27. I Am, We Are

Summary: What exactly did happen to cause everyone's panties to twist into a bunch?


"What the…."

Lounging in the comfortable chair located in the monitor womb, Firestorm and his current partner, Dawn were jolted out of their easy mood at the sudden blaring of the Watchtower alarms, the telltale red light accompanying it.

"What happened?" Dawn jerked up from against the wall. A book in her hand, she was in the middle of her English speaking class that Ronnie was giving her.

"It's…an alarm," was all that the flame headed hero said as he checked for the origin of the problem. It was an internal problem, which much was clear from the type of alarm. Just a couple of seconds and he had the location….the inner workshop, the one near the conference room, the one where whatever the executive members had been doing for the past day or so had been happening. Even though, until a few seconds ago, the cameras were shut off, they were switched on…courtesy of the alarm and the implied emergency.

It took a few more moments to actually comprehend and come to grips with what was happening on the screen.

"Uh-report…report to conference room," he fumbled with the start of his watchtower-wide message. "Get to the conference room NOW!" With that, he too was off, with Dawn hurrying off to the other side to find her husband, the Shaman, Manitou Raven.

---

A few minutes ago,

"Thank you for everything." Thanking her hosts for their hospitality and help, Diana hugged each one of them; including the Caped Crusader himself and even whispered few words of advice into his and her twin's ears.

"It's never too late….for happiness."

With those final spoken words and with the anticipation of seeing her home and more importantly her family…and of course her Bruce, she stepped to the portal and with one last look at her new friends, through it.

"Well that takes care of…." Even as he started, the words fell out of the Scarlet Speedster's mouth at what happened next….right before his eyes.

"What the…" Kyle expressed his own surprise, sounding at the same time as Diana's Hera, and Plasticman's incoherent mumbling.

"Hey guys," Flash gestured towards the rectangle of silvery shimmering energy. "Am I the only one who thinks that...maybe..."

"WATCH OUT!" With a burst of superhuman speed, Diana reached out and yanked him away, and just in time, for she knew what about to happen next. Heck, even the others knew what was happening…they just did not know how it was possible…or even why.

"Yaaahhhhh…." With a war cry tearing forth from her lips, her sword raised and ready for attack, the armor clad figure that had just stepped out from the light, swung it at the first target available…Flash.

SLASH!

Ready for a fight, but hoping to avoid one, whatever sane understanding the Leaguers had about the sudden change in the situation, went out the window at what happened next…what they saw next.

"Stop." Their eyes bugged out of their sockets as another figure, one clad in white emerged from the same light to join them. Even the otherwise cool Batman balked at the face on the newcomer, a face that was exactly like one of his teammates and one he guessed would be that of the helmet-clad warrior too…..the Amazonian warrior, as it was clear from the design of her armor and weaponry. "Please…stop." The serene voice of the newcomer urged both the League and the attacking warrior….but too no avail.

SWISH!

The sword swung around again, slicing the obstructive chair into two.

"Yup, confirmed," commented Flash as the Watchtower alarms went off. "We screwed up….Big-Time."

---

Even to a newcomer, the probable identity of the attacking warrior would be clear as day. Even if they did not know about the Grecian design of the armor and weaponry, the red, gold and blue color scheme just screamed out Wonder Woman and not just Amazon, complete with the red and white boots…even when laced with supportive armor themselves. With the telltale, Double-W moniker bumped up to the top of the helmet, a flying eagle adorned the breastplate. On her back, was a large war axe diagonal along one direction and an extensible spear in the other, and as for her hands, the left one held a large round shield with the same eagle as on her breastplate, while in the right was an exquisite and razor sharp sword, one that was currently heading towards Superman.

As for the other apparition, even with the white flowing robes and covered head, the golden tiara with the ruby red star stood out like a red head among blondes….and that was in case one did not recognize the face, a face, which, if possible, looked even more serene than it usually did. Even as she urged the warrior and the League to cease fighting, the serenity or the evenness of the soothing voice did not diminish in any way or form. Instead, a very odd thing happened, one, which for the time being, only the superhuman senses of Superman, Diana and J'onn noticed. With each successive ignored plea, with each successive blow, it was as if a little bit of her faded….barely perceptible, but still there.

---

"Stop please, we mean you no harm," Diana herself, tried to assuage this raging doppelganger, but to no avail. She just wasn't listening, or even paying attention to the movements of her lips.

"Diana. Get back," Batman cried out to her, his warning reaching a second too late…just in time to accompany the sharp blade slicing into her upper arm, the ensuing cry tear forth from her lips…and the crimson blood that spurt forth from her wound and stained the sword.

"DIANA!" Seeing their teammate wounded the rest of the League members gave on their defensive approach and adopted a 'take down at any cost' one. Putting forth a burst of speed, Flash moved in, hoping to at least grab the axe and spear on the Amazon's back before she could make a move. A forceful blow of a shield to the face took care of his strategy, and even as he fell, his momentum carried him on as he slipped. Crashing into the surrounding machinery, he lost whatever consciousness he had left and was out like a light.

As that was happening, Superman moved in from the other side while Batman let loose a barrage of exploding batarangs, none of which had any affect as they exploded harmlessly on the metallic shield….and those were the ones which got past being sliced into two by the sword. Even as he readied his next attack, and even as the disturbing thought about the ferocity, skill, power and raw rage with which the stranger was attacking them, crossed his mind, his eyes widened in shock as the same blade that had torn through Diana's skin, found itself skewering into the shoulder of the man of steel.

"Aaagghhh!" Superman's cry rang out as the blade tore into him, slicing into his invulnerable skin, just below his left clavicle. Another cry, just like the first, burst out as a pair of green superman constructs, reached and pulled him back to safety, the now slanted blade doing additional harm as he withdrew from it.

"J'onn," Batman cried out to the Martian, who, knowing what the Dark Knight was hinting at, shook his head in denial.

"I cannot get a lock on her mind," he answered the unspoken question. Even as the rest of his teammates took the physical offensive, he ventured into the attacker's mind, hoping to shut it off or at least numb it down so that she would be able to be subdued. That move, although quite effective, proved to be a grave mistake on his part. So powerful was the backlash of rage and anger that he was actually through off his feet, blood flowing out of his ears, nose and eyes.

"What do we do man?" Plasticman hovered in stretched form, ready to help, but after seeing what happened to Wonder Woman and Superman, a bit worried about his own polymerized skin. It wasn't that he was afraid, it was because he was wary….the memory of almost being torn into two, even if had been at the hands of the White Martians, made his step back from his usual 'jumping into the fray' approach and actually try to think of a possible, workable strategy.

"Kyle get back," Batman barked at the ready to attack Green Lantern. "Computer, shut down all pathways except for the one to the Danger Room." Almost instantly, metallic doors as well as energy Force fields closed off all exits except one. "Establish force field around League members, and open the door out." A slight sizzle of energy and that too was done. "Lantern, get us out of here."

"Wha-what are you doing?" Superman asked from his seated position inside the green energy bubble that surrounded them. "We have to stop that…."

"We will," Batman growled as he reached into his utility belt and drew out a swathe of cotton and two rolls of bandages, one each for Superman and Wonder Woman, while he checked on the unconscious Flash. Keeping an eye out for their attacker, he noticed that she was in pursuit of them…as he had suspected she would.

However, there was no sign of the other new entrant, left behind as the League and the Warrior left the conference room.

"What is that….that thing?" Plasticman wondered aloud as he wrapped the bandage around Diana's bleeding arm, with Green Lantern doing the same for Superman and Batman now checking on a barely conscious J'onn. In less than two minutes, not only had been four of them incapacitated, three of them were actually bleeding, while the fourth was still unconscious.

"Its an Amazon," answered Diana. "That is me."

---

"What do we do now?" Standing behind the foot thick, indestructible glass partition, Superman and the rest of his teammates, save for Green Lantern, looked on as the Amazon Warrior tore through yet another of Lantern's constructs in a bid to get to him. Taking turns to either…well, mostly keep her at bay, the only thing that the League hoped was to tire her down, which given sustained speeds of her attacks, didn't look to be happening anytime soon. They were taking turns to keep her occupied, with Batman and an almost recovered Wonder Woman already having served their time. Having recovered themselves, Flash and J'onn awaited theirs, with Plasticman dispatched to keep the other Leaguers at bay…and to contact Steel, Atom and Zatanna and ask them to come to tower immediately, but without revealing the cause for the emergency.

Not daring another mind probe after the first time and still not at full power, J'onn and the others were trying everything that they could come up with….anything. Talking to her…failed, trying to hold her down or tie her up…nope, sucking the air out of the room to create a vacuum…no good, teleporting her onto the surface of the moon….she just came back and started slicing away and cutting through the outer walls of the watchtower….even the protective force field couldn't stop her.

"Get me out." Kyle's hail cut through any suggestion or answer that was forthcoming from the gathered group. Something had gone wrong with him, as he was barely even able to stay airborne, and was doing his level best to stay away from the sharp sword of the repeated throws of the spear that were aimed towards him. "Get me out NOW."

Running the controls, Batman brought up three partitions as the door opened to allow Kyle exit before the Amazon made mince meat of him.

"What happened?" Superman was instantly at his side, supporting him and gently lowering him to the ground.

"She-She…." His breathing shallow, sheen of sweat on his face, his skin a pallid yellow, the Green Lantern who had gone in fifteen minutes ago wasn't the same one who had come out. "She took away my willpower."

"What!" Everyone present knew that for a Green Lantern; it was his willpower that ran his ring. Without it, just was just another piece of jewellery, not a very expensive one at that.

"She…" taking a couple of deep breaths, his color returning to normal, Kyle explained. "With everything I made, she just cut through it," the others had seen that. "And as she destroyed them, with each construct she just seemed to draw the will right out of me. Another minute and I would've been all out." Still seated, he had to look up the screen to see what was happening inside the room. Her sword and shield discarded, her spear lying elsewhere, the armor-clad figure was making short work of the self-repairing mechanical opponents that the room threw at her.

---

An hour since the figure appeared through the portal,

"Hey! What'd just happen?"

"What?"

"See…that."

"She looks like she is….in pain."

"No….drugged."

"Drugged!" (Chorus)

"Uh-oh…never mind. She 's back. What ever it was, its gone."

Two and half-hours,

"Any more ideas? I think we better get the others and tell them about this, and while we are at it, contact Dr. Fate. Where is Zatanna?"

"Fate is busy, Zatanna is nowhere in sight. Batman what about Jason…?"

"No. I am not allowing Etrigen anywhere near her."

Three hours and seventeen minutes,

"Hey. What is that?" Flash, was the first to see it, and a second later so did the other. "Who…."

"That's her," Superman recognized the white clad figure walking down the corridor towards them. "Where did she come from? The last we checked she was nowhere on the tower," and indeed that was the case. As they left the confines of the conference room, the League members had seen the second serene Diana vanish into thin air, and even with his x-ray vision, Superman wasn't able to find her anywhere on the tower, nor could J'onn sense her.

"Maybe she's got the answer to stopping this…thing," was the best the Man of Steel could do, seeing that even after three hours, his wound still hadn't healed completely.

Even as the words left his lips, the doors slid open and the newcomer stepped through to join them.

"Keep them where we can see 'em lady," Plasticman put forth the appearance of an old time Western Sheriff.

"I come in peace," the newcomer's voice was as soothing as ever, feeling almost like an invisible salve on the physical as well mental and emotional wounds of the League members. "I am peace."

"Yeah, then what's that sister of yours?" Wally shot out, healed but still remembering the way the Amazon had turned his speed against him…and made him see stars…literally.

"She is war." Coming from anyone else, at any time other than this one, it would have been highly amusing.

"Should've guessed," mumbling at the 'well-duh' answer, Flash slinked away to where Kyle stood operating the room controls. They were already working at top-difficulty level, and the robots and constructs were like toy soldiers braving a torrential storm.

"Who are you?" Diana stepped forth, her hands upfront as a non-threatening gesture. Having faced her sister, she was wary towards this stranger….even as a nagging familiarity kept hacking at her.

"You know me," the answer was just as calming as it was cryptic. "Please. I mean you no harm….and neither does she."

"We are not so sure about that." Funny what a sword through your body does for your level of sarcasm.

"What do you want?" Batman was all business. Hadn't the last few days had enough that now there were two instead of previously single guest Diana? "Why are you here?"

"We-we…got…we are." For the first time since they had seen her, the peace almost wavered in this version of Diana, and although she did not show any change, her warring twin did as she gained an extra dollop of rage. "We should ask Bruce."

"Bruce?"

"Hera!" Her eyes wide in shock, Diana finally realized who these two Dianas were. Peace and War, Serenity and Rage, Diplomat and Warrior….they were her, as she had guessed earlier, yet they were not. That was because, unlike her, these two weren't complete….weren't individuals, not in the real sense. They were just parts…parts of a personality….parts of her, no, her doppelganger's personality. "You're her…."

"Her? Who?" Superman and the rest were confused, and even though his guess was somewhere in the ballpark, so was Batman. His guess that these were yet more other dimensional Dianas was correct halfway. They were…or she was, but not two, not even one, just part of one person, one Diana….the Diana they had sent through the portal.

---

"We have to contact the other Batman," even as she spoke, Diana was already on her to the door.

"Diana wait…" Superman flew to her side, with Batman close behind them. With J'onn retired for recovery and mental cleansing, Kyle, Wally and Eel would be the only ones left to take care of their destructive guest.

"What do…" His attention on Diana, Superman stopped at the widening of her eyes, his own head whipping around towards the parted doors…a second too late.

The green glow of Kryptonite was the only thing he saw approaching him….and then…

WHAMM!

…contact.

"What did you do?" The familiar bone-chilling gravelly voice followed the punch, and had he not been held up by the man whose voice it was, Clark would have guessed that he was practicing ventriquilism.

"Oh shi…" Wally commented succinctly as everyone present watched slack jawed as yet another Diana stepped through the doors…this one dressed in the same clothes as the one that had been sent through the portal. However, that wasn't what…who they were staring at.

They were staring at the man standing next to her.

They were staring at the Batman…the other Batman.

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Note: Let me know if the Dianas have gotten out of hand….I'll reel them in. Sending her back would have been kinda anticlimactic…don'tcha think?"

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