Hi, folks! My Wonder Woman fanfiction is still being continued, and here's the chapter where the main villain will be introduced! I'm sorry the update took so long, but with a three-week summer trip, working on my novels, and handling other fanfictions, things have a way of piling up. Anyway, here's the seventh chapter of the origin of the Justice League's first female member. Enjoy!

Chapter 7: From Diplomat to Hero

Steve nearly had to jog to keep up with Diana as they left the State Department; she was walking at a surprisingly fast pace. Quickly, he caught up with her and said, "Diana, I'm sorry that this meeting didn't work out today…"

The Amazon princess stopped and said, "I came here asking for peace, and what they gave me was anger."

Steve replied, "I know you're upset, Your Highness…"

That was clearly a poor choice of words, for Diana suddenly stopped and looked at him with unquestionable anger. "Upset?! They would not hear my message! We told those people both of our stories and they concluded that my mother was holding you prisoner as if expecting this nation to ransom you!"

Her voice dropped rapidly as she said with utter defeat, "Maybe man's world hasn't really changed. Just grown in technology and lifestyle, but not in way of life. Even hospitality in the old world was kinder."

Steve could feel the pain in Diana's voice, and he easily understood why it was there. Diana had been so hopeful that there had been some kind of detectable change in the attitude towards so many things in the world beyond her island home; man's attitude towards women, freedom from fear, freedom from want, more trust when it could be displayed. Steve wanted to say something to ease Diana's wounded spirit.

"Diana, I know that our meeting with the Department of State didn't go at all as planned. But there has been change in this world for the better," Steve insisted. "Women can vote here in America. They can hold jobs that were once only for men. There have been women who stood for civil rights here and elsewhere in the world, and in some countries, they still have people fighting for those rights."

The Amazon princess gave her guide a look of intrigue and then said, "I just wish man's world wasn't so cold toward what it doesn't understand."

Giving an understanding glance, Steve replied, "Why don't we just return to the hotel and take your mind from this disappointment? We'll figure something out to help establish a better relationship between my country and yours."

Diana was intrigued with this idea and agreed to it. Back in the hotel, she looked through several magazines concerning fashion, the news, and looked up local museums. The "Smithsonian" intrigued her, for with so many various museums under its thumb, Diana was certain that she could learn a great deal more about man's world and understand how so much had changed in the last few thousand years before she was born. She asked Steve about attending the museum the next day and was very glad to hear his acceptance.

…

The next day, Steve Trevor took Diana to the National Archives, which she was told housed the most prized artifacts of American history. Security was easy to get through, and when they walked into the foyer of the museum, Diana couldn't help musing at the architecture alone. She said, "Steve, this house of artifacts reminds me of the temples back home in Themyscira. Every arch and pillar tells the tale."

A few moments later, Steve showed Diana to the room that housed the Declaration of Independence. "Here is the document that gave this country its right to live independently from British rule," he told her. "It states America's reasons to declare independence from Britain, the people's grievances against Parliament and the King, and the necessity for Americans to live as free men and not as the property of the state."

Diana took this information with interest, and she paid close attention to Steve's explanations of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Emancipation Proclamation. The more she learned, the more at ease she felt with man's world, and she hoped to be shown more wonders that America had to offer. When they came to the café, Diana thanked Steve for bringing her to the Archives.

"It appears that I owe you an apology, Steve," she said. "I've only been in man's world a short while and I knew so little about what it was like to live here. My mother and my Amazon sisters may not approve, but I am beginning to understand how things have changed here."

"You don't need to apologize, Diana," replied Steve. "I was pretty uncomfortable when I ended up on your home island. I tried to be funny to diffuse the situation, or maybe because I thought I would look tough. Whichever the case, I don't fault you for getting off on the wrong foot with my country's leaders. They can be pretty stubborn and nervous meeting visitors from nations they don't know about."

The two shared a smile, knowing now that their meeting had been the first spark to open the minds of their two civilizations to one another. Diana started to say something more, but something on the upper levels of the museum suddenly caught her attention; a sound like panicked cries and running footsteps. Diana rose from her seat and Steve said, "What is it?"

"I don't know. But I sense trouble," the Amazon princess replied. Before Steve could say anything to dissuade Diana, she rushed from the café and straight into the forum of the Archives. There, she saw patrons running from some unknown danger and security guards directing visitors from the museum or running to corral whatever was causing this chaos. Knowing that the guards would know she was a foreign visitor if she rushed into the danger, Diana rushed behind a door marked "Employees Only" and finding no one there, she shed her civilian garments, revealing that she was clad in the red and blue uniform of her homeland.

As soon as she had slipped into her boots and added her tiara as the finishing touch, Diana reentered the Archives through the front doors and then saw the security guards firing at a fleeing figure who was attempting to escape on foot with several maps in hand. The figure looked female and was running surprisingly fast, and for a moment, Diana figured that she was dealing with someone capable of rivaling even an Amazon in terms of strength, swiftness, and skill.

But that's impossible, she thought. I am the only Amazon to set foot in man's world in recent days. I must investigate this.

With that, Diana leapt at the escaping woman and tackled her to the floor. She pressed the heel of her boot into her foe's back and said, "Whoever you are, your attempt at thievery is over."

The other woman replied, "Whoever you are, you're mistaken."

Then to Diana's shock, the other woman threw her from her back and leapt at her, snarling like a great cat and baring her nails, except these weren't nails. They were claws- curved, hook-like claws like a huge feline beast. Diana nimbly leapt aside and the cat-woman missed her by a wide margin. Again and again, the feline lunged at her, and Diana found herself blocking blows and leaping over inhumanly fast kicks. They continued this deadly dance until Diana did a whirling kick and tripped her opponent before landing an uppercut to the jaw that knocked her opponent to the ground once more. In an instant, Diana bound her attacker in her lasso and finally got a good look at the strange woman who had raided the Archives. What she saw made her eyes widen in shock.

The stranger was indeed a woman, but she was not fully human. Her well-toned frame was covered in tawny, spotted fur and she sported a tail ringed with black at the tip. Her hands were human hands, but her feet were more like paws. The woman's head was the real nightmarish sight, for her face was that of a great cat, with feline nostrils, rounded ears, and black lips baring fangs. The stranger's yellow, predator-like eyes narrowed as she sturggled in her attempt to escape, but in vain.

Diana felt her blood turn cold at the sight of her aggressor, but she swallowed her shock and said, "You are bound by the lasso spun by Hestia, which can bind even the strongest of warriors and uncover truth shrouded by lying hearts. Now, who are you?"

The other woman answered flatly as if it was the most mundane thing to ask, "Barbara Ann Minerva."

Diana admitted to curiosity concerning the obviously Roman surname, but she pushed it aside and asked, "How have you acquired these powers, Barbara Ann Minerva?"

"Through a ritual taught to me by a forgotten tribe in central Africa," she replied. "Through the substance of their plant god, I am more than a mere human. I am the hunt incarnate. I am… the Cheetah."

Diana's eyes narrowed at this statement and she went on to question her opponent, "Why did you steal these maps, Cheetah?"

Again, the feline aggressor replied in the same toneless voice, "I am seeking the remains of an ancient relic. One that will allow me to overrun the world with the most powerful force known to mankind."

The Cheetah suddenly shook her head and growled, "And I'm not about to let some supermodel in a patriotic swimsuit stop me!"

With that, she flung something like a silver marble to the ground, and everyone in the room began coughing and choking as the whole room was filled with a blinding, acrid mist. However, the guards managed to activate the vents, and the mist cleared away completely. Diana was quite displeased when she found that the Cheetah had vanished in the mist, leaving her lasso empty and limp on the floor. She didn't know how the feline villainess had escaped- either the mist had affected her lasso, or Cheetah had pulled it off her while Diana was fighting through the mist. Either way, Diana was unwilling to let Cheetah escape and thought, I have to go after her before more innocents get hurt. But before she could, Steve Trevor took hold of her wrist and stopped her from leaving. she would have turned angrily at him to lose his grip, but to Diana's surprise, he was smiling.

"Looks like people here aren't so cold toward you after all," he said warmly. With a simple gesture, Steve showed her the crowd of patrons that were approaching Diana in curiosity and wonder, and they were all applauding her for facing the Cheetah so willingly. She heard whispers among the crowd such as "Where does she get her clothes?" or "Those fighting moves were sick", but most of the crowd was merely clapping and cheering for Diana's willingness to put her life on the line for people whose names she did not know and whose lives were a mystery to her.

"Does everyone who protects the innocent receive such commendation here, Steve?" she wondered.

"I wish it were so, Diana," her companion replied. "But it looks like you're getting on that good trend."

Diana then steeled her resolve and said, "I must go after Cheetah. If she really is looking for something that will allow her to conquer man's world, then she has to be stopped before more havoc ensues." She then added, "You're welcome to join me."

Steve felt ready to blush, but he hastily composed himself and said, "Well, I was thinking of sticking by your side in case you needed some help. Plus, my job as a military man grants me access to technology of various kinds that might prove useful in your search for this Cheetah."

Diana's lips creased into a smile, and she replied, "Then I shall see what your technology has to offer."

With that, Diana and Steve left the museum and when they passed through a quiet alley, Diana swapped her Amazon outfit for the outfit she had worn that day before Cheetah's attack. Then as they walked along to find a suitable taxi to get them to what Steve called an Air Force Base, Diana said softly to him, "And by the way, I think I shall use the title you gave to me at the incident in New York City. I cannot let the people here know that a diplomatic ambassador and the bold young lady who took on the Cheetah are one and the same. Against Cheetah, I will bear the name... Wonder Woman."

Steve's approving smile was all she needed to confirm the decision.