A/N: Wonder Woman, Phantom Lady, the Freedom Fighters, and all associated characters and settings are property of DC Comics and not of the author.

This is a story of Earth-X. In this terrifying world- just one of many parallel earths- Superman, that beacon of hope and justice, lands in Germany in the time of Hitler. With the kindly and moral Kents replaced by the Third Reich as his guardians, the baby Kal-El becomes OVERMAN, the personification of the Nazi party's power over the world. And soon, he begat his own group to watch over the world and all who might oppose him- THE NEW REICHSMEN! But hope is not lost here. To combat THE NEW REICHSMEN, there are THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS, champions of truth and justice, remnants of the once and future democracy of America! This story is but one battle in their arduous war. It is between a woman who wanted power, and a woman who wanted peace; a woman who was blessed by the gods, yet wanted more, and a woman who was burdened by fate, yet wanted freedom. But there is one more woman involved, whose love and courage would forever change the other two- and the world!

The Amazon of Darkness

Prologue: Death of an Amazon

The moon shined brightly on the forest. Through the thick vegetation, there was a rustling sound. It wasn't unusual for the forest to have such sounds, even in the middle of the night. But rather the usual calls and movements of nocturnal animals, here there was the steady beat of leaves crunching and branches moving.

The source of that noise was soon made known. A tall woman in Greek armor walked into a clearing. Armed with a sword and shield, she had the body of a warrior and the face of an angel. The woman looked around and then signaled back to the forest. Four more women came out, each one wearing similar armor. They were armed with similar weapons and all had the look of determination on them. These were the Amazons, and they were on the hunt.

A younger Amazon walked forward to speak to her leader. "Captain," she said, "are we close?"

The captain gave a smirk. "Aye, we are. Come!"

The group ran through the clearing as quick as deer. The Amazons were hundreds of miles from their safe and secluded home. They had come to this land to root out the evil that had come to their doorstep. They knew the Nazis were intent on conquering the world. And while they could protect themselves from human would-be conquerors easily, it was Overman that concerned them. The men of the world were just that: men. But Overman seemed to be a god. The Amazons knew of no one else who could defeat him but themselves. And so, they set out to end him and the Third Reich. They had already fought once on their quest. He was alone, reforming mountains in the Alps, when the Amazons attacked. The ensuing battle had killed three of their comrades, yet they had managed to wound the villain and force him to retreat. They continued onward into Germany, occasionally slaughtering the odd platoon who had tried to apprehend them. On this march, they had lost another of their group, with no trace of her left. Still, they pressed on.

The group continued at their furious pace, until Captain Alkyone raised her fist. Just as quickly as they had exploded into motion before, they froze. The women saw a camp in front of them. They had learned of a possible outpost a few days ago, and they thought overtake it and gain access to information regarding Overman and the New Reichsmen, or at the very least, cause enough of a commotion to provoke him to face them again. They observed the camp for several minutes, watching the odd guard walk back and forth along the perimeter. After this, Alkyone gave the nod to one of her women. This woman, Xanthe, stood up and took out a bow. She pulled out an arrow, aimed it at the guard, and let it fly. The arrow flew straight into the guard's neck, piercing his spine and killing him instantly. As he fell, another woman, Orana, sprang forward and caught him before he hit the ground. Quietly, she dragged his body to the treeline. Alkyone signaled for the group to continue.

Entering the camp, the Amazons examined the rows of tents. There were hardly any lanterns on or the odd radio still playing music. Even for the middle of the night, this camp was eerily quiet. One of the Amazons, Melia, stayed at the back of the group and decided to peek into one of the tents. She expected to find some soldiers sleeping. But she didn't. In fact, she found nothing in the tent but some old cots. Melia looked perplexed, until something snapped her out of her trance.

"Melia!" Orana quietly called. "Get over here!" Melia hurried back to the other Amazons. She was about to speak until several other women shushed her, so she stayed quiet.

The group reached the middle of the camp. It was a clearing where soldiers could eat and mill about. There were several portable spotlights positioned around it, all currently off. Alkyone and her women looked around. In all directions were more tents, all identical to each other. The camp seemed massive from the inside: too large for a simple platoon, but too sparse and simple for a large division. Suddenly, the lights turned on, nearly blinding the Amazons. A loudspeaker crackled to life, and Captain Alkyone realized that she had led her troops into a trap.

"Well, what do we have here?" the voice over the loudspeaker said. "Ah, it appears that our troublesome friends from before have returned". This was Colonel Dotsch, the wormy head of Germany's superhuman division and the human point of contact to the New Reichsmen.

"Colonel!" shouted Alkyone. "We are in no mood for your games! Give us the location of Overman and we will pass through! Though it would pain me to let you live, I will show mercy upon you if you comply".

"Oh-ho! The little girl wants to order me around?" replied the colonel. "Sorry, but Overman has no interest in playing with you. But there is another friend here who would be delighted to take his place. And I do hope with this, we can make you feel right at home".

Alkyone was perplexed by this remark, but before she could respond, she heard movement all around her. Tent doors were flung open, and men emerged with machine guns. Immediately, the Amazons knew what to do. The women grabbed their shields and bunched together in a circle. The men opened fire. The bullets flew swiftly from all directions. While having more strength and speed than even the most extraordinary human, and the ability to heal more quickly, the Amazons were still vulnerable to bullets. A volley of this extreme magnitude would have killed anybody. But the Amazons were trained for this. As they bunched together, they pushed their shields outward. The Nazis shot at this shell, trying to pierce it. But the warrior women stood firm in the face of this assault. After a few seconds, a small opening appeared in the shell. Xanthe drew her bow again and shot one of the soldiers.

Xanthe prepared another shot, but as she did, the gunfire stopped. The Amazons remained in their shell, wondering if they would try again. Seconds dragged as it appeared nothing was happening. Then, one of the Amazons, Thermadosa, saw a shadow moving swiftly out of the corner of her eye. The shadow leapt into the air and was headed right for them. The women barely had any time to react. As they moved, the thing slammed into the middle of them. The impact left a small crater, and sent a shockwave through the camp, knocking the women down.

As the dust cleared, Alkyone took a look at the camp. Many of the lights were knocked down, darkening the ground considerably. Several tents were blown away too. Alkyone turned to the figure that had just attacked them. In the middle of the impact zone was a large woman. Her body was like a bodybuilder's, with massive muscles, and her visage was hard, yet still beautiful. She had long blonde hair tied into two braids, with a gold crown complementing it. She wore a gold and grey armored bustier, with a grey necklace and silver wristbands. Around her waist was a gold belt from which two large swords hung in their sheaths over a red cloth skirt. On her feet were two boots that matched her armor. She looked like a dark mirror of the Amazons, more fearsome and lacking any love or warmth.

Thermadosa went to approach the woman. The woman saw her coming, and in an instant, she drew her sword and attacked the Amazon. Thermadosa got her shield up at the last second, but was knocked back by the blow. Orana and Melia came next from opposite sides. The Nazi blocked Orana first with her two swords, then swung at Melia. Melia dodged it, but when she tried to counter using her spear, the mysterious woman leapt over her. Xanthe fired an arrow at her, but the woman deflected it using her bracelets. That's just what an Amazon would do! thought Alkyone.

The German woman ran to the three Amazons who were just attacking her. She shoulder-tackled Orana, sending her back. Thermadosa tried to rush her opponent, with Melia right behind her. Instead, as Thermadosa came in, the woman dropped her swords, grabbed the shield- with Thermadosa's arm still in it- and hit Melia in the face with it. The woman then swung the shield around, dragging Thermadosa, and sent her to the ground. The woman stepped on Thermadosa's back, picked up her sword, and impaled her with it.

Alkyone screamed. Even though she was a warrior, and knew of the risks this mission would have, she considered every woman under her command a sister. And now, this evil woman- whoever she was- would pay for harming her family. Alkyone sprung into action, hacking at the Nazi woman. The other warrior kept pace with the Amazon, who was fueled by adrenaline. The darkness of the camp made it hard for Alkyone to see her opponent's face. Soon, Alkyone waned, and the German was able to gain the upper hand. The Nazi hit the sword out of Alkyone's hand, and the captain fell back. The Nazi woman was about to deliver the final blow to Alkyone, but then Orana jumped on top of her. The Nazi wrestled with the Amazon, allowing Alkyone to retreat. The Nazi woman was just as skilled as Orana, but stronger. It wasn't long until she pinned Orana, attempting to break her neck. But as she was straddled on top of the Amazon, Xanthe shot another arrow, hitting her in the arm.

The woman gave a great yell and held her arm. As she did so, she saw a golden light pass before her. Before she knew it, she was wrapped up in a golden lasso. She looked up to see Captain Alkyone holding the other end of it. The woman tried to escape, but the lasso sapped her strength. She pulled Alkyone using only her legs, but in response, Xanthe put her bow away and grabbed the rope. The two Amazons pulled against the Nazi, who soon fell to her knees.

"Do you submit?" asked Alkyone. The woman only scowled. The lasso continued to glow. "Why are you dressed like that?" No response. "Tell us the secret of your power, or we will take it from you!"

"Heh, my power?" said the woman in a low voice. "You want to know about my power?" On her finger, a simple gold ring started to glow with a reddish hue. "Well let me show it to you!" Soon, the reddish hue enveloped her whole body. The woman got to her feet and yelled.

"C'mon! Hold her!" Alkyone said to Xanthe. The pair tried to keep the lasso on her and her down. Suddenly, there were loud noises in the distance. Several of the machine gunners had returned and started shooting at the two Amazons. Holding onto the rope meant neither had any time to get their shields up. The two were shot multiple times. Xanthe fell to the ground, but Alkyone still stood, holding onto the rope. The Nazi woman grabbed the rope and begun to swing it around her. Severely weakened, Alkyone fell to the ground and was taken for a ride. The woman swung the rope several times, before taking it off her body and letting go of it. Alkyone was sent flying into a generator. Upon impact, it exploded in a massive fireball.

Melia got up from her daze to see what was happening. Xanthe crawled on her hands and knees, bleeding profusely. Orana, meanwhile, stood up and grabbed a sword, trying to surprise the woman. Instead, she turned around and punched her right in the face. Whatever happened seemed to have made the Nazi bigger and more powerful. Melia was too scared to move. All of her sisters were dead or dying, and there didn't seem to be anything she could do about it.

Just then, she heard something call her name. "Melia!" Xanthe said weakly. This snapped her right out of her daze. Melia ran to Xanthe, covering the both of them with shields. Melia held the fallen Amazon in her hands. Her body, her armor, the ground below her- everything was soaked in blood.

"Melia! What are you doing?" Xanthe whispered.

"I'm getting you out of here," she replied. "Let's go!" The machine guns roared again. The shields stopped most of the bullets, but a few got through. Melia and Xanthe were both nicked by these.

"No, I can't," said Xanthe. "You need to run. You need to tell everyone what happened". More shots rang out. A gunner found an angle on the women through the shields. He took aim and fired. Xanthe was hit in the leg and lower back. Melia was hit in the side. The pair cried out in agony. Instinctively, Melia laid her body over Xanthe.

"You're not going to die," Melia said through her tears. "We're not going to die". This was a prayer Melia repeated, hoping against hope that it would come true. Sadly, for Xanthe, it wouldn't. Xanthe's shallow breathing became erratic, as if she was gasping for air. Soon, she stopped breathing entirely.

Meanwhile, the German woman walked towards the prone Orana. The Amazon was dizzy from her attacks, but she was committed to killing her enemy. She stood up, seeing the Nazi had grabbed her two swords. With wild abandon, Orana swung at the Nazi. She dodged these attacks every time. Finally, Orana swung so hard she almost spun around. The mysterious woman dropped to her knees and swung her swords at Orana's knees. The metal sliced right through, causing the Amazon to fall. As she looked up, she saw the Nazi attack with her other sword. The woman swung at Orana's neck. The sword went through easily, removing her head and killing her.

Thinking all of here enemies were gone, the Nazi supervillain decided to take a look around the grounds. The fire from the generator was still going, while several more tents and buildings were in ruins. The woman saw the small lean-to made of shields behind her. She walked up to it and removed the shields, uncovering Melia and Xanthe. Melia looked up, with tears running down here face, with a look of fear and sadness.

"Please, spare me! I surrender!" Melia said. Surrendering was looked down upon in Amazonian culture- usually only done in the hopes of a later victory or in exchange for protecting others. This situation would not qualify for that, but Melia didn't care. She was too afraid of dying.

The Nazi woman grabbed Melia under the shoulders and picked her up. Melia looked into the face of her attacker. It was full of hate and violence. And yet, it seemed familiar. It took a few moments, but Melia soon realized who it was that attacked her and her group.

"Great Hera! You're-!" Before she could say anything, the woman put her hands around her neck and started to squeeze. Melia went for her attacker's face, but then the woman lifted her off the ground. Melia tried to free herself, but it was no use. As the life left her body, Melia looked her attacker in eye, as if to ask "why". Soon, Melia stopped moving, and her arms dropped to the side. The woman took Melia's head and slammed it against one of the shields on the ground. If she wasn't dead before that, she was now.

The Nazi soldiers soon left their posts and walked into the clearing. They began gathering the bodies and putting them in a truck. Some men went to the burning generator. As they approached, they saw something move. Alkyone emerged from the wreckage. Her body was burned and riddled with bullet holes. A human would have been dead by now, but the captain of the Amazons was still alive.

Colonel Dotsch walked forward, with the Nazi woman behind him. "Well," said the colonel, "How did you like my new friend? Her name is Brünnhilde. I know she plays rough, but I thought you would have appreciated that".

Alkyone spat out blood. "You piece of shit," she said. "You're not going to take over the world. Even if you take over every other square inch of this planet, you'll never beat us".

"Oh, what a lovely sentiment," quipped the colonel.

"And as for... her-" she said, pointing at Brünnhilde, "don't think these tricks will work for long. We'll find what you did, and we'll end it!"

"What is there to find, my darling?" asked the colonel. "We are the rightful rulers of the world. And she merely wanted to join us. It's a shame someone as wonderful as you can't get that through your skull".

A soldier walked forward brandishing a pistol. "Hippolyta, my Queen," Captain Alkyone said under her breath. "Please-"

The soldier shot Captain Alkyone in the head, finally eliminating the Amazonian expedition force once and for all. More soldiers came forward to take her away.

As they did this, Brünnhilde and the colonel walked back. "Well," asked Dotsch "did you enjoy what I had to offer?"

Brünnhilde smiled. "It was exactly what I dreamt," she replied.

"Good," said the colonel. "But now you must serve us as you promised. Tomorrow, we get to work".

As the group left, a solitary owl was seen flying out of the woods. Soon, the moon disappeared behind some clouds, and the night became darker than anyone could bear.