Chapter Nine: Never Surrender And Pub Planning.

Somewhere in Germany, in a secret location, Ludendorff listened to the commander's woos. They were low on food, clothes, wagons, and spirits. Ludendorff rolled his eyes and turned to the commander, drawing his gun and putting a bullet through the man's head. Those around gasped and hurried off to carry out his order. Entering the building his anger melted away when he saw Maru working on the perfect gas weapon. She sat at a table, scribbling and then stopping, tearing the paper out and tossing it with the rest of her bad ideas.

"No, no." She hissed. "I have failed, forgive me, General."

"Maru, I know you can do this." Ludendorff encouraged, patter her shoulder.

"You look tired, here, your God-pills." Maru split a pill in half, the white vapor floated up and into his nostrils.

Ludendorff found he was no longer tired, hungry, or in any pain, feeling a jolt of energy flow through his body. Placing his hand onto a gun, it boke apart as he clutched it. With a raspy breath, Maru felt a breeze and noticed a crumbled up paper come close. Lifting it, she un wrapped it and read it over, her eyes lighting up. "I've got it, I've got it!" She declared setting to work with her latest concoction.

In what seemed like little time, Maru placed the bomb into a enclosed casing, with a gas mask inside. Screwing it in the hold, she hit a button and watched with bated breath. Slowly, the orange air seeped into the glass bowl, the mas began to melt away, breaking the glass eye holes and bursting into flames. Ludendorff and Maru celebrated, rubbing their hands together and knowing Germany still had a chance.

"Come, Maru, we must prepare to head to the higher ups." Ludendorff patted her shoulder, seeing there was nothing left to the mask.

They go into Ludendorff's car, and made their way to where the German superior Generals were gathered in a old building, ready to sign the papers to withdraw thier troops. They sat at a long table and spoke of how much the war had cost them, not only money, but men's lives. It had costed their country a great deal, and it'd take years to rebuild their once great state. Everything went well until Ludendorff threw open the doors, bringing an air of excitement in the room. The calm cool atmosphere was replaced with one of uncertainty. The Generals glanced up from their papers, to see the burly man enter, holding his head high.

"I see you were negotiating the contact without me." He huffed, angered he was not invited to the important meeting.

"You were absent from the council meeting. So we went on without you."

"Whatever, I have good news men, Maru has done it. She's created the body crushing gas we've been looking for. We can win the war , I know it, feel it." Ludendorff took off his hat and walked over to the twelve men, hoping for some big reaction. Though he was meet with only a shake of heads. "We can turn the tide of the war in our favor, believe me."

"It's over Ludendorff. By tomorrow we'll be surrendering, and pulling our men back." A chair noisily moved, the man rising to stand.

"No, we mustn't give up, we're so close. Victory is in our reach. Men you must agree with me on this. It will help Germany, it will make us the best, no, the greatest country ever."

"Let it go Ludendorff, we're done here. We're surrendering whether you like it or not." A individual spoke, holding his chin high.

"We could win this war, have some faith men."

"We don't," snapped another man, causing Ludendorff to scowl. "There are shortages on food, ammo, medicine, things that we are running out of. Every minute cost thousands of German dollars."

"One blow and the world will be ours. Did you not hear me! Maru-"

"-We stand against you, and your, witch. Enough, twenty-four hours from now. The war will end, it's officially over."

Ludendorff placed his hands on the table and thought over what they said, knowing they weren't going to change their minds anytime soon. With a soft growl, he turned and walked to the door, clenching his fists as he stormed out. Before he left, he stopped, and peered back over his shoulder to the men, who stood strong against him "It is over for you. It is over for all of you. You may surrender, but I wont." Maru stepped out of no where and tossed a gas bomb in. She threw a gas mask in as well, the pair shutting the doors, and locking the men in, hearing the can hiss as a cloud rose out of it. The men at the table got to there feet, panicking as the cloud started to fill the room.

"I didn't think a mask could stop the gas?" hissed Maru, looking at Ludendorff.

"It doesn't." Ludendorff sneered. "But they don't know that." They went to the nearest window and watched as the men fought over the gas mask, wresting about in an orange cloud of gas.

"Yes, oh, look at them fight."

"Like a dogs over a bone, eh Maru?" They smiled as they got a kick out of the horrible scene that unfolded before them. Ludendorff chuckled and turned to the woman. Maru with a sly sparkle in her eyes, watched the Generals slowly fell to the floor dead.

Meanwhile, in jolly ol' London, Steve took Diana to a near by pup where a few of his friends would be. He knew his buddies would be drinking, and this was usually where they met up after breaking apart. They walked in and saw several men, drinking, laughing, and talking. Tom sniffed the air and it smelled strongly of alcohol, cigarette smoke, and sweat for some odd reason. He waved his paw, fanning the smell away from his sensitive nose.

"These are the reinforcements." Diana asked with skepticism. "Are these even good men?"

"Probably not." Steve saw a familiar face, as a tan skinned, dark haired man waved to them. The man's name was Sameer. He was a French spy, and one of the four members in their group. The man wore a red hat, sitting on his folded up coat. He had slicked back hair, and a thick mustache. His brown eye gleamed in the light, and when he saw Steve his grinned widened. Steve waved to the shorter man and led Diana over to the table, making Sameer get to his feet.

"Oh, my, goodness gracious. She is a work of art, who is she? She is pretty." Sameer switched languages, hoping she wouldn't understand what he said.

"I speck French good sir, and thank you, you are a handsome fellow yourself." Diana said in the French dialect, causing Sameer to spit up his drink.

"Can you understand them?" Signed Jerry, pointing to the French speaking humans, who were engaged in conversation.

"Oh, yeah, I know many languages. Both human and animals." Tom answered with a shrug, chuckling a bit when Diana changed to the Themyscira tongue.

Sameer was lost at this point and went back to speaking English, knowing it was best to speak one dialect. "Right, Steve, good to see you."

"Diana, this is Sameer, an undercover man, who can talk the skin off a cat," said Steve, forgetting for a moment that a feline was in their presences. "Oh, no offense Tom,"

Tom pouted and frowned at the degrading remark, finding it very unfunny. Jerry simply chuckled and patted Tom on the side.

"Okay, now where is Charlie?" asked Steve, looking about for the Scottish man. Sameer gestured to a fight going on between a bury man and a smaller man. Diana was impressed by the bigger man and assumed he was Charlie. Tom watched as the men fought, and actually wanted to join in on the brawl, but was held back by Diana. He sighed and stood back, keeping close to her. "Charlie is a great marksman. He shoots people from very far away, and he's joined us on several jobs."

"He can really hold his own." Commented Diana as the shorter man was sent to the floor.

The burly man walked back over to his group with raised fist, victorious in the fight. Both Sameer and Steve laughed at this, knowing Diana was looking at the wrong man. "Oh, no that's not him, that's him." Steve gestured to the man on the ground. The man was skinny and wore a knee length kilt. The Scottish man had five o'clock shadow, and seemed a bit ruffed up, showing he was a tough fellow, no matter his size. They went over and helped the man to his feet, going over to their booth. They all sat and got some drinks before going over the plan. "All right guys, I need your help to get to the front."

The two men glanced from each other, then to Steve. "Does the War Council have a job for us there?" wondered Charlie, rubbing at his sore eye.

Steve took a sip from his mug and set it back down, biting the inside of his mouth. Sameer passed Charlie a drink and took a sip from his own, watching Steve with questionable eyes. "Not exactly, but I have to get Diana there." Charlie spit his drink onto Tom, who sat across from him.

Tom blinked a couple of times and wiped the liquid from his eyes and face, having a grossed out expression. "Dude, come one now, this is a new jacket, man."

Steve looked away from the cat and spoke on. "Anyway. I could really use you guy's help."

Sameer sighed and set his drink aside, brushing at his mustache. Charlie ran his sleeve along his mouth, wondering if he should get involved or just walk away. It was very hard for the pair to decide. "I want to, but where are we suppose to get the money? How are we to do without proper funding?" inquired Sameer, having a valid point, for without the proper support, they weren't going anywhere.

Steve was at a loss for words, and didn't really know what to do. He wanted to help Diana, heck, he made her a promise, and the last thing he wanted was to disappoint her. Behind Tom, a shadow fell over them as the man from before held a gun to Charlie's head. "Hey, little punk, did you think this fight was over?"

"Crap!" Charlie said, petrified and unable to move or defend himself. Even Steve and Sameer could do anything to aid there friend.

"That won't do." Diana stood at lightning speed, and took his hand, whipping him around and sending him across the room to the floor. "Now, leave us alone to continue our business."

Everyone gawked and stared with wide eye, all but Tom who took a sip of beer, acting like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Sameer with wide eyes spoke out, breaking the silence. "I am both scared and aroused." The others at the table slowly turned and gave Sameer a curious expression, wondering if what they heard was right. He smiled and shrugged, chuckling a little and feeling bashful.

Diana stood back and smiled down, not seeing what the big deal was. They were about to speak, when someone interrupted them. "Hello Trevor," spoke the voice of Sir Patrick. He wore a long black coat and top hat, holding a cane in his left hand. The group at the table shared a few glances back and forth, wondering what they should do. At last they made room at the table for him to sit. Diana joined them, wondering what Patrick wanted, since the last time they met, he seemed unwilling to help. Patrick took a breath and seemed troubled. "I know you're planning on going to the front. But let me finish before you say anything. Look, after what miss Prince said, I feel it is my duty to help you out, and get you there. I am old and unable to go myself, but you are all young and able bodies."

Diana and Tom's face lit up with glee, realizing they were closer to the front then what they thought. Charlie and Sameer seemed glad to hear this as well, hitting their mugs together in cheers. Jerry was so glad, he danced about on the table with joy, making Steve laugh. "I will fund it, so you don't have to worry about a penny. Anything to bring peace." Patrick stood and put his hat back on. "Keep me updated will you. I'd love to hear how it goes."

"Thank you sir!" Steve nodded over the heads of his friends.

The group graciously thanked him and drank up, knowing they'd be heading to the war come morning. They sat there going over what all they needed, and had to figure out where to meet up with a man named Chief, who was smuggler, and friend of theirs. Once they finished their chat, and their mugs were empty they left the pub. Charlie leaned on Sameer and the French man held him up. "Well we'll see you guys tomorrow. Sleep well miss Prince." Sameer tipped his red hat at Diana politely.

"Yes, you as well." Diana did the same and stood back, watching the men leave for their hotel room. Sameer staggered a bit, feeling the drunk Scottish man lean more on his shoulder. Charlie started to sing, filling the quiet street with an Irish tune.

"Time for some rest before the big journey." Steve shook his head at the pair, wondering why he sometimes hung around with them. With a tug at his jacket, he led them to a near by hotel and got a room. Steve gave Diana a key and showered her to her room, while he and Jerry would stay in a separate room.

Diana entered her room, but stopped to turn to him. "Thank you for all you've done Steve."

"Hey, don't mention it. I told you I'd get you to the front, and I'm a man of my word." Steve smiled. "Well, you should get some sleep, long day ahead of us."

"Yes, sleep well Steve." Diana shut the door, feeling a blush cross her face. She turned and saw Tom, with his arms folded over his chest, giving her a smug smile. Seeing this, Diana stood tall. "What is it Tom, why are you looking at me like that?" He turned and rubbed his paws up and down his arms, and shoulders, making loud kissing noises. Diana rolled her eyes and playfully nudged him with her hip. "Yeah right, Steve, and I are just friends." Diana removed her coat and walked behind a set of folding doors.

"Sure you are, and Romeo and Juliet were just friends too." Tom, out of the woman's view, undressed himself, tossing his clothes into a pile on the floor before going over to the bed. Jumping in the bed, Tom snuggled down in the sheets.

"Yeah, but they died at the end."

"Yeah, dummies, there so many other things they could've done to be together. Such nonsenses."

Diana came out in her nightwear and lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "I mean, Steve is nice, brave, and kind. But I have to focus on the war. Can you believe it Tom, us going to the battle front. I wonder what it will be like?"

"I don't know, but I'm excited to make a difference."

"So Tom, what do you think of Jerry?" Diana watched the cat freeze at the mention of the mouse. Tom swiftly tugged the covers over his head and hid from her. She grinned and lifted the cover, seeing Tom keep his eyes shut. "You know I wont care if you like him. He is cute, for a mouse at least."

Tom opened his eyes and met her gaze, knowing he'd been caught. "Sure I like Jerry, but I don't know what I'm feeling. I've never liked anyone the way I feel about him. It's confusing. Cause he annoys the hacek out of me.. yet.. I don't know."

"Don't worry, it will work out." Diana patted him on the back. Out of no where Tom grabbed his pillow and hit Diana in the face. Of course, she laughed and got her own pillow, smacking him in the face. Tom, being lighter was set off the bed, where he tumbled on the floor. "Ha, Diana wins once again."

Tom got to his feet and jumped, tackling Diana to the floor. They wrestled like they did when they were young, however, Diana was always the taller of the two. But Tom did his best to beat the woman. Once they had their fun, they settled and lay back down. Tom found his dreams were full of victory, that he and Diana saved the world and were celebrated by any and all. Within his dream, he and Diana rode in a gold painted carriage, Steve by Diana's side, while Jerry sat on Tom's shoulder, admiring him with a tender gaze. Peddles dropped like rain as people cheered the heroes, Wonder Woman and her feline side kick, Wonder Cat.