"Welcome, one and all, and thank you for coming to what I am sure will be another magnificent festival!"
The principal's voice boomed across the schoolyard, electronically magnified in volume by the microphone she was using to announce her speech to the attendees, easily reaching the rooftop of the school building where she was standing, tall, proud and hitherto unnoticed by the crowd of students and parents below her.
"I, as well as everyone here at Gotham High, am proud to present what we've all been hard at work on for several days, the students in particular going up and beyond the line of duty in order to ensure that this will be as fantastic and unforgettable an experience as we could possibly wish for! Everyone give a big hand to them for making all of this possible!"
The sounds of hundreds of hands clapping against each other could be heard, and she couldn't help but smile as she gazed over the excited crowd. It positively warmed her heart to witness this level of community amongst the Gotham Youth.
It truly made her happy to know that even in a city that had faced as much darkness and hardships such as this, the light could still be found in these moments, if one knew where to look for them of course. And she was honored beyond words for the chance to be able to contribute a bit of her own light to the city this evening.
"Before we move on to all the exciting festivities we'll be participating in tonight, let me just remind you that all profits gained from this event will be going directly to charities dedicated to improve our educational system."
A mischievous smirk stretched across her face at the thought of what Bruce might say if she was to tell him that she was in his city tonight, spreading her brand of light, hope and positivity instead of the gloomy, dark vengeance he tried so hard to enforce here.
Well, to be fair, he probably knew of this arrangement and what it would entail already. And granted, he would most likely not have much to say about it. He was Bruce after all.
But still, the thought of him silently stewing in annoyance at her for doing this, knowing there was absolutely nothing he could say or do in order to prevent her from coming here, remained a source of great amusement to her. She would make sure to tease him about it at the Watchtower next time they crossed paths.
She shook her head, chuckling silently to herself. In truth, Bruce was a respected and capable member of the League, a worthy warrior deserving of his unofficial title as Knight, and a valued friend. But with the incredibly serious way he went about doing what he did, he lended himself perfectly to comedic purposes as well, something her and her fellow League members loved to exploit. Doing impressions of his gruff, deep voice was a personal favorite of hers.
"And now, I do believe we're just about ready to greet the Special Guest for tonight..."
She perked up at the mention of herself, and began readying for her entrance. Despite the relatively minor scale of a school event such as this, she could feel herself actually becoming giddy with excitement at the prospect of meeting and talking to the youth of this school.
She would do her best to leave a good impression upon the next generation of Gothamites, inspire them to be the very best they could, and, if she could, give those who were in need a few words of wisdom, the very same words her mother had granted her during her own childhood.
"I know the identity of this guest has been a topic of great discussion and theorizing among you all for the last few days...
She grinned to herself again. The thing was, she knew even the principal was unsure of which hero she was currently promoting, since the League had intentionally kept them in the dark. With their line of work, it was completely impossible to predict when disaster would strike, and which heroes would be caught up in the middle of it, so they'd kept it vague by telling the staff that "one of the original Seven" would attend.
With Kal-El unfortunately being stuck in a galaxy far away attending alien politics, Barry Allen had been the one to initially accept coming here, having plenty of experience with being in public and getting on great with young people. But just hours before now, the speedster had gotten word of a Rogue resurgance in Keystone City, with the likes of Captain Cold and Mirror Master being up to their usual fiendish schemes.
Nothing Barry wouldn't be able to handle himself, but it had been grounds enough for him to cancel his attendance and pass it on to her, something she'd happily accepted. With no word for months from Barbara Ann Minerva, and similar bouts of inactivity from her other enemies, her schedule had been as free as it could get.
"Well, no reason to waste anyone's time further. I think it's about time for the guest of honor to finally introduce themself to the rest of you!
That was her cue.
She leapt from the edge of the rooftop, ascending plenty of feet into the air, before turning her body and slowly began to float downwards towards the podium where the principal stood.
A select few of the crow had started to notice her now, gasping and pointing fingers, alerting the ones next to them to her presence in what was akin to a chain reaction.
She smiled. Although not thinking she was deserving of any more praise than the average person (really, her being a demigod didn't mean she was better than anyone), she had to admit she enjoyed the reactions of people when she showed herself publically.
She'd finished her descent to the podium, her red, knee-high boots connecting to the floorboards as lightly as if she'd been a feather, and she felt her dark, curly hair settling itself around her back, being kept out of her face by the golden tiara on her forehead.
The audience as well as the principal was staring at her in awed silence, amazed by her arrival, and... perhaps her attire?
She disliked even humoring this line of thought, but recently the PR agents for the Justice League (all noticably male) had tried to convince her to add a jacket with sleeves over her scarlet corsage with the proud golden eagle across her chest, as well as a pair of long leggings as opposed to the classic blue shorts adorned with the white stars of her adopted country's flag. They'd told her that in this day and age, it could be seen as "provocative," wearing what they referred to as "a swimsuit" when fighting injustice and tyranny.
She'd laughingly rejected their suggestions to her wardrobe. As an Amazon she'd been taught never to be ashamed of her body, and as a rolemodel to women of all ages everywhere, it was important for her to show them that they could dress however they wanted, without fear of judgment.
Men and their priorities. Who honestly cared how she dressed as long as she continued her duty to protect humanity from evil? And if the sight of her bare legs excited, or, Zeus forbid, provoked a small select few of the population that much, so what?
She liked wearing the outfit, she looked damn good in it, and she was perfectly aware of that fact. That was good enough for her, so it should be good enough for them.
Reaching out with a silver bracelet-adorned arm to accept the microphone handed to her by the speechless principal, she turned to face the crowd of people looking up at her in disbelief. Not unused to addressing a large number of people, she nevertheless grabbed hold of the hot, smooth texture of the everglowing Golden Perfect hanging from her waist, letting the warmth of its magic comfort her as she flashed a bright smile to the crowd.
She'd left behind her sword and shield at home, not wanting to encourage anyone to bring weapons to school, no matter how medieval they might be. And aside from that, she wanted to present a more classic version of herself, from the days where all she'd needed was the Perfect and the bracelets. A simpler time, which she thought the younger children and maybe even a few of the adults would be able to recognize and appreciate.
She addressed the crowd.
"Greetings, everyone." She said, letting the microphone augment her voice for all to hear. "My name is Diana of Themyscira. But you may know me better as Wonder Woman."
This is going to be fun! She thought, as the crowd cheered.
The sun had at long last set fully over the horizon, and twilight reigned over the schoolyard as the crowd of tired students, weary parents and the few odd bystanders joining to see the celebrity superhero in their town, began to disperse. The paparazzi however, remained outside the school borders, snapping flashy pictures from afar, not going to give up this prime opportunity to get as much material for their newspapers and magazines as they could possibly get.
Diana didn't mind this, but had made it abundantly clear to them that she would not be giving any interviews tonight, having dedicated herself entirely for the students to talk to like a person, and not some actress promoting her favorite brand of shampoo to some trashy paper.
As an extra security measure, she'd also stated to the vulture-like reporters that should she see even one of them step inside the yard, there'd be hell to pay. And while normally threats like that bounced off these people more effectively than bullets against her bracelets of amazonian steel, they seemed to carry a bit more weight when spoken from the woman who'd been well documented being able to hold her own and even triumph against the literal God of War, Ares.
They'd stayed obediantly behind the school gates after that, snapping their cameras from afar, giving Diana all the space she could possible want to move between the students, greeting and conversing with everyone who might wish to, telling stories of her adventures and battles to the younger ones, and displaying her power given to her by the Gods in the form of flying around the area with a few of the ones who'd looked like they could use a pick-me-up.
She smiled. Today had been a good day, and she'd loved every single second of it.
While officially, she'd only been required to stay here for an hour at most, she'd been present throughout the whole festival, partaking in their feast of greasy grill-food, participating in the games and competitions they'd engaged in, and in general just walking amongst them to make sure everyone were enjoying themselves. She doubted Barry would have committed himself to staying for this long, had he been able to attend.
In truth, she did feel a bit guilty for not having left. She knew her love, Steve Trevor, had prepared for them to have a romantic dinner this evening in the small cottage he'd built for her by the beach, and she'd now overstayed the time she'd informed him she'd be back, by several hours.
But still, he got to see her almost every day, certainly the most of any human on Earth, being her lover. He'd have to endure these people getting to see her a bit more than expected, just for today. And besides, it wasn't like he was unused to delays. With her being one of the most powerful superheroines on the planet, and him being a busy soldier regularly sent on impromptu secret missions for A.R.G.U.S., unannounced delays and cancellations were natural and even somewhat expected when they set up dates.
Even still, now that the amount of people in the yard could be counted with two hands, she did suppose she should start getting a move on and fly off. She had just one more stop to make here in Gotham, something she'd decided to do after she learned the source of the Festival's initial delay from yesterday, and then she would be well on her way to make up for her delay by showing Steve the night of his life...
All in all, a very good evening spent. Well, maybe the music had been a tad too loud. She hadn't noticed anything during the Festival, but she thought she could feel the vague beginnings of a headache starting to make itself known now. But it wasn't really that bad, just a minor grievance. She motioned to fly away, looking towards the night sky, and...
"Excuse me? Miss Wonder Woman?"
Diana turned her head to look down into a pair of very bright, very green eyes belonging to a female student she hadn't even heard approaching.
She could tell the girl was a student, given the school uniform she'd observed everyone else were wearing here. While Diana wasn't really a fan of mandatory uniform rules at educational institutions, she'd have to commend this girl for making her appearance fairly unique despite that, in the form of a white bow at the back of her head, separating her light brown hair into a ponytail so long it would make Artemis of Bana-Mighdall proud.
She found it odd how she hadn't noticed this girl in the crowd before. In the hours she'd been here, Diana was pretty certain she'd gotten to meet close to everyone here, and thought that she would remember seeing this girl had she been present in the crowd.
Nevertheless, she made sure to smile pleasantly at the young girl, knowing people sometimes had a hard time gathering their courage to talk to her, and wanting to present herself as being as approachable as possible.
"Please, call me Diana." She told the girl in greeting. "How may I help you?"
"Sorry." The student said, smiling. "I know you probably have a million better things to do, and I should have come sooner, but it's just... you were always surrounded by so many people, and I couldn't seem to find the right moment. I understand if you need to go away now though, and don't have any time left. I've just been a big fan of you most of my life, and wanted to say hi before you left."
"I am honoured, child, but you needn't worry." Diana said, bending down a bit to be more at an eye level with the girl. Being an Amazon, she often found herself towering over nearly everyone in Man's World with her height. "I always have the time to talk to my admirers. What might your name be?"
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." The girl said, blushing. "I'm Monika."
"A pretty name." Diana said.
"Thanks." Monika said, blushing deeper. "And... thank you for all you've done. You've been such an inspiration to me for as long as I can remember. You're amazing, not just because of your powers, but the way you just seem to emit authority and respect wherever you go. You were the first female superhero, appearing at a time where such things were unheard of! It was through watching and listening to you mostly that I gained the confidence to think that maybe I could be good enough to achieve my dreams. It was thanks to you that I started pushing myself to the best I could be. And through mirroring your attitude, I now have a place on the student council, my grades are the best they've ever been, I started my own Club, and I'm even practicing piano! I mean, I know I'll never be on your level since I'm not as strong, brave or beautiful as you, but-"
Monika stopped her excited talking mid sentence, and blushed deeper than she had before, breaking eye contact with Diana to look down at her white, pink-tipped shoes.
"Sorry." She mumbled quietly. "I tend to ramble when I get nervous. You probably hear this all the time, and I'm just being annoying."
"Nonsense." Diana said again, meaning it. This was what it was all about. This easily made all the hardships, all the tragedy she'd faced since entering Man's World worth it. To hear that she, through her actions, had inspired a young girl to follow and achieve her dreams? It warmed her heart to hear she'd made such a positive impact in the minds of others, and she would never, ever in her immortal life get tired of hearing it.
"You have no reason to be nervous, child. I am overjoyed and flattered that I've been able to help you so much, even indirectly." She said, and gently reached out to place a comforting hand on Monika's shoulder. The green-eyed girl raised her head at her touch, looking in sheer amazement at Diana. "But you mustn't forget to give yourself credit too. I can tell you right now, with absolute certainty, that although I have abilities granted to me by the Gods of Olympus, that in no way makes me a superior person to yourself. It's what's on the inside, and what you do that defines you, Monika. When I look at you, I see a sweet, talented young woman, just as unique, special and beautiful as I."
Monika smiled so brightly she almost glowed in the dim twilight, clearly overjoyed beyond words at hearing Diana's speech. Diana could feel her own mood brighten just at seeing that childlike wonder in her eyes.
"Oh, I don't know about just as beautiful." Monika said, in a quiet voice, as she eyed Diana up and down. "I don't think I could pull off wearing that outfit."
They both shared a hearty laugh at this, after which Diana made sure to tell her not to sell herself short, and that she could "pull off" any outfit she wanted. She knew Monika's comment had clearly been meant as a jest, but it didn't hurt to help reinforce just a bit of positive body image in her all the same.
Monika thanked her politely, then looked off to her side, a distinct expression of sheepishness on her face.
"Something troubling you?" Diana asked.
"A bit." Monika replied, and looked back at her, smiling apologetically. "This is... kinda embarrasing, to be honest. But I wanted to ask if you could help me with something. You don't have to, of course, you've done more than enough just by being here. But it won't take long, and it would really be a big help."
Diana smiled.
"State your request, and I shall see what I can do." She said, and Monika's smile widened.
Diana noted that the slight pain in her head had seemed to increase ever so slightly, but she brushed it off. It was still more than manageable, and certainly nothing that would stop her from helping this girl with whatever she needed.
Monika motioned for Diana to follow her, and they made their way over to what looked like a jet-black piano, standing a bit to the side of the yard.
"Me and my Club members carried this down here from the music room for the Festival." Monika explained, pointing at the intrument. "But they all left, and now it needs to be returned to its place again. It's a long way up, through many stairs, and, well, I'm not exactly imbued with the strength of Hercules. I don't suppose maybe you could...?"
She left the question unfinished as if ashamed with herself for having the audacity to ask Diana for help. In that moment, Diana felt a sudden, strong surge of loyalty for the young student before her.
I'd go to wars with the nations of the world and win them singlehandedly for this girl. She thought.
She blinked, confused, and the feeling swiftly evaporated as fast as it had come. Where had that come from? Sure, she liked and appreciated Monika greatly, but it shouldn't be greater than the love she felt for all living beings on this Earth. To go to that extent for someone she'd only just met?
She cast those odd thoughts from her mind, focusing on the task at hand. Of course she could help Monika with her problem, she would do that for any one of the students here if they asked. She would be a bit more delayed than she already was as a result, but she was sure Steve would understand.
"A noble quest." She said, winking at Monika, who giggled. "I shall of course accept."
"Wow, really?" Monika said, her voice grateful. "You really are Wonder Woman!"
Diana unclasped the Perfect from its position by her side, and with a few swift movements she'd wrapped its glowing lenghts tightly and securely around the piano. She then grasped the end of the golden rope, lifting the large instrument up onto her back, its weight barely even registering to her due to the gift of enhanced strength granted to her by the Goddess Demeter herself.
"Lead the way, Child." Diana said, ready to venture inside with the piano.
"I'll guide you from behind." Monika said. "That way I can warn if the piano is close to bumping against something.
Diana nodded, and started walking towards the front doors of the building.
After a bit of tricky maneuvering on her part to get the piano unscathed through the opening, Diana found herself inside the deserted hallway, looking at the great many rows of student cabinets assembled in rows by the walls on either side. After getting instructions from Monika on where to go, she dutifully kept moving.
To her great regret however, the pain in her head didn't seem to want to let up, which was puzzling, to say the least. She'd been in far more straining situations than what a musical display from a couple of schoolchildren could achieve, and hadn't suffered this much of an headache then.
She decided to look into it at a later time, and hope it didn't increase any further. In an attempt to get her mind off it, she tried making smalltalk with the girl walking behind her.
"I don't think I heard anyone play this piano back at the festival." She said, wondering why the girl had gone through the effort of carrying the intrument down into the yard if no one was even going to use it.
"You didn't." Monika answered pleasantly, from behind Diana. "I was supposed to sing a song I've been working on, but the crowd got to me, and I chickened out."
Diana wished she was able to look at Monika, feeling this wasn't a very personal way to chat with her correspondent, but understood it would be way too troublesome to turn around with this burden on her back each time the girl spoke up.
"I am sorry to hear that." She opted to say instead. "I am sure you have a lovely singing voice."
"Eh, it's fine." Monika said, casually. "It was a work in progress anyway, and maybe it was even for the best, since I'm not that skilled yet. I probably would have just embarrassed myself by trying."
"You'll forgive me for sounding 'cliché,' for just a moment, but if you never try, you'll never know." Diana said.
"True." Monika agreed. "I think I would have gone through with it though, had my friends been present tonight instead of abandoning me like they did. It's just this way up the stairs a bit, by the way!"
There was no hint of anger or hidden animosity in Monika's tone when she spoke about her friends, which didn't quite fit in with her word choices. Diana decided to dig a little further into that as she started her climb up the narrow staircase Monika had pointed out.
"Do you have any idea why they would do such a thing?" She inquired.
"Oh, absolutely." Monika replied, sounding downright cheerful now for some reason. "They've all been through a lot , so I don't exactly blame them. You see, two boys joined our Club at the beginning of the week, and of course that led to a bit of conflict between us all. I'm sure you know how girls can get. So naturally, things have been a little rocky between us since then."
A wave of sympathy crashed over Diana, as well as a downright overwhelming sense of... love, for Monika. This was no where near how she usually felt about strangers she'd just met. Her being a superhero, of course she felt an instinct to protect everyone she came across from harm's way, but this was more akin to how she guessed she would feel about her own child, should she ever decide to get one. She wanted to embrace Monika into her arms, stand by her side forever and always, keeping her safe from any and all dangers, never letting her leave her sight.
She found that she now harbored a strong resentment for those people Monika called her friends. How could they be that, when they had let her down like that? Clearly, they weren't worthy of Monika's friendship, her trust, her love. If she'd let her, Diana would within a heartbeat take her to her hidden home island of Themyscira, where she would learn that the loyalty of her Amazon sisters would be way better company for her. Man's World was certainly no place for someone as pure as Monika, someone who needed to be protected at all costs!
Diana stopped up abruptly on one of the stair steps, shaking her head, as she tightened her grip around the warm, glowing end of The Perfect.
What's... going on? Why would I think those things? She thought, bewildered.
The barely coherent, rambling thoughts had left her head, just like they had back down in the yard a few minutes ago, her exaggerated feelings for the student behind her disappearing the second they'd arrived.
The same could unfortunately not be said about the pain in her head, which had definitely increased. It was actually starting to legitimately hurt her now, instead of just being a minor throbbing.
Am I getting sick? Can I even get sick?
"Something wrong?" Monika asked curiously from behind her.
Pull yourself together, Diana! She thought, angry with herself. Just get this task done, and you can look into this phenomenon more. And try not to fall in love with the high school girl while you're at it!
"I am... fine." She said, hesitantly. "Just feeling a bit of a migraine coming on, but it is of no issue."
"Yeah, that's been going around the school for a bit." Monika said, sounding sympathetic. "I blame the loudness of the Music Club, no respect for their surroundings, honestly. Can I offer you an aspirin to take the top off?"
"No, thanks." Diana politely declined the offer, having no real faith or trust to medicine not produced by the Healers on Themyscira, and forced herself to move further up the staircase, desperate for a distraction from her pain. "You were telling me about boys joining your Club?"
"Right!" Monika said, her voice enthusiastic as she got the chance to continue speaking. "First, you gotta understand that they're all a little messed up at the Literature Club. Like, instead of actual people, think of them more like a collection of character flaws bundled together in the shape of a person. Take Natsuki, for example. She bakes the sweetest, most delicious cupcakes you've ever tasted, but doesn't have any friends since she pushes everyone away with an absolutely rotten personality. I can hardly even stand being in the same room as her for longer than a minute. A total bitch."
Sounds like a nuisance. Diana thought, then wondered why on Earth she would think that. She hadn't ever met this Natsuki, and she never made such judgments on other people based on the word of others.
She was also starting to think she'd been mistaken in her evalution of Monika, particularly in regard to how kindhearted she'd seemed at first, if this was how she spoke about her friends. But then again, was she herself one to talk? Hadn't she just seconds before, however brief and fleeting it had been, agreed with Monika's judgment? Was she just as bad a person?
Her good mood dropped considerably as she thought about this troubling prospect, and Monika went on, uninterrupted.
"So, Natsuki, in a surprising twist, seems to have managed to catch the interest of one of the boys. Don't ask me how, because frankly I'm stumped as to how anyone could see romantic potential in that one. I mean, as if her toxic mannerisms wasn't enough, she's so small and underdeveloped that she looks 13 years old or something like that. If nothing else, it makes whoever's dating her look creepy, y'know?"
Monika giggled, and Diana could feel herself getting more and more off-put by what the girl seemed to find entertaining. She kept her mouth shut however, wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt, and the chance to redeem herself. Kids these days did admittedly talk in a much more harsh way here on Man's World than on her birth island, and perhaps she was just being old-fashioned.
"But anyway, this caused some drama, as the boy Natsuki caught was the same one that's been in Yuri's sight for quite a while now." Monika continued. "And boy, let me tell you about Yuri. Arguably just as bad as Natsuki, but in a different way. Wonders why she can't get guys to like her when she's like the textbook definition of a red flag for relationships. At first glance she just seems like a shy girl who never learned to socialize, but really, she's like the craziest person at this whole school. I saw her leave before the Festival even started to cut her arms open in the bathroom, and I haven't seen her since. She's probably still in there!"
Wouldn't want to encounter her. Diana thought, at first disgusted with the sound of this Yuri, but that disgust swiftly turned around to be pointed at herself, instead.
What was wrong with her? This girl sounded like she was in need of immediate help, not judgment.
She was horrified by these strange, intense feelings of negativity flashing through her. It didn't help how brief or fleeting they were, she'd never thought herself even capable of judging strangers in such a hateful regard. She'd always thought that was a feature exclusive to the population (especially the men) of Man's World, and not the supposed Champion and Princess of the Amazons, the Agent and Advocate of Peace, and all the other titles assigned to her through the years.
Had she spent too long being surrounded by the people here, getting infected by their way of thinking? Why was this happening to her?
"Is- is she okay?" Diana managed to ask, speaking through the now intense bouts of pain her head was riddled with. "Does anyone who can help her know about this?"
"Probably not!" Came Monika's amused voice from behind. "Who wants to confront the psycho wielding a knife in the bathroom after all, am I right?"
The only one here I've seen deserving the title of "psychopath" would be yourself, girl. Diana thought, gritting her teeth in anger at Monika's uncaring tone. And... possibly myself, if I keep getting these unwarranted feelings.
She was aware of the types of people who lived in Bruce's City, of course, having personally fought a few of them. But even she hadn't expected the school girls of this forsaken city to already be as crazed as someone like The Riddler or Two-Face.
Diana vowed to herself that the moment she was done carrying this instrument to its desired location, she'd immediately make her way to the bathroom, see to it that Yuri was okay, and attempt to talk her through whatever troubles she might have. Next, she'd have to confront the Principal about Monika's attitude towards the members of her Club, since she very much doubted the kind of behaviour she was exhibiting was accepted at this school.
She staggered a bit on the stair steps, her surroundings blurring and spinning around her dizzyingly with the enormous headache pounding against her skull. Squinting, she thought she could see the stairs end at a hallway, just a few more steps. Despite the overwhelming pain, she found herself wondering why the music room was located this far up in the building.
Monika spoke up again.
"But worst of all of them is easily Sayori." Monika's voice had twisted away from its cheerful tones, replaced by pure, snarling contempt. She wasn't even trying to hide her disdain anymore. "She got everyone to care for her. Even the best of the two boys, despite having no talents, no smarts, nothing to offer him whatsoever. Nothing except some big, crying puppydog eyes and a stupid bow. And you know, the really annoying thing about her is that even though she gets everyone's love, support and everything she could ever want without trying, of course she has to have a crippling depression! So she has the greatest life and the greatest boy, and she still won't stop crying about how 'tough' her fucking life is!"
Diana could hardly think straight as she finally climbed the final stair step, staggering into the long hallway. The room was swimming around her, and she could only just hear Monika's raised voice from the thunderous pain in her head, deafening nearly everything around her.
"She'll end up getting the happy ending, and I'll be left behind in the dust since Jon still insists on being infatuated with her! A problem I thought I'd solved when I made her hang herself!"
Good riddance.
"Great Hera!" Diana gasped, horrorstruck, her eyes bursting wide open. Her grip on The Perfect slipped, and the great piano strung around her back, collapsed onto the hallway floor with a deafening crash.
Slowly, she turned her head to look at the student behind her, feeling equal parts scared, and enraged as the thing she'd just heard sunk in.
"What... did you just say?" She asked, slowly.
Monika hardly looked any better than how Diana currently felt. She could barely even stand upright, leaning up heavily against the stair railing by the end of the hallway. Her body was bent, shaking all over as if she was going through an even greater pain than Diana was, but her head was raised high, face drenched in sweat visible even from this distance, with wide, green eyes staring unflinchingly at Diana, not blinking once.
And despite the effort she was clearly going through, Monika was smiling widely.
"It didn't work, though." The brownhaired student said through clenched teeth as she kept up her intense stare. "Jon of course had to save her, and now he won't tell me where she's kept so I can go finish her off once and for all!"
Another rogue thought fueled by unwanted hate flashed through Diana's mind, and she screamed like a wounded animal, grasping her head which felt like it was splitting in two. She'd heard about Sayori before.
When the Hall of Justice had received word of the Festival's delay, Barry had informed her of the tragic reasoning behind it, told her of the young orphan who'd made an attempt on her own life. She remembered how saddened she'd been, the same feeling she always had when hearing about the disturbing, senseless loss of human life, and when it had been decided she would be attending the Festival in Barry's place, she'd promised herself that she'd go to the clinic the girl resided at afterwards, and try to lift her spirit, loathing the idea that she would miss the joys of the festivities.
And now, at this moment, the only thoughts in her mind for the girl she'd felt such sympathy for, were being replaced by how best she could aid the girl's would-be killer, Monika, in completing the murder.
Diana knew herself well enough to know these feelings weren't her own. That she would never, in her life, be able to feel such things, unless they were forced upon her by some unnatural force, or power.
And with Monika being the only other being in her near vicinity, whose very stare seemed to increase the ferocity of the thoughts that weren't hers in her head, it didn't take much to guess who this unnatural power belonged to.
Diana bent down, grasping the fallen Perfect and untangled it from the piano lying on the floor in one swift notion. As she felt the warm texture of the rope against her fingertips once more, her mind seemed to clear. It still hurt worse than the pits of Tartarus itself, but the violent feelings subsided.
Well, the violent feelings towards Sayori was gone. She was still undecided on Monika.
The pain had reached an all-time high now, but Diana couldn't waste time on that right now. She was a warrior, and as such it was her duty to put a stop to Monika before she hurt more people, or worse, made her hurt them in her stead. She stood tall, meeting that green gaze defiantly as she pushed past the hurt, ignoring it to focus on her mission.
She was Princess Diana, of Themyscira. Her thoughts and feelings were her own, not playthings for others. She would not have her will bent to this girl.
Monika's smile disappeared, replaced by an expression of fear as she continued looking on.
Diana released a war cry, and charged the white-bowed student.
Monika barely had the chance to utter a surprised "what-" before Diana had closed the distance between them, grasped her roughly by her uniform's collar and lifted her whole body high up into the air with one arm, exerting nearly none of her strength to do so.
Diana gazed harshly into Monika's shocked face, now at a direct eyelevel with her own.
"What is happening?!" Diana demanded, using the voice usually reserved for when she interrogated her enemies, devoid of warmth or kindness to show she wasn't to be taken lightly. "What are you? A minion of Circe, sent to destroy me from within? Why are you doing this?"
Monika was squirming uselessly against Diana's steely grip, lifting her own arms to scratch at the hand holding her in a desperate attempt to escape. With the durability of Diana's skin however, Monika would probably sooner file her nails down to nothing before she managed to make any visible damage.
"I- I don't understand!" The student exclaimed in a panicked tone, her eyes darting from seemingly random points on and around Diana's body, as if seeing something that wasn't there. "H- how are you doing this? All your Sliders are going back to where they were before, faster than I've ever seen! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Sliders? Diana thought, confused as she struggled to understand what on Earth she was talking about. It seemed to her that Monika was speaking more to herself than answering the questions
"Quit speaking nonsense!" She yelled, shaking Monika slightly to make her focus on the current situation. "Answer me, or I'll make you talk!"
She lifted her hand threateningly, showing the golden, glowing rope to Monika. The Perfect was always a last resort in interrogation, since everyone deserved the chance to speak the truth by their own free will and accord, instead of it being taken by force from their mouths.
"This isn't how it's supposed to happen!" Monika yelled angrily, kicking out against Diana's body with her dangling legs. "Let go of me, and stop resetting your Sliders! You're cheating!"
Her voice was highpitched and hysterical, like an angry five year old throwing a tantrum. Diana furrowed her brows.
"This is your last chance." She said, fully prepared to wrap Monika up in The Perfect unless she spoke up. "How are you getting access to my feelings? Why manipulate me to feel that way about your Club members? What were you hoping to accomplish? What is your endgame here?"
Monika looked directly into Diana's eyes, her face twisting into one of such anger and loathing that it hardly even looked human anymore.
"I am trying to make you mine!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, flecks of spit flung from her mouth, colliding against Diana's face.
Diana cast a dignified look into those wide, desperate green eyes, recognizing the look of madness within, and raised The Perfect. For this case, she had no other option to get the answers she was looking for. Monika's scream got louder.
But just when The Perfect was inches away from making contact with Monika's skin, something unforeseen happened. As the student's scream actually got louder still, her eyes started glowing, erupting into a cascade of bright, green shimmering light, so strong they easily illuminated the entirety of the dark hallway, blinding Diana momentarily.
"STOP!" Monika screamed, soon joined by Diana, whose head at that very moment felt like it was split wide open.
The pain was so great, intense and unexpected that she recoiled away, losing her grip on both Monika and The Perfect, letting both drop to the floor.
She was about to lift her hands to her head, to check if her head could possibly still be physically unscatched despite this unbearable, indescripable, all-consuming pain...
Stop.
But... neither of her arms moved. She tried again, willing her arms to raise from their position at her side...
Stop.
...to no avail, as they remained limp. She tried taking a step...
Stop.
...tried walking, speaking, flying, wiggling a toe or a finger, moving her body at all...!
Stop.
She... couldn't. All she was able to do was stand there frozen, trapped in her own body with the worst pain she'd ever experienced still lingering in her head. She could breathe, and move her eyes to look around the dark hallway, but if she tried to move as much as a muscle...
Stop.
"Ugh..." A grunt said from beneath her, and Diana moved her eyes as far down as they could reach, seeing Monika slowly get to her feet again after having been dropped. Grasping her head, she slowly opened her eyes to shoot a dazed look at Diana, a faint, green afterglow still present in them, casting their ghostly light in her face.
Dianas heart started beating faster as the realization of her being completely immobilized in the company of a known enemy became clear to her. She tried again in a desperate attempt to open her mouth...
Stop.
...Without success.
"Gah, that's brisk!" Monika exclaimed, staggering on the spot before leaning up heavily against the wall, a strained expression on her face. "So much worse than the Sliders! Ugh, I'm probably going to be feeling this all night!"
Diana could only look on as the student lifted her arms to massage her temples gingerly. If she had to hazard a guess, it seemed like the student was experiencing roughly the same pain in her head that she currently had.
Only difference between them being that she was capable of movement.
"Well..." Monika spoke up again, slowly lifting her head to inspect Diana's paralyzed state. "This is certainly new."
With a grunt of effort, the girl pushed herself off the wall, approaching Diana, who wanted to yell at her to step back, wanted to push her against the floor, tie her up with The Perfect and deliver her to the authorities to face justice. But instead...
Stop.
...she merely stood where she was.
Monika cautiously lifted her hand, waving it directly in Diana's face, snapping her fingers intrusively. It was incredibly annoying, but she was powerless to stop her, even as the girl grew braver and started poking at her cheeks with long, cold fingers.
At last, Monika retreated, smiling at Diana in apparent amazement.
"You had me worried for a minute there. That was some Boss Fight!" She giggled lightly. "I got really scared when I saw the Compassion I was trying to lower for Sayori fill itself again. Then, when I noticed all the other Sliders I'd lowered and raised throughout the evening had returned to their prior settings, I thought I was done for!"
Diana didn't understand the words coming out of the girl's mouth, but she knew they couldn't be good.
"I wonder what that was." Monika continued, lifting a hand to her chin, looking curious. "You have this green 'STOP' word floating over your head, and that was the last thing I remember thinking before... this... happened. I'm guessing that has something to do with your current state. You can't move at all, can you?"
Diana's silence spoke volumes. She needed to find a way out of this, fight her way out of this somehow, come up with something...
Stop.
"Okay, tell you what." Monika said as she bent her head to one side until a low crack could be heard. "I'm going to try to do the thing again. If you can, I'd suggest you brace yourself."
Monika's brows furrowed as she looked into Diana's eyes with a look of total concentration on her face, saying nothing. The staring contest went on for about five minutes without anything happened.
Then, Monika's eyes erupted into sharp, emerald light, once again.
"Lift your right arm." Monika said in a strange, echoing tone, and Diana's head, still aching in pain from the previous pain, was split open once again, and filled up with burning coals for good measure. She would scream, had she been capable of opening her mouth, but it seemed Monika had that part covered.
While the world around Diana was muffled from the intensity of the pain, she was still able to hear Monika's highpitched squealing as she collapsed to the floor once again. Perhaps Diana would have found some sense of satisfaction from seeing her enemy suffering like this, if she wasn't going through the very same pain herself, and the fact that she wasn't sadistic.
She stood like that for what felt like hours, silently accepting the pain filling her brain, while Monika lay beside her, meekly gasping for breath.
Then, at long last, she got to her feet once again, her pale face popping back into Diana's view, eyes still glowing faintly.
"It worked." Monika breathed, astonished.
Diana didn't know what she meant, until she saw the girl was looking to her right, and noticed that her arm had pointed straight upwards without her realizing, the tips of her fingers scraping against the ceiling itself. Alarmed at the implications of what this meant, and what further things Monika could possibly make her do, she tried lowering her arm again...
Stop.
Lift your right arm.
...but she couldn't.
"Amazing." Monika said, looking awestruck at something above Diana's head. She'd previously said the word "stop" was floating above it. Had the command to raise her right arm appeared there as well now?
"It's... it's like I've rewritten the very code of your character, instead of merely manipulating it with the Sliders." She said, and a small smile stretched across her face. "New ability unlocked!"
Then, she grunted again, closing her glowing eyes and grasped her head.
"It packs a wallop, though. Like fully filling five consecutive Sliders in a row. If it wasn't for the tolerance I've built up through the week, I'd probably have passed out by now from the pain. Don't think I'll be able to use this much when it has this effect on me. Unless..."
She stopped talking, a curious look on her face as she seemed to consider a new idea that had just popped into her head. She reached into the pocket of her gray, school uniform blazer, fumbling a bit before pulling out a small, portable hand mirror.
"Let's see if this works." Monika said, and looked down into the reflective glass surface with the same look of concentration she'd had before.
It took much less time now before her eyes lit up again, filling the room. She said nothing this time, instead just gritting her teeth in effort, and lightly shaking the hand holding the mirror. Then, the light faded away again, ever so slowly, and Monika lowered the mirror.
"Okay..." She said hesitantly, clenching and unclenching her fists. "I... think it worked, but I need to be sure. Let's see..."
Monika pointed her head downwards, looking at her own body, searching for something. Apparently finding it, she raised one of her arms, and inspected her long, slender fingers. Then, she lifted her other arm, slowly reaching over with her thumb and index finger to pinch a protuding nail of the other hand's finger.
Then, she started bending the fingernail upwards.
Realizing what she was about to do, Diana felt sickened to her stomach, and wanted to close her eyes in disgust, but couldn't. While the "stop" commanddidn't have an effect on her eyes, her morbid curiosity wouldn't allow her to miss this, no matter how horrible it was.
Monika's face remained neutral, no hint of trepidation on her face as she continued pulling the fingernail upwards, until a low, soft, dragged out "ssshhkk" noise could be heard in the quiet hallway, like the sound of skin getting peeled off an orange. It was then topped off by a sharp crack as Monika fully ripped off the entirety of the nail from her finger.
Diana stared in shock and horror at the girl's finger, bare to the world with a mass of bright, red blood where her nail had once been, but was now being held triumphantly by Monika in her other hand.
"The clown girl was right." Monika said in a voice of wonder, inspecting the bloody nail. "It is oddly satisfying to pull your nails out by the root. Especially when you've removed your ability to feel pain beforehand!"
She then gazed upwards, making eye contact with Diana once more, smiling.
"Now, what do you suppose I'll be able to do, when I no longer have to worry about the one thing keeping me back? No pain means no cooldown periods between breaking the game. I can move the Sliders, use this new Rewrite function all I want now, without needing to chug aspirins all the damn time. There's no way I won't get my Ending now!"
Diana found herself wishing for faculty to arrive, to save her from this psychotic girl. She'd never felt this helpless before in her life! Surely a few lingering staff members had to have heard their screams, and come up to investigate?
Selfish coward! She thought. You're a warrior, an Amazon, and yet you plead for the help of mere mortals? Monika would just bring them under her control as easily as she did to you!
Her chastising thoughts were right. Nobody present would be able to help her. All she could do was hope to eventually be able to overpower this control, or wait for the Justice League to notice her absence. But that could take days, and who knew what this girl would make her do in that amount of time?
Monika turned her head to the side of Diana, something having caught her interest. Diana looked out of the corner of her eyes as well, following her line of sight to see...
Oh Gods, no.
The Perfect was lying on the ground where she had dropped it, vaguely illuminating the hallway in its faint, golden glow. Diana's greatest asset, bundled up in a heap, as useless to her as any other piece of rope now.
"Ooh, shiny!" Monika laughed, approaching it carelessly, bending down to inspect it closer. She reached out with her hand.
"Always wondered how this thing worke-"
The moment her nailless finger made the slightest bit of contact with The Perfect, Monika screamed. It was her highest volume output yet, trumping even the one that had caused her eyes to erupt into light. Diana could only stand by and observe as the girl flung herself away from the ancient relic, as if she'd been burned by liquid metal.
She screamed for the longest time, minute after minute, until her voice eventually gave out. She curled herself up into a fetal position, hugging her own body as she broke down even further, sobbing hysterically, even retching a few times all the while heavy tears streamed down her face, making her dark mascara streak.
"No... no, no no..." She mumbled between quick, gasping breaths, hyperventilating. "No pain. No pain. No p- oh God, what have I done?!"
Despite all the things Monika had done to her, Diana couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for Monika. She didn't quite know what was happening to the young girl, but whatever The Perfect had shown her, it was clearly causing her immense pain, whether that be physical, emotional, or both.
With great effort, Monika managed to reach into her pocket again, her body still shaking all over. Fighting to stay still between the sniffling, sobbing, and more retching, she pulled out the small hand mirror once more, staring at her reflection with such desperation one would think her very life depended on it.
Her eyes started glowing again, and she exhaled shudderingly, but apparently wasn't done with the mirror yet. Keeping up her stare, she looked at her reflection for what must have been twenty minutes straight, the light in her eyes having long since faded into nothing by the time she finally looked up from it again, wiping the tears away from her face with her sleeve.
She was no longer crying. Instead, she shot Diana the most intense glare as of yet, her green eyes, bloodshot from crying so much filled with a loathing so fierce, it would have caused Diana to take a step back had she been able to.
"What..." Monika spoke up in a hoarse, raspy voice, torn from screaming. "...is that thing?!"
She pointed in the direction of The Perfect with a shaky finger.
"And how the fuck did it just delete every single safeguard I've put into myself over these days when I touched it?! I thought I was going to die!"
Before Diana could even start to wonder how she was supposed to answer without being able to move her mouth, Monika's eyes had flared up again with ghostly green light.
Tell Monika what the Lasso is.
She'd been prepared for the pain this time, but that didn't make it any less unbearable. She still wasn't able to move, or scream. All she could do was clench her fists tighter, as she shook on the spot.
Then, her mouth opened by it's own accord, and she started speaking in a robotic, monotone voice.
"The Golden Perfect, also known as The Lasso of Truth, is an acient relic forged by Hephaestus millions of years ago. It is imbued with an unbreakable enchantment, causing ones bound by it to speak the truth, clear minds and burn away lies and illusions."
Diana was not a stranger to mind control, having faced too many telepaths in her battles to be unaccustomed to the sensation of having her will bent to someone else. But this? This was something different. A level of control even greater than Maxwell Lord's, easily. With that, she'd been able to at least fight it, a little. Monika's commands were something more like her manually welding new aspects of her personality into her brain, hardwiring her on the spot as if they'd always been a part of her.
It was unthinkable for her not to stop moving, to lower her right arm, to refuse telling Monika about The Perfect. As unthinkable as the idea of her burning down Themyscira or killing an innocent person. She just... wasn't able to resist.
"I am not making lies or illusions!" Monika yelled angrily, stamping her feet on the floor, enraged. "I am rewriting the code, making my own truth in this horrible, fake world!"
Diana tried to ask her to explain what she meant, tried to open up a dialogue to reach a common understanding, to perhaps disarm this whole situation before it could escalate any further.
Instead, she could only repeat what she'd already explained about The Perfect's origin.
"The Golden Perfect, also known as The Lasso of Truth, is an ancient relic-"
"Shut up!" Monika yelled, her eyes flaring up once more, and Diana was silenced once more, eyes rolling up into the back of her skull as the pain increased tenfold.
"Fuck you!" Monika kept going, in a voice that was growing increasingly hysterical. "Y- you're not real! I can see your Sliders, just like I can everyone else's! You're just as fake as the rest of us! You don't even know what you're talking about! You're just saying what you've been pre-programmed into believing! The Sliders are not lies!"
She screamed the last bit, and Diana could only stand there, thinking it sounded more like the girl was trying to convince herself, instead of her.
Monika breathed heavily for a few seconds before speaking up again, in a state of forced calm.
"It... it has to be some kind of Moderator tool." Monika said, hesitantly, her voice thick with uncertainty. "The Developers must have noticed the messed up code and sent you here to fix it. I can't let that happen. Not when I'm so close."
Diana's vision slowly returned again, allowing her to see the back of Monika, hurrying away from her, disappearing into the door of the classroom by the end of the hallway. She was alone now.
She glanced over in the direction of The Perfect, still laying there on the floor, glowing peacefully. If she'd deciphered the truth between the lines of Monika's talk of codes and sliders correctly, the Lasso had been able to remove all the effects she'd put upon herself, with something as simple as a touch.
It was only two feet away from her. If she could just close the distance, and make even the slightest bit of contact with the magical rope, she could break free from Monika's control and take her down.
Only two feet. She only needed to move two, small steps to get out of this...
Stop.
It could might as well have been located on the other end of the galaxy, for how much she was able to access it.
"Okay, I'm back." Monika called, emerging from the classroom, holding a long, plastic ruler.
She briskly walked over to The Perfect and, careful not to touch it with her skin, placed the ruler within its depths, and lifted it up. Turning her head, she made eye contact with Diana, and her eyes burst into the now familiar glow.
Pick up the piano and carry it inside the classroom on the far end.
Accepting the pain, Diana walked over to the crashed instrument, bent down and picked it up with little effort. Then, with Monika trailing behind her, she obediantly walked into the classroom and placed it in an open space. She then stopped up a few feet from it, raising her right arm to the ceiling once again.
Watching from the corner of her eye, she saw Monika opening a drawer by the far end of the room, sliding The Perfect into it from the ruler. There was an echoing click as she locked the drawer and walked back over to Diana, looking at her with a look that could only be described as completely devoid of mercy.
"Tell me." She said, looking directly into the heroine's eyes. "Does it hurt when I Rewrite you?"
Her green eyes flared up.
Answer Monika.
"Y- yes." Diana said, over the pain. "I- immensely so."
"Good." Monika said, no anger or satisfaction present in her voice. "Maybe after a few hundred of them, you'll be able to feel a small fraction of how I felt when I touched your horrible rope. I might not be able to feel hurt anymore, but that doesn't mean I'll grant you the same luxury. You best prepare yourself, Wonder Woman. This is going to be a long, painful night."
She turned away from Diana, slowly walking over to the piano, pulling up a chair to sit by the instrument.
"I tried playing nice, y'know." Monika said, gently sliding her fingers over the piano keys. "I tried to just subtly push at the other NPC's to make me the more attractive option to The Players. But Jon is still pining after Sayori, and now, in a cruel twist of fate, Natsuki and Damian are a thing. So, I'm done playing by the rules."
If Diana could have snapped her head back to look at Monika in surprise, she would have.
Jon and Damian?
How on Earth were those two super-troublemakers tied into all of this?!
"If I can't push them to make the choice I want," Monika continued, pressing a few keys on the piano, making the notes echo in the almost empty room. "I'll force them to. By making one of the most powerful characters eliminate the other girls from the playing field tomorrow, I'm gonna be the only option available to them."
Hera, forgive me. Diana sent a silent prayer, horrified at what Monika was going to make her do, praying to all the Gods she knew to strike herself down, kill her if they had to, instead of making her into a child-killing monster.
A tear streamed down her eye as the green light started erupting once more from Monika's sitting position.
"Every day, I-"
Monika coughed, and tried again.
"Every-"
Her voice cracked, and she swore silently, before trying again.
"Every day, I believe in a- shoot!"
Monika closed her eyes for two seconds before her hands moved down to the keys of the piano again, attempting for the fifteenth time to play her song.
"Every day- no, that's the wrong key." She said, sighing. "This is harder than it looks!"
Wonder Woman looked over at her unblinkingly from her postion at the side of the drawer containing the Lasso, not moving an inch.
Do not move unless Monika allows it.
Do not speak.
Do not hurt Monika.
Do not do anything unless Monika allows it.
You may breathe.
The door to the classroom opened with a long creak, and both Monika and Wonder Woman raised their heads to look towards the unknown intruder. A young girl, taller than the average teenager but still no where near approaching Wonder Woman's height, stepped inside the room.
She was a student, evidenced by the uniform, and had long, purple hair going all the way down to her thighs. In the faint moonlight emerging from the windows, Wonder Woman thought she could see dark, wet patches around her sleeves.
"Uhm..." She said, hesitantly. "H- hello?"
Wonder Woman just stared at her, fully prepared to rush and separate the girl's head from her shoulders, should Monika allow it.
You will obey Monika's every demand.
You will not hesitate to attack, should Monika give the signal.
You will protect Monika from all harm.
You will put Monika's life above your own.
You will kill for Monika.
"Yuri! What a pleasant surprise!" Monika exclaimed, rising from her seat at the piano. She smiled at the young girl, who seemed to be taken aback by Monika's voice. "Quite a while you spent in that bathroom. What happened? Did you nick an artery and pass out?
Wonder Woman faintly remembered Monika mentioning a Yuri cutting herself in the bathroom, from a conversation that seemed years ago. Might as well have been, since she'd been a completely different person back then, who'd actually cared when she'd heard. Now though? She'd already forgotten her name.
It wasn't relevant to Monika.
"Uhm." the Purple One said shyly, then blushed as she looked around the room, noticing Wonder Woman. "W- who is that?"
"Oh, don't worry about her." Monika waved her off casually. "That's just Wonder Woman."
"T- the Wonder Woman?!" the Purple One exclaimed, shocked.
"How many other Wonder Women do you know?" Monika giggled. "Turns out she was the special guest the school got for the Festival, and now she's just staying the night here while I practice piano. Say hi!"
"Uh... hi, Wonder Woman!" the Purple One waved at her shyly, giving a nervous smile.
Wonder Woman did not reply, nod, or blink in response, instead keeping up her steely eye contact. Monika hadn't told her she could greet her back, and she doubted she would if she'd been able to. Well, unless Monika told her to, of course. This Purple One meant less than nothing to her, just an insignificant possible threat, someone for her to monitor in order to keep Monika safe.
The girl lowered her hand again, awkwardly.
"Yeah, good ol' Double-Dubs here isn't exactly one for conversations." Monika said, still smiling.
"Oh. Right." The Purple One said, distracted, then sharply turned her head back towards Monika. "Wait, you said t- the Festival is over?"
"Well, yeah." Monika said, and frowned. "Oh you poor thing, you didn't even realize when you saw how dark the school's gotten?"
"N- no." The Purple One said, sounding disstressed. "I- I've been a bit d- distracted. H- how long...?"
"At least two hours ago." Monika said. "Everyone's gone home already. You, me and Dubs are the only ones left."
"Oh... oh no..." The Purple One grasped a few strands of her long hair. "S- so that means... Damian isn't..."
"Damian went home with Natsuki before the Festival even started properly." Monika said, and Wonder Woman saw a faint smile emerge on her face in the moonlight. "I guess they had more pressing things they wanted to do, alone with each other, instead of staying here."
The Purple One looked as if someone had just punched her in the face.
"Damian and N- N- Nat..."
"Oh, you didn't know?" Monika asked, and her smile grew wider. "Him and Natsuki already left for home, long before the Festival even started. Apparently they've become a bit of an item, isn't that fun?"
"N- no, I d- didn-"
"Ohhh, that's right!" Monika said, snapping her finger as if she'd just remembered something. "You had a thing for him, didn't you?"
The Purple One didn't reply, instead just shaking on the spot in much the same way Wonder Woman would do when Monika deemed it necessary to Rewrite her. Even though she'd done it so much in the past hour, she still hadn't gotten accustomed to the level of pain it caused each time.
The pain was okay though. As long as Monika thought she needed it, she would endure all manners of torture laid upon her. After all, it was Monika who did it. And...
Monika is always right.
You will obey Monika's every demand.
"Man, kinda messed up of Natsuki to go after the boy you were pining for, isn't it?" Monika went on, thoughtfully. "What do you think they're doing at this moment? Well, it's late, so they're probably in bed. Maybe even sharing one, doing God knows what to each other. Or maybe just sleeping peacefully, side by side. Sounds nice, don't you think?"
The Purple One still didn't reply, keeping up her shaking instead. A tear trickled down her face, glittering in the faint light.
"Well, we can discuss that with them at the meeting tomorrow. Say, why don't you stay here with us for the night, join in on our little sleepover? Trust me, you don't want to walk home at this hour, you might encounter a crazy person!"
"Y- yes." The Purple One spoke up, closing her eyes in quiet acceptance. "I- I definitely am aware of that."
"Yay!" Monika exclaimed, excitedly. "I have to practice this song and make sure I perfect it for tomorrow, but we can still talk about boys and junk, just us girls. Have a seat!"
Wonder Woman's eyes idly followed The Purple One, as she slowly drifted over to one of the chairs in the classrom, and sat down. She didn't like having this unknown potential threat hanging around Monika, but she would nevertheless fulfill her duties as the girl's protector, and keep watch. After all...
Monika is always right.
You will protect Monika from all harm.
As Monika started pressing the keys on her piano again, and The Purple One looked as unthreatening as she could probably get, Wonder Woman took a moment to self-reflect on the events that had led up to this moment in her life.
She hadn't always been this mistrustful of strangers. She hadn't always felt the need to strategize the quickest and most efficient way to kill each person she saw even approach Monika. She'd used to harbor strong love for every living being on the planet, wanting to help and accept anyone who needed it from her.
She'd used to have a plethora of friends and family, whom she'd loved dearly, willing to sacrifice her very life for each and every one of them.
She'd used to have a lover.
But now, after just a few hours of being in Monika's company, she'd come to the conclusion that she just didn't really... care about any of them.
It had taken her a while to realize this. Even after Monika in her infinite wisdom had Rewritten her to be her new protector, she'd struggled to break free, having fought futilely against her commands, had even hated Monika, and cursed her with every fiber of her being.
Even as she'd accepted it as her duty to kill whoever sought to oppose Monika, she'd hoped desperately for someone like Kal-El or J'onn to kill her first. She hadn't wanted to hurt her "friends."
But the feelings for her friends had eventually ebbed out, the more time she'd spent standing here. Monika had looked at her patiently, without blinking for about an hour, and slowly but surely, the aggressive feelings had just... vanished on the spot. And not just her hatred for Monika, but also her love, compassion, trust. For everyone in her life, Wonder Woman now felt... nothing.
The more Monika had looked at her, the more Wonder Woman had accepted her new way of thinking, and gained an all new headache to boot. A slower pain, that snuck up on her instead of the direct, skull-splitting one that came with the Rewrites.
There was a certain amount of liberty and freedom that came with not having feelings for the people in her life anymore. Well, in fairness, she supposed she was currently forced to obey every order that Monika issued, but aside from that small detail, she felt pretty free.
By no longer having any allegiance to the Justice League, she didn't have to worry about the overwhelming threats to her allies in their line of duty, didn't need to go through the devastating heartbreak of a teammate dying, like when Kal had been slain at the hands of Doomsday, or the simultaneuos feelings of relief and exhaustion when that teammate was resurrected once more. Like Kal, after having been slain by Doomsday.
She no longer had to feel guilt about having left her mother and sisters on Themyscira, didn't need to feel stressed about having to fit visiting days to the island into her busy schedule. Unless Monika wished to go there at some point, she didn't feel like she ever had to go to the Amazon island again in her immortal life.
And she didn't need to fear Steve Trevor breaking up with her for not being there for him more, cancelling their dates, and never having enough time to just be a couple, like normal people, since she no longer bore any love for the mortal.
There was no more room in her heart for Kal, Bruce, Etta Candy, Steve Trevor, the League, her sisters, her mother or anyone else on the planet, except for Monika.
Just Monika.
Thanks to Finwee Lord of Long Winds, for their kind comment on the previous chapter. I'm happy you're finding the story engaging!