Where we left off: Diana, Clark and Steve were rudely interrupted and forced to fight Lobo. In the fight, our three heroes were teleported to a strange world where they were almost immediately attacked and left to die.
Diana woke up tied to a tree. Steve and Clark were tied up on the floor beside her, still knocked cold.
Where are we? The fog in Diana's head cleared, and she felt the cool shock of a chill flow through her body. She was trapped on a strange planet with strange aliens, species she had never seen before. The tight wet suit on her body was seemingly inescapable, and something had happened that must have knocked her, Kal, and Steve out.
Unaware of who tied her up, Diana quietly broke through the restraints with ease, and moved to gently untie and wake up Kal. She saw marks in the soil from where they had been dragged.
Kal fluttered his eyes open, and saw Steve's seemingly lifeless body next to him, tied. He felt a wave of panic remembering where he was and whipped around sharply when he felt someone touch him.
"Shh." Diana whispered.
"I can untie myself from here. Is he alive?" Clark nodded in Steve's direction as he broke through the netting slowly.
"He better be. I never got to thank you Kal."
"For what?"
"Coming after me, saving my life. You have the heart of an Amazonian." Diana reached through the net and squeezed Clark's hand.
"Of course, you would do the same for me. But honestly, I don't know if our lives are quite saved yet."
"True. Not quite there yet." Diana shifted over to Steve and roughly slapped his face side to side.
Steve's eyes bust open immediately, and Diana angrily growled, "What do you know? I remember the mind-reading man suggesting you doomed us to this fate."
"I don't know that much, doll." Steve croaked before he continued, "Waller captured Lobo and wanted to keep his alien ass a secret from your little organization, power hungry bitch that she is. Alien told her that he wanted you two. Waller said if Lobo gave her the information she wanted, she would present y'all on a platter. I don't know how, but he broke out of that god-forsaken facility. That's when I got a call saying Lobo was loose, and that I had to deal with it."
"You're hiding something. Lying." Diana grabbed Steve by his wetsuit, her God-like intuition leading her to the truth even without her lasso.
"Ay there Mrs. Tight Grip. Not lying, small omission. Waller knows about your um—double lives. She forced me to go undercover for information on Superman. Felt like all the fucked-up stars in the universe aligned when I when I saw you there, Wonder Woman. Brown eyes were a nice touch though."
Diana thought about the conversation and dance they shared and felt violated. By lightening her grip on Steve, she dropped his tied body back to the ground with a disappointed thump.
"Shifty." Clark said.
"I would have told you sooner, but I know how bad it makes me sound."
Clark stood up and stretched, cracking his knuckles one-by-one, "Yea, really does makes you sound bad buddy."
Steve's voice grew urgent, "You need to believe this though, I was never going to tell Waller shit. I've been trying to get out of her grip for years, but this Lobo creature was so fucked I wanted to figure it out all I could before Waller somehow managed to annihilate mankind. I was trying to get you to come to the afterparty to tell you Diana. Waller was watching, so I couldn't say anything at the actual event. Didn't think flirting with Superman would get me what I wanted."
"Flirting didn't get you what you wanted anyway." Diana retorted.
"Oof." Steve exhaled and smirked, "Maybe if we'd finished the dance."
Diana just stepped back and watched Steve writhe, struggling with the net.
"I believe him." Diana said, "I remember him telling us when we appeared to get away from Lobo while we can. He would have no desire to do that unless he didn't want to be involved."
"As God of War can you read his mind?" Clark questioned out of curiosity rather than utility.
"I am not sure, probably not well while I have the bracers on."
"Well take 'em off and fuck me up. I'll show you whatever you want to see. I've been trying to be done with Waller for years. I wasn't going to give her what she wanted, and that's why she threw me at the front of the battle today—wanted me dead."
Diana was pondering the idea when Clark whispered with urgency, "I hear footsteps, pretty far out, coming at us."
"There were some men restraining us before we passed out, could it be them? Also, can someone help me with this god damn net, I don't have superpowers like you studs." Steve rolled back and forth trying to loosen himself.
"Perhaps. Kal, how many people you hear?" Diana's eyes hungrily searched the area around her for clues.
"One."
"Maybe this time the odds will be in our favor." Diana offered.
Diana stated, "I'll subdue first, Clark follow up if needed." Her fingers intricately worked and freed Steve from the netting tying him up.
"You got lucky this time, but if you run you are dead." Diana threatened Steve, whispering closely in his ear.
"Good deal. I'll just hide then, no problems from this good ole' boy." He stood up, slightly limping on his left leg.
Diana gently floated up to a tree branch while Steve and Clark hid behind trees, covered in foliage.
Diana could now hear the footsteps, the crunching of soil and leaves as the person approaching them moved. Their steps grew more panicked as they grew closer to the site, perhaps they suspected something went awry.
A woman-esque alien appeared, running quickly before stopping suddenly among the clearing they were once tied at.
Now or never.
Diana dropped from her tree, pinning the alien's arms behind her back. She used her knees to knock the alien off balance and used her hand to cover her mouth simultaneously.
"Are you alone? Don't scream or I will break the first bone that comes into my mind." Diana released her hand so the woman could speak.
"Yes. Alone. I saved your life. You were in the desert with Kota's men, seconds from death. I saved you and your two men. Carried you into the woods one by one. Tied you up hoping you wouldn't leave as I monitored the area for us." She spoke so quickly the worlds spilled out of her mouth flowing like river rapids.
"Why would you do that?" Diana pressed on.
"I trust you will help me. I can explain everything. Please."
Diana noticed that the woman wasn't struggling and loosened up on her grip.
"Come out if you don't hear anybody else." Diana's eyes eagerly scanned around her, trying to be hyperaware of her belongings.
Clark and Steve appeared from the forest, and carefully approached.
"What do you know already?" The alien asked. Her skin was light like that of a human, but she had large insect like eyes. Peering into them revealed a kaleidoscope of colors.
Clark said, "We know the people we've met so far here are untrustworthy. Why should we trust you?"
"The point of this game is to kill people and I saved your life. Please, help. Just listen to me." The panic in her voice oozed misery and desperation.
Clark heard a very quiet whirring sound, and grimaced, trying to focus on the sound to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks.
Diana noticed the face he was making, "Kal what's wrong?"
I hear some machine coming for us, it's very quiet. I can't quite hear where it is.
"If this has to do with you alien, I swear—" Diana's heart raced as she pulled tighter on the arms she had pinned back.
"Please, no. It must be a camera. They are trying to watch us right now."
"Explain." Diana muttered the word through gritted teeth.
"I don't know what you know. We are on the planet Czarnia. It was once a utopia, but all the life was wiped off by Lobo, who now acts as a bounty hunter. The abandoned planet is used once a year to host the "Game". It started as a peaceful way of settling strife between planets. Fifty of the best warriors, two from each planet, would be sent to Czarnia to fight until two remained. When it started, it wasn't a blood bath. People were allowed to leave if they just conceded defeat. People grew hungry for violence, they started tracking players and recording all the proceedings. You have an implant in your ear, that's how we understand each other"
"Easy. So if we want to leave, I just have to look into a camera and concede?" Steve asked.
"No, not anymore," the alien looked saddened, "The only way to exit the game is by death or victory. My people mate for life, I lost my life partner on the second day during the Trial."
Suddenly, Clark spoke up, "The camera is here, I know you probably can't see it. Its camouflaged and very quiet." Clark stared at it, intrigued using his x-ray vision.
"What if I were to fly off planet?" Diana questioned, realizing she seemed to overlook the easiest solution.
"The planet is covered by a force field, the second you touch above the treetops, you get electrocuted until you die."
"Damn, bet you're glad you couldn't get jump that high Superman." Steve commented.
Clark scowled, still listening intently, "You said your partner died in a Trial."
"Yes, as the public of each planet pays to watch the Game, the people who profit off of broadcasting the Game grew more ravenous. They include a Trial once a day, something that is meant to keep the game going and people dying so one can't just hide and win the game, as my people used to do. That's what I saved you from. I —I let the other men you were with die."
"Why?" Diana asked.
"They seemed like Kota and Titan's men. They come from a wealthy planet. During the Game, people of your home planet can donate money to provide weapons, secrets, food, aid materials. Victors can return as well giving them an advantage—as you probably saw by their understanding of the Game. For the past five years, people from their planet have won, skewing the Game and angering other planets. I am of the belief they have technology to help them. Nonetheless, to preserve diplomatic relationships, many planets force their participants to work with Kota and Titan. Even though it means their death, it is seen as honorable, and the government usually then provides for their orphaned families."
Diana couldn't hear the buzzing of the camera, but the sounds of insects around them now unsettled her.
"So, they are recording us right now, and people from all over the galaxy can watch?" Clark asked, still determinedly staring at the piece of machinery only he could see with x-ray vision.
"They probably aren't broadcasting what we are saying as it makes the Game look bad. But they are watching nonetheless, likely thinking of how to kill us sooner. At the end of the day, they are just trying to make good television. I'm sure they were there to record my partner's—goury death." The alien's voice broke.
"The cannons," Steve started, "I remember hearing a canon when Kota killed his man."
"The cannon announces a death. I usually take it as a sign a Trial has started. It's how the players keep track of who is still in the game."
"How many people are left?" Clark asked.
"You three are the last to be added. The "wildcard" players that are added once every four years are usually people from Earth or another planet who has no knowledge in the Game. It's kidnapping, Lobo rents out the planet to the producers and doesn't ask any questions."
"We were acquainted with Lobo on Earth. So today is day three, and today's Trial is already done?" Diana asked.
"Yes, something must have went wrong; you were added late. As far as death, I just know the four men holding you, and my partner. There have been more, I just haven't kept track of the rest."
"Why?" Diana furrowed her eyebrows, "Wouldn't it be essential to your survival?"
"There is no survival for my people," the alien had a dry, sad laugh, "We are a poor planet, my family comes as a matter of pride. We come so no one else has to die, and that the young and weakest among us don't have to suffer in the Game as on other planets."
"There are children in the Game?" Diana was disgusted.
"Yes. Usually the poorest planets have to send whoever isn't contributing, a kind of death penalty. Often times their worst criminals or children."
"This is fucking insane." Steve rubbed his face and eyes, exhausted.
Clark asked, "Do the aliens here have abilities?"
"Kota's kind teach some kind of dark magic. I remember last year, he touched a man who was dying, and sucked his life out—I don't know how. My people have no knowledge of sorcery. I just remember seeing the cameras showing gray husk that was once alive on the ground, thinking no living thing should be able to do that. Other planets have aliens with regenerative limbs, heightened senses. I have what your people call a "green thumb"."
Diana heard something drop to the floor and saw that the alien was creating berries through her palms and dropping them. Simultaneously, her skin was blending in with the soil, entirely camouflaging herself.
"Torro berries. It's what saved you from the poison. I was a botanist on my planet. I've learned to manipulate the fabric we are all forced to wear, to camouflage. I can teach you how to get out of the suits too, I don't think we are supposed to know how."
Diana eerily noticed the alien was already talking about her life on her planet in the past sense.
"So why did you save us? Just a good feeling we gave off?" Steve asked skeptically.
"I saved you because I heard through that black markets that you were supposed to be Gods among your people. Kind, powerful. I saw the tall one soaring and heard the power with which he hit the earth." The alien nodded in Kal's direction.
So they had been planning to capture me and Kal. This made sense with what Steve had revealed. Diana helped the alien up from the ground, but still restrained her arms behind her.
Clark sighed, "I'm a Kryptonian, he's a human, and Diana is—."
"A warrior." Diana thought about the cameras recording her and thought that from now on they should be more careful about what they divulged.
The alien's eyes bulged almost comically far out of her face.
Diana saw Steve cringe at the mildly horrifying sight.
"The last Kryptonian! It's true! And you have to die here like the rest of us meaningless pawns."
"I am no greater than you. My life is not inherently more valuable." Clark spoke, trying to comfort their likely ally.
"Though the sun will make you strong, the dark magic here will make you weak Kryptonian."
"There has to be a way out." Diana felt claustrophobic. She felt like the air she was breathing could be poisoned at any second.
"There are two ways out: death or victory. In the past 40 years of the Game, only those two things were certain." The alien hung her head.
"Can they see us on Earth?" Steve asked, "Through whatever broadcast."
"I do not think so, dealings of the Games tend to be a black-market affair. The Green Lanterns of Oa are unaware of the Game as well I believe. They turn a blind eye, knowing the implications of cancelling it. I doubt Lobo even knows the extent of what he whores his planet out for."
"Well, then we seem to be shit out of luck." Steve muttered.
"We are going to be dead if we don't keep moving. I know this place makes us skeptical of who we can trust. You will grow to trust me. I see no honor in allying myself with those who fight for darkness like the many sycophants of Kota."
"What supplies do you have? You mentioned others get food, weapons, technology." Steve asked.
"I have the rope I tied you with. I scavenged it from another site. I can sometimes find food and water. I know where to hide."
"So, no weapons or aid?" Steve rolled his eyes.
"No." The alien sighed, and the word hung in the air.
"Together we will get you back to your people. Thank you for saving our lives." Diana smiled, and gently released the alien who then nervously rubbed her hands together like a little fly sitting on a window still.
Diana noticed that Kal was still suspiciously eyeing the alien.
"What's your name?" Kal asked.
"Zara."
"Zara, I want to trust everything you've shared, and we owe you the debt of saving our lives. However, if you are to double cross us—"
Zara meekly cut Kal off, "I've already lost my life in my partner's death. My only motivation right now is dying in honor, and perhaps not alone."
"No one dies." Diana stated boldly, "We have friends on Earth that will stop at nothing to help us."
"That makes you very lucky." Zara's tone made it sound like she was comforting children.
Diana and Kal's eyes locked, and Kal felt unsteadied knowing he saw uncertainty in Diana's eyes.
Zara suddenly perked up, "I have a place to get some food. I realized perhaps I can rest now that we have enough people to take shifts."