Author's Notes: And here we go with the origin story! It'll roughly follow the same story "beats" as the 2009 movie, but with slight tweaks. See the footnotes for any asterisks or references.
Imagine, say, Liv Tyler as Diana and Anthony Montgomery as Steve Trevor for rough casting ideas.
CHAPTER ONE: THE DAY THE WORLD CHANGED
It was a bright spring day, with the sun high in the sky and a calm breeze billowing through the woods. It was the 4th day of the month of Skirophorion – Aphrodite's day – two centuries to the day since the Amazons freed themselves of their imprisonment by Heracles.
To the inhabitants of Themyscira, there was no indication that today would be different from any other – bar a deep, low hum, and a single, miniscule, dot on the horizon. The hum grew louder and louder as the dot grew in size.
Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons and her friend Orana were the first to see and hear it as they were out riding on the northern peak, Mt. Erebus. They'd come to this point to test out a pair of pédila – winged slippers – that had been a gift from Hermes.
It'd be unwise, of course, to do so in the city square. So, before of the crack of dawn, when Orana was busy sneaking into the Arms Gallery to take the precious sandals, Diana had taken their horses from the stables, and both had reached the peninsula before the sun rose.
Now, everything had changed. The two shaded their eyes and gazed towards the horizon. Orana turned to her companion.
"Diana, what is it?"
The dot had now become a shape; a giant, headless, bird. Its metal wings glinted in the morning sun.
"I cannot tell. Its wingspan outstrips anything I've ever seen, Orana."
"Maybe one of Hephaestus's pet projects got loose again."
Diana sighed, and turned back to her companion. "Maybe. I don't know."
"Perhaps…we should take a closer look?" asked Orana, while coyly holding up the winged slippers.
Returning the same look, Diana got to one knee, quickly unlacing her own footwear.
=w=
High above them and far away, the object of their interest neared them with every instant. It was a UB-12, one of the United States Air Force's latest toys, armed with a brand-new Triskelion missile, with a payload of 6 tons of TNT. One of these was enough to lay waste to a good part of a city.
Inside, its pilot, Captain Steven Rockwell Trevor, was going over the same doubts in his mind as he had during the mission brief. The mission was simple enough: test the Triskelion on a simulated island in the middle of nowhere. But why choose this podunk island in the middle of the Atlantic that nobody had ever heard of before, and not Gravett Island, the usual test site?
He'd asked the same question of his CO, Colonel Phil Darnell. Phil had replied like a man possessed. Something also was unsettling about Phil's new aide-de-camp…what was her name? Kyrie? He'd gotten the same vibe from his co-pilot, some trainee from Edwards Air Base, Cadet First Class Apati.
Well, nothing for it. Time to test out the long-range scanning systems; radar showed nothing, sonar revealed a test probe three km behind and increasing, and telescoping infrared camera showed...life signs? That couldn't be right.
He re-calibrated it. Enhanced it as far as it would go. There were life signs, all right. Human-sized ones, too. He activated the telephoto forward camera. A screen shifted from the spec view to one showing the next hundred km or so.
Sure enough, among the buildings, there were people, all right. The buildings seemed to be old-style ones, too, hardly the usual suburbs they tested the USAF's toys on. Steve bit his lip. Surely there'd been some snafu along the way. There's no way they could've ordered a missile test on live civilians.
"Rockefeller to Home One. Long-range scans show civilians on Redland. Reconfirm coordinates. Over."
A pause.
"Home One to Rockefeller. Coordinates are correct. Over."
What?
"Rockefeller to Home One. Resend. Over."
"Coordinates are correct. Proceed with test. That is an order. Over."
Maybe age had gotten to the old man's head.
"Impossible. Definite civilian presence. Reconfirm. Over."
Suddenly, a new voice sounded. "Enough!"
It was his co-pilot. Steve wheeled around – and gasped in horror. His co-pilot was mutating, shifting shape even. The usual flight-suit was falling off in strips, to reveal a demoniac woman in some kind of armour. Before the image could even register, Steve felt the roof fall away, and in the next moment, he'd been ripped out of his own cockpit.
=w=
As Diana came closer and closer towards the bird, it became evident that it was no bird – its wings did not flap, and she could even see someone in the "head" of the metal creature from far. Suddenly, she heard a series of loud cracks, and small pieces of metal came flying towards her.
Reacting instinctively, she raised her arms to guard. She managed to deflect some of the pellets with her bracers, but there were too many, all coming too fast. Three, four, grazed her arms and chest, and she cringed in pain, leaving the strange craft to pass her with an ear-splitting SWOOSH.
Diana bit her lip, and turned to pursue the craft. Whoever was inside was no friend to her or her sisters.
=w=
Inside the plane, Apati*, now in her true form, was surprised and marvelled. This was certainly a change; Ares had said nothing about the Amazons being able to fly. Still, nothing would stop her from carrying out her goal. And what a noble goal it was, destroying the accursed Amazons.
This would show her sisters that she, the spirit of Deception, was the most worthy of Ares' three daughters. What had Kyriefsi and Pleonexia done? Pour honeyed words in that crusty old colonel's ear? Filled him with foolish notions of pride and ambition? Still, nothing they could say or do could change the fact that the hand that would crush those peace-loving fools would be hers.
Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a sudden CRASH on the left side of the plane. Blow after earth-shattering blow rained on the wing of the UB-12. She glided to the front seat, and saw it: that same Amazon, arms and body bruised and bleeding, trying to tear off the left wing.
She could deal with that later. Now, her mission from father was all that mattered. With a swift pull on the trigger, it was done. The Triskelion missile shot forth, rippling through the air around it as it left. Now the Amazons' fate was sealed.
=w=
All Orana could see from where she stood was a single blazing arrow, speeding forth from the…whatever it was. It clearly had hostile intent; nowhere that she knew used violence as a greeting. She clambered upon her horse, and was about to turn around, when she saw the other mount, without its rider.
Diana had left to see what that strange craft was; now that it had attacked Themyscira, how safe could she be? Orana paused for a few moments, before deciding that the best she could do for her friend was to rally her sisters to strike against their foe.
=w=
Once the blazing bolt had left the craft, Diana realized that attacking it had no use, and entered a low swoop, pushing through the turbulent air to chase the arrow. Inside the plane, Apati smiled to herself. With that annoying girl out of the way, she could now afford to have some fun. Her target grew nearer and nearer, and she could begin to pick out single trees and animals.
Diana sped towards that missile launched against her island and her people, trying to overtake it and stop it from the front. She knew of her birthright; the natural strength that all Amazons had, a gift from Artemis, goddess of war and wisdom. She could only hope it was enough.
The missile struck like a charging auroch. Diana stood strong against it, tensing her shoulders against its blazing tip. It was no good; it simply had too much force pushing it forward. Slowly, excruciatingly, she tried to turn it aside. It gave, but barely a little. There was nothing to brace against, yet she had to try.
Bit by bit, inch by inch, the missile moved. The pain was incredible. Diana was on the verge of blacking out. Biting her lip to stay conscious, she pushed ahead. She could not give up. Not when her people were under threat. Feeling her right shoulder buckle, she turned around, trying to divert the deadly arrow by her other side.
=w=
Inside the UB-12, Apati nearly balked. What she was seeing was impossible – the girl was pushing the missile off course! Her smile gave way to a grimace as she remotely activated the thruster. With any luck, it'd also fry that fool as a bonus.
=w=
The starboard thruster fired, attempting to push the rocket back on course. The strain was incredible. Diana felt the blaze of the thruster, but cared not. Thank Hestia for her gift – no human flame could hurt a true Amazon. Diana gritted her teeth, slowly climbing up the missile, heading towards its engine.
A mighty blow sundered the fuel lines, and another smashed through the motor. Again and again, she pounded on the rocket, until its power was totally spent. With one last heave, Diana flung the deadly missile to its side, sending it spinning out of control, and away from Themyscira.
=w=
Orana rode quickly, desperately, into the heart of the city, straight up the palace steps. There, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, had begun assembling her forces. Troops ran back and forth, some pulling out ballistae and catapults last used by the forces of Heracles. In the middle of all was a massive cannon, forged by the Amazons themselves.
Hippolyta turned to Orana as the latter dismounted and knelt before her queen.
"My queen, we are attacked."
"I know, Orana. I do not know how, but we must destroy it before-"
"Not just that, my queen!"
Hippolyta's eyes narrowed. "What else?"
"Your daughter; she has flown to intercept the blazing bolt the intruder launched."
"What? Take me to her, Orana. Nathifa, take charge!"
The consul nodded in response. Together, Hippolyta and Orana headed hastily to the western isle.
=w=
Apati swore to her father and his uncle Hades when she saw the missile deflected. For everything to go awry on the cusp of her triumph; it was too much to bear. No matter. The missile would still go off, taking that fool Amazon with it.
There was only one other option now, though. It would do, she supposed. It would not be easy, though, judging by the forces the Amazons had assembled. The plane began to turn in a large circle, eventually facing the island again. The Amazons would not stop their doom. She swore to it.
=w=
Diana flew as fast as she could, away from the missile and towards the man who now floated slowly, languidly, towards the open sea. Surely he would have some answers, some explanation for this outrage. In a matter of seconds, she had scooped up his unconscious form in her arms.
She looked at his face. It seemed so alien yet so familiar to her. Surely, he had the same features as any other…but his eyes, his nose, his jaw…they was so different from any of her friends, from anyone she had known her whole life. And yet, looking again at him…could this be the face of a man who would wreak so much havoc on her home?
Then, her world exploded in a surge of sound and fury as the first of the three warheads detonated. The shockwave hurled her and the man through the open skies. It was too much, all too fast. Sky and sea and land and sky zoomed past her eyes, swirling, mixing together...
=w=
The two arrived just in time to see Diana and the man fall through the air. Hippolyta screamed for her daughter as she dashed to the shore, with Orana in quick pursuit. What horror was this? What terrible new weapon had Man's world devised, that could blind the skies and shock the earth so?
They rode to the shore, heading towards Diana's body, gently bobbing in the water. Hippolyta prayed to the gods, hoping there might be life left in her daughter. The moment their mounts had reached the water's edge, Hippolyta leaped to the ground and dived into the open sea.
Fighting the current every part of the way, Hippolyta reached her daughter, and then let the sea bring them to the shoreline. With strong, controlled, pushes, Hippolyta desperately tried to purge the seawater from Diana's lungs.
After minutes that seemed like eons, Diana coughed up the last of the water, weakly opening her eyes.
"…Mother?"
Hippolyta's tear-stained eyes were directed to the skies above, as she mouthed prayers of thanks to Athena and Aphrodite. She looked back down at the beaten and battered form of her daughter.
"Diana? Can you move?"
With great agony, Diana pushed herself to her feet, and turned to see the craft still headed on its deadly course.
"The…the craft…" was all she could manage before she collapsed to her knees.
Hippolyta helped her into the saddle of her horse, and too mounted the horse, turning to Orana as she did so.
"I am returning to the city square. Orana, take a squad with you. Search the hills for the man and bring him to me."
"Yes, my queen."
With no other words, the two sped off in their different directions, one to defend her home and the other to find the man responsible for their plight.
=w=
The plane began to reach the end of its circle, and now was set dead straight, aimed at the hated Amazons' city square, specifically their central stronghold, which housed the gates to Tartarus. Apati could now see the faces of the Amazons – the scared, confused rabble that had assembled to confront her.
Spears and arrows flew past the sides of the UB-12 ineffectually. One bolt that struck on target simply bounced off the windscreen. Laughing maniacally, Apati pulled the triggers on the Vulcan cannons mounted on the plane, raining death and destruction on the warriors.
Then, their ballistae and catapults fired, denting the wings. Gritting her teeth, she piloted the plane through the hail of missiles. Nothing would save the Amazons now. Nothing. Not even the massive cannon they had primed in the centre of the city square. The incredible beam of cosmic energy it emitted was easy enough to dodge.
Now, there truly was nothing in her way. Apati closed her eyes and glided through the primordial planes in the instant before the inevitable.
=w=
Hippolyta had barely managed to make it to the steppes overlooking the city square when she saw it. The massive metal structure tore through masonry and tiles alike, finally colliding with the massive door that barred Tartarus from the rest of the world.
The explosion was incredible, shaking nigh the entire island. Hundreds, nay, myriads of souls of those doomed to suffer eternal torment in the plane tore through the veil between dimensions, escaping into the air above. Then an enormous hand ripped through the earth, followed by a shoulder, then a head.
It was Ares, god of war and the one who hated the Amazons so singularly. He stared down at his foe-women, who were unto insects compared to him. Their attacks against his body seemed to do absolutely naught. Then he turned, and saw Hippolyta. They locked gazes, one with apprehension, and the other with total hatred.
In a smooth, silky, yet utterly menacing tone, Ares spoke, "Hippolyta."
Through gritted teeth, the queen spat out a bitter, "Ares."
"Ah. It's good you recognize me, my dear. It comforts me that you shall know who will be responsible for your doom. And yes, it will soon come, for you and your pathetic sisters. And…"
He tilted his head.
"…your daughter, too. You will all fall, and with that your message of peace and love will die too. Offending Ares, my dear, is a mortal sin."
Hippolyta simply stared back. "You will try."
"I will succeed."
With a final burst of grim laughter, he too shot up into the skies, following his formerly-exiled kin to wherever they intended to go. Having nothing left to do, Hippolyta started a slow canter down to the city square, to survey the damage done and to bring her daughter to medical aid.
=w=
Deep in the north-eastern forests, Steve Trevor found himself awake and hanging a good three feet off the ground. He looked up to see his parachute, tangled in the canopy. A few deft strokes with his combat knife freed him from his harness, and he landed on the forest floor – awkwardly.
Scooping himself up, and trying to ignore the pain in his shoulder, Steve drew his standard-issue Colt M1911A1**, loading a full magazine in. He placed it back in its holster. Hopefully, he'd only need to use it as a last resort – after all, those civilians probably wouldn't know the full picture.
Steve wandered around the forest, trying to look for signs of civilisation anywhere. He didn't have much luck; all there was to see was pretty greenery, birds, little creatures, and the occasional doe. After a while, he headed to a ridgeline, hoping to get a better view.
From the cliff, he saw the sea, the shore, and a small cluster of buildings. He whipped out his binoculars, and began taking a closer look. Sure enough, the buildings looked like something out of a picture book on the ancient times – all marble and pillars and statues. There wasn't a single post box, telephone cable, or carpark in sight. Had he parachuted through a time vortex?
He then saw the inhabitants – and they too were utterly archaic, too. Medics in some kind of togas and tunics were carting wounded soldiers in breastplates and skirts around. Scanning through them, Steve started to think something was bizarre, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Then he realised it. There wasn't a single man or child there. So not only had he travelled into the past, he'd also been zapped into some weird parallel dimension with no Y-chromosomes either. Great.
He didn't have much time to muse on his adventures in space-time, as a spear came sailing through the air, landing mere feet from him. Someone was shouting – sounded like Greek.
"(Ekeí eínai! Piáste ton!) There he is! Get him!"
Even though the words were unfamiliar, the tone certainly was. Steve got to his feet and dashed straight back into the forest.
=w=
Orana and a squad of four others followed in tight pursuit. It had taken some time, but they'd finally caught the man who'd fled from his craft, spying upon the House of Hygiea where they'd been tending to their wounded comrades.
The first attack had fallen a little short, but that was the intent; tire him out such that it'd be easier to catch him without violence. Now began the chase into the forest. The Amazons ducked and weaved through the branches and trunks, catching up to their quarry with every step.
There! Despite the dull green of his clothes blending with the leaves and branches, their sharp eyes could still pick him out. Arrows and crossbow bolts sailed through the air, some only striking wood, others falling short to the ground. The man made a hard turn left – his first mistake.
Steve clambered out into a forest clearing. Before he could go back into the vegetation they were on him. As the first – a red-headed Amazon warrior pulled her arm back to launch her spear, Steve pulled out his weapon, and yelled once.
"STOP!"
She didn't seem to understand that.
"Uh…'ΣΤΆΣΗ'! (STOP!)"
Orana paused for a moment. Was he speaking some horribly mangled version of the tongue? No matter. She prepared to make the throw. Then, he pulled the trigger on his miniscule bow with no limbs, and she felt her horse fall from under her. Reacting quickly, Orana did handspring off the forest floor to face her foe again.
Steve pulled off another shot – only to have it deflected by the Amazon! Before he could even wonder just how fast she had to be, the gun was out of his hands, and he felt a grip like steel around his wrist. In moments it had gone completely numb, and he was on his knees now.
Desperately, he tried to strike her in the leg with his knife – to no avail. The horrible pressure on his arm was too much to take, and he fell unconscious in seconds. The battle ended, Orana delivered the fallen man to the others, and tended to her horse.
* Deception
** Mk. IV Series 80