"How in Hera's name did I get myself into this fix?" Princess Diana privately ponders. She glances around the bland, dry and sterile confines of her 10 x 10 cell. There is no window facing the outdoors. The lighting is noticeably dim. The room is so designed as a precaution against its intended resident. "I doubt even poison ivy could grow inside here!" the Amazon observes with intentional irony.

With Catwoman having betrayed her trust, Wonder Woman finds herself trapped within the walls of Arkham Asylum. She is mere moments removed from having frantically sealed herself within the cell of the notorious Poison Ivy. Diana hears a steady buzz of activity in and about the cell block. Police and National Guardsmen sweep the area, making certain that all inmates are properly accounted for. Red Tornado and Nightwing oversee the search and both Superman and Wonder Girl return to assist.

"By now, they surely would have discovered the real Pamela Isley if she were still inside the complex." the Amazon reasons. "The fact that she hasn't been found can mean only one thing. Selina must have released Isley from this very cell and helped her escape!"

"That woman is astonishing!" the princess dejectedly marvels. "She prowled through these corridors, never more than a hundred feet or so away from me. Selina sneaked right past me, freed Poison Ivy, and together they slipped through Reddy and the heavily guarded perimeter. It's no wonder she gives Bruce such fits!"

Wonder Woman is disgusted at having fallen prey to Ms. Kyle's double-cross. Fortunately, the villainess' perverse sense of honor has worked in conjunction with her inherent selfishness. Catwoman's ego mandates that she humble her rival and adversary, Batgirl. The motorcycle is an irresistible trophy. To get her paws on it, Selina must ensure that Diana is preoccupied and can not pursue her. Poison Ivy proves to be the key. By freeing Isley, Catwoman has afforded the Amazon the option to use her criminal cover to blend into the scene to avoid JLA detection. "By the time the alert quells and the Leaguers depart, Selina's trail will be stone cold." the heroine observes. "Brilliant!"

*****

"Everything seems as under control as possible, Superman." Wonder Girl reports. "Each prisoner is securely in his or her cell, with the exceptions of the Joker and Harley Quinn. Both are heavily sedated and under strict quarantine. Neither figures to be among the waking for a few days. Any word on the staff?"

"The entire medical staff has been stricken with the same insanity that has overcome four Justice League members and two Amazons." Superman responds. "The warden, two secretaries, five maintenance workers and eight security personnel have also been affected. The majority were found in the general vicinity of the medical ward. This is consistent with the theory that the Joker is somehow a carrier of this accursed madness."

Clark and Donna confer with Nightwing and Red Tornado to review the strange events leading to the restoration of order within Arkham. The android explains that the standstill was suddenly broken by a communication from within the sanitarium. "The source was Dr. Ashley Meyer, director of psychiatry at Arkham Asylum." Reddy recalls. "Dr. Meyer informed us that the crisis had passed. She said that the Joker had somehow caused the outbreak which threatened to overrun the entire facility. Once he was rendered unconscious, the risk of further affliction was nil."

"This simply doesn't add up." Dick Grayson opines. "The S.W.A.T team found Dr. Meyer in the staff kitchen. The poor woman was violently wrestling with a sink after having ripped it loose from its moorings. She is as hopelessly crazy as rest of her colleagues. Red Tornado and I both heard her via radio transmission just minutes before this. She used proper security protocol. She fully identified herself and accurately described the status of the Joker and Harley. Meyer was in complete command of her faculties; she was no inmate nor was she the primitive madwoman we see now."

"So presuming Dr. Meyer did subdue the Joker, why has she subsequently fallen victim to the insanity?" Superman asks. "We're dealing with a mystical affliction which takes effect very swiftly. J'Onn J'Onnz was overcome the moment he came into the Joker's proximity. How was Meyer able to take him down and report her status to us before succumbing?"

"We still have more questions than answers, Superman." Red Tornado observes. "Clearly this madness can overwhelm a person in an instant. Neither gender nor species appear to be a factor. The Arkham staff and J'Onn prove this. On the other hand, the Batman was trapped with the Joker for better than a day, yet he remains unimpaired."

"I'm still a bit uneasy about this situation." Donna Troy admits. "I've never encountered Circe before, but I know from Diana what she's capable of. Her sorcery is powerful, and in this case highly unpredictable. It appears that the imminent danger is gone, but I'm not so sure." Wonder Girl glances at Superman, who nods in concurrence. Thinking along the same lines as Ms. Troy, the man of steel and the young Amazon again depart, thus leaving Reddy and Dick to conduct the investigation at Arkham.

*****

Time can be quite a paradox. Regardless of one's activity, time elapses at exactly the same rate. The perception of its passage can of course be markedly different. For Wonder Woman, her charade as Poison Ivy proves bedeviling to her already beleaguered psyche. The clock is ticking ever louder; she has but eighteen hours remaining to prevent Circe's return. Alas, the Amazon must now play a costly waiting game. She dare not attempt an escape until her super heroic friends vacate the premises.

"This is utterly maddening!" the princess mutters to herself. "Precious time is slipping through my fingers while I'm stuck in here staring at the floor! Reddy and Dick sure seem to be taking forever. Lord Hermes, grant them speed! I need to get out of here!"

Confined to the dreary prison cell, Diana takes a few moments to close her eyes and gather her thoughts. It is only now that she recognizes how truly high-strung she is. The last six days have taken a much larger toll than she had realized. The combination of her waning powers, lack of rest and intense pressure weighs heavily upon her. By rights she should have broken long ago. Her inimitable Amazon will keeps her going. It is that same hearty spirit which she must now rely upon to prevail over mounting hardship.

Diana suppresses her emotions and ignores her pain and fatigue. Concentrating intently, she reviews the predicament in her mind. She prays to Athena for the insight to uncover a solution. The heroine has more facts to evaluate than she had several days ago on the Hawkship. Earlier theories are easily dismissed. New, sounder ones can be postulated.

As the princess sifts through the clues, the mystery begins to unravel. Suddenly, she is hit with a major revelation. "Great Hera!" Wonder Woman thinks to herself as a wide smile crosses her face. "That's it! Why didn't I see it before?! At last I've made some sense of this. I now understand what sacrifices need to be made and who I must seek out to implement my plan. I'd best ..."

"Uh uh ..." the Amazon whispers as her thoughts are interrupted by approaching footsteps. "Great Aphrodite, no!" Diana privately pleads. "Don't tell me you're here to interrogate Poison Ivy. Please no, not when I've finally got a plan that has a chance of working!"

*****

"So I take it you didn't get anything useful out of Ivy?" Dick Grayson inquires as he meets Red Tornado at the entrance to cell block B. The android shakes his head. "Pamela Isley is unconscious. Her pulse is steady, but she is out cold. By all appearances, she has been sedated in a very similar manner as Harley Quinn and the Joker."

"Hmmm ... sure sounds like Ivy was felled by the same person." Nightwing concludes. "Whether that individual was actually Dr. Meyer is another matter. The simplest explanation is that Meyer had an atypical reaction. Her mind may have just resisted the sorcery longer than the others." Grayson frowns at his own notion. "I just can't buy it though. My detective's instinct is that we're missing something."

"Perhaps conventional investigative techniques are insufficient in this case." Red Tornado suggests. "Magic, by its very nature, defies logic. There are variables which practical science is unable to reconcile." Dick acknowledges Reddy's point, but he is unwilling to yield to it. Although he differs from his mentor in many ways, Nightwing shares the Batman's passionate stubbornness. Were Bruce Wayne here, he would continue an exhaustive search for answers. Dick intends to do likewise.

Red Tornado is quite willing to oblige Nightwing, for his android mind is inclined towards this approach. Reddy is very systematic in his thinking. "Very well." the Justice Leaguer concedes. "I shall check upon the progress of Superman and the others, after which I'll rejoin you in the infirmary."

*****

"Merciful Minerva, I thought they would NEVER leave!" Diana mumbles as she peers out the small window of her cell door. "Bruce has taught his protege well. Too well!" The princess forces herself to stay for another thirty minutes. The wait is even more agonizing than when Reddy and Nightwing were present, but the super heroine feels this is a necessary precaution. She must be as certain as possible that no Leaguers or Titans remain in the vicinity when she makes her escape.

Finally, Wonder Woman decides the time has come. The hallway is clear for as far as her limited vantage point permits her to see. Diana swallows deeply as she grasps the door handle. Had this cell been constructed for a super-human, there would be no hope of freedom. Instead, it is designed specifically for Poison Ivy's abilities; super strength not being one of them.

The door still proves difficult. The heroine's fabled Amazon might is nearly depleted. Diana does not wish to draw attention to herself, thus she attempts to quietly pry the door open. To her chagrin, it doesn't budge. Gaining maximum leverage, the Amazon tries pushing the barrier outward. Again she fails.

The princess scrambles to the cot as she detects the approach of four armed guards walking patrol in the corridors. The door remains sealed as a flashlight beam sweeps the small cell. Feigning unconsciousness, Diana hears the guards exchange a vile joke or two about Poison Ivy. They sense nothing amiss, however, and casually move on to the next cell.

By the time the security team finishes the hall and rounds the bend, Diana is on the verge of panic. She legitimately fears that she may not be able to break free. Her margin of error is virtually gone. She hasn't the luxury of subtlety.

Wonder Woman lowers her right shoulder and thrusts herself against the door. The result is only a small dent, accompanied by pain and a loud thud. "Great!" the heroine mutters. "At this rate, the whole U.S. militia will be outside that door when I finally get through it!" Changing tactics, the Amazon champion uses the cot as a springboard, propelling herself feet first into the door. Greater damage is done, but the cot collapses in the process. Voices and footsteps echo down the hall just prior to the sounding of an alarm. Now desperate, Diana savagely kicks at the weakest point in the structure. It takes three of her best blows to blast the door wide open.

Dozens of soldiers converge upon the princess from both the left and the right. Diana's heart races as she rips the dilapidated steel door free from its hinges. She effectively utilizes the twisted metal as both a shield and a battering ram. The Amazon plows through a score of armed men. She prays she doesn't injure any of them, but she can not afford to be gentle.

There is but one chance to safely escape Arkham Asylum before the JLA arrives in response to the alert. Diana eyes a large, steel-barred window which overlooks the courtyard. She forces her way towards it. As she drives forward, the Amazon is careful to twirl her body back and forth over a span of 270 degrees. This constant motion serves a dual purpose. The door can be used to fend off troops from each side. Additionally, Wonder Woman does not allow her pursuers an unshielded target for more than fractions of a second at a time.

Reaching the foot of the window, the Amazon stages a greater offensive. She pummels her assailants with the battering ram, propelling the closest men back into the masses. With the security units momentarily staggered, Diana whips the steel shrapnel at the window with as much power as her wilting frame can muster. It penetrates the bars and shatters the glass.

Without hesitation, Wonder Woman dives through the narrow gap. Dangling shards of glass dice her hands and forearms. Her left thigh catches on protruding steel. The sharp, twisted rod digs deep into her flesh as her momentum carries her forward. She lands awkwardly as her vicious wound gushes uncontrollably. Undaunted, Diana races into the pre-dawn darkness as gunshots echo behind her.

*****

"Thanks for trusting in me." Diana announces as she hobbles into the sparsely furnished apartment. "You're the only one I can turn to."

"Apparently you have caused another uproar at Arkham, princess" her host observes. The early morning television news airs in the living room. The breaking story is the bizarre escape by Poison Ivy. "The media is still unaware it was you, but the entire Justice League knows better. You can not hide for long and, to be frank, I am skeptical about assisting you."

"It's your decision. Either help me or arrest me." Wonder Woman boldly declares. "Whichever you choose, make it fast. We're running out of time!"