Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2015 6:20:23 GMT -5
The Titans of Justice Chapter 13 - "A Common Goal Part 2”
Written by: Power Guy
Co-conspirator: Scotty2Hotty
Editor: Marcus Mebes
Olympus, Home of the Greek Gods…
“Lord Zeus! Lord Zeus!” cried Hippolyta as she ran into the throne-room of the gods.
Zeus was drinking a chalet of wine and enjoying some grapes. “What is it my dear? What has you in such a state of panic?”
“Fausta has returned! You must send me back to the mortal plane at once!” requested Hippolyta.
“Fausta?” he echoed thoughtfully. “Hmm… the champion of the Germanic Pantheon.” He pondered somewhat. “This is certainly an unexpected turn of events, but I am not in a position to send you back. One of your daughters or your grandson will have to deal with her.” He casually returned his attention to his repast, as if dismissing her from his presence.
“But Lord Zeus, please,” pleaded Hippolyta. Do you not recall how she killed my former protégé Druscilla, the Wonder Girl of World War II? Then later, she almost killed Fury. I cannot just watch as she takes another life.”
“Hippolyta, I know your pain but this is a situation where fate must play its hand,” replied Zeus complacently. “I will not be sending you back”
Hippolyta wore a disappointed scowl on her face. She said nothing and raced out of Zeus’ throne-room in search of a way to stop Fausta.
• • •
The Hall of Justice – Metropolis, U.S.A.
The Trouble Alert was going off. Sargona activated the communication console, and the viewscreen flickered into focus. On the other end was Amanda Waller. “Oh great,” she huffed. “I hope you’re not calling to tell us you’ll be replacing another member of our team.”
“Put aside the snide remarks girl, this is an urgent matter,” responded Waller. “I thought you kids should know that Fausta and a new Lady Lunar just broke in here and freed Giganta.”
“Oh, I feel so bad that Thunderdog couldn’t be there to help protect your little prison. I’ll be happy to send her home right away,” Sargona said with false look of concern on her face.
“Keep it up girl,” chastised Waller. “I didn’t have to inform you that Giganta was on the loose. I suggest you take this gesture of good will and be thankful for it.”
Wonder Man quickly ran over to the monitor screen. “Ms. Waller, did you say that… Fausta was one of the villains that broke Giganta out?”
“Yes I did—before Sargona so rudely interrupted me,” pointed out Waller. “Fausta and this new Lady Lunar broke into Belle Reve, took down my Squad, and busted out Giganta. I’m hoping you kids can round up Giganta so that she will be available to testify at Jemstone’s trial.”
“Why you manipulative dog!” yelled Sargona. “You come here and take Jemstone off to prison based on the word of a known felon, then you railroad us into accepting Thunderstorm as her replacement, and now that Giganta has been broken out of prison, you’re asking us to capture her so she can put down one of our own? You’ve really hit an all time low!”
“Look, there’s a job to be done. Are you up to it or not?” questioned Waller. “Whether your girl Jemstone is guilty or not, she can’t have her trial if Giganta isn’t present.”
Wonder Man then spoke before Sargona could, “We’ll do our best Ms. Waller. It’s important to us that Jemstone gets a fair and quick trial.”
“Thank you Wonder Man,” commented Waller. “Keep me posted.” With that, Amanda Waller signed off of her video camera.
“I hate that woman,” muttered Sargona viciously.
“Regardless, we have to do this for Jemstone,” advised Wonder Man. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude but I have a date so I’ll need to be going.”
“Another date?” asked Sargona. “Who’s the flavor of the day this time?”
“Haha….I’m so not a gigolo,” denied Wonder Man. “Her name is Jessica. We’re going out to dinner and then to a movie.”
“But what about Giganta?” inquired Sargona.
Wonder Man (focused on his upcoming personal plans) answered with “She just got busted out of prison. There’s no way she’ll come out of hiding this soon. If I should be wrong, contact me on my communicator.” He dashed out the door as he finished, leaving them all aghast at his flippant attitude.
“Sure, no problem,” affirmed Sargona to her departing teammate. “Have a good time!” She returned her attention to the communication systems. “That dude just amazes me,” she muttered. “He’d rather chase tail and get his rocks off than protect people.” She sniffed in annoyance. “I guess I know where HIS priorities are.”
• • •
Several hours later in Gateway City, U.S.A.
Wonder Man(in his guise of Scott Trevor) walked out of a movie theatre with his beautiful date Jessica. She was tall and slender with long blonde hair, and dressed to kill like she was going to a public affair.
“That was a great movie. I had a lot of fun tonight,” commented Jessica.
“You’re a lot of fun,” said Scott. “Maybe we could do this again some time?”
“I’d love to!” agreed Jessica She reached up and touched his face. “My place or yours?”
“Mmmm…” smiled Scott, placing his hands on her slender waist and pulling her close to him. “I’m thinking mine,” he breathed as he leaned into her for a kiss.
Just then a commotion came from a few blocks away. Scott turned around and saw the towering Giganta making her way through the city, trampling everything in her path.
Jessica was also quick to notice Giganta and started screaming in a state of panic. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” All thoughts of a midnight romp were shunted from her mind as she shut down and dove into panic mode.
Scott quickly put his arm around the frightened young woman. “Jessica, we’ve got to get out of here. Let me bring you to your car.”
“Ok…” said Jessica shaking almost uncontrollably. “But what about you?”
“My car is parked a block over. Don’t worry about me,” Scott said trying to calm the young woman’s nerves as he escorted her to her car. He jokingly added, “Besides, you were gonna have to drive me back here later… anyway.” He smiled encouragingly.
They rushed to her car. “Get in a drive as fast as you can. Don’t stop for anything!” ordered Scott.
“A-all right,” replied Jessica falteringly. “I’ll call you when I get to a safe place.”
“Sounds good,” agreed Scott. “Stay safe!” Scott leaned in to kiss her cheek, then raced off.
He made his way to a vacant, dark alley around the back of the movie theater. Making sure no-one was around, he extended his arms out sideways and then started to turn his body in a circular motion, spinning around rapidly. There was a bright flash of light, mini shooting stars started sprouting from where Scott stood. A few moments later, gone was Scott Trevor. Standing in his place was the avenging, scion of the Amazons, Wonder Man!
Wonder Man took to the sky with his power to glide on air currents. Adding in a blast of super-speed, he clocked the unsuspecting Giganta in the back of the head. “You just don’t learn, do you lady? You’re going back to Belle Reve.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that” taunted Giganta
“She’s right!” came a voice from below.
Wonder Man looked down. He saw Dr. Poison standing below him, pointing a suped-up dart-gun at him.
Dr. Poison pointed her gun and fired rapidly at Wonder Man. “Feel the sting and your blood will start to boil!” she laughed gleefully.
Remembering his training on Themiscyra, he quickly treated this attack as a game of bullets and bracelets, using his large silver gauntlets to deflect the oncoming poison-tipped darts. “Nice try Poison, but you’ll have to be quicker than that!”
All of a sudden, Wonder Man felt himself getting heavy. He started sinking to the ground. As he crashed into the asphalt beneath him, he noticed Lady Lunar above him. She had a twisted grin on her face. “What’s wrong Wonder Boy? Eat too many cheeseburgers?” The mistress of gravity began to snort and giggle.
Wonder Man was quick to notice a hubcap lying on the ground next to him. He struggled to lift his arm and pick up the hubcap, and then threw it at Lady Lunar. She was so busy laughing and congratulating herself, she wasn’t quick enough to dodge the oncoming hubcap, which collided right with her forehead. With an unnerving crunch as metal met bone, she dropped to the ground like lead weight.
Wonder Man rose to his feet. “You know, usually I like the company of several women… but this is ridiculous.”
“Afraid you’re going to get burned? You should be,” came a voice from behind him.
At that instant, Wonder Man felt his back starting to burn. He turned to find he was facing Zara, High Priestess of the Crimson Flame. “I’m going to roast you alive, boy!”
“Not this time Zara,” countered Wonder Man as backed away and started spinning his magic-lasso in front of him like a fan. The wind caused by the spinning of the lasso deflected Zara’s flames back at her.
Another voice came from the left. “Are you intimidated by all of these women? Maybe even a little bit… afraid?”
Wonder Man looked over and saw the speaker. “Paranoia! Don’t even think about using your mental tricks on me or I’ll… I’ll…” Wonder Man felt a burning sensation in his brain. He was too late to build up his defenses against Paranoia’s mental attack. “Great Hera… all of these strong powerful women.” He choked in fear, and glared fearfully about himself. “How can I possibly stand a chance against them. Giganta’s immense. Zara could burn me to ash.” Wonder Man’s sense of bravery and heroics was quickly diminishing. “How can I fight them all? What am I going to do?”
“You are going to die male Amazon!” said the voice of Fausta as she revealed herself from her hiding place. She made her way up to the cowering Wonder Man and punched him in the face. Wonder Man fell and landed on his back.
Paranoia had overcome Wonder Man. He was shaking, almost too scared to move. “What do you witches want from me?” he demanded, trying to stabilize himself. He looked up and saw the Cheetah had made himself visible. “He must have been hiding like Fausta was,” he thought to himself.
“You, my boy, are the ticket to the massacre of the Amazons,” snarled the Cheetah, “most especially, Wonder Woman!” He turned to survey his team. “Now ladies, let’s give Wonder Man here the beating of his life!”
Instantly, the seven members of Villainy Inc. started pummeling Wonder Man relentlessly until he was bruised, battered, and unconscious.
Once the villains had defeated Wonder Man, Fausta picked him up kicked his near life-less body into a near-by building. The others looked confused as to why Fausta was continuing to beat the young hero, as he was obviously defeated. Fausta turned to them with a stern look on her face. “That is to make sure he stays down until we get him back to my ship. Plus, I am taking great delight in traumatizing the ilk of Hippolyta. Once we storm Paradise Island and overthrow her, I will snap the boy’s neck in front of her and laugh as she faces the realization that she is powerless to help those she cares for.”
“Girl, you certainly are a vicious one!” chimed Zara with an approving nod. “When you’re done snapping his neck, I’d like to torture Hippolyta even more by burning the boy’s arms and legs off one at a time. I owe that witch as much as you do. She trapped me in another dimension for the last several decades and if it wasn’t for our handsome benefactor the Cheetah here, I’d still be there rotting away.”
“Ok girls, let’s go,” growled the Cheetah.
With that, Lady Lunar used her gravitational powers to carry her teammates away, headed for Fausta’s ship.
Moments later, Sargona, Green Lantern, Venus, Nucleus, and Thunderstorm arrived at the place where Wonder Man had his battle with Villainy Inc.
“This is where the news showed Wonder Man to be earlier,” commented Nucleus, “but I don’t see him anywhere.”
“Ring – do you detect any trace of Wonder Man here?” Green Lantern asked his power-ring. Immediately, a green beam shot out from his ring, probing the area going around in a circle. A few seconds later, it stopped and glowed brightly on a particular area. “There! Under that rubble!” shouted Green Lantern.
Sargona ran over to the rubble, “Since Power Guy is stuck on monitor duty, I’ll have to do.” She put her hands on the rubble and ordered it to disperse itself. When the rubble was finally cleared away, it revealed Wonder Man’s silver lasso hiding underneath it. “His magic-lasso! He would never go anywhere without it. Those villains that the newscast showed must have gotten the best of him.”
“I recognized one of them as that male Cheetah that Wonder Man and I encountered a few weeks back,” confirmed Venus. “I’m scared to think what will happen to Wonder Man if he’s in the Cheetah’s clutches.”
“We’ve got to find Wonder Man… and fast!” stated Sargona.
“Well it doesn’t look like this will be easy,” commented Thunderstorm. “Look at this,” she said as she picked up a small object.
“That’s Wonder Man’s signal device,” confirmed Green Lantern.
Nucleus then pointed out, “It looks like it was torn off of his costume.”
A voice then came from above, “Titans of Justice?”
The young heroes looked up to see Troia descending upon them.
“Troia! Are we glad to see you,” Green Lantern said with a burst of enthusiasm. Like the others, it was a thrill to see and work with one of the world’s premier super heroines… a legend in her own right.
“Good to see you again too, Dan,” Troia said with smile mingled with a look of worry, “but I’m here find out what happened to my nephew. I was watching the news and saw a team of villains overwhelm him.”
“We saw the news cast too,” Venus stated, “which is why we came. We’re all worried about Wonder Man.”
“You should be,” confirmed Troia, “Some of those villains he was facing are some of the worst this world has seen. Giganta, Dr. Poison, and Zara are enough to deal with but Fausta is a tank. My mother fought her back in World War II and said that Fausta was her most ruthless and deadly enemy—even worse than Dark Angel, who gave Fausta her powers.”
Thunderstorm then interjected, “I suggest we go back to the Hall of Justice and try to piece together everything in order to try and find Wonder Man.”
“Isn’t she great at pointing out the obvious?” Sargona said sarcastically glaring at Thunderstorm.
“Regardless, it’s a good idea,” Green Lantern said trying to keep the peace. He then used his power-ring to create a giant green platform to transport the non-flyers on. “Climb aboard. Troia, how’s Kyle doing?”
“Busy as usual training new recruits for the Corps,” replied Troia with a half-smile. “I hope the Guardians give me back my husband one day,” she added jokingly.
Green Lantern responded with “I didn’t realizing he was still training new recruits… but then again, the Corps has gotten so big, I never have time to check on everyone any more.”
The five members of the Titans of Justice and Troia took to the air headed towards the Hall.
• • •
Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean aboard Fausta’s giant u-boat…
Wonder Man started to regain consciousness. He could barely open his swollen left eye, and winced in pain. “Ugh… what hit me?” he groaned.
“Fausta did,” confirmed the Cheetah. “And Giganta and Lady Lunar and Dr. Poison and Zara and Paranoia, and me.”
“What do you fiends want from me?” demanded Wonder Man trying to break free from the chains binding him to the chair he was propped up on.
“Don’t bother trying to break those chains,” spoke the Cheetah in a guttural growl. “They are made from Amazonian steel that Fausta stole from your beloved Island many decades ago.”
“As for what we want from you? It’s quite simple,” he continued. “You are our ticket to Paradise Island. Your mother is currently attending a U.N. conference so the other Amazons will have no choice but to lay down their swords and grant us entrance to the royal palace. Once there, we will wait for Wonder Woman to return and kill you right in front of her. It’s a bit of a shame though, as you are quite a delicious looking hostage. If you and I weren’t pre-ordained enemies, I could enjoy a few hours with you.”
“Disgusting!” shouted Fausta as she walked into the room. “Keep your animal predilections to yourself, monster!”
The Cheetah and Wonder man turned and gazed upon her, one with anger, one with disgust.
The Cheetah was in a bit of state of panic, wondering if Fausta had heard him admit that Wonder Man’s mother was now Wonder Woman rather than Hippolyta.
“You are a homosexual, beast man?” questioned Fausta. Luckily for the Cheetah, Fausta had only caught the end of his and Wonder Man’s conversation.
“Let’s just say that I prefer not to limit my options, Fausta,” the Cheetah said, defending his choice. “Is there an issue?”
“Yes, there is an issue. We used to torture and kill people like you back in Germany,” informed Fausta. “If it wasn’t for the fact that you released me from my frozen sleep, I would kill you right here and now. Once our task of destroying Wonder Woman and her family is over, you and I must never cross paths again? Am I understood?”
“Whatever you say Fausta,” agreed the Cheetah. “Let’s just keep our minds set on our common goal.”
Suddenly, the voice of Priscilla Rich spoke to the Cheetah. “That’s it my boy, bide your time with Fausta. We will only need her for a little longer.” At a questioning, silent glance from Michael, she added, “Yes, only a short while longer.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” affirmed Fausta. “My ship has its course set for Paradise Island. We should be there in a few hours. I cannot wait to see the look on Hippolyta’s face when we kill this boy.”
Written by: Power Guy
Co-conspirator: Scotty2Hotty
Editor: Marcus Mebes
Olympus, Home of the Greek Gods…
“Lord Zeus! Lord Zeus!” cried Hippolyta as she ran into the throne-room of the gods.
Zeus was drinking a chalet of wine and enjoying some grapes. “What is it my dear? What has you in such a state of panic?”
“Fausta has returned! You must send me back to the mortal plane at once!” requested Hippolyta.
“Fausta?” he echoed thoughtfully. “Hmm… the champion of the Germanic Pantheon.” He pondered somewhat. “This is certainly an unexpected turn of events, but I am not in a position to send you back. One of your daughters or your grandson will have to deal with her.” He casually returned his attention to his repast, as if dismissing her from his presence.
“But Lord Zeus, please,” pleaded Hippolyta. Do you not recall how she killed my former protégé Druscilla, the Wonder Girl of World War II? Then later, she almost killed Fury. I cannot just watch as she takes another life.”
“Hippolyta, I know your pain but this is a situation where fate must play its hand,” replied Zeus complacently. “I will not be sending you back”
Hippolyta wore a disappointed scowl on her face. She said nothing and raced out of Zeus’ throne-room in search of a way to stop Fausta.
• • •
The Hall of Justice – Metropolis, U.S.A.
The Trouble Alert was going off. Sargona activated the communication console, and the viewscreen flickered into focus. On the other end was Amanda Waller. “Oh great,” she huffed. “I hope you’re not calling to tell us you’ll be replacing another member of our team.”
“Put aside the snide remarks girl, this is an urgent matter,” responded Waller. “I thought you kids should know that Fausta and a new Lady Lunar just broke in here and freed Giganta.”
“Oh, I feel so bad that Thunderdog couldn’t be there to help protect your little prison. I’ll be happy to send her home right away,” Sargona said with false look of concern on her face.
“Keep it up girl,” chastised Waller. “I didn’t have to inform you that Giganta was on the loose. I suggest you take this gesture of good will and be thankful for it.”
Wonder Man quickly ran over to the monitor screen. “Ms. Waller, did you say that… Fausta was one of the villains that broke Giganta out?”
“Yes I did—before Sargona so rudely interrupted me,” pointed out Waller. “Fausta and this new Lady Lunar broke into Belle Reve, took down my Squad, and busted out Giganta. I’m hoping you kids can round up Giganta so that she will be available to testify at Jemstone’s trial.”
“Why you manipulative dog!” yelled Sargona. “You come here and take Jemstone off to prison based on the word of a known felon, then you railroad us into accepting Thunderstorm as her replacement, and now that Giganta has been broken out of prison, you’re asking us to capture her so she can put down one of our own? You’ve really hit an all time low!”
“Look, there’s a job to be done. Are you up to it or not?” questioned Waller. “Whether your girl Jemstone is guilty or not, she can’t have her trial if Giganta isn’t present.”
Wonder Man then spoke before Sargona could, “We’ll do our best Ms. Waller. It’s important to us that Jemstone gets a fair and quick trial.”
“Thank you Wonder Man,” commented Waller. “Keep me posted.” With that, Amanda Waller signed off of her video camera.
“I hate that woman,” muttered Sargona viciously.
“Regardless, we have to do this for Jemstone,” advised Wonder Man. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude but I have a date so I’ll need to be going.”
“Another date?” asked Sargona. “Who’s the flavor of the day this time?”
“Haha….I’m so not a gigolo,” denied Wonder Man. “Her name is Jessica. We’re going out to dinner and then to a movie.”
“But what about Giganta?” inquired Sargona.
Wonder Man (focused on his upcoming personal plans) answered with “She just got busted out of prison. There’s no way she’ll come out of hiding this soon. If I should be wrong, contact me on my communicator.” He dashed out the door as he finished, leaving them all aghast at his flippant attitude.
“Sure, no problem,” affirmed Sargona to her departing teammate. “Have a good time!” She returned her attention to the communication systems. “That dude just amazes me,” she muttered. “He’d rather chase tail and get his rocks off than protect people.” She sniffed in annoyance. “I guess I know where HIS priorities are.”
• • •
Several hours later in Gateway City, U.S.A.
Wonder Man(in his guise of Scott Trevor) walked out of a movie theatre with his beautiful date Jessica. She was tall and slender with long blonde hair, and dressed to kill like she was going to a public affair.
“That was a great movie. I had a lot of fun tonight,” commented Jessica.
“You’re a lot of fun,” said Scott. “Maybe we could do this again some time?”
“I’d love to!” agreed Jessica She reached up and touched his face. “My place or yours?”
“Mmmm…” smiled Scott, placing his hands on her slender waist and pulling her close to him. “I’m thinking mine,” he breathed as he leaned into her for a kiss.
Just then a commotion came from a few blocks away. Scott turned around and saw the towering Giganta making her way through the city, trampling everything in her path.
Jessica was also quick to notice Giganta and started screaming in a state of panic. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” All thoughts of a midnight romp were shunted from her mind as she shut down and dove into panic mode.
Scott quickly put his arm around the frightened young woman. “Jessica, we’ve got to get out of here. Let me bring you to your car.”
“Ok…” said Jessica shaking almost uncontrollably. “But what about you?”
“My car is parked a block over. Don’t worry about me,” Scott said trying to calm the young woman’s nerves as he escorted her to her car. He jokingly added, “Besides, you were gonna have to drive me back here later… anyway.” He smiled encouragingly.
They rushed to her car. “Get in a drive as fast as you can. Don’t stop for anything!” ordered Scott.
“A-all right,” replied Jessica falteringly. “I’ll call you when I get to a safe place.”
“Sounds good,” agreed Scott. “Stay safe!” Scott leaned in to kiss her cheek, then raced off.
He made his way to a vacant, dark alley around the back of the movie theater. Making sure no-one was around, he extended his arms out sideways and then started to turn his body in a circular motion, spinning around rapidly. There was a bright flash of light, mini shooting stars started sprouting from where Scott stood. A few moments later, gone was Scott Trevor. Standing in his place was the avenging, scion of the Amazons, Wonder Man!
Wonder Man took to the sky with his power to glide on air currents. Adding in a blast of super-speed, he clocked the unsuspecting Giganta in the back of the head. “You just don’t learn, do you lady? You’re going back to Belle Reve.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that” taunted Giganta
“She’s right!” came a voice from below.
Wonder Man looked down. He saw Dr. Poison standing below him, pointing a suped-up dart-gun at him.
Dr. Poison pointed her gun and fired rapidly at Wonder Man. “Feel the sting and your blood will start to boil!” she laughed gleefully.
Remembering his training on Themiscyra, he quickly treated this attack as a game of bullets and bracelets, using his large silver gauntlets to deflect the oncoming poison-tipped darts. “Nice try Poison, but you’ll have to be quicker than that!”
All of a sudden, Wonder Man felt himself getting heavy. He started sinking to the ground. As he crashed into the asphalt beneath him, he noticed Lady Lunar above him. She had a twisted grin on her face. “What’s wrong Wonder Boy? Eat too many cheeseburgers?” The mistress of gravity began to snort and giggle.
Wonder Man was quick to notice a hubcap lying on the ground next to him. He struggled to lift his arm and pick up the hubcap, and then threw it at Lady Lunar. She was so busy laughing and congratulating herself, she wasn’t quick enough to dodge the oncoming hubcap, which collided right with her forehead. With an unnerving crunch as metal met bone, she dropped to the ground like lead weight.
Wonder Man rose to his feet. “You know, usually I like the company of several women… but this is ridiculous.”
“Afraid you’re going to get burned? You should be,” came a voice from behind him.
At that instant, Wonder Man felt his back starting to burn. He turned to find he was facing Zara, High Priestess of the Crimson Flame. “I’m going to roast you alive, boy!”
“Not this time Zara,” countered Wonder Man as backed away and started spinning his magic-lasso in front of him like a fan. The wind caused by the spinning of the lasso deflected Zara’s flames back at her.
Another voice came from the left. “Are you intimidated by all of these women? Maybe even a little bit… afraid?”
Wonder Man looked over and saw the speaker. “Paranoia! Don’t even think about using your mental tricks on me or I’ll… I’ll…” Wonder Man felt a burning sensation in his brain. He was too late to build up his defenses against Paranoia’s mental attack. “Great Hera… all of these strong powerful women.” He choked in fear, and glared fearfully about himself. “How can I possibly stand a chance against them. Giganta’s immense. Zara could burn me to ash.” Wonder Man’s sense of bravery and heroics was quickly diminishing. “How can I fight them all? What am I going to do?”
“You are going to die male Amazon!” said the voice of Fausta as she revealed herself from her hiding place. She made her way up to the cowering Wonder Man and punched him in the face. Wonder Man fell and landed on his back.
Paranoia had overcome Wonder Man. He was shaking, almost too scared to move. “What do you witches want from me?” he demanded, trying to stabilize himself. He looked up and saw the Cheetah had made himself visible. “He must have been hiding like Fausta was,” he thought to himself.
“You, my boy, are the ticket to the massacre of the Amazons,” snarled the Cheetah, “most especially, Wonder Woman!” He turned to survey his team. “Now ladies, let’s give Wonder Man here the beating of his life!”
Instantly, the seven members of Villainy Inc. started pummeling Wonder Man relentlessly until he was bruised, battered, and unconscious.
Once the villains had defeated Wonder Man, Fausta picked him up kicked his near life-less body into a near-by building. The others looked confused as to why Fausta was continuing to beat the young hero, as he was obviously defeated. Fausta turned to them with a stern look on her face. “That is to make sure he stays down until we get him back to my ship. Plus, I am taking great delight in traumatizing the ilk of Hippolyta. Once we storm Paradise Island and overthrow her, I will snap the boy’s neck in front of her and laugh as she faces the realization that she is powerless to help those she cares for.”
“Girl, you certainly are a vicious one!” chimed Zara with an approving nod. “When you’re done snapping his neck, I’d like to torture Hippolyta even more by burning the boy’s arms and legs off one at a time. I owe that witch as much as you do. She trapped me in another dimension for the last several decades and if it wasn’t for our handsome benefactor the Cheetah here, I’d still be there rotting away.”
“Ok girls, let’s go,” growled the Cheetah.
With that, Lady Lunar used her gravitational powers to carry her teammates away, headed for Fausta’s ship.
Moments later, Sargona, Green Lantern, Venus, Nucleus, and Thunderstorm arrived at the place where Wonder Man had his battle with Villainy Inc.
“This is where the news showed Wonder Man to be earlier,” commented Nucleus, “but I don’t see him anywhere.”
“Ring – do you detect any trace of Wonder Man here?” Green Lantern asked his power-ring. Immediately, a green beam shot out from his ring, probing the area going around in a circle. A few seconds later, it stopped and glowed brightly on a particular area. “There! Under that rubble!” shouted Green Lantern.
Sargona ran over to the rubble, “Since Power Guy is stuck on monitor duty, I’ll have to do.” She put her hands on the rubble and ordered it to disperse itself. When the rubble was finally cleared away, it revealed Wonder Man’s silver lasso hiding underneath it. “His magic-lasso! He would never go anywhere without it. Those villains that the newscast showed must have gotten the best of him.”
“I recognized one of them as that male Cheetah that Wonder Man and I encountered a few weeks back,” confirmed Venus. “I’m scared to think what will happen to Wonder Man if he’s in the Cheetah’s clutches.”
“We’ve got to find Wonder Man… and fast!” stated Sargona.
“Well it doesn’t look like this will be easy,” commented Thunderstorm. “Look at this,” she said as she picked up a small object.
“That’s Wonder Man’s signal device,” confirmed Green Lantern.
Nucleus then pointed out, “It looks like it was torn off of his costume.”
A voice then came from above, “Titans of Justice?”
The young heroes looked up to see Troia descending upon them.
“Troia! Are we glad to see you,” Green Lantern said with a burst of enthusiasm. Like the others, it was a thrill to see and work with one of the world’s premier super heroines… a legend in her own right.
“Good to see you again too, Dan,” Troia said with smile mingled with a look of worry, “but I’m here find out what happened to my nephew. I was watching the news and saw a team of villains overwhelm him.”
“We saw the news cast too,” Venus stated, “which is why we came. We’re all worried about Wonder Man.”
“You should be,” confirmed Troia, “Some of those villains he was facing are some of the worst this world has seen. Giganta, Dr. Poison, and Zara are enough to deal with but Fausta is a tank. My mother fought her back in World War II and said that Fausta was her most ruthless and deadly enemy—even worse than Dark Angel, who gave Fausta her powers.”
Thunderstorm then interjected, “I suggest we go back to the Hall of Justice and try to piece together everything in order to try and find Wonder Man.”
“Isn’t she great at pointing out the obvious?” Sargona said sarcastically glaring at Thunderstorm.
“Regardless, it’s a good idea,” Green Lantern said trying to keep the peace. He then used his power-ring to create a giant green platform to transport the non-flyers on. “Climb aboard. Troia, how’s Kyle doing?”
“Busy as usual training new recruits for the Corps,” replied Troia with a half-smile. “I hope the Guardians give me back my husband one day,” she added jokingly.
Green Lantern responded with “I didn’t realizing he was still training new recruits… but then again, the Corps has gotten so big, I never have time to check on everyone any more.”
The five members of the Titans of Justice and Troia took to the air headed towards the Hall.
• • •
Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean aboard Fausta’s giant u-boat…
Wonder Man started to regain consciousness. He could barely open his swollen left eye, and winced in pain. “Ugh… what hit me?” he groaned.
“Fausta did,” confirmed the Cheetah. “And Giganta and Lady Lunar and Dr. Poison and Zara and Paranoia, and me.”
“What do you fiends want from me?” demanded Wonder Man trying to break free from the chains binding him to the chair he was propped up on.
“Don’t bother trying to break those chains,” spoke the Cheetah in a guttural growl. “They are made from Amazonian steel that Fausta stole from your beloved Island many decades ago.”
“As for what we want from you? It’s quite simple,” he continued. “You are our ticket to Paradise Island. Your mother is currently attending a U.N. conference so the other Amazons will have no choice but to lay down their swords and grant us entrance to the royal palace. Once there, we will wait for Wonder Woman to return and kill you right in front of her. It’s a bit of a shame though, as you are quite a delicious looking hostage. If you and I weren’t pre-ordained enemies, I could enjoy a few hours with you.”
“Disgusting!” shouted Fausta as she walked into the room. “Keep your animal predilections to yourself, monster!”
The Cheetah and Wonder man turned and gazed upon her, one with anger, one with disgust.
The Cheetah was in a bit of state of panic, wondering if Fausta had heard him admit that Wonder Man’s mother was now Wonder Woman rather than Hippolyta.
“You are a homosexual, beast man?” questioned Fausta. Luckily for the Cheetah, Fausta had only caught the end of his and Wonder Man’s conversation.
“Let’s just say that I prefer not to limit my options, Fausta,” the Cheetah said, defending his choice. “Is there an issue?”
“Yes, there is an issue. We used to torture and kill people like you back in Germany,” informed Fausta. “If it wasn’t for the fact that you released me from my frozen sleep, I would kill you right here and now. Once our task of destroying Wonder Woman and her family is over, you and I must never cross paths again? Am I understood?”
“Whatever you say Fausta,” agreed the Cheetah. “Let’s just keep our minds set on our common goal.”
Suddenly, the voice of Priscilla Rich spoke to the Cheetah. “That’s it my boy, bide your time with Fausta. We will only need her for a little longer.” At a questioning, silent glance from Michael, she added, “Yes, only a short while longer.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” affirmed Fausta. “My ship has its course set for Paradise Island. We should be there in a few hours. I cannot wait to see the look on Hippolyta’s face when we kill this boy.”