Uncanny Wonder Woman

Chapter 35: Blood of the Gorgon- Part 1

By

The Uncanny R-Man

Disclaimer- All familiar characters belong to DC Comics.

Justice League Watchtower-

Wonder Woman was in the commissary in the Justice League Watchtower where the heroes took their meals. The Amazon princess was sitting at a table with Black Canary, the pair both enjoying their food. Diana had gone for the same meal she always did, a simple baked potato with a salad and mineral water. Black Canary wasn't so health conscious. She had brought in some leftover chilli that Green Arrow had made the night before. She had chosen a large sugary soda drink to wash down her meal.

'I still can't believe that you and Oliver haven't chosen to have children.' Diana said as she stabbed a piece of lettuce with her fork. 'Having a child is one of the most joyous things in life.'

'I doubt Ollie is the fatherly type.' Black canary responded with a mouthful of chilli. 'Although, knowing his reputation before we got together I wouldn't be surprised if there were lots of little Queens running around the place. Say, when are you and Bruce going to tie the knot? What's the ceremony going to be? Bruce doesn't take me as much of a religious person, and you worship all those Greek gods. I guess you could have the ceremony in a registry office or something…'

'I could ask the same thing of you and Oliver, Dinah.' Diana interrupted her friend. 'When are you two going to be wed?' Black Canary just snorted in derision.

'Oh, you know what Ollie's like.' Dinah scoffed. 'He's a typical man. Mention commitment and he runs a mile.'

The sound of the Martian Manhunter's voice coming from loudspeakers interrupted the heroines' respective meals.

'All active members of the Justice League report to the teleport pads immediately.'

Black Canary stood up from her reheated chilli with a reluctant sigh. 'I've just gorged myself on Ollie's chilli and now we've got trouble? I know I'm going to end up with indigestion.'

Opal City-

Wonder Woman and her team of heroes had been teleported down to Opal City. The League of Assassins were threatening to detonate a bomb in the city. The Flash had quickly disarmed the bomb already and it was just a matter of mopping up the straggling goons. Wonder Woman had one of the assassins tied up with her golden lasso and was about to question him for more information. An arrow whizzed through the air and hit Wonder Woman in the shoulder.

'Wonder Woman, you're hit!' The Flash said, his voice full of concern.

'It's just a scratch.' Wonder Woman replied as she gritted her teeth and removed the arrow. 'Now, to find the archer.'

Wonder Woman took to the air in search of the one that had shot the arrow at her. She soon saw a bearded man dressed in black backing a getaway. She recognised him as Merlyn, one of Green Arrow's enemies. He considered himself to be Green Arrow's nemesis.

'Where do you think you're going?' Wonder Woman asked as she swooped down and picked up the villainous archer. 'I hope you didn't think that you'd get away.'

'Let go of me!' Merlyn yelled as he struggled to free himself from Wonder Woman's grasp.

'Are you sure that's wise at this height?' Wonder Woman asked. 'If I did let you go it would make an awful mess.' Merlyn yelped in shock once he realised how high they were flying.

'Don't let me go!' The villainous archer yelped. 'Don't let me go.' Wonder Woman simply smiled to herself as she took the defeated villain down to the ground to the authorities. Black Canary looked over at her friend concernedly.

'Are you sure you're okay?' Black Canary asked. 'That's a nasty arrow wound you've got there.'

'I'm fine.' Wonder Woman waved off her friend's concern. 'I'm already healed, see?'

'I still think you should led somebody take a look at that.' Black Canary shook her head. 'You could end up getting a bad infection or something.'

Wayne Manor, later-

Wonder Woman had reluctantly sought out medical attention, but they could find nothing but the obvious wrong with the wound that Merlyn had dealt her. The medics had patched up her arm and set her home. There was really no need for any fuss. Diana felt absolutely fine. Sure, her arm was a little sore, but that was understandable seeing that she had just been shot in the arm with an arrow.

Diana was preparing for bed. It didn't surprise her when she noticed that Bruce wasn't home. He was probably off on patrol somewhere. The Amazon slipped into her nightwear and frowned at the sensation of her arm starting to feel cold and hard. She looked down and what she saw made her blood run cold. Her whole arm had turned to stone!

Diana stumbled back against her dresser, knocking over a vase and sending it crashing to the floor. The sound woke her daughter Cassandra and the infant girl started to cry. Diana started to feel dizzy and her vision started to blur. Her legs seemed to turned to rubber and she found it difficult to stand.

'Miss Diana, is everything well?' Alfred, Bruce Wayne's loyal butler, asked as he popped his head around the door. 'I heard a crash and… Oh my!'

Alfred gasped in shock at the weakened Diana with her petrified arm. She reached out with her remaining good arm beseechingly.

'Alfred, help…' Then unconsciousness took the Amazon princess.

Justice League Watchtower-

Alfred had summoned the Justice League medics immediately. Dr Mid-Nite had answered the call straight away and had whisked her back to the Watchtower to set about trying to diagnose the problem. His medical knowledge came up empty he couldn't find any possible cure for Diana's condition. Diana hadn't even been in the Watchtower for an hour, yet the rest of her body was already turning to stone. With scientific knowledge coming up blank, the magic users of the Justice League were called. Perhaps the mysterious ailment was magical in nature.

'It has to be gorgon blood.' Zatanna thought out loud. 'I've heard stories about people being poisoned by gorgon blood and turning to stone. There's no cure as far as I know. If there ever was a cure it was forgotten long ago.'

'Where's Batman any way?' Black Canary asked. 'Shouldn't he be here with her?'

'I'd bet he's looking for a solution on his won.' Zatanna replied. 'I just hope he finds it.'

The outskirts of Central City-

A well-dressed woman walked up to a classy-looking apartment building and walked inside. The woman had purple hair and was wearing an expensive business suit. This was not mere mortal woman, however. This was the immortal sorceress known as Circe. Ever since her last defeat at the hands of Wonder Woman and her allies Circe had decided to lay low for a while. She chose Central City to hide away from the heroes. Life was going well for Circe and her daughter Lyta, or so it seemed…

Circe unlocked the door to her apartment with a wave of her hand.

'Lyta, mommy's home!' Circe called to her daughter. The purple-haired sorceress frowned to herself when her daughter didn't come running to greet her. The sitter always let Lyta stay up until Circe came home.

Circe sensed that something wasn't right. Even if Lyta was asleep, the babysitter would have been there to greet her. Hades have mercy on whoever was stupid enough to attack them in their home. Circe's hand glowed bright green with magic as she made her way towards her daughter's bedroom.

'Hades help you, whoever you are!' Circe hissed as she threw open the door to Lyta's room. Circe exhaled in relief once she saw that her daughter was safe and sleeping in bed. She turned around to go back into the hallway only to bump right into Batman.

'Aaaugh!' Circe yelped in surprise and threw a bolt of magical energy at the lurking Dark Knight. The magic bolt impacted harmlessly against Batman's chest. Circe narrowed her eyes and a sneer crossed her face when she noticed the tiny baby dangling around Batman's neck.

'Moly.' Circe hissed. Wonder Woman and her ilk had often used the herb to protect themselves from her magic. 'I'm starting to had that bloody cow Zatanna for telling you about that. What the hell have you done to the babysitter? You wouldn't have killed her. You self-righteous idiots would never do anything like that. No, forget that. Why the hell are you here? You'd better tell me quick before I really get angry! There ways other than magic to get what I want.'

Batman's face remained expressionless. He wasn't intimidated in the least by Circe's threats.

'Circe, I need your help…'

TBC…

Next: Blood of the Gorgon- Part 2

Oh no Batman didn't! Did he really just ask Circe for help? Yes, yes he did. Will Circe help Wonder Woman? Will Donna Troy end up killing Merlyn once she finds out what has happened to her sister? What about Talia, the one behind this whole mess?