DC Next Proudly Presents…!

WONDER WOMEN

Issue Three: Heroes and Villains

Written by u/MadUncleSheogorath

Edited by u/AdamantAce

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Artemis’ winged sandals flapped as fast as they could, pushing themselves to the limit, zipping across Egypt, Spain the Atlantic Ocean on autopilot, lost in her own thoughts. Atlanta passed beneath her and she course corrected, the rising sun glinting off her arms. Next came the Rockies and beyond that, San Francisco.

And no doubt, an angry demigod. Zeus’s child. But Artemis didn’t seek the child. She sought Enyo, said to lurk in San Francisco, in recent years. For whatever purpose, Artemis wasn’t certain. But the Olympians had gone silent, said to be travelling. Enyo, she supposed, was proof of this. The Golden Gate Bridge, connecting San Francisco to Gateway City, peeked above the thick fog of the bay.

Artemis kept cautious eyes open, watching for any sign of the demigod and quickly detoured towards Gateway, zipping across the bridge with the traffic. She couldn’t understand why Diana was drawn to this place, nor why it celebrated her by making itself so… Greek. America already looked to Greece for inspiration as it touted the word ‘democracy!’ in everyone’s faces like a fearful Amazon carries a spear eleven cubits long. But Gateway was completely attached to the idea of neoclassical architecture, and the historical… culture. Gateway wanted to be Greek, and Artemis found it sickly. Perhaps Diana had found it sweet.

Artemis landed softly on the pavement beside the Gateway City Museum and hefted herself up onto the window ledge, digging her fingers beneath the frame and pulling the window open, carving marks into the surface of the sill. The window pulled out towards her and she ducked her head, slipping inside of it. The museum opened up onto the back of Diana’s mausoleum, said to hold Diana’s body. Artemis doubted that, it left her body much too vulnerable. But that didn’t mean Artemis couldn’t pay her respects. Clad in some of Wonder Woman’s older gear, she stepped through the Eastern Wing, laden with Diana’s armours. How many, Artemis wasn’t certain, but over the long centuries she’d had plenty. Artemis paused and turned, staring at the jacket-and-jeans look Diana had worn up until the mid-noughties, and beside it the armour worn until… her death. It wasn’t far off from her classic look, although this kept the leggings, it did away with the jacket, or a shirt, and kept the bustier, albeit with a silver ‘W’ across the top.

Artemis realised she’d been holding her breath and exhaled, glancing back down the corridor towards the Mausoleum, where a statue of Diana stared down at her. Confident, Imposing, Strong and wise. Standing in front of her, Artemis felt like none of these things.

“Diana.” Artemis began. “I wear your armour. I besmirch your name. And I apologise.”

She knelt down on one knee before the statue in respect, pulling her sword from her leg and holding it out before her with both hands. “But I have no other option. You have left a profound legacy across these lands, given recognition to the might of the Amazons. Bana-Mighdall is threatened by Kahndaq, and so that legacy must not end.”

Artemis sighed and slumped down, gently laying the blade to the marble flooring. “There is a new prophecy, given by the Oracle. I wish I had your guidance.”

“You know.” Artemis heard behind her. “I think in this instance, she’d smile, clasp your shoulder and tell you not to worry.”

Artemis span as best she could on the floor, looking to find a brunette woman watching her from within Diana’s area of the museum. She pushed her glasses up her nose and stepped close to Artemis, glancing to the polished blade sitting pretty within a glass case.

“I’m impressed you got in without anybody noticing the new Wonder Woman, honestly.” The woman continued, sitting down beside Artemis on the floor, looking up at the statue. “People tend to notice someone in red, blue and gold.”

Artemis frowned, confused. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Helena Sandsmark. I’m one of the chief curators for this wing.” Helena smiled, putting a hand out for Artemis to shake. “And you?”

“Wonder Woman.”

“Alright. Keep your secrets. Though I give it a week before you reveal all. Diana managed a day.” Helena grinned. Artemis was further confused. Were they close?

“My daughter is… arguably Diana’s biggest fan. And I mean, a superfan.” Helena remarked. “So I get the whole living up to her, matter.”

Artemis looked on unsteadily and then shrugged her shoulders. “That’s not the part I’m worried about. I’m Amazonian, I can’t think of anyone better than us to take the mantle- though I’m surprised I was chosen. It’s running headfirst into matters without guidance. I’m already thrust into a world of ‘Gods and Monsters’. Praying to them is one thing but… living alongside them? Fighting them?.”

“Well… Diana became Wonder Woman by fighting Poseidon. So I have confidence in you yet.” Helena grinned, and then rose back onto her feet. “So, this prophecy?”

“A child of Zeus is going to bring about the end of the world- I have to find Enyo, first.”

“Zeus had many children…” Helena affirmed, almost as if to herself. Though Artemis did not know what. “She forced Ares off the seat and became Goddess of War, right? Diana told me the story.”

“She did. Once Rome had finished conquering Greece…”

“I take it everyone ignores the fact that his wife is also his sister.”

Artemis nodded her head and slid the sword back into the scabbard on her hip, taking one final look at Diana’s immaculate effigy, and then departing in silence. Helena didn’t say anything more.

 

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Cassandra stared out of her bedroom window with all the wonder of a wet fish.

“Cassandra.” Miguel sang behind her, leaning up against the wall on her bed. She refocused her vision, watching him from behind in the window. Tall, tan, and supernaturally groomed. Miguel in a nutshell. “Let’s go hit up RJ’s. It’s warm enough.” Cassandra raised a brow and chuckled to herself. “Miguel, you are obsessed with that place. Is it the ice-cream, the comfy seats or… It’s that guy you keep eyeing up?”

Miguel smiled at her and leaned forwards, bed creaking slightly beneath him. She needed to replace that at some point. “Maybe it’s a combination of all three. Besides, RJ’s has a lot of tasty features.”

Cassandra burst into laughter and reached for her phone, searching through her most recent contacts and tapping Emily’s name. “Alright, let me call Em and see what time she’s done with her internship.”

Miguel and Cassandra stared at one another as Emily’s phone rang… and rang… and rang… until Emily’s ever-bubbly voice answered.

“Hey! What’s up?”

“Miguel and I are thinking of hitting up RJ’s, what time do you finish?” Cassandra asked, looking up to the clock. Two in the afternoon. At least RJ’s was open later than usual.

“About… oooh… an hour?” Emily responded. “I can meet you guys there if you don’t mind hanging on for a little bit.”

“Works for us. See you in a bit.” Cassandra smiled, finger hovering over the end call button. Miguel butted in at the last moment, hands up in front of him to dissuade Cassandra.

“Oh, Emily, do you have the book for Arthurson’s class with you?”

“I might. Sorry, I gotta go, Dr. Isley is calling on me.”

Cassandra furrowed her brow and then shrugged, she knew the name from somewhere. But she knew a lot of names, she could always ask Emily later. Maybe she worked at the GSU. Cassandra looked up and over at Miguel as Emily hung up, and smiled. “Let’s start walking down, we can poke our heads into some bookstores on the way.”

 

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Artemis was growing further frustrated with each passing minute. For the past eight hours she’d been hunting for Enyo, and her searching had lead her nowhere. She’d had the sense to grab some more… fitting clothes for San Francisco. Helena had had a point about the locals and their fascination with Wonder Woman. Though perhaps she had overdone it in this heat, wearing an oversized hoodie and a pair of jogger bottoms.

Enyo was the Wife of War, once sharing the mantle with Ares until his failures against Rome. Artemis found the co-opting of Olympus to be perverse. The Romans sought to take, rather than create. They took from the Etruscans, they took from the Greeks, the Gauls… They had no originality to them, and the gods were a clear display. Even idols to the gods of Egypt had eventually become Romanised. The pantheons of Earth had their own politics as much as those who worshipped them. Many gods and even entire pantheons had been lost over time, faith in them wavering. Rome’s Dis Pater, Orcus and on the extreme end, the Gods of Mesopotamia in all their names and faces.

Artemis sighed. For someone who never wished to be involved in the affairs of the gods, she knew a little too much about them. But she was a warrior at heart, even if she had traded her axe for sword. Perhaps then, as a warrior, that would be an option for finding Enyo. Gods of War always needed the strongest warriors. Artemis liked to believe she was the strongest of them all.

Now she needed only to find a battle. But she lacked the enhanced senses that Diana possessed. Perhaps then she was best equipped to simply walk into the local police station. First she needed only to find a map.

Artemis glanced about her, and realised she had no clue where one might be. Nor where, in particular, she was. She knew the San Franciscans (she assumed that was their nomonym) travelled by use of large vehicles on rails throughout the hilled landscape, they also enjoyed waving frantically at taxis. Artemis knew a lot, but she’d never felt so useless. She sighed, and began to wave at traffic, shouting “TAXI!”

 

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Cassandra and Miguel barged into RJ’s, immediately filling the entire parlour with laughter. A few patrons glanced their way, as did the younger man of the two behind the counter, but many ignored them both. Cassandra and Miguel navigated their way past tables until they wound up in a corner booth. Miguel sat first, and Cassandra sat down opposite of him, reaching back to tie her ponytail up into a ball.

“Is he looking?” Miguel asked. Cassie’s eyes flashed over, and then returned.

“He is. Your idea worked, though I doubt it was needed. You should just talk to him.”

Miguel shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe at some point.”

“Alright, but if he starts dating someone else… San Francisco is right there after all.” Miguel sighed. “Point taken. Anyway… should we just get Emily her usual?”

“Has she ever deviated?”

“She’s gotten pancakes before.”

“And then the usual straight after.” Cassandra reminded. “Alright, I’m paying for this round. What do you want?”

Miguel chuckled. “I’ll take a Dominico Special.”

“Alright…” Cassandra murmured. “I’ll douse vanilla in M&M’s I think.”

Cassandra’s eyes wandered up to Miguel and past him towards the television rooted to the wall, subtitles playing. Veronica Cale was in the news again, talking up some big project or another. Cale, the West Coast’s Lex Luthor. All smiles and sunshine in the public but Cassandra knew all too much from her time with Diana that Cale was anything but. But Cale had been quiet since Diana passed, suspiciously so. But then, Diana had many enemies. And her passing seemed to make many of them re-evaluate. She could only hope this was the same for the others.

Cassandra looked back to Miguel and rose from her seat, just in time to find Emily’s pink hair bobbing past the window with a redhead. One who was all too familiar. Cassandra was stunned, she knew that with Two of the Trinity’s passing many heroes and villains had found themselves needing to reorganise but…

Poison Ivy was in Gateway City. Cassandra felt her stomach lurch, a need to be sick, but kept herself steady, forcing a smile as Emily turned towards the door, waving goodbye to the villain.

Emily’s boss was Poison Ivy.

Emily turned her head and looked at Cassandra, and broke into a huge grin.

 

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Artemis burst in through the door of the drug lab, bow drawn, and loosened the two arrows she’d nocked. They whistled through the air, ripping with two blades and pinning them against the wall, hanging loosely on the shafts. Artemis moved quickly, throwing herself over a sofa and slamming her feet into their chests, pushing them against the wall and knocking the two of them out. A bullet whizzed through the air, embedding itself into the wall behind her and she ducked for cover beside a kitchen counter. If she wasn’t driven to heroism, an unconscious body would make for a fantastic shield. Artemis notched another arrow and waited patiently, listening for someone to creep closer.

Artemis couldn’t entirely speak for the Amazons of Themyscira, relations between them and Bana-Mighdall were poor after all. While she knew that Hippolyta bore no powers, Diana had been blessed by the gods themselves. But Bana-Mighdall had no superpowers, merely the intense training that all women took part in.

The functioning of a woman-only society was a matter for another time, of course.

Artemis cocked her head as a plank of wood creaked and she twisted herself as she sprang up, only having a second, if she was lucky, to fire. Her right eye closed, and she released as soon as the sight lined up. It caught the shooter in his shoulder and he dropped the gun in his hand, clattering to the floor.

Artemis stepped in towards him and pushed him up against the wall between his friends. “Stay here.”

Artemis glanced around, listening for any more signs of life, and then departed out of the door, nodding to a local officer and their friends. “Empty as far as I can tell. Two unconscious, one injured. Back wall on entry.”

Artemis stepped out of the way and glanced about as the officers swarmed in. Perhaps some work in San Francisco and Gateway would get Enyo’s attention…

 

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Cassandra pulled her hood up and pulled a wooden replica of a Greek Theatre mask onto her face, guiltily raided from the hallway wall at home. Emily’s workplace, Halsing Inc., stood unceremoniously in front of her. Small, with a few minor projects occurring here from what Emily had told her. But what could Poison Ivy be up to?

Cassandra double checked she had Artemis’ Lasso on her person and yanked open a skylight. No alarms were triggered. In a world of heroes and villains, nobody ever seemed to secure the skylights. Cassandra ducked beneath the glass panelling and floated down into the main workers lounge. No security here because, again, nobody ever expects anyone to use a skylight for whatever reason. Cassandra began to read the varying labels on doors.

‘Administration’ might have records of home addresses and ‘toxicology’ could have Ivy working there, she was said to have a poisonous kiss, after all. ‘Chemical Facilities’ as any lab likely has, ‘Medical’ in case of emergencies, Cassandra presumed. She sighed. There were many more doors than this. Administration seemed like a safe bet.

Cassandra placed her palm on the door handle and gently pushed it down, surprised to find it unlocked. Cassandra pushed the door open, and soon found herself being thrown into the door opposite by a wave of green. Cassandra groaned in surprise and rose back onto her feet, looking up in front of her to find Poison Ivy riding on a wave of vines and leaves.

“Why are you here.” Cassandra demanded, grabbing the lasso and in one movement snapping it. The lasso wrapped around Ivy’s arm. Ivy adjusted her lab coat and raised an eyebrow at Cassandra.

“I work here. Now it’s my turn, why are you here?” Ivy questioned, narrowing her eyes.

“Funnily enough, digging up dirt on you.”

“Me?” Ivy furrowed her brows.

“You’re surprised?” Cassie asked. “A renowned villain wanders into Gateway City, and you’re surprised anyone is curious?”

“Well. I’d done so well at flying under the radar.” Ivy responded, creeping in closer to Cassandra, hips swaying from side to side as she stepped down from the large leaf beneath her, pale green skin that oozed attraction and, didn't she have a more typical skin tone earlier? She was playing with Cassandra’s mind. Pheromones, right? She could manipulate people that way. “For six months, after all. You must be off your game… Wonder Girl.”

Cassandra cringed beneath the mask. She needed a new name, clearly. “Olympos.”

“Whatever name you choose, I know who you are. Not many have the confidence to break into a lab, or be so protective of their city. Let alone know who I am when I’ve gone so unnoticed.”

“So, what are you doing here?” Cassandra asked, Ivy coming to a halt right in front of her.

“I’m working. With Batman gone, I needed to explore other avenues. And frankly, moving away from Gotham was the best decision I had made. That place brings… a darkness with it. So I left. Followed my own ‘Manifest Destiny’, eventually came here to Gateway.”

“So you want me to believe you’ve been living and working just fine, for six months, in Gateway?” Cassandra asked, disbelieving.

“What can I say? People change. You most certainly have. Once the second shining jewel of Gateway and now what? You aren’t even Wonder Woman right now. There’s some redhead in the suit, I hear.”

Cassandra swallowed hard. “I’m watching you, Ivy. Try anything, and I’ll be on you.”

“Then I hope you enjoy every second.” Ivy winked. “Now, if there’s little else you need, I suggest you depart and get some sleep. I can see the black rings around your eyes.

Cassandra was taken aback, and just nodded her head, launching herself back up to the Skylight and climbing through the opening she’d made. She heard it shut behind her, and glanced to see a single vine curling as if to wave.

Cassandra blinked. Where did those plants come from anyway?