Chapter 3: New Friends

NEW YORK CITY
FEBRUARY 13, 20:34 EST

New York City was truly a sight to behold for Diana as she walked along the bustling streets toward the heart of the city. For most of the day, she had seen no sign of criminal activity so far, so Diana felt she had earned an evening off. She watched the cars and buses pass with amusement, for the way these machines worked were curious to her. Every skyscraper made her think of the towers of the ancient cities, the houses and apartments were unlike any she had seen on Themyscira, and the diners and hotels were like the feast halls of Olympus.

Soon Diana came to a row of pleasant-looking apartments and her walk led her along that row. The people there, not recognizing her as the Amazon hero she really was, simply spared her a glance and a smile as she passed, though some did wave and greet her. This made Diana think, Perhaps man's world has changed in more ways than we expected. Mother would possibly enjoy a visit.

Soon Diana came to a small park where a handful of children were at play while their parents supervised. She smiled to see them playing and laughing together, as though all they knew was innocence and peace. As she went along her way, she saw a girl of seven in a dress patterned with roses cradling a puppy in her arms. Diana gave her a smile, and to her surprise, the girl approached her with a look of excitement.

Diana simply knelt to the girl's level and said gently, "Well, hello."

"Hi!" she replied. "You're Wonder Woman, aren't you?"

Taken by surprise, Diana gave a light chuckle and asked, "What makes you think so?"

"Your face really looks like hers. Only a superhero would have the confidence and niceness you're showing now."

"I can see there's no fooling you, my dear," replied Diana. "I am Diana of Themyscira, known to the outside world as Wonder Woman. What is your name?"

"Sarah," she answered. "Sarah Dawson."

"I am pleased to meet you, Sarah," Diana said. Then she noticed Sarah's puppy and wondered, "And who is your little friend?"

"This is Percy," replied Sarah. "He's been my closest friend since last Christmas." Then Sarah said to her little dog, "Percy, this is Diana. She's a friend."

Percy yipped and hopped into Diana's arms, then licked her face, at which Diana gave a chuckle.

"I think he likes you, Ms. Diana," Sarah giggled.

Diana smiled and would have said more, but before she could, there came a thunderous boom from the direction she had just walked from. To her shock, she saw an explosion in the distance and something that sounded like massive footsteps moving westward. When another explosion rocked the vicinity, Diana handed Percy back to Sarah and said, "I must go to face this threat now, Sarah. I trust you'll be safe?"

"My mom is on one of the benches," Sarah answered. "She'll get me home safely."

"Good," finished Diana.

And with that, she bade Sarah goodbye and hurried toward the scene of destruction. She ducked into an alley and shed her civilian disguise, then reappeared as Wonder Woman, the princess of the Amazons and ambassador to the outside world. She took to the sky and flew as quickly as she could to 34th Street. There were several buildings damaged, some of which had caught fire, cars thrown across the road like toys, and the citizens in the area were fleeing for their lives.

Wonder Woman then saw the cause of the disturbance, and what she saw made her heart pound in her chest. Along the road came one of the creatures that had appeared all over the news that morning: a lumbering giant roughly fifty feet tall whose body was made of stone, each part sporting cracks down to its digits and its form like rocks that had been melded together. This was startling enough, but Wonder Woman also noticed the creature had a human-like head and blazing yellow eyes, and glittering stalagmites grew on its shoulders.

Wonder Woman had no need to think twice on what she was about to do. She flew up to the level of the creature's face and shouted, "You will go no further, monster! Go back to the pit from whence you came, or face Amazonian justice!"

The stone giant did not reply, but let out a cracking, rumbling roar like stones grating against each other. Then it came at Wonder Woman on great strides that made the street crack under its footfalls and raised an arm to strike. Wonder Woman dodged the blow and moved in to attack. She punched the stone monster repeatedly in the chest with enough force to level a house, but to her astonishment, she only managed to leave a few dents in its chest, which began to heal.

Then the creature swung at her, only for Wonder Woman to catch its stone fist and push back with all her strength. She managed to get out from under it, but the stone giant seized her in a grip like a vise of rock and slammed her into a building. Wonder Woman flew out from the hole, dazed but unhurt, and this time, she had a thought. She bound her magic lasso around the creature's torso and pulled as hard as she could, and she slowly pulled the creature back. Unfortunately, it grabbed the rope and released itself, then slung Wonder Woman about before letting go, sending the Amazon champion sailing toward the ground.

Meanwhile, Superman, Batman, and Martian Manhunter were already on their way to repel the monster. As they trailed it, Batman saw Wonder Woman falling and said through his comlink, "It appears a new player was already in on the game. I'll try to stop her before she hits the ground. You two go after that creature."

"Will do, Batman," Superman agreed.

With that, Superman and Martian Manhunter flew with all speed and caught up with the rampaging stone giant while Batman put the Batwing on autopilot. He then readied a Bat-cable and then prepared to hang from the right wing. It was not a minute too soon, for Wonder Woman landed on the wing and jolted the jet so Batman nearly fell off. Luckily, his grappling hook saved him, and he caught Wonder Woman as she slid off.

When Wonder Woman had oriented herself, she found herself on a rooftop with Batman beside her. For a moment, the two locked eyes, and Batman felt his expression soften despite himself. He had heard tales from visitors to Gotham about Wonder Woman and had seen the truth of them for himself, so in his mind, it was clear that she could be trusted.

"I know it's not the Amazon way to be afraid," said Batman. "But I can assure you we're fighting the same fight for the same purpose."

Wonder Woman gave a smile and said, "Then you have my thanks. But that monster is still tearing its way through the city."

"That's why I brought two friends," he replied. And he gestured to Superman and Martian Manhunter, who were giving the stone giant a sound beating.

Superman flew at the creature and gave a punch to the face that caused it to stumble back. He pounded its chest, leaving several craters in its stone body, then he used his freeze breath to seal the monster's fists in blistering-cold ice. The tactic worked for a while, but then Superman took a punch and went sailing a short distance before resuming his attack. He began disorienting the monster by punching in one place and then another while avoiding the blows of those rough hands.

Martian Manhunter took the creature from behind, landing blows to its back and shapeshifting to avoid being hit. At one point, the stone giant nearly scored a blow, but he suddenly made himself intangible and the creature's fist only passed through him. Then as Superman blasted the monster with his heat vision, Martian Manhunter displayed his power of telekinesis by binding its legs with ruined cars and it fell face-down on the ground.

Wonder Woman was amazed at seeing the two heroes handle the monster with such power and ease, for she said to herself, "By the bolt of Zeus!"

Then the stone giant belched lava into the street below Martian Manhunter, and he began to slowly descend toward it. Sweat poured down his face and he groaned as though the heat was nauseating him, and finally his strength gave out and his fall increased. Superman immediately saw his new friend's distress and caught him mere feet above the smoking lava before he blew his freezing cold breath, rendering it solid and harmless.

"J'onn, are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes," Martian Manhunter replied. "I am well. This fight is not over for either of us yet."

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman was itching to help Superman and Martian Manhunter and said to Batman, "They stand by each other as friends! We must help them!"

"And we will," the Dark Knight replied.

He climbed into the Batwing and took off with Wonder Woman flying beside him. They joined the fight and kept the stone giant from progressing further on its rampage though it continued to put up a bitter battle. But the four were not alone in this struggle.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a streak of red and gold raced through the streets and in only three seconds, the stone monster was anchored to an overturned dump truck by a cable and couldn't get away. Wonder Woman was the first to notice and asked Batman, "What wonder is this?"

"We have some extra help," he replied simply.

It was true, for the one who had prevented the monster from going further was the Flash, the protector of Central City. He gave a salute and then called up to Superman, "Just keep pounding at him, big guy! I'll draw his fire to keep him off-balance!"

Superman nodded quickly, and then Flash ran behind the creature and got its attention. "Hey! Over here, you geological nightmare!"

The stone giant roared once more at this ludicrous insult and spat its scalding lava at him, but Flash zipped aside and the stream of molten rock missed him by a vast margin. Again and again, Flash dodged the stone giant's attacks, but his method of anchoring it didn't stick for long and the creature was soon free.

It looked like the group of superheroes had their work cut out for them, but suddenly, a water main released a fountain of water to the surface, and Aquaman was riding it. He aimed his trident at the still-smoldering lava and his fountain cooled it in a rush of steam. Seeing the newcomer, the stone giant lunged forward with a roar when it was struck in the back by what looked like a jackhammer made of solid green light-energy. The six heroes looked around and saw the superhero known as Green Lantern keeping their foe at bay.

Superman saw an opportunity arise and he called, "Let's all hit it together!"

The others followed his plan and began throwing the stone giant off-balance so well, it could not hold its attention on one of them for long. The seven heroes put up the fight easily and after only another minute, the monster floated into the sky and fled from New York City.

After a moment of making sure the monster had left New York, Superman, Batman, and the others made introductions with each other.

Flash shook hands with Superman and said excitedly, "It is truly an honor to meet you, Superman. You're famous throughout America and other parts of the world as a fighter for justice and an advocate for freedom."

"I do the best I can in everything," the Man of Steel said with honesty.

"Very true," Batman affirmed. "Superman may have his faults, but he's solidly committed to fighting crime and he values life."

Wonder Woman smiled and said, "I should think so. His courage and code of honor is of the finest quality of any man I have met."

Flash looked at Wonder Woman and gave a smile that was meant to be polite, but it looked more like he was trying to hide his amazement at her beauty. Still, he pulled himself together and asked, "And who might you be?"

"I am Diana of Themyscira, princess of the Amazons," she replied. "My superhero identity is Wonder Woman."

Green Lantern gave a polite bow and said, "An honor to be your company, Your Highness. Green Lantern, protector of Sector 2814, at your service."

Then Aquaman approached and stated, "I am Orin, king of Atlantis, known to the surface world as Aquaman."

"I am Martian Manhunter, known on my home world of Mars as J'onn J'onzz," finished Martian Manhunter. "I am here to provide what aid I can to stop the encroaching threat."

Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman were all surprised, but also intrigued, and they each shook hands and welcomed him as a visitor to Earth. Then Manhunter said, "It is good to be among friends, but we cannot linger. The invasion has only begun and we must regroup to form a counter-strategy of our own."

"Where can we go to meet privately?" inquired Green Lantern.

"The Cave would be the closest option," replied Batman.

The others agreed, and with that, the seven superheroes followed Batman out of New York and toward Gotham City for their first meeting together.


A/N: Because this story takes place in 2004, the costumes of the heroes resemble their classic styles while Martian Manhunter's reflects his outfit from Young Justice.

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