Answers to reviewers' questions or statements:
Dark King Marcel: Wonder Woman will not be ending up with Superman in this story ever… as for Peter and Black Canary, Dinah is already with Ollie and as for Black Cat I have someone else in mind for her
treyalexander63917: Trust me Spider-man in this story will get darker and it'll be all the more tragic because we're going to be with him every step of the way and it wont be just violence dark that Spidey will get, we're talking some serious feels later on that may cause you to almost tear up a little in sympathy
Sithlord King: I wont deny that Superman may still have some lingering feelings for Diana, wheatear or not he'll act on them remains to be seen but so far he's more focused on 'protecting' the earth
Disclaimer: I don't own ant Marvel or DC characters seen, mentioned or used in this story
Year one…
Diana was currently on the Watchtower looking down at the earth with a troubled expression on her face. The reason why she was so troubled had to do with her marriage with Peter, it didn't take the wisdom of Athena to see that it was starting to slowly fall apart. All the two even seem to do now most days is fight and when they aren't fighting their having, admittedly great, angry sex though half the time it leaves the other feeling used and in need of a cold shower afterwards
It also didn't help that Kaine, who she discovered was an another clone of Peter's, and Ben weren't talking to her now and seem to be going out of their way to actively avoid her or stay in her presence as little as possible. Mary Jane so far seemed to be friendly enough but Diana can sense the unease the woman was starting to develop, as if she expects Diana to possibly hurt her and has begun making excuses to not meet with her. Some of which are admittedly reasonable, after all according to her doctors last Diana heard, MJ was due soon
"Something on your mind Diana?" Hal Jordan, one of the four Green Lanterns of sector 2814, asked as he walked up to her
"I'm fine Hal, just a lot on my mind is all" Diana said with a tired sigh
"Ah… let me guess, it has to do with Spider-man?" Hal asked in a cautious manner. Diana's husband has become a sort of taboo topic to talk about in her presence. When Shazam brought it up and asked if the two will doing alright, the Amazon nearly reduced the mightiest mortal to tears
Diana didn't respond as she kept staring out into space but Hal took it as a confirmation and a sign that she wont be tearing his pride apart in ways that would leave Sinestro green with envy
"I heard about Arkham..." Hal said as he looked out the window and crossed his arms "...Sounds like you guys got it worse than us"
"I take it Spider-man's rouges were less than cooperative?" Diana asked as her mind wandered back to the night
"Heh, yeah a few of them in particular tried to put up a fight, least the ones who've been captured at the time" Hal said as an amused smirk crossed his face "For a moment I thought me and Billy would have to take on the Juggernaut of all people!"
"He is powerful" Diana nodded as memories of her own encounters with Cain Marko or more rightly named 'The Unstoppable Juggernaut' crossed her mind. The man's raw physical strength rivaled the likes of Doomsday and was Peter's most powerful rouge and arguably one of if not the most powerful man on the planet that wasn't an alien or an interdimensional being of some sort
"Still out of all of Spider-man's rouges there was only one who actually cooperated and didn't put up much of a fight" Hal said with a thoughtful look on his face
Diana's eyes narrowed at that as she turned towards the intergalactic cop already having a sinking suspicion on who it is "…Who?"
"Norman Osborn if you can believe it" Hal said with a shrug "The guy didn't even so much as bat an eye when we told him he was being moved to a more secured facility."
That did not sit well with Diana as she tried to ponder why it was that Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin of all people, would willingly surrender himself. Part of her, the naïve part that she cursed for still having, wanted to believe that perhaps being imprisoned for almost three years has caused Norman to turn over a new leaf or begin the road to repent and eventual redemption.
But the realist in her said that Norman was planning something. In Peter's own words the man is 'A sociopathic billionaire with no empathy what so ever and the gears in his mind are always turning. Throw the man a curve ball and he'll still make a homerun out of it one way or another'
"Hal, make sure that Norman's secured, more so than even the Juggernaut if it comes down to it" Diana said as she turned and made her way towards the monitor womb where she last saw Superman and Cyborg discussing something about a recording "I don't want that man to ever get out"
"He's that bad? I mean I know that Spider-man's rouges are considered in the same league as Batman's which is both impressive and scary but what can he do that's so dangerous aside from throw a few pumpkin shaped bombs and dress up like goblin?" Hal asked confused
"He can think…" Diana said in a tone that signaled the end of the conversation for now
The duo eventually entered the monitor room in time to hear Cyborg discuss his findings in regards to the recording they picked up.
"I'm telling you, it's definitely being broadcast out of Metropolis" Cyborg said as he sat in the chair with his systems integrated into the Watchtower "It's the same two words being said over and over again. I think it's a recording"
Superman had a calculating look on his face as he crossed his arms "I'll go take a look"
"A look? You can see Radio waves?" Cyborg asked as he turned to give Superman a disbelieving stare "Oh right, of course you can"
Clark snorted in amusement as he began to make his way towards the teleporter. Diana frowned as she quickly followed him
"Clark, you shouldn't go"
Hal nodded as he looked over Cyborg's shoulder at his findings "Wonder Woman's right. We've been upsetting a lot of people lately. Seems to be a little too good to be true that we just happen to discover a seemingly impossible hope being broadcast from your destroyed home?"
Diana nodded "It's the perfect lure…"
Cyborg than added in his own two cents "And considering Metropolis is uninhabited miles in just about every direction, there's no better place to attack you. They can hit you with a nuke if they wanted and they won't have to worry about collateral damage"
Superman frowned "If there's a citizen of Metropolis somehow still alive down there somehow, I'm not going to abandon them"
Diana sighed "Than allow me and Green Lantern to accompany you. The radiation won't affect me and Hal's ring can easily protect him"
Superman looked skeptical "And if this is a trap-"
"Superman, are you saying that me and Hal can't handle ourselves?" Diana asked with a slight edge of annoyance in her tone
Superman sighed "Alright, you can come"
"Don't worry big man, I doubt there's anyone in the world dumb enough to take all three of us on" Hal said as the trio made its way to the teleporter
"You'd be surprised Hal" Diana said as a few notable rouges of Peter crossed her mind that are more than dumb or arrogant enough to challenge them
"I'll monitor you guys and the ground from here and let you know if anything's coming. Good luck" Cyborg said as the three were transported down to the planet
…
Diana looked down at the devastation of Metropolis with a frown, still unconvinced that anything could have survived this. She looked towards Superman
"You see anything?"
Superman scanned the city with his X-ray vision and shook his head "No, only death"
The man of steel looked towards Hal "Green Lantern anything on your end?"
"Nope, the only thing my ring's picking up is the radio signal" Hal said as he played the recording that kept repeating 'I' alive'
"Let's proceed with caution" Diana said as they proceeded further into the city
They traced the signal towards a building that was leaning against another with massive holes in its frame. According to Hal the signal was coming from underneath it and Superman proceeded to lift the remains of the skyscraper and tossed it aside to reveal a small hole
Hal landed before it and shined a light from his ring down it "Great, a narrow confined space that leads underground. This practically screams a trap"
Diana nodded "Stand guard out here, me and Superman will proceed further in"
Superman began to slowly descend into the hole with Diana right behind him. They came to a stop in a large cavern with a large metal cube sitting amongst the rubble with a giant hole above it, indicating it fell down here during the event.
Diana frowned at the structure "Clark, do you see what's inside?"
Superman tried to scan it but found it was lined with lead "No, it's covered in lead"
The duo approached the door and scanned it for any way to open it aside from simply ripping the door off with brute strength. Superman scanned the door before he pointed out a small box on the outside attached to the door
"There, that's where the signal's coming from. The transmitter on the door… it's a miracle it's even still working" Superman said with a surprised expression on his face
"Either that… or someone wants us to think that-" Diana began before she felt something watching her. She turned around reaching for her sword and scanned the area carefully for any signs of a threat
"Diana, what is it?" Superman asked as he looked around in mild confusion
"I'm not sure, but I feel like we're being watched. Are you certain that there's no one else down here?" Diana asked uncertain
"I'm not seeing anything, can't hear anything either" Superman said before he returned his attention towards the door and the transmitter
It was then that Hal contacted them "Hey Superman, are you sure that you don't want to try and check this thing out via remote or something? You know that bit in horror movie where your screaming at the cheerleader to not investigate that strange sound in the woods or go into the creepy house? This is that moment and you're the cheerleader"
Superman didn't respond as he reached for the door while Diana grabbed the hilt of her sword, ready for whatever may come out of there. With little trouble Superman ripped the door off and moved it to the side and entered the cube with Diana right behind him
What they saw was shocking
Superman's eyes widened in shock at what he was seeing "Oh my god…"
Diana was in a similar state but quickly regained her focus and scanned the room for anything else
"Lex?" Superman said in an uncertain tone "Lex I thought…"
Lex Luthor looked back at Superman in surprise before a relived and happy expression came to his face as it did on Clarks. Superman quickly brought the billionaire into a hug and lifted the man up
"I thought you were dead. It's a miracle!" Clark said happy to see that his friend was alive
Lex winced a bit but tried to return the hug as best he could "Not a miracle, just a well-executed contingency plan that I thought I'd never have to use. And while I'm happy to see you too, can you let me down? I didn't survive a nuclear explosion only to be crushed in a bear hug"
"Heh sorry" Clark said sheepishly as he let Luthor down and gave the man a pat on the back
"So, what's happened since I've been stuck down here? No machine uprising, I hope" Luthor said as he looked over Superman's shoulder to the outside of the safe room
"I'll explain later, but right now we have to get you put of here. There's still a lot of radiation out there" Superman said as he contacted Hal
Diana watched all of this with a guarded expression on her face, this seemed too good to be true.
…
An hour later she stood with several other members of the Justice League as Lex stood before them
"I can see what your attempting and I can see why" Lex said as he paced before the League with a thoughtful expression on his face before he turned to look down towards the earth "However, there aren't enough of you. Even with your great abilities you can't keep the peace and you can't cover the whole planet"
Diana frowned at what the man was saying, still distrustful of him. Being married to Peter for so long and knowing Bruce even longer has caused her to distrust men or women of great wealth and intellect, both of which Luthor has in abundance.
"If you truly want to bring about a better world, you need to stop reacting and start planning and I liked to help you with that" Luthor said
Diana stepped forth and finally spoke to the man "I know you and Superman are friends, but how can we know to trust you?"
Luthor turned to face them before he pointed to Diana herself
"Diana Parker" than towards Green Lantern "Hal Jordan" Superman "Clark Kent" the Flash "Barry Allen" and finally Shazam "Billy Batson"
Diana and the rest of the League were taken back that Luthor knew all of their secret identities, Diana herself felt especially bothered by it.
'Great, another billionaire that knows mine and by proxy Peter's identities!' Diana thought annoyed
Luthor than gave them a serious expression as he addressed them further "I'm a very intelligent man. Your secret identities are no secret to me"
Diana felt her temper begin flare as she took a step towards the man with narrowed eyes only for Shazam to place a hand on her shoulder that told her to stop and hear what the man has to say. Diana relented if only barely and kept a watchful gaze on the bald genius
Luthor seemed to notice this but seemed unafraid as he continued "However, I've protected your identities and your loved ones for years without you knowing. You've had to trust me for a long time, you just didn't know it"
Luthor took a step forward with his hands behind his back and spoke in a determined tone "Now, I'd like to join you"
Diana didn't stay to see what the rest thought of Lex joining the team, she was finding it difficult to be in the same room with a man who had no right to spy on her and Peter and their family but did so anyway. She didn't like it when Bruce did it and she sure as hell won't like it now and the man was expecting her to believe that Lex protected Ben and MJ? Whoever was watching them obviously did a piss poor job considering almost a year ago the Jackal kidnapped the red head and nearly killed her
'Where do people like him get the right to stick their noses into me and Peter's privacy? Have they no shame or decency! Why can't they just let us live our lives without it being held under a microscope.' Diana mentally raged as she stomped through the halls
If there's one thing that Diana has come to genuinely hate about man's world, it's how men of great wealth feel like they can intrude on people's personal lives whenever they feel like it.
And done.
This won't be the last we hear of Norman Osborn and he has his reasons for not putting up any kind of fight that will all be explained in due time
Also Lex Luthor in this story isn't evil or anything like that in case any of you were wondering, Diana just doesn't trust him
And for the people who saw the comment of Juggernaut being possible the strongest man on earth, look up his character. Trust me the guy was able to take on the Hulk in his World Breaker form and match the guy in strength, something even the Sentry couldn't do. Granted its later discovered that Hulk was holding back at the time and Marvel now has Hyperion and Blue Marvel who are both stronger than the golden hero but the fact remains that the Juggernaut isn't some push over, he could match Superman blow for blow easily. Like I said if you don't believe me look it up. The guy pretty much lives up to the moniker of Unstoppable...