Uncanny Wonder Woman

Chapter 18: She's Back!- Part 3

By

The Uncanny R-Man

Disclaimer- All familiar characters belong to DC.

Arkham Asylum-

Wonder Woman was having one of those days. First, several male heroes had been transported to Gotham City and had been magically transformed into beasts, then a veritable army of female villains descended on the city, and proceeded to hunt the transformed heroes. Wonder Woman had organised a group of female heroes to target the mess. She had split up the heroines into two smaller groups. One group would try to stop the villainesses from harming the transformed heroes while another group tried to find a way to turn the heroes back. The last group, of which Diana was in charge of, were to hunt down the person responsible, namely the immortal sorceress known as Circe.

Diana had split up from her group and went in search of Circe herself. Unfortunately, the sorceress hadn't just transformed heroes into beasts, she had done the same to several of Arkham's male inmates!

Diana ducked an attack from Hydra-Two-Face and kicked the transformed villain in the gut, eliciting a hiss. The Amazon Princess couldn't have done what Heracles had done with the real Lernaean Hydra during his infamous Twelve Labours and cut off its head, as they only would have grown back. There was no telling what would have happened to Hydra-Two-Face once he returned to normal.

Diana blocked one the creature's gnashing mouths with her silver bracelets and grabbed the creature's second neck.

'I am truly sorry about this.' The Amazing Amazon apologised sincerely as she swung the screeching Hydra-Two-Face around, nailing Hyena-Joker and Panther-Black Mask with the creature's whip-like tail. 'It's nothing personal. You'll all thank me once you return to normal.'

That just left Elephant-Ventriloquist, Polar Bear-Mr Freeze and Crocodile-Killer Croc.

Crocodile-Killer Croc charged at Diana, only for her to dodge out of the way and bind the creature's snout with her magical lasso. With a mighty heave, Diana flung the transformed Croc into the air only to come crashing down on top of Polar Bear-Mr Freeze, knocking out both villains.

Unwinding her lasso from the unconscious Croc, Diana turned to face the transformed Ventriloquist. The villain seemed to be reluctant to face her. Diana then remembered that elephants weren't a particularly aggressive species. She would be fine just as long as she didn't make any sudden moves.

'It's okay…' Diana reassured the trasnformed Ventriloquist calmly as she slowly began to back away. 'I don't wish you any harm.'

Elephant-Ventriloquist just flapped its ears and turned its back. Apparently, the transformed villain had lost interest with the fight and was now occupying its time by playing with Scarface. Diana breathed a sigh of relief as she backed out of the door and headed off on her way to find Circe.

Later-

Fortunately, Diana didn't encounter any more transformed villains on her journey to the nether regions of the asylum, where Circe would have undoubtedly hidden herself.

The eerie silence of the asylum spooked the dark-haired Amazon greatly, and she didn't spook easily. There was something in the air that chilled the Amazon Princess to the bone. She'd rather be at home looking after her newborn daughter. It barely seemed like Diana had spent any time with little Cassandra since she was born. Perhaps she could take some time off once all the fuss was over and done with.

A low growl snapped Diana back to reality.

'What in Hera's name…?'

The princess squinted as she saw a large figure partially obscured by the shadows. She could just about make out the shape of a long red cape flowing down the person's back.

'Superman…?' Diana blinked. 'Clark, is that you?'

She soon got her answer as the figure stepped out of the shadows. This was no ordinary Man of Steel, however. He had been transformed along with the rest of the male heroes.

Diana gasped in shock when she saw the state that Superman was in. His skin had taken on a dull grey texture and there were bony protrusions all over his body.

'Oh Clark, what has that witch done to you?' Diana shook her head in sympathy as she made a move to comfort her friend.

Doomsday-Superman let out an angry roar and took a swipe at Diana with a huge bony fist, knocking her to the ground.

'Clark…' Diana grunted as she slowly got up to her feet. 'You are not yourself. Circe has changed you. Please, try to see sense.'

'Oh, I'm afraid that the old Man of Steel that you used to know is long gone.' An evil voice chuckled from the darkness. 'Hello, Diana. I wish I could say that it's a pleasure to see you, but we'd both know that I'd be lying.'

'Circe!' Diana snarled as she spun around to try and get a look at the immortal sorceress. 'You shall pay dearly for this!'

'Hmm, I don't think I will.' Circe retorted. 'You see, my plan can't possibly fail this time. Well, I say plan… It's mostly just an excuse to see the Big Blue Boy Scout beat the snot out of you.'

The purple-haired sorceress then gave Doomsday-Superman a nod, signaling that he should continue.

'RWAAAWWR!!' The transformed Man of Steel bellowed as he charged towards Diana. The Amazon Princess barely managed to avoid another blow from her friend's massive fists.

'Oh, this is so much fun to watch!' Circe applauded from the sidelines. 'I wish that Lyta could see it now, but I doubt that something like this would be suitable for a child's eyes.'

Doomsday-Superman tried to slam his fists into Diana's shoulders, but she was ready for the attack and blocked it with her silver bracelets. She couldn't take many more blows like that. It was times like these that made Diana wish that she had some Kryptonite handy.

Then an idea struck her: Superman is vulnerable to magic! That included such things as magically-enchanted weapons, and Diana had one such enchanted object upon her person: her enchanted tiara!

'I'm sorry, Clark…' Diana apologised as she removed the tiara from her head. Doomsday-Superman just roared in response and charged at her once more.

Diana tossed her enchanted tiara like a Frisbee, aiming for the transformed Superman's throat. The tiara found its mark and embedded itself in its intended spot.

Doomsday-Superman grunted in surprise and pain and fell to his knees, clutching at his throat.

'Well, that wasn't fun at all.' Circe tutted. 'You really know how to rain on somebody's parade.'

'Give it up, Circe!' Diana demanded. 'Return the heroes to normal and I shall go easy on y…'

'You leave my mommy alone!'

'What…?' Diana spun around to take a look at the new arrival. A little purple-haired girl ran up to Circe and hugged the sorceress's legs.

'Leave my mommy alone, you big meanie!'

Diana could barely believe her ears. Did the little girl just call Circe 'mommy'?

'Oh, don't look so surprised, Princess.' Circe rolled her eyes. 'I have to do something to occupy myself when I'm not tormenting you!' She smiled and patted Lyta's head.

Diana's shoulders slumped. She had been ready to tear into Circe, but now she couldn't. She couldn't attack the sorceress in front of her daughter.

'Circe, I'll make you a deal…' Diana sighed heavily. 'Return the heroes to normal and I shall let you and your daughter leave without incident.'

'My, you're so kind.' Circe smiled sarcastically as she waved her hands about. 'There, my spell's undone.'

Circe took her daughter's hand and started to walk away.

'Come along, Lyta. The Princess has spoilled all our fun now.'

Diana didn't even watch Circe leave. She was too concerned with her own thoughts. Yes, she had won the battle, but why did she feel so bad about it?

TBC…

Next: Meet Diana Prince

Meet Diana Prince: Curator of Greek Mythology at the Boston Museum of Natural History.