Wonder Woman grunted when she was knocked to the ground but quickly got back up, watching her opponent with a fierce frown.
"Come on! Is that all you got, Wonder Woman?" Cheetah sneered at her in her typical fucking derisive manner that got on Diana's nerves so much more than anything else in the world.
The Amazon growled. "I will make you regret your and your new friends' actions." she stated coldly, cracking her knuckles menacingly.
About half an hour earlier the Justice League discovered that plants enhanced not only mystically and radioactively but also by Kobra-Venom and Joker Venom were simultaneously attacking Metropolis, Gotham City, Paris, Taipei and Star City. The attack was publicly claimed by an organization of super-villains -the Injustice League, consisting of Count Vertigo (who served as leader), Black Adam, Wotan, Atomic Skull, Joker and Cheetah- that demanded ten billion dollars from the nation.
Thanks to Zatanna, the heroes discovered the base of the Injustice League's operating system from where they controlled the plants, namely Louisiana Bayou, and the heroes had split up: the seven founding members of the JL were currently fighting against the super-villains responsible for the attack while the rest of the League were defending the various cities attacked by the plants.
Wonder Woman darted into the air toward her opponent but Cheetah rolled to the side. However, the Amazon managed to grab her tail and violently sent her nemesis crashing three times to the ground before throwing her away with all her strength, causing her to crash into a tree that fell to the side.
The demigoddess looked around and saw Superman fighting intensely against Black Adam, Batman predictably against the Joker, Green Lantern and Flash against Wotan and finally Aquaman and Martian Manhunter against Count Vertigo. Of Atomic Skull no sign but it was likely that he was guarding the operating system that controlled the plants.
She returned her gaze to her opponent and saw her quickly sprint toward her.
Cheetah leapt and Wonder Woman deflected her talons thanks to her bracelets and pulled her head back, avoiding her fangs. The super-heroine threw a violent headbutt at her and Cheetah fell to the ground with a groan of pain and the feline quickly rolled backwards dodging the demigoddess' attack.
The two former friends fought for another few minutes until Wonder Woman hit Cheetah with a brutal punch that sent her flying some 30 meters away. The demigoddess reached her in seconds as she darted through the air, grabbed the feline by the head and sent it crashing violently to the ground. "You're done, Cheetah." she hissed menacingly at her and got a groan of pain in response.
Before Diana could bind her with his lasso she let out a choked cry as a sudden wave of pain pervaded her body and she realized that someone was electrocuting her. Definitely Wotan since he was the only super-villain with magical powers.
The princess of Themyscira gritted her teeth and with much effort turned her head, confirming her theory that Wotan was responsible. Only, to her horror, Wotan had summoned lightning bolts that were striking not only her but also the rest of the heroes and his was a prolonged attack. Even Superman was in pain and on his knees on the ground since he was weak to magic and Black Adam was using the situation to his advantage, striking the Kryptonian with powerful blows.
All the heroes were paralyzed on the spot in pain, choked screams echoing through the area. The sorcerer's attack never seemed to end and of course the super-villains took advantage of their teammate's assist by attacking and injuring the heroes immobilized by Wotan's lightning bolts.
Wonder Woman fell with a pained grunt from a vicious punch to the stomach and Cheetah pinned her to the ground. "Looks like it's not your lucky day." she purred, teasing her former friend.
Despite the pain that the lightning was continuing to inflict throughout her body the Amazon managed to look grimly at her nemesis but the mere attempt to open her mouth proved painful and agonizing, so she decided to remain silent by gritting her teeth to keep from screaming.
"It also looks like a feline ate your tongue." Cheetah giggled at her own joke and clicked her talons, bringing them down the neck of Wonder Woman who stiffened further. "It would be such a shame to ruin your smooth fantastic skin envied by all women, wouldn't it?" she asked rhetorically, a hint of genuine envy and jealousy in her tone of voice.
The princess of Themyscira noticed it and managed to send a toothy smirk at Barbara Minerva. "Better to die with dignity than to be turned into a monster like you, don't you think?" she mocked her in a hiss.
The super-villain's talons dug deep into Wonder Woman's skin and Diana gasped, feeling droplets of blood slide down her neck. "This time there is no one to save you and your little friends." Cheetah hissed angrily.
With great physical effort the Amazon shifted her gaze left and right, discovering with horror that her nemesis was right.
Black Adam was furiously punching Superman furiously in the face and stomach, creating a huge crater in the shape of the Man of Steel's face, Joker was with his characteristic creepy grin wildly waving his knife in the face of Batman who was kneeling in pain on the ground, Green Lantern and Flash were tightly trapped by a magic ring created by Wotan and finally Aquaman and Martian Manhunter were lying at the feet of Count Vertigo who was stunning them with his powers, making them dizzy.
All while Wotan's magical lightning bolts were still injuring each hero, making it impossible for them to move.
"Enough talk now." the demigoddess's gaze fell on Cheetah whose talons further dug into the skin of the super-heroine who grimaced.
Her nemesis' next words were lost in Diana's mind as she was more focused on the fact that suddenly the pain throughout her body ceased. Her Amazon warrior instincts and reflexes were much quicker than Cheetah's and Wonder Woman delivered a punch to her temple, sending her flying dozens of meters away. She reared back with a grunt and darted through the air to where Cheetah's body lay unconscious and she wrapped her tightly with her lasso.
The demigoddess turned around and noted with satisfaction that her teammates had also recovered and successfully turned the fight around with their respective opponents. Wonder Woman turned sharply when she felt presence behind her but immediately relaxed her muscles when she saw the other Justice League heroes. She frowned in confusion. "I thought you were busy with the plants in the affected cities."
"We were until the plants disappeared." Zatanna explained to her.
The frown of the princess of Themyscira deepened and she looked around, seeing that the other founding members of the League had just taken down their opponents. "I don't understand how this is possible. None of us have set foot in the Injustice League operating system yet." she pointed out, returning her gaze to the newly arrived heroes.
Hawkman shrugged his shoulders as he lazily twirled his mace. "Maybe an attack of yours ended up accidentally hitting their operating system."
Wonder Woman emitted a murmur of recognition, knowing that it was a plausible explanation but she was not quite sure. "Maybe."
Within minutes all the heroes gathered and Green Lantern created a dome that surrounded the downed super-villains but soon they noticed that one was missing. "Atomic Skull is still missing." Aquaman pointed out.
"Did none of you fight him?" asked Superman turning to the other six founding members and they all shook their heads.
"Excuse me but which one of you entered the Injustice League operating system?" asked Black Canary looking at them all.
Most of the founding members expressed a negative answer and immediately everyone's gaze fell on the only one who had not uttered a word, namely Batman. He frowned when he noticed that everyone was staring at him and he crossed his arms. "I would have told you if it was me, don't you think?" he declared dryly, causing some of the heroes to snort in annoyance.
"As if you were known for your communications skills." muttered Green Arrow, wincing when he received a flat stare from the Caped Crusader.
"If none of you did it, then why did the plants disappear?" asked Hawkgirl, posing aloud the question everyone was wondering.
"There's only one way to find out." stated Flash mentioning the super-villain base in front of them and he darted off.
"You go, I'll stay here with our new friends." said Green Lantern pointing a thumb in the direction of the unconscious super-villains enclosed inside the green dome.
In no time the heroes entered the villains' base and reached Flash, noticing that he was staring with a confused look at Atomic Skull lying motionless in a prone position on the floor. The speedster turned as he heard the rest of the heroes reaching for him and he pointed a finger at the downed super-villain. "I already found him this way." he informed them.
Wonder Woman came closer to get a better look, followed by the others. Batman knelt down and carefully analyzed the bleeding wound at the back of Atomic Skull's head. "Based on the wound and Atomic Skull's prone position, someone snuck up behind him and hit him in the back of the head with a blunt object." he informed them as he got up.
"And someone also destroyed their systems, causing the plants to disappear." Martian Manhunter spoke, pointing to said clearly destroyed systems.
"Who could it have been that helped us? And why didn't they stay? It's not like we would have hurt anyone who helped us." Green Arrow reflected aloud.
"Maybe they were afraid of us." Red Tornado's robotic voice resounded.
"Afraid of us? And why would that be?" it sounded as if Flash had swallowed a lemon at the android's suggestion. "We're the good guys!"
The next few minutes were spent in speculation, questions and theories about who helped them and why they did not stay. They exited the base and Green Lantern quickly noticed them. "Finally! I thought you had gotten lost!" he joked.
As the Flash responded with a light-hearted joke to his best friend, Wonder Woman watched bored at the still-unconscious figures of the super-villains. Her gaze lingered particularly on Wotan and a visible bleeding wound at his right shoulder that did not match any of the attacks of the entire Justice League.
"Flash. Green Lantern." Wonder Woman called out to them, drawing their attention. "How did you stop Wotan from continuing with his magical lightning attack?"
The two best friends exchanged a brief glance. "Actually, we didn't." admitted the speedster.
The heroes frowned in confusion. "Explain yourselves." the Gotham vigilante growled.
Green Lantern rolled his eyes. "We were getting there, Spooky." he ignored the Dark Knight's glare and focused on the other heroes. "Both Flash and I were trapped by a magic ring and neither of us could move a muscle, let alone get out of it. Plus the damn lightning hurt like hell and it practically paralyzed us. But then suddenly both the magic ring and the lightning bolts disappeared and when we turned to Wotan, he had a gunshot wound in his right shoulder and judging by the look of pain on his face, it hurt like hell." he chuckled. "I call that karma."
"Gunshot wound?" repeated surprised the king of Atlantis, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "Why didn't you say that before?"
"Honestly? Among taking advantage of the situation to take down Wotan and then celebrating our victory we forgot." Flash chuckled nervously, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.
Wonder Woman ignored the rebukes Batman was giving them and suddenly stiffened, feeling observed. Her instincts told her that someone or something was watching them.
Or to be more specific, Diana felt that especially the gaze was focused more on her.
She ignored the chatter around her regarding the relocation of the Injustice League to Belle Reve -excluding Count Vertigo, who enjoyed diplomatic immunity, and the Joker, who would be relocated to Arkham Asylum- and looked around, aiming her gaze especially at the dense surrounding forest.
Diana returned to staring briefly at her teammates who were not paying the slightest bit of attention to her and then switched her gaze from one tree to another. Her muscles relaxed when she saw nothing.
Batman must have infected me with his paranoia. If even Clark didn't hear anything with his super-hearing, then it's impossible for anyone else to be there.
Her well-trained eyes snapped to her right and she saw just in time a shadow before it disappeared into the dense forest. Wonder Woman darted toward where she saw the shadow, ignoring the voices that frantically called her name, and she flew up to get a better view. Her eyes darted from side to side but she saw only a vastness of trees and no shadows around.
"Wonder Woman!" she turned, meeting the worried gaze of Superman who stopped in midair in front of her. "What happened?"
"I was sure I saw a shadow moving." she replied, returning her gaze below her.
Superman tilted his head slightly to the side, probably using his super-hearing. He shook his head and stared at his friend. "I don't hear any heartbeat or any other noise that would indicate the presence of a stranger." Wonder Woman uttered a distracted murmur, continuing to look through the trees without catching sight of anything else. "You probably imagined it. Come on, let's get out of this place."
The Amazon nodded her head and, after taking one last look at the dense forest, flew with Superman to join the other heroes with one thought on her mind.
Namely, that at that moment the heroes were not alone.
Renegade watched through binoculars as the various Justice League heroes departed Louisiana Bayou with Green Lantern carrying the Injustice League. He gave a dramatic sigh as he stowed the binoculars in his utility belt. "Man, that was a call a little too close for my taste."
He had received a call from Deathstroke after his reunion with the Light and the young assassin discovered that Vandal Savage had already organized a team of super-villains to distract the Justice League from their work. Shortly after his father's call, his aunt Poison Ivy also contacted him, explaining how Vandal Savage wanted to hire her as a member of the Injustice League but she, remembering the warnings Renegade had given her and Harley Quinn, refused.
However, the Light was not happy with her refusal and forced her to create the plants that would then be mystically and radioactively reinforced, as well as also by Kobra-Venom and Joker Venom, who would later attack several cities simultaneously.
Dick had felt a huge wave of anger at the news of how the Light had forced his aunt Pamela to execute their disgusting plans and had to take a few deep breaths to avoid killing every single member of the Light one by one, however, blowing his and Slade's cover.
So the Talon after calming down took a private jet and drove it: destination Louisiana Bayou. He easily slipped into the Injustice League's base of operations, taking down Atomic Skull even more easily without the man noticing and destroyed their systems, putting end to the poor Poison Ivy's plants exploited by the Light.
The only reason Renegade did not kill Atomic Skull was because the heroes were outside and the last thing he wanted was to accidentally ruin their reputation.
Who knows what would have happened if the press had learned of the hypothetical death of a super-villain in a battle where besides the villains apparently there were only the founding members of the JL. Surely some crappy journalist would have mistakenly blamed Atomic Skull's death on the heroes and thus thrown mud on the reputation of the League, even without evidence, thus risking ruining them irremediably.
Dick was not lying when he said he would rather die than irremediably ruin the Justice League's reputation.
So unfortunately Renegade could not kill Atomic Skull but was content to grant him a nasty concussion courtesy of the butt of one of his guns.
Not to mention when Renegade took a curious peek at the fight only to find that all the heroes were agonizingly close to death due to Wotan's magical lightning bolts and the other super-villains who were and would take advantage of the opportunity created by the sorcerer. Fortunately, Dick has exceptional and extraordinary self-control and aimed for Wotan's right shoulder rather than his brain or heart.
The super-villains were lucky that they did not kill the Justice League, otherwise there was literally no reason in the world why Renegade would not have slaughtered the world's worst super-villains, starting with the Injustice League itself.
No more heroes equaled no more restriction for Renegade.
Dick patted himself on the back when he realized that he had saved the heroes just in time and -just as he had told Wonder Woman four days earlier- no, he did not care at all about public recognition of his merits. He really enjoyed acting in the shadows as a kind of Dark Guardian Angel of the JL. Especially he was glad to have saved Wonder Woman just in time since she was a little too close to death for the acrobat's taste.
Cheetah was a lucky bitch not to have caused Wonder Woman serious injury, or worse to kill her, because otherwise she would have had to deal with a much more brutal and dark Renegade than usual. And just remember that the one time Renegade lost control of his rage he caused real nightmares for Deathstroke The Terminator.
And at that time Dick was only eleven years old.
Speaking of Wonder Woman, he did not expect that she would be able to even vaguely pinpoint his location and it was close to her finding out.
Fortunately, Renegade was a true master and expert at disappearing from anyone's sight.
Dick shook his head to clear his head and headed back to where he had left the hidden jet in camouflage mode, intent on wanting to return home where Minecraft with his little siblings Joey and Rose awaited him that he would not miss for anything in the world.