Uncanny Wonder Woman

Chapter 21: What's In A Name?

By

The Uncanny R-Man

Disclaimer- All familiar characters belong to DC.

Gotham City-

It was a typical day in Gotham City. Princess Diana of Themyscira, in her new civilian identity of Diana Prince, was doing a spot of shopping and had stopped off to have a chat with Dinah Lance, otherwise known as Black Canary. The nice friendly chat had been cut short when the Silver Swan had attacked a jewellery store across the street. Diana and Dinah had leapt into action right away.

'I hate newbies.' Silver Swan grimaced as she tucked the jewels that she had just stolen into her belt. 'Luckily for me, I've got back-up.'

A jet of flame burst out of the jewellery store door. Diana rolled out of the way, barely escaping the fireball. It didn't take the Amazon Princess very long to guess who Silver Swan had teamed up with.

'Garfield Lynns, also known as Firefly.' Diana remembered. She had read Batman's files on the pyromaniac villain. 'He isn't one to usually work with non-fire related villains.'

'He's mine.' Dinah responded. 'You take the shiny bird lady.'

Diana just nodded in response and turned to regard Silver Swan.

'I am only going to ask you once more, Silver Swan.' Diana told her foe. 'Now, please, surrender now. I don't wish to fight you.'

'Now, that's where we differ in opinion, newbie.' Silver Swan retorted. 'You really should have gone for a different line of work, cuz your crime fighting career is going to be a short and messy one…'

Diana was ready for her opponent's attack. She had battled Silver Swan several times before. The winged villainess always fought the same way. The young woman relied on her razor-sharp wings too much. It would be easy to take her down just as long as Diana could lure her into an enclosed space, then the silver-clad rogue would have to fight hand-to-hand, where she was seriously out-classed by Diana's fighting skills. Unfortunately, they were in the middle of the road, so Diana would have to think of another way to defeat her foe.

Silver Swan growled in anger as Diana avoided her attack and kicked her in the back, sending her tumbling into some discarded garbage bags.

'Rrrr! Why don't you stay still?' Silver Swan grimaced as she got back up to her feet, flicking a banana peel off her shoulder.

'Where would the fun be in that?' Diana retorted as she picked up a mailbox and tossed it at her enemy. Unfortunately, Silver Swan was too quick and used her razor-sharp wings to cut the flying mailbox into pieces.

'Is that the best you've got?' The silver-clad blonde woman laughed out loud. 'Geez. You really haven't been at this for long, have you?'

Nearby, Dinah had her own problems with the fire-wielding Firefly. The villain had her pinned down with an endless barrage from his flamethrowers.

'Now, why couldn't I wear something fireproof instead of these skimpy leathers and fishnets?' The blonde heroine grumbled to herself. 'If only I could get a chance to use my sonic scream...'

Dinah soon got her wish as one of Firefly's flamethrowers spluttered to a halt.

'Aww, nuts.' The pyromaniac grumbled as he tapped the fuel regulator on his wrist. 'Out of gas.'

That was all Dinah needed. She leapt out from behind the car that she had been using for cover and let rip with her sonic scream.

'EEEEEEE!!'

Firefly clutched his ears as the ear-splitting sonic wave sent him tumbling backwards, right into a fire hydrant. Water burst out from the broken hydrant, rendering Firefly's remaining flamethrower useless.

'Damn heroes…' Firefly grumbled as he shrugged off the fuel tank to his flamethrowers and removed his helmet. 'I don't need my flamethrowers to kick your butts!'

'Oh, is that so?' Dinah grinned as she dealt the villain a nasty roundhouse kick to the head. 'You shouldn't have taken off your helmet, Lynns.'

'Yeah, you just keep talking, witch!' Firefly spat back. 'I beat the snot out of Batman once, you know!'

'Yeah, in Bizarro World!' Dinah shot back as she knocked Firefly to the ground with an uppercut to the chin. 'Seriously Lynns, you're a the laughing stock of the super villain community. Hell, even Killer Moth has a better reputation than you, and that was only after he turned himself into a flesh-eating freak.' (1)

Firefly leapt up with a bellow of rage only for Dinah to grab him and use his own momentum against him, slamming him onto the hood of a nearby police car. Montoya and Bullock both aimed their guns at the stunned villain.

'Stay right you are, Lynns!' Montoya ordered. 'Don't make us shoot you.'

'I'd do as the lady says, if I were you.' Bullock smirked. 'The lady ain't had had no coffee yet. Everybody knows how cranky Montoya gets when she ain't had her coffee.'

'Thanks for the vote of confidence, Harv.' Montoya rolled her eyes as she handcuffed Firefly's wrists together.

Once Firefly had been safely packaged into the back of a van, Montoya turned to thank Dinah for her help.

'Thanks for the assist, Canary.' The Latina police officer smiled in gratitude. 'But shouldn't you be helping your partner?'

'What's her name, anyway?' Bullock scratched his head in confusion. 'She ain't another addition to Batsy's crew, is she? I guess it was only a matter of time before we got a Batwoman.'

'I'm sure Batwoman can handle herself.' Dinah told the two police officers. 'She's a big girl. She doesn't need me watching over her.'

Back over with Diana and Silver Swan, the Amazon Princess had all but defeated her foe. Diana had the villain pinned to the ground, being extra-careful of her razor-sharp wings.

'To think I was only supposed to come here to distract Wonder Woman.' Silver Swan snickered. 'Circe never said that I'd run into you, newbie.'

The sudden revelation knocked Diana for a loop. All of this business with the jewellery robbery was just a distraction? What was Circe up to this time?

Unfortunately for Diana, Silver Swan took the Amazon Princess's momentary distraction as her time to escape. The silver-clad villainess leapt out from Diana's grip and flew away.

Diana just stood there and watched Silver Swan fly away, too stunned to say anything. Why did Circe want to distract her? What was the sorceress planning?

Somewhere in London-

While it was early in the afternoon in Gotham City, it was approaching late in the evening in Britain. Doctor Barbara Minerva, otherwise known as the former feline villainess called the Cheetah, was just getting home. Doctor Minerva had up until recently been sharing a house with Diana, but had decided to move on once little Cassandra was born. She felt that it would have been a better idea to let Diana have some time alone with her child. She didn't want to intrude on the princess's private time. Besides, with her new job, it wasn't feasible to stay in Boston, anyway.

Doctor Minerva sensed that something was wrong as soon as she stepped inside her flat. She turned off her watch that concealed her feline form with a hologram and carefully ventured further.

'There's no need to be afraid, Barbara…' A voice chuckled from the darkness. 'I don't mean to hurt you. Well, as long as you do as I say.'

'What do you want?' Cheetah demanded as she headed in the direction that the voice was coming from. 'Who are you? How did you get in here?'

Cheetah shielded her eyes as a green glow illuminated the hallway, revealing the form of the immortal sorceress known as Circe.

'Do I really need to explain myself?' Circe chuckled. 'I'm sure that everything is self-explanatory.'

'I don't want to have any part of what you've got planned.' Cheetah shook her head. 'I'm not doing anything to hurt Diana. She's my friend. And as far as my supervillain career is concerned, consider me retired.'

'I'm afraid that you don't have a say in the matter, my dear.' Circe tutted. 'You're coming along with me, no matter what.' The mutated scientists snarled. Didn't the witch get the hint?

'Like hell I will!' Cheetah reared up, preparing to attack Circe, only for the sorceress to transport her away with a wave of her hand.

Circe conjured a notebook and pen. The purple-haired sorceress ticked off Barbara Minerva's name from the list.

'One down, three to go!'

TBC…

Next: Diana's First Day

Diana's first day at her new job takes an unfortunate turn as Giganta goes on a rampage.

Author's Notes-

(1)- Killer Moth turned himself into a mutant moth creature with a taste for flesh in 'The Uncanny Titans.'