A/N: Have another quick update. Gotten a little sidetracked, but will be continuing this soon.

"Welcome to jolly ol' London," he (Steve Trevor) said. - Nancy Holder, Wonder Woman movie novelization

She is running towards a strange looking craft, with long appendages on either side and a blade on the front, four men by her side, all holding the same device that held the projectile weapons on Themyscira. Flaming buildings surrounded them all. She was wearing a dark coat and skirt, wearing a sword on her back. The men were all wearing what seemed to be uniforms. One of them was the mortal called Steve Trevor. As they close in on the craft, he calls out...

"Failure is not an option! We need to stop that plane from taking off!"

Antiope jolted awake.

Great Hera, what was that?

"Antiope, are you all right?"

The Amazonian general turned her head towards the sound of the of the voice to see Diana looking at her with an expression of concern. Captain Trevor bore a very similar expression.

As shaken by the dream as she had been, Antiope knew she couldn't allow herself to show any weakness, not now.

There was too much at stake for that.

"I am well," she replied. "It was only a dream, Diana."

Diana seemed to accept that, but the mortal's expression appeared to be more skeptical. "You sure?" he asked. "That seemed to be more like a nightmare, judging by the sounds you were making."

Antiope's features hardened. "I am sure," she stated firmly, and changed the subject. "Have we made it to our destination yet?"

"We're close," the man stated, not looking as though he believed her words, but had chosen to respect her wish to not speak of it further. "You remember that large ship that picked us up yesterday?"

Antiope nodded. They had been sailing for a day and a half when a vessel that Captain Trevor referred to as a pre-dreadnought had picked them up. It was heading for a land that they referred to as England. It had been nearly a full day since then. The mortal had managed to get something he called rations from the crew. Her share hadn't tasted pleasant, but Antiope had eaten far worse, and in any case, this would help her get some of her strength back. Diana had not been sure she wanted to eat it until Antiope had told her that it wasn't certain when they would reach land and that they would be needing to keep up their strength until then. Further, she pointed out, it was against the laws of hospitality to refuse food that had been offered to them by those who were currently their hosts. Diana had relented after that.

Antiope had allowed herself to doze off soon afterwards, following a promise from Captain Trevor that he would keep watch until they arrived. And judging from the phrasing, it seemed as though they may finally be close.

"I remember," she said now. "Go on."

"We were transferred over to a smaller vessel we call a tugboat. It pulls in those ships that need assistance. We're still attached to them and should be reaching a docking area in the next few minutes," he replied.

"Antiope, it looks awful. Nothing like Themyscira," Diana said.

The Amazonian general flickered her gaze along the edges of the shoreline of the narrow body of water they were traveling down. It didn't take her long to spot the reason why Diana seemed so appalled by the sight.

She could say honestly she'd never seen anything like it. The sky above, which had been blue the previous day, had become covered in clouds as gray as iron. Dark smoke, darker than any she'd ever seen, issued from other ships and boats that they passed. There were buildings crowding the edges of either side of the waterfront, with people moving to and fro. The air and water smelled as rank as a Parademon. Worse, in fact.

What has man done to this world since our seclusion? she thought grimly.

All told, Antiope could not find it in her to be the slightest bit impressed by what she saw.

Still, it would be best to be diplomatic. They were guests in the country he served, after all.

"So this is the settlement you call London," she said dryly, looking back at Steve Trevor. "How...quaint."

Diana seemed to agree, judging by her expression. "It's hideous," she said.

To do him some credit, even Captain Trevor didn't try to pretend that it looked wonderful. "Yeah, well...," he said, with a flustered expression on his face, "It's not for everyone."

"I would agree," Antiope agreed. Her gaze caught on some taller buildings in the distance. While she didn't think much of the sight of this settlement, she could remember the architecture of Helias before they'd gone to Themyscira. What she saw didn't match it, to be sure, but the building shaped close to an obelisk with what Antiope would guess was some kind of time-keeping device like the watch he was wearing struck her as an ambitious creation. Rather like the Ancient races of her time.

In any case, Antiope knew, she would have to get used to living in such a world. Themyscira had been hidden for a reason, and they would never be able to go back. She turned attention back to Captain Trevor. "You were on a mission, you said. I assume you must report to your superior officers about the results?"

"Antiope, we need to find Ares. Captain Trevor promised us he would take us to the war to find him," Diana protested.

The Amazonian general looked at her niece sternly as she raised an eyebrow. "And I'm sure he will be willing to assist us in finding a way there," she replied. "But this is also important. You do remember what I said about spies and scouts needing to provide information to their generals so that a proper strategy can be formed, I trust?"

Diana nodded. "Yes, Antiope."

"Steve Trevor was sent on a mission by his superior officers. He needs to complete this mission before embarking on another. Or gaining permission to embark on another, at any rate," Antiope finished. "Again, your enthusiasm does you credit, but we need to move carefully on this. Should Ares indeed be alive, he has had thousands of years to learn to blend in. We are in his world now, and need to proceed with as much caution and preparation as we can. It would not do to lose our guide because his superiors decided to punish him for failure to report."

Steve Trevor gave a brisk nod in Antiope's direction, a slight smile on his face. "Thank you," he said. Turning his attention to Diana, he went on, "As your aunt says, I really do need to get this information to those who can do something about it. But first, we're going to stop to get you both something different to wear."

"What is wrong with what we are wearing?" Diana asked curiously.

"Well, to start, no one has worn outfits like yours in quite a few centuries," he said carefully. "You'll both attract unnecessary attention, particularly if you do need to blend in like your aunt says."

Antiope considered that briefly. As much as she loathed the idea of wearing something besides her battle armor, she could see the wisdom in concealing their identities as much as possible. "I trust you know someone who can assist with that?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'll call her when we get to shore," Captain Trevor replied. Looking over Antiope's head, he went on, "And judging by the look of it, it won't be much longer."

Antiope looked behind her and saw that they'd finally come up close to an empty dock. "Indeed," she replied.

She pulled on her cloak and watched Diana do the same. Before long, they'd reached the dock and Captain Trevor spoke to a man who'd approached as he saw their boat coming in, a very bemused expression on his face. Within a few minutes, the boat was tied up and they stepped onto the dock.

As they walked through what seemed to be a shipyard, Antiope couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy. They were in an unfamiliar world with no idea of what lay ahead.

Still, she'd never run from a battle before and she wasn't going to start now. She pursed her mouth into a thin line.

Let the battle be joined, whatever the outcome may prove to be.

Diana gazed around as her small group made their way through London.

In many ways, she was having a hard time understanding what she was seeing. All the stories she'd ever heard about humanity had suggested a far simpler lifestyle; a less built-up civilization. Reconciling what she had heard in those old tales with what she was seeing in front of her-trash lining the streets, people rushing here and there, the heavy crowds, the grayness of the buildings and the sky above-was proving very impossible.

Part of her knew her aunt was correct, that Ares couldn't be responsible for all of this, but it made her wonder just what had happened that humanity had left behind the simpler life for something like this.

In some ways it seemed so bleak, and yet Diana couldn't help but feel a small sense of awe. No Amazons besides herself and Antiope would ever see what the world of men had become. As much as there was a part of her that felt shocked by what she was witnessing, she couldn't help but be amazed at the same time by how the world had developed.

She couldn't wait to explore this world. Once Ares had been dealt with, that is.

Diana heard Antiope chuckle behind her. "It is quite a spectacle, this 'London', isn't it?" her aunt asked.

She nodded. "It is," she murmured. "But we really should be going to deal with Ares."

"Patience, Diana," Antiope said softly. "We will get our chance."

Something seemed off about her aunt's tone, but before she could comment on it, the sight of a woman carrying a small bundle, and started towards them. "It's a baby," she cried.

Steve Trevor groaned and started after her, managing to grab her before she could reach the small family. "No babies, Diana," he said as he managed to pull her away. "Please, let's just get moving."

Diana felt a stab of disappointment, but quietly conceded as she let herself be led away. There would always be another time, she decided. Besides, the mission was more important.

"Antiope," Steve Trevor called as he glanced behind them towards her aunt, who seemed to have paused while he was trying to stop her. He frowned as he saw the tension on her features, as did Diana. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

The Amazonian general just turned her head back to face them and said grimly, "We should keep going. I believe you said something about getting us garb to blend in?"

Diana frowned, as did Steve Trevor, but before either could say anything, her aunt started forward, forcing them both to start moving again.

Diana glanced quickly behind her as they headed back into the crowds, but couldn't locate what had made her aunt react in the manner she just had.

Strange, Diana thought, as she turned back to observe the strange new world she was in.

What was that all about?

They were being followed; of that, Antiope was certain.

She had first started getting the impression of being watched very shortly after they'd left the shipyard. She'd initially put it down to someone being startled by the sight of two women wearing cloaks, something she'd noticed a lack of on other women they'd seen so far.

But then, her warrior instincts had started screaming at her in a way she couldn't ignore. Not wanting to alert either her niece or Captain Trevor prematurely, she put on the air of one taking a casual glance around.

It hadn't been long before she noticed the first man behind them. He was dressed in what seemed to be a nondescript manner, but when they paused for the first time, so had he.

Once she'd located him, it hadn't been too hard to pick up the other two men who seemed to be hovering close as well. She'd done her best to keep up the appearance that everything was all right, but it seemed Diana had caught something. Plus, it seemed Captain Trevor had picked up on the odd behavior as well.

The men had to be here for him, she suspected. After all, he'd been chased onto Themyscira by other soldiers with the intent to kill him and retrieve the information he had stolen.

But how his enemies had tracked him down was a mystery. For all they could have known, their men as well as he had met with some misadventure at sea. Antiope knew how such things could happen. Ships had been known to founder even in clear weather, though that was usually the fault of shoddy workmanship. There was no way they could have known for sure that Captain Trevor had survived.

And yet, his enemies had seemingly been laying in wait here; waiting for him, apparently. Whether a lucky guess or his pursuers had somehow gotten a message back to their chief vessel was anyone's guess.

In any case, the Amazonian general suspected that the only reason these men hadn't attacked so far was because of the crowd. While they might not care about collateral damage, given what their compatriots had done to some of her sisters in their attempt to kill Captain Trevor, she couldn't imagine that their superiors would be pleased that they'd drawn attention to themselves.

No, she decided, as she caught the sense of two more men arriving in the group. They would be careful about when they attacked. They would pick their time, likely when the crowds thinned.

Until then, it would be best to pretend she hadn't seen anything. She would move once they struck. Diana, she was sure, would also react when the proper time came.

Antiope smirked.

Let the battle be joined indeed.