Avenging Justice:

Two Worlds Collide

Part VI

Earth, Georgia, Atlanta

Gunter Stein went to the window, looking out at the city. The money should be arriving in the next few hours. That was if the parents followed his instructions. He had told them to leave the FBI out of this business, but he knew that wasn't likely to happen. Plans were made in that event, so he wasn't worried. Besides, his man at the drop location didn't know where the child was being held.

The man was supposed to drop it off to another person, who would bring it to where Gunter was. The drop off man didn't realize a tracker had been injected into him, and the tracking device showed up on Gunter's phone. Right now the man was sitting at a Starbucks, not drawing any unwanted attention. All was going according to plan.

"How is the child?" Gunter asked a woman who walked into the room behind him.

The woman answered, "Secure. Little brat was bawling, but she stopped."

"No permanent damage?" Gunter checked the next point on his list.

The woman shook her head, "Nothing she won't heal from. We ran into an issue, she was with another brat. We had to take both."

"Is the other child's parents wealthy?" Gunter cocked an eyebrow in curiosity.

The woman answered dutifully, "No, just some scholarship brat."

"Then of no use to us," Gunter turned back to the window. "If you can't find a way to profit, get rid of the kid."

Down below a young boy held his arm, which was bent in the wrong direction. As the adults had grabbed his friend, he had tried to fight them off. His mind still wasn't processing everything he had seen, once he was back home it would. Right now he was worried for his friend and for himself. His arm hurt, real bad.

Tied to a chair, his friend, Abigail Wong was still crying, but it was a quiet cry. Despite the fear she was feeling, she was trying to move her hands. She noticed the adult who tied her up had used rough, thick rope. She also noticed her hands could wriggle, and she had managed to get one hand almost all the way out. She stopped when she heard an adult, one of the bad ones, walk by the door.

Outside, a feminine shape launched onto the building across from where the children were being held. She looked over the building, and looked over the amount of people wandering around inside. It was a front she knew for Friends of Humanity, a multinational hate group. They hated anyone who wasn't human, Metas, and Mutants mostly. Luckily they hadn't learned about Amazons or Atlanteans yet, or they would probably hate them too.

According to her sources, this was a new thing for the FOH. Normally they just held rallies, found dirt on politicians or got their members elected to the government. That was the public side, what nobody got to see was the private side. Having been alive as long as she had, she had seen secret militant groups that thrived off hate. Nothing ever good came from them.

Recently the FOH's dark side had gotten into kidnappings, collecting the ransoms and funneling it back to the organization. They still had their other forms of income, like intimidation, and blackmailing those who could pay. There were even rumors that they used North Korean hackers to infect major corporation computers with spyware.

With the amount of crime that happens in Gotham City, one would think they would have tried this trick there. However, they were probably afraid of the Batman. He tended to find out about such things, and really mess up their plans. She thought that was funny, as having met both him and Superman before. She knew the Bat's big secret, and yet it didn't lower her respect for him at all. In fact, she respected him more because of it.

Their mistake though was thinking they only had to worry about Superman or Batman. She'd show them the error of that. The hearts of men could harbor such negativity, but she also knew they could hold just as much love. She fought for those who were in need, a representative to Man's world from Themyscira. Wonder Woman leapt across to the other building.

Smashing through the window, she took out the first guard with a quick slap with her shield. In her hand, the Lasso of Truth flew out and wrapped around the other guard's arm. That guard nearly had his hand on his pistol, but instead found himself being thrown into the nearby wall. Her first target got back up groggily, so Wonder Woman dropped him again with a savage kick to the knee, followed by an uppercut.

With both guards down, Wonder Woman kicked down the door like it was cardboard. It splintered into pieces as it burst inward into the room. She didn't have much time, but just enough. She found the girl, trying to disappear into the chair she was tied to.

Diana Prince smiled at the girl, and slowly the girl appeared to relax, recognizing the heroine. Taking her sword off her back, Wonder Woman sliced through the bindings, watching them fall to the ground. The girl rushed to her, hugging her tightly, and Diana noticed the boy off to the corner.

"You're okay, little warrior," Diana said to the girl. "Who's your friend over there?"

Bravely Abigail answered, "He's my friend, DeWayne. The bad people took him when they grabbed me."

Wonder Woman gave him a soft smile, "We're going to get you out, both of you. Are you both ready to go?"

DeWayne nodded, and the Abigail cleaned her tears and nodded as well. Wonder Woman sent them both to the corner away from the window. Crashing her shield into the window, the glass exploded out. At this point, she didn't care if they knew if she was there or not. Her first job was to get the kids away, then she'd take care of the kidnappers.

Just then, Wonder Woman heard the someone come into the room. Instantly she shielded the kids and threw out her right hand. A bullet bounced off her Amazonian bracelet, ricocheting into the ceiling. She was moving forward as the second, third and fourth bullets came at her. Each were knocked away, and she made sure away from the children as well.

"Big mistake," Wonder Woman growled, grabbing the shooter by the throat and slamming her head into the door frame.

The woman stumbled, but got into a fighting stance, "You're tough Wonder Woman, but the kid stays here."

She launched a jab at the heroine, but this was no equal match. Wonder Woman took her out with two moves. One parried the jab, grabbing the arm and pulling the woman towards her. The second was a finely honed hook that took the woman to dreamland. She'd wake up with a headache, but by then that would be the least of her concerns.

Turning back to the kids, Wonder Woman scooped them up gently. Then she gave them a caring smile, reassuring them. They were scared, but there wasn't much she could do about that. Jumping out the window, she landed on the building she had started out at.

Checking the kids, she made sure they were still fine. Before she carried them down the fire escape. Down on street level, she found a police car coming down the road, just what she needed. Putting the kids down, she leaped up and landed just in front of the police car. The cops inside hit the brakes, and she leaped back to the kids.

Rushing the kids over to the police, who exited their vehicle not knowing what to expect. They certainly weren't used to an Amazonian armored woman to just come crashing down in their way. Seeing the kids, the cops looked between Wonder Woman and them. At least she had their attention.

"This is Abigail Wong and DeWayne," she explained. "They were kidnapped from Nashville earlier in the day. He has a broken arm. Can you get them to a hospital and contact Agent Marcus with the F.B.I.?"

One of the officers answered, even as his jaw remained on the ground, "Yes, Ma'am."

Luckily the other officer managed to refocus, "Come on kids. I'm Officer Davis, you can call me, Nat." He smiled gently to them, "Let's get you back home. I'm sure your parents are worried about you."

Still the kids clutched desperately to Wonder Woman. She knelt down, running a hand through their hair. A feeling of warmth and safety ran through the kids and they relaxed a little. They had been through so much, and they were scared.

"You two have been so brave," She said. "I need you to be brave just a bit longer. Go with these officers and they'll get you back to your parents."

The two kids nodded and walked over to the officers. Diana watched to make sure they were being taken care of, before she leapt back up. The children were safe, now it was time to punish their kidnappers. She crashed through another window of the building where they had been held, and right into a group of five gunmen.

Gunter was on top of the building, a helicopter was coming in from the south. Below his fellow FOH militants were fighting. Bullets flew in the building, gunshots going off so frequently that it was near nonstop. Radio traffic told him all he needed to know, and why he had called for his helicopter. One of the heroes had come, the one they called Wonder Woman.

He had a dossier on her, but the extent of her abilities was unknown to the FOH. They had gotten lucky it wasn't Superman, as then he would have to go down with the building. Instead, he was going to escape. The others, well they were collateral damage in the war Humanity was in. Many didn't realize it yet, but they were at war. Ever since the first Mutant had shown up, Humanity's fight for survival had begun.

Gunter was surprised when the helicopter turned and headed away from the building. He only had a bare millisecond to feel dread, before he was no more. The police cars rushing to the building, called by the ones Wonder Woman had stopped, were nearly taken out.

The whole building blew up, sending a great fireball into the sky. Pieces of building and glass showered everything in a wide radius of where the building had been. The only survivor was Wonder Woman, who had been jumping away just as the building had exploded. She had heard the helicopter, and meant to intercept those fleeing before they could get away. Instead the explosion had knocked her away.

A medic ran up to her, as she landed and caught her breath, "Are you okay, miss?"

Taking a breath, Wonder Woman nodded, "It'll take more than that. How are the children?"

"The cops have them going to the hospital," the medic answered.

"Look for anyone that needs help, I'll make my way there," she said and was off.

The medic looked on with awe, before going back to work. There would be time to gush later, but right now Wonder Woman was right. There might be people who need help, and that took priority now. However, this was one night that would be retold for quite some time.

Hours later, Wonder Woman watched as children were reunited with parents. She felt her heart raise, this simple act of love made the whole night worth it. Behind her, Agent Marcus stood silently. He had no doubt she knew he was there, but he was letting her have this moment. Reunions were his favorite part of the job, too.

"What did you find at the building?" Wonder Woman finally asked.

Agent Marcus shook his head, "Nothing. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't know it was the FOH. We did identify one body, one Gunter Stein. He was wanted by the FBI, INTERPOL and other alphabet agencies on several terrorism charges. He was vehemently anti-Mutant. However, we have nothing on who he was working with."

"Thank you, Agent Marcus," Wonder Woman said. "If I find out anything, I'll let you know."

Agent Marcus extended his hand, "Thank you again, Wonder Woman."

She shook his hand and then was off, leaving Agent Marcus alone. He wasn't sure when his old buddy Steve told him about Wonder Woman. Superheroes tended to be loose cannons, but Steve told she'd be worth bringing in. Agent Marcus had to agree with his buddy, she had been good to bring in. However, he had to wonder if they could have gotten more information if she hadn't, or if they would have been mourning the loss of the agents and the kids. That was a thought that could cause a man to drink.