"What is she doing?" Batgirl asks indignantly as she secures her cape-sling about her wounded right arm. Kara stands at the mouth of the cave looking out onto the beautiful lawn they deem Paradise Cove. "Diana's testing her leg." Supergirl replies while continuing to watch the Amazon. "She's moving pretty well, given the circumstances." Babs strides to the Kryptonian's side. "Given the circumstances?" the Gotham City native sarcastically snaps. "The woman can barely walk and she's out training for the damned marathon!" Gordon is frustrated and tempted to launch into a full tirade, but she holds her tongue. Deep down, the heroine knows that her own headstrong nature would drive her in a similar fashion.

Realizing she has an audience, Wonder Woman returns to the cave entrance. Her gait is anything but fluid. The Amazon champion is visibly annoyed. "I'm used to doing 20 second miles on slow day," she rants, "and now I can't even do a 20 minute mile!" Diana is barely winded and the slightest bead of sweat attempts to escape from underneath the lower rim of her golden tiara. "The pain is awful enough, but I just can't get any thrust from this leg!" she laments.

Before Batgirl can speak up, Diana anticipates her counter response. "I'm coming!" the Amazon princess declares. Babs smiles graciously, knowing full well there is no arguing with her. "We should replenish our food supply first and plan to cover less ground today, given our mutual limitations." Gordon tactfully argues. Although she recognizes this as a thinly veiled barb at her stubbornness, Wonder Woman agrees with the recommendation and acquiesces without comment.

The trio advances cautiously along the base of Mt. Cormorant. Smoke billows from the peak, indicating that another eruption may be only hours away. Theirs is a difficult walk along rugged terrain, but the distance is far shorter than the circuitous route around the desert. Although Diana labors to navigate the rocky course, she refrains from complaint and insists she is fine.

The women reach Neron Forest by late morning. As per their plan, they gather fruit as swiftly and quietly as possible. The ladies expect trouble, for the woods seems to be the home of the Neanderthal men. Wonder Woman is armed with their lone spear. Supergirl carries a makeshift club while Batgirl falls back upon the ever-diminishing arsenal of gadgetry in her utility belt.

Seemingly undetected, the threesome heads west. Their path should parallel the Lex River and lead them towards territories which they have yet to explore. They traverse the woodlands without incident and reach an unremarkable field with patches of tall grass and brush growing sporadically from the dark brown soil. Beyond this field to the south, the super heroines spot an imposing ridge which lies on the opposite side of Mt. Cormorant from Paradise Cove.

"That place looks like a fortress." Supergirl whispers ominously. Her colleagues agree. "It sure would be an ideal place to defend. That must be the homestead of the cavemen, rather than the forest." Diana theorizes. Batgirl recalls their foreboding prophesy. "One must overcome an army to uncover a stone." The very thought is chilling. To climb that ridge and penetrate an army of Neanderthals appears daunting, if not impossible.

The volcano rumbles in the distance; an eruption is imminent. It strikes the trio as an omen, warning them to keep their distance from the both the peak and the ridge. As such, the heroines veer northwest towards the river. "We'll scout along the riverbank and see what we find." Wonder Woman proposes. Moments later the Amazon stops in response to a groan from Batgirl, who is bringing up the rear. Babs waves her off. "I'm OK, princess." she assures her. "My shoulder is killing me, but I'll live." The Amazon grins as she gropes for a witty retort, but her thoughts are broken by a frightening scream.

"Kara!" Diana cries as she and Babs hustle in her direction. Supergirl has merely strayed ten yards ahead of her friends, but in so doing she has stumbled into a deadly pool of quicksand. Shocked and terrified, the Kryptonian flails with her arms in a fruitless effort to free herself. Instead her actions exacerbate her predicament. Kara is nearly waist deep in the death trap as help arrives.

Supergirl has drifted nearly eight feet from solid ground; therefore she is beyond the reach of her allies. Batgirl implores frantic Kara to remain calm. Diana whips out her golden lasso, but she is unable to make a rescue attempt. The Amazon's worst fears are confirmed. Kara's screams have alerted three nearby cavemen of their position and the heroines find themselves under attack.

Wonder Woman decisively responds to the crisis. "You save Kara." she demands of Batgirl. "I'll hold off these menacing men!" Seeing doubt in Batgirl's eyes, Diana adds "I won't kill them unless I have to!"

Before ever venturing out as Batgirl, Babs Gordon put herself through rigorous training. Of the many skills she forced herself to master, one was ambidexterity. Naturally right-handed, she had to be equally proficient as a southpaw in virtually every conceivable way. Her costumed debut was delayed a year by her meticulousness. At times, she contemplated forgoing such discipline so as to begin her crime fighting career sooner, but now she is eternally grateful for her dilligence.

The left-handed toss of her Batrope is true as it ensnares Supergirl's left arm. The Kryptonian's hips have disappeared below the murky surface, but she has thus far managed to keep her arms free. Kara secures the rope around her upper torso just underneath both armpits.

Despite great determination, Babs realizes she can not drag Supergirl free with just one arm. Improvising, she gallantly struggles to pull herself up into a sturdy tree which borders the quicksand patch. The heroine angles out onto a strong limb positioned twelve feet above solid ground. With a firm grip upon her Batrope, Batgirl leaps from her perch. The tree limb serves as a fulcrum. As gravity draws Babs down, Kara is lifted upward and out of the deadly quicksand.

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman struggles to hold off a furious assault by the three cavemen. The Amazon possesses far superior fighting skills, but her effectiveness is greatly compromised by her hamstring injury. Furthermore, her attackers notice that she is favoring her left leg. As a result, they concentrate upon that weakness. Diana delivers forceful shots which send two of the Neanderthals reeling, but the third whacks the heroine over her knee with a wooden club. Wonder Woman cries in pain as she collapses to the ground.

Batgirl races to the princess' aid, leaving Supergirl to catch her breath and disengage herself from the Batrope. The brute hovers above Diana intent upon administering a death blow. Babs fires her Batarang at him and it strikes flush on the jaw. The primitive shrieks in agony as two teeth are dislodged from his mouth on impact. Batgirl charges towards the staggered Neanderthal, who bleeds extensively from the lips and gums. He retreats a few yards to his recovering allies while Gordon assists the hobbled Amazon.

The cavemen are riled by the beating they've taken and seek to punish their dangerous prey. Kara rejoins her friends and the three women brace for an inevitable battle to the death with the barbarians. Suddenly, both warring parties begin to notice smoke emerging from the southeast. The Neanderthals react with sheer horror. They forsake their quarry and flee for the cover of the forest.

The super heroines are momentarily baffled. The volcanic lava is at least two miles away and the lay of land would not allow it to encroach upon their current position. The cavemen have retreated to the woods, which superficially would seem more vulnerable to its fury. Despite the steadily increasing density of smoke and a noticeable rise in temperature, the women believe themselves to be in a safe haven. They soon recognize otherwise.

"Great Hera! We have to get out of here now!" Diana screams as she pushes her friends towards the river. They scamper through a quarter mile stretch of swamplands that lies between them and the water. In the background, the reason for the Amazon's urgency is now readily apparent. The field bridging Neron Forest and the newly discovered bog has burst into flame. The fire ignites small trees bordering the plain, but it peters out upon reaching the damp swamp vegetation.

The beleaguered ladies take cover on the riverbank to wait out the blaze. "How can the fire burn so extensively in that field?" Supergirl wonders aloud. "There is so little in the way of grass to sustain it." "It isn't the dry grass," Wonder Woman observes, "it's the soil. It's so dark because it is saturated with flammable liquids which seep to the surface over time." Batgirl concurs. "That's why the plain is so devoid of plant life." Babs notes. "It also explains why our male 'friends' fled at the first sign of smoke."

The flames will continue deep into the night until the flammability of the topsoil is completely exhausted. As such, the heroines opt to make camp for the evening along the riverside. Batgirl and Supergirl strategically position loose branches on their perimeter such that any approaching intruder will cause enough of a stir to be detected. Wonder Woman sets out to catch the trio a fish dinner, but before so doing the agitated Amazon princess speaks her mind.

"You almost got the three of us killed today, Kara!" Diana snarls. Supergirl is taken aback by her tone and suddenness. "Stumbling into that quicksand was sloppy, but your infantile wailing was inexcusable!" The seething Justice Leaguer is now face to face with the Kryptonian. She continues to lambaste the humbled girl of steel. "Kal-El has taught you better than that and so have I." Batgirl is disturbed by this scene and steps in between her two colleagues. As Wonder Woman backs away, she voices a parting shot. "You're an honorary Amazon, Supergirl. It's about damn time you start acting like one!"

All is eerily quiet in the aftermath of this one-sided spat. Supergirl is too embarrassed and shocked to even respond. She feels a powerful urge to cry, but she won't allow critical Diana to see such vulnerability. Babs Gordon eyes both of her colleagues with considerable curiosity. Wonder Woman's diatribe echoes in Batgirl's mind. "Start behaving like an Amazon." Barbara thinks to herself as she considers Diana's caustic remarks. "Hmm, I wonder ..."