the welcome I was expecting," Arthur admitted, readying his trident as Wonder Woman landed next to him.
"You DO know that we're in the line of fire from the archers, right?" Diana asked, gripping her broadsword.
Orin smirked. "If we were to be shot down by stray arrows, that would be a most pathetic death, and I don't know about you, but..."
Giving his trident a spin, Aquaman stabbed it into a zombie soldier, then let loose a blast of water and electricity through it and into several more behind it. "I don't plan to die today!"
With a grin, Wonder Woman swung her broadsword about, cleaving a zombie in half. She then hurled her tiara at one of two large, giraffe-like abominations with a scorpion's legs and tail, slicing its head clean off. The other was then taken down by a hail of arrows, Diana having to run and dodge to avoid stray shots, slashing more zombies along the way.
A few feet down the beach from her, Aquaman was cleaving undead monstrosities, be they zombies or abominations, into pieces with his trident. He then sent out commands to his squid, letting it squeeze and crush any foes in the ocean. With those taken care of, Arthur could focus on those on the beach, leaping up and stabbing his trident down into a spider-like abomination covered in tentacles. Orin then spun around to slash a zombie that had snuck up on him, only to find it falling apart before he could, the poor target of a double slash from Wonder Woman's sword and tiara.
"So, getting back to what we were talking about?" Aquaman inquired as the two went about hacking the undead.
"They're being summoned by a man named Black Hand!" Diana yelled, cleaving an undead wolf in half. "He's channelling unlimited power over the dead! Until he's defeated, he'll continue to summon the undead!"
"And the reason you're here instead of wherever he is would be...?" Orin demanded, goring a pair of zombie Nazis.
"We're still trying to track him to his location!" Wonder Woman answered, grabbing a stray arrow and stabbing it into a zombie's eye.
"So, hold off the endless, hopeless armada of the dead until then!" Arthur summarized, hosing down several foes with water blasts. "Sounds like my sort of battle!"
"I appreciate that, Aquaman!" Diana replied honestly, lassoing a large group of undead together and sending them sailing back to the ocean. "But now that you've entered the fray, it's only a matter of time before Atlantis becomes a target! Your Queen, your people, your entire kingdom needs you!"
Aquaman grit his teeth, knowing this was true. Still, he couldn't leave the Amazons so poorly defended. Channelling as much power as he could through the trident, he sent out a wave of electricity, incinerating as many undead as he could from the face of the beach. He fell to a knee, catching his breath after such a burst of energy.
"...There's the best help I can give you," Arthur muttered, his squid returning to fetch him. "Make the most of it, Princess Diana."
"Thank you, King Orin," Diana responded with a smile. "Themyscira and Atlantis may not always see eye to eye, but we shall stand united against this threat."
Orin nodded, returning the smile as his squid gently wrapped a tentacle around him. Letting himself get taken away, he and the squid dove underwater, presumably back to Atlantis. With the beach mostly cleared, Wonder Woman lifted off the ground and flew back to the hills, avoiding the flaming stones of the Amazon catapults as they hit their abomination targets.
"Not often the King of Atlantis comes to our aid," Hippolyta noted as her daughter floated over.
"He mostly came for information," Diana admitted. "Still, he gave us a window of opportunity to drive the undead back for a while."
5 hours later
Things had hardly improved much, if at all. The Amazons had managed to keep the undead from marching past the beach, but it was still a long and bloody battle. Worse, there was more than one wave of undead involved in this attack, and while the first two waves of undead had been stopped, they knew it was only a matter of time before another arrived. As it was, given the amount of arrows they were using versus the number they could produce, they would run out long before the next dawn, meaning they would have to take them on head-to-head. Meanwhile, they still were having little luck in tracing Black Hand.
Wonder Woman sighed, laying back on a large rock, looking up at the sun with bloodshot eyes. Despite the days' worth of sleep she'd gotten, she knew she'd be running on fumes soon enough. She was single-handedly having to charge into battle with the zombies from time to time, and she knew it wasn't going to end well if the other Amazons had to come down to take them on. Lives would be lost, which was tragic enough, but it also meant the enemy would be growing in number, and every number they gained made the battle all the harder. As it was, Black Hand probably had more than enough for his attack on Washington, D.C., even while sending this attack force to Themyscira and possibly another to Atlantis.
What made all of this worse was the little nagging voice in Diana's head telling her the Amazons should just evacuate Themyscira and head to Washington. After all, she knew that was where Black Hand would make his attack. Still, she also knew the size of the undead army that attacked in her vision. If Black Hand's actual army was even close to that size, the Amazons couldn't hope to stand against them. Of course, she could always ask President Waller to contact the military, but they'd probably want to use nuclear weapons, and that WASN'T a viable solution. The only option was to find Black Hand and stop him BEFORE the attack commenced. The only problem was, she was running out of time and she knew it.
Diana groaned, throwing her broadsword down. The truth was, for all of the technology being used to trace Black Hand, and what meagre pack of small-time spell casters Waller might have, it still wasn't enough to find him. They needed something more, but who could they possibly turn to? There was no way to make direct contact with Delirium, Circe had likely fled to another dimension, and the Gods on Olympus, the helpful ones anyway, tried to avoid becoming directly involved in human affairs. There was no one on Earth that could possibly have the magical potential to locate Black Hand.
With that last thought, though, Wonder Woman's eyes went wide as she shot up off the rock, face-palming. "Of COURSE! Why the hell didn't I think of this before?!"
Artemis and Hippolyta, who were sitting nearby, looked to her inquisitively, to which she continued. "There's no one on Earth with the magical prowess to find Black Hand, but there WAS, and I know a place where I can gain access to the mystical realm they're currently inhabiting."
"Where?" Artemis demanded.
"Just outside of a city," Diana explained. "Salem, Massachusetts."
"That's in America," Hippolyta pointed out. "If you're planning on going, I suggest you do so now, as to waste less time."
"I know, but if I go, I'm leaving you all to yourselves," Wonder Woman replied, looking concerned. "And there's no telling how soon I can be back."
"We can hold these monsters back, Princess!" Artemis exclaimed. "Go! We'll be fine!"
Diana smiled sadly, still unconvinced, but as she was about to speak, an Amazon archer yelled out, "Queen Hippolyta, the undead return!"
The three Amazon leaders looked back out to the beach. Sure enough, another wave, one even larger than the previous two, was advancing toward land. Wonder Woman picked up her broadsword. Despite Artemis' boasting, there was little chance the Amazons could fight off this attack force for very long. Just as the archers began to take aim, however, a pair of red beams shot down from the sky, vaporizing about a fifth of the attack force instantly. All eyes looked above, where a young blonde woman in Amazon training attire was floating in the air, gripping a sword and shield. Despite her current attire, though, Diana knew this girl well: The immigrant from the stars who came to call Themyscira her home for a few months as she trained to follow in her cousin's footsteps. The Woman of Tomorrow.
"Kara!" Diana cried happily.
Kara glanced to Wonder Woman, giving a small smile. "Kind of came back early from me and Kal's trip. Aquaman sent word about the attack on Themyscira. Thought you could use a hand."
"You thought right," Diana replied.
Kara nodded, turning her attention back to the undead. "If whoever's controlling these creatures can hear this, listen up: I am Kara Zor-El of Krypton, better known on this world as Supergirl! The Amazons are as much my family as anyone else on this planet! If you wanna kill them, you'll have to go through me!"
The legions of zombies and abominations merely roared in response, making their intent clear. Within moments, a pair of undead gryphons took flight, looking to strike Kara in the skies. However, the blonde Kryptonian was more than ready. Using her super breath, she managed to push on them just enough to slow their ascent to the point that the lead gryphon could hardly block the slash across its head. The one behind it threw its claws forward, but Kara managed to get her shield up, then heat vision the beast's wings clean off.
"I'd say that's your opening!" Hippolyta suggested to her daughter.
Diana nodded, getting out the gooey disc from one of the pockets in her skirt. "Hold the line! I'll be as fast as I can!"
With that, Wonder Woman took off into the air as the archers took aim on the zombies beginning to reach the beach. Before leaving, though, Diana flew up next to Kara, who was preparing to take on the undead head-to-head. Removing her helmet, which in turn removed the extra armour from her body, Diana passed it to the one normally called Supergirl.
"I'm going to go put a stop to this," Diana told the confused Kryptonian. "Protect them with your life, Kara, but try to come out of this with your own as well."
Kara gave a smile and a nod, the archers below opening fire on the undead. "Kal should be returning to Earth in four days. If we can hold out that long-"
"We only have three days until the undead attack Washington, D.C.," Wonder Woman interjected, surprising and horrifying Kara. "And that force is much larger than this one. I have to stop the one controlling them before that happens. Also, the workers making the archers' supply of arrows are too few. We'll run out before the sun rises tomorrow."
Kara's eyes widened, knowing the near impossible mission being laid out before her, but Diana placed a hand to her shoulder. "You are strong, Kara. More important, you've learned the best that Krypton, Man's World, your cousin, and Themyscira could teach you. I have every confidence you can do this, sister."
The Woman of Tomorrow looked into Wonder Woman's eyes, seeing the boundless confidence in them. Letting that encourage her, Kara put on the helm, which in turn granted her additional armour. Diana smiled, giving her 'sister' a hug, then tossed her disc into the air, letting it form into her invisible jet. She then flew up into the cockpit, firing off a pair of invisible missiles at the legions of undead below before flying off at maximum speed, leaving Kara to defend Themyscira. And yet, despite the scenario that would otherwise seem hopeless, Kara had Wonder Woman's vote of confidence. That was more than enough for her to let loose heat vision on the undead below and charge them with a war cry that would make any mortal man run and scream in the opposite direction.
Too bad for them, then. They were merely mindless zombies, controlled by Black Hand. As such, they were unable to feel fear, even when they truly should.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: So, kind of a short chapter this time, but trust me, the story is finally headed into the climax, meaning we'll be getting bulkier chapters, especially since the next few will flash back and forth between Wonder Woman's activities and the defence of Themyscira. POSSIBLY a look at the defence of Atlantis, too, haven't decided yet. Lemme know if you think Aquaman should appear again.
As for Supergirl, I should note that, given Kara's pre-Flashpoint modern origins, having trained with the Amazons, it would actually make sense for her to show up in the flesh, and her presence wouldn't detract much from Wonder Woman. After all, she's interacted with her so much, she's practically part of her extended cast of characters. And yes, she is still Supergirl, as this takes place prior to Man of Tomorrow, though it hardly matters since she's fighting as an Amazon. Once again, I should note her power-set in Infinite DC is that she is able to become physically stronger than Superman through absorbing yellow sunlight faster, but her mastery over her other powers is lacking. For example, she's just barely got heat vision mastered, and her super breath is unable to freeze opponents. She DOES have a yellow sunlight-powered version of the Atom's atomic punch, even though it's not nuclear, but it drains a ton of her energy, and so it is best used in case of extreme emergencies only.
Anyway, check back in next time as Wonder Woman goes to see the one person who can track Black Hand. And if you paid attention when I listed his location, you should be able to figure out who it is. Ja né!