The Amazon Princess..... "The Trial" ODYSSEY, Conclusion
Wonder Woman #8 - August, Year One	by Des Davies

Jerry launched himself towards the remains of a wall and hit the floor with a thud. Air exploded out as the debris punched it's way into his stomach but Reuben grabbed him by his collar and dragged him the rest of the way into the little area of cover.

"Nice move 'Russell'. Osvaldo would kick your butt around the room after a move like that."

Jerry tried to grimace but his need for air was too great and it turned into a wheezing gasp at the grin on Reuben's face. He watched as the Latino youth turned his head to look at the tall, middle aged black man who was crouched looking carefully around the wall. "What now Mr. Phil….uhhh, Daryn?"

Daryn Phillips turned to face the two younger men and slid down to sit with his back against the wall. There were dark circles under his eyes but the sparkle in them was matched by his broad grin. "I think that Jerry has the right idea. If this is all caused by Diana then she would be at the center. So, as tough as it's getting, we keep heading towards the worse fighting."

"If I didn't know better sir, I'd say you were enjoying yourself," Jerry managed to say as he finally caught enough air to breathe again.

"Son, there aren't many people who get a chance to relive the excitement of their youth. I'm making the most of the chance that's been thrown my way."

"You were in a war?" Reuben asked with curiosity plain on his face.

"Maybe I'll tell you about my youth later, for now we need to be moving. I got the impression from Circe that time wasn't our best friend in this." Daryn turned and looked over the wall briefly, then looked again. "We…"

His words were cut off as Reuben lashed his arm upwards in a brutal uppercut which snapped the head of a soldier backwards. There was no sound of a body hitting the floor but when he carefully peered around the wall there was no one to be seen. "That's the freakiest part of this place," he said with a shake of his head.

"Let's go," Daryn said with authority and rose into a crouch and headed around the wall.

"You next Russ," Reuben said with a grin.

"The Gladiator comments are getting old," Jerry replied with annoyance in his voice. "Just drop it ok. You haven't heard me making comments about your 'new' muscles have you?"

"Muscles are one thing, that outfit is quite another," Reuben responded with another laugh as he offered a hand to his friend.

Jerry looked at it, and Reuben thought for a moment that he was going to slap it away. Then with a wry smile he took the offered hand and was pulled to his feet. "Good job that Rome was hot because this thing has little chance of keeping you warm at night."

Reuben pushed him after Daryn and the two carefully followed the older man. It was like walking into the scenes that the news shows had played from the Balkans or the Middle East. Earlier in their trek it had gotten to both of the boys, although Daryn seemed to take it in his stride except for a tightening around his eyes.

They constantly cast their heads from side to side watching for signs of an attack. They had been lucky the first time it had happened that the attackers had been Roman soldiers armed with short swords. Even then, it had been the pistol that Daryn carried at his side that had saved their lives. That was the first time they had seen the bodies disappear. "Where do you think they go?"

"What?"

"The bodies. When they disappear. Where do they go?" Reuben asked. His brow wrinkled as he worked at the puzzle.

"Back into Wonder Woman's head I guess," Jerry replied.

"Quiet boys," Daryn called back in little more than a whisper.

They both responded immediately and moved up to take a look at what he had found. He was lying flat out on a ridge. "I'm guessing that's what passes for a river here," Reuben whispered quietly.

Daryn and Jerry knew that he was referring to the dark, wide ribbon that cut the land in two. It began at the bottom of the ridge they currently lay upon and in keeping with the rest of the land, it was dark and a white fog rose laboriously from its surface.

With a finger Daryn pointed out a flat bottomed boat that was pulled up to the near shore. A tall figure draped in a dark grey, battered robe with a hood that obscured its face, sat motionless in the rear of the boat.

"Charon," Daryn whispered quietly. In response to Reuben's unknowing gaze Daryn continued, "In Greek myth he ferried the souls of the dead across the river Styx to Hades." With a finger he pointed at a tall building on the other side of the river that could only just be made out. "That looks similar to Temples to Ares I've seen."

"Shouldn't that be a temple of Hades if it's on that side of the river," Jerry asked.

Daryn looked over and smiled. "Yes it should be."

"So we take the boat and get to the temple?" Reuben asked.

"I don't see no other option," Daryn answered. He was about to stand when Jerry urgently whispered, "No."

Daryn froze in place and tried to work out what the boy had seen. Jerry was about to explain when Daryn and Reuben both uttered epithets under their breath.

"What are those?" The last word came out as squeak but neither Daryn nor Jerry noticed. Down below in a small defile, a group of dirt encrusted women were ripping at a corpse. The men could see that the women wore nothing above their waist except that each was crowned with a World War II soldier's helmet. "They have bird's legs," Jerry said with disgust in his voice.

"And their arms are wings," Reuben added.

"Harpies," Daryn said, "with guns." He pointed at the currently discarded rifles lying near the group.

"This place gets weirder every minute," Rueben said with a shake of his head. "How do we get down to the boat without them seeing us?" As an afterthought he said, "What happens if we get shot here?"

"I'm hoping that we don't have to find out," Jerry answered without taking his eyes from the spectacle he had uncovered.

"Well, gentlemen, it seems that we have two options. We can try to sneak down to the boat without being seen or we can attack those things and then head for the boat. I don't really like either option, but I think it'll be real hard to sneak down there without them seeing us. I don't see how we could do it quietly looking at the roughness of the slope."

"Why not get above them and shoot them with that gun of yours?"

"I was thinking the same thing Jerry, but we're going to have to get a lot closer first and I'm not going to be able to kill them all before they retaliate. So, here's what I think we should do…"

Twenty minutes later, Daryn knelt crouched in a fold in the rock fifty feet above the flock of harpies. From his vantage point he could count ten of the creatures. Looking to each side he caught sight of his companions. Jerry had moved to within twenty feet of their location and Rueben was almost as close on the opposite side. Daryn drew the pistol from his side and checked the chamber. As there had been each time he had checked it, six of the seven chambers held a round. Adjusting his position he made himself as comfortable as possible.

Long moments passed as the two boys crawled closer to their target and Daryn shifted several times to ease the pain of the rock pressing into his back.

Suddenly one of the creatures lifted its head and peered in Jerry's direction. Jerry saw the jet black eyes fasten onto him and with a lurch he was on his feet and sprinting towards it. The creature's mouth, it had bright reds lips he noticed, opened but before anything could come out a loud crack rent the air and with a splash of red the creature fell forward and hit the ground. With a huge shout he threw himself over the edge of the small rock bowl and swung the short sword wildly in an arc. He felt resistance as the blade cut into the upper body of another of the creatures and it uttered a shriek that almost drowned out two more pistol retorts.

Something warm hit the back of Jerry's legs as he tugged his sword free of the creature's chest. Without stopping to look Jerry threw himself at another Harpy that was still grounded. He threw himself to one side and brought the sword down hard on one of the claws holding the ancient rifle. With a screech the creature pulled the trigger with its remaining claw but the shot sailed harmlessly into the ground. It dropped the rifle and threw itself at him and in a panic Jerry leveled the sword directly at the incoming creature. Unable to stop, the creature impaled itself on the blade but its momentum carried it forward and Jerry found himself falling underneath it.

The smell of the creature hit him at that moment and he was unable to halt the retching that gripped his stomach. Frantically, he pushed at the weight above him until it fell to one side and he scrabbled away. He looked around wild eyed and tried to push himself further away from another of the creatures that was advancing on him with a face contorted by rage. It pulled back the rifle it carried and aimed the rusted bayonet at his stomach. Jerry tried to will strength back into his legs as he saw the point descend.

Seconds before it would have impaled him the rifle flew backwards, as did the Harpy that held it, as the butt of another rifle slammed into the creatures face from the side. Rueben swiftly reversed the weapon and drove the point of its bayonet deep into the creature's chest. The creature gave out a piercing cry and thrashed about before finally lying still.

Rueben look down at Jerry and gingerly offered him a hand. Jerry looked at it unseeing for a long moment before, with a shake, he took and was hauled to his feet. "Remind me not to get in front of you when you have a sword," Rueben said.

Jerry looked at him and saw the respect in Rueben's eyes. He look around trying to hide the red that threatened to engulf his face and saw the carnage that they had perpetrated. "Are they all…"

"Yeah. Every last one of them," Rueben interrupted.

Both turned at the sound of crunching rock and saw Daryn coming down the slope to join them. He looked around at the scene as he approached then looked up at the boys. "Good work, both of you. Did either of you get hit?"

There was concern in his last question, but after a moment's hesitation and checking they both assured him that they were unharmed.

With a grimace Rueben said, "We'd better get you down to the river and cleaned up."

Jerry looked down at his outfit and almost lost the little remaining in his stomach at the mix of blood and vomit that covered him. With a lurch he moved out of the rock bowl and headed towards the river. He was brought up short at the sound of feet closing in on him and a hand descended on his shoulder and spun him around.

"You can't touch de water," Daryn said urgently. At Jerry bewildered look he continued, "If that's supposed to be the Styx, then it will erase your memory. Do you want to risk it? Here." He pulled a canteen of water from around his neck and offered it to the young man.

Jerry accepted it gratefully and began to use it to clean the worse of the filth off him. "Where did this come from," he asked looking up at Daryn.

"I never go anywhere without a canteen of water. Never know when you'll find good clean water."

"But I don't remember you having it earlier. Hey Rueben," called to the other youth who was now approaching, "do you remember Daryn having a canteen?"

Rueben shook his head, "Nor the big knife." He indicated the large machete strapped to Daryn's belt.

Daryn looked from one to the other and his forehead creased into a frown. "Why do I remember always having it? But I don't remember you having that gun."

Reuben and Jerry looked at the large handgun holstered under Reuben's arm. "But I've always had it…" Reuben trailed off.

Daryn asked the question that had invaded his mind, "Then why didn't you use it on the Harpies?"

Jerry said, "I think we'd better get moving. Sounds like we are all starting to forget things, or remember things wrong. Let's get this done and get home."

Without waiting for the other two he turned and headed for the boat. With a glance at each other Daryn and Reuben moved off after him. When they finally caught up with the him he was standing on the bank of the river looking at the low riding skiff and it's lone occupant.

"Hey."

The figure lifted its head and the three companions all took an involuntary step backwards. The dark, midnight blue hood was pulled back far enough to reveal the masked face of The Batman. Without saying a word he held out his hand.

"What's he doing here?" Jerry whispered.

"HE is not here. It's nothing more than something conjured up from Diana's mind."

"We need to get to the Temple," Reuben said emphasizing each word. There was no response from the hooded figure that resembled Gotham's Dark Knight. He continued to stand with his hand outsourced, palm upwards.

"Hey, guano brain we need to get over to the other side of the river. Diana's over there and needs our help. She's supposed to be your friend ain't she, so how about helping us out here?" Reuben's angry tirade made no impact on the figure other that a slight turn so that the hand was pointed towards him.

Daryn put a hand on the young man's arm and shook his head slowly. "Shouting and getting angry won't help here. If this is a representation of Charon, then he won't take us to the other side unless we pay him."

"The dead have to pay to get into Hell?" Reuben asked incredulously.

"This wasn't necessarily seen as Hell Reuben. Hades was more of an afterlife to the ancient Greeks. They buried their dead with a coin under their tongue for this very purpose. Point is, do we have something to pay the ferryman with?"

Jerry indicated his outfit. "No pockets in this getup so I'm out of luck in this one."

Reuben nodded in agreement. "Same here. Nothing in these pockets. How about you Daryn?"

Daryn reached into one of his pockets and pulled out three coins. A puzzled expression pulled his eyes together as he regarded them. "These are ancient Greek coins. Just like the ones that would have been used. Why would I have them?"

"Doesn't matter," Reuben interrupted before Daryn could continue. He took one of the coins and reached out and placed it in the ferryman's hand. He was about to step into the skiff when Daryn grabbed his arm and indicated that the coin was missing and the hand was still outstretched.

"What?" Reuben exploded. "You got your freaking payment. What more am I supposed to do?" He went to step forward into the boat but found himself falling backwards after being smacked in the chest with the ferryman's pole.

As he pushed himself back to his feet Jerry drew the short sword again and stepped forward.

"Stop." The command carried authority and both boys, with reluctance etched in their faces, obeyed.

"Think about where we are, what we are seeing and who is behind it all. Fighting's going to get us nowhere. Now, what could he want… Of course! I should ha' seen it from the beginning. Everything we've been doing has been reinforcing what we've been seeing. Quick, Jerry give him your sword." Daryn, with quick fingers began to unbuckle the belt his pistol was attached to. "You too Reuben, hand over that gun."

Before either boy could act, Daryn and pulled the belt free of his waist, bundled it up and placed it in the palm of the ferryman. The cowled face regarded Daryn for a moment that seemed to draw into eternity before it nodded once, slowly. The hand turned and deposited the gun at his feet before outstretching once more.

Jerry watched with worry written on his face and only moved to place his sword in the creatures hand when Daryn gestured impatiently. Upon receiving the weapon the figure regarded Jerry, nodded and dropped the sword at its feet. Reuben moved to place the pistol he had drawn from his shoulder holster into the hand directed at him without Daryn's further prompting.

When all three weapons were deposited on the floor of the skiff the figure stood back and placed its pole into the water. Daryn was the first to step aboard and Jerry and Reuben were quick to follow as the ferryman pushed the vessel away from the shore.

As the skiff slid over the dark surface of the water it cut through the thick white mist only to have it rush back in behind. The journey took no more than five minutes, but to the three companions it seemed much longer. They had no idea what the other shore would bring as the mist obscured it. It also meant that when the skiff touched the hidden far bank, Jerry and Reuben both jumped in surprise. Daryn looked around, through the thinning fog, with bright eyes in search of what the next stage of the quest would bring.

Rueben stood and moved towards the dark ferryman but stopped as it raised a hand and pointed in the opposite direction. He looked quizzically at Daryn. "We turned around at some point during the trip, although I have no idea when," he said.

Carefully he rose to his feet and led the others off the skiff. As soon as the final member stepped off the boat, the ferryman dug his pole back into the water and pushed away.

"Hey!" Jerry cried out, and lunged for the boat only to find it already out of reach. "How are we going to get back?" he asked no one in particular.

"Let's worry about that when the time comes," Daryn answered. "Right now, I think that we need to be heading over there." With one hand he gestured away from the river. Three sets of eyes looked towards the distance where the immense shape of a classical Greek temple loomed over the landscape. Pillars could be seen holding up the roof but they were too far away to see any details.

"Well, let's get moving," Reuben said.

The three set off up the gentle slope. They expected easier going than the rocky cliffs they had navigated on the other bank but were soon disabused of their idea as they found themselves wading through thick mud. Each step became an effort as the mud clung to their feet and their strength began to fade.

As Reuben and Jerry focused on slogging through the mud it was several minutes before they noticed that Daryn was not alongside them. Looking back they saw the tall black man on his knees about twenty feet back. His hands were thrust into the mud and his head was down.

Reuben looked across at Jerry and as one, they moved back to their fallen partner. They moved to either side of the downed man and slipped hands under his arms.

"OK Daryn, you're going to need to help out here. Let's get you back on your feet." Reuben began to pull upwards and Jerry added his efforts too. Daryn, however, remained where he was.

"Too tired," he mumbled.

"Man, you gotta get up," Reuben said still tugging ineffectually at Daryn's arm.

Jerry released his hold and indicated that Reuben should also stop pulling. Kneeling at Daryn's side he placed a hand on Daryn's chest and pushed him upright. The sight that greeted the two boys caused them both to gasp.

Daryn's normally bright eyes were dark and were sunk into deep black pits. Grey stubble lined his chin and cheeks, while his skin had taken on an unhealthy grey tone.

"Daryn," Jerry said sharply after he regained his composure. It was enough to draw the tired eyes to him and he went on. "You're letting this place beat you. Don't tell me that you are giving up cause I don't believe it. You're the one that's dragged me and Rueben around this place. You gotta find the strength. We aren't going to be able to save Wonder Woman by ourselves. You gotta get up and help us."

Daryn looked for the first time directly at Jerry and then slowly, as though the weight of ages pressed down on him, he turned to regard Reuben who said, "Yeah. He's right. We need you, so you gotta get up."

"Just too tired," he muttered, although it was louder than his previous statement.

"We'll help. You can lean on us and the three of us will get through this together. Wonder Woman showed us that we can do more together, so let's use her as an example and get moving. We can't let her down."

"No. Can't let Diana down." With more determination in his voice he added, "Help me up."

Once again Reuben and Jerry pulled at Daryn's arm's trying to lift him from the mud. This time however, he was helping and soon the three were standing together. Reuben was surprised that the stubble no longer lay on Daryn's cheeks and his skin was darker. "Let's move," Jerry said.

With the two younger men on either side of the older man, they resumed their trudge through the mud. Each step seemed to be easier than the last and all three were surprised when they found that they had been walking on dry ground for several paces. Breathing heavily they fell to the earth to catch their breath.

Daryn looked at the two youngsters. "Thank you," he said with the sincerity pouring from his eyes.

They nodded in reply, and then Reuben asked, "What happened?"

"I started to think about being old and how tired I was and why I was on this hunt. Next thing I knew I was on my knees too tired to get back up. I think my thoughts were strong enough to shape what I am here and my local surroundings."

"I don't think it was just yours," Jerry said. "My guess is that your thoughts were running along the same lines as Wonder Woman's and that's what allowed them to take shape. Look at what's happened before. We think about war, and we're dressed for it. We needed water, and we have a canteen. We get tired and we collapse. We need to get Wonder Woman and get out of here cause I think this is getting worse the closer we get to her."

Daryn nodded silently and Reuben climbed to his feet. "Well, what are you two layabouts doing? Let's get moving," he added with a grin.

Daryn looked at Jerry and said with his own grin, "Boys going to think he's the leader if we don't get moving."

Soon the three were back on their feet heading towards the temple that was now much closer. As they walked closer they began to make out the details carved into the pillars and roof. Scenes of war and devastation were carved so vividly that they looked like they were about to jump off the stonework. Daryn pointed at one scene. "Everything's mixed up. Those are Spartan uniforms but they're pushing a cannon, while that's a German naval officer holding a club. I think I know what I'm seeing."

Jerry said, "It says that war will never end, doesn't it?"

"I think it does."

"Wonder Woman must be thinking that she can't bring peace to the world and so she's giving in. This is like the worse type of depression anyone's ever had," Reuben added excitedly.

"That's one way to put it," Daryn answered.

"So what do we do about it?"

Instead of answering Daryn pointed at a figure that was now visible at the entrance to the temple. A long black cloak streamed from its shoulders to encompass it, and a black war helm adorned its head. In long lazy gestures they saw it toss something out onto the ground. Then the figure turned back into the temple.

"What was that about?" Jerry asked.

The three had now entered the temple grounds and quickened their pace towards the entrance to the temple itself. Suddenly, figures began to burst from the ground. Bony hands clawed through the dirt and began dragging bodies up from the depths. The three travelers stared in horror as a dozen skeletons pulled themselves erect. Each was wearing the remnants of a costume. One bore a ragged blue cape. Another carried a long spiked mace. Capes of various colors were in evidence, as were various colored tunics and several of the creatures carried items ranging from short sticks to a warhammer.

The earth shook and Jerry stumbled as a figure wearing a red cloak flew across the temple grounds and slammed into another skeleton that stood seven feet tall dressed in a tattered black tunic. In moments, the entire area was engulfed in fights as the figures paired off and attacked. Beams of energy lanced across the area only to be repelled and sent crashing in a new direction. The crash of blows being rained down saturated the air.

Reuben and Jerry looked around in panic, wondering when one of the stray blows or blasts would hit them. They were shaken out of their fright as Daryn grabbed them each by the hand and began dragging them towards the temple. "Come on. Get inside," he shouted over the noise.

Shaking off their paralysis all three men ran for the perceived safety of the temple. They dodged around the various battles and were within jumping distance of the doorway when Jerry found himself flying through the air and crashed down heavily with a cry of pain. His shoulder throbbed with pain but that was almost drowned out by the wave of agony that ran up his left leg. Looking down he saw it was bent at an impossible angle and his scream was added to the noise of the conflict.

He did not notice through the pain who had grabbed him, but he felt strong hands lifting him up and tossing him over a broad shoulder. The world flashed white as his leg was jostled unmercifully and then he blacked out as whoever was carrying him began to run.

Jerry woke to find himself in the entrance hallway of the temple with Daryn and Reuben sitting on either side. His last few moments of consciousness flooded back in and he scrabbled into a position to look at his leg. He looked up at the other two with confusion, "It was broken."

"Yes, it was. Just as my arm was burnt. But when Reuben got us both in here, the injuries disappeared."

"You carried me in," Jerry said looking to Reuben.

"Not just you," Daryn interrupted, "me also."

"Well, what else was I supposed to do? Leave you out there? I'm not going in there on my own," Reuben said indicating the interior of the temple.

Daryn smiled. "I'm not complaining. That's now twice you've saved me. Thank you again."

Before Jerry could add his own thanks Reuben scrambled to his feet. "Well, now that you're both awake let's get in there and get home. This place is starting to creep me out."

Jerry stood gingerly but grinned at his friends discomfort at the praise he had received. "OK, hero, lead the way."

Reuben threw an angry look his way before turning to head into the temple.

Jerry walked slowly at first, wary of his leg, but soon all three were walking cautiously together. The hallway opened into a huge room and the three stood in the opening looking in awe at the scene.

The room was immense, obviously larger than the outside dimensions of the temple. Pillars supported the roof around all four sides of the square, with additional ones forming two widely spaced rows in the room. If there were walls to the room they were not visible as deep shadows writhed between the pillars. Each pillar was carved with images of death, war and destruction and the entire floor was covered in a mosaic of red, black and white tiles. Daryn squinted, trying to make out the details of the mosaic but it kept slipping away from his eyes as though it did not want to be seen.

Jerry and Reuben were both staring at the sight at the very center of the room. A circle of pillars surrounded the figure of Wonder Woman. As they watched, the figure of a young girl appeared near the ceiling, and Wonder Woman launched herself upwards. She was yanked to a halt a fingertip away from her target and the three men could see a muscled, olive-skinned hand had reached out from between the pillars and gripped her ankle. They watched as she strained to reach her hand to the girl then their faces turned to pictures of horror as another hand thrust out from the pillars with a sword and impaled the girl. Diana surged forward as the hand holding her back released and she cradled the girl in her arms.

With flashing eyes, Daryn grated in a voice raw with emotion, "Let's go." He stepped forward and his quick pace was matched by the other two. As they moved, the figure of a young man carrying a briefcase appeared on the floor of the circle. As one they began to run but were forced to watch as the scene from before was repeated. This time the man was killed with a grenade. Even at a flat out run, the three were forced to watch the scene repeat once more before they found themselves in front of the pillars.

"Diana," Daryn shouted. There was a moment of hesitation as though she had heard something but the appearance of an old woman at floor level drew her attention. She streaked towards the woman but was again pulled short by hand grasping her ankle.

"Wonder Woman you can save her." The voice this time belonged to Jerry who was almost dancing with agitation. "Break the hand that's holding your leg."

A look of confusion replaced the effort on her face and then she glanced down to her leg. Anger replaced the confusion and she whipped her body around and drove a fist into the hand holding her. The hand withdrew and she whipped forward once more only to see the old woman crumple to the floor with a hole in the center of her forehead. With tears flowing down her face she took the woman in her arms again.

"Diana," Daryn shouted again. "You've got to listen to us. None of this is real. It's all in your mind. You've got to let it go. None of these are your fault."

He broke off as another figure appeared in the air near the ceiling. This time it was a young woman dressed in garb Daryn recognized as belonging to an Amazon.

"What's going on Daryn," Reuben asked. Desperation for a way to help threaded his voice.

Daryn turned away from the circle of pillars and closed his eyes. With a long breath he turned to look at Reuben. "Diana is having a crisis of confidence. It all makes sense now. Remember what we talked about earlier? She's an emissary of peace, but all she sees herself doing is fighting one battle after another."

Jerry interrupted. "It's kinda like her own version of a guilt trip. She doesn't think she can do anything to help anymore. That whatever she does, war and killing just keep happening."

"But that's not true," Reuben said forcefully. "Look what she did for us. Half the gangs in Gateway have started talking. Don't know about you, but I've not heard about a gang fight in weeks. That was all because of her."

"Me?"

The sound was barely above a whisper but all three turned suddenly to look back into the circle. Diana wore a look of confusion on her face as she held another body in her arms.

"Yeah you, Wonder Woman," Reuben continued. "You stopped our," he indicated Jerry and himself, "gangs from fighting and gave us a place to hang out. Yeah, there's still bickering and arguing between people but we're also learning from each other."

As he spoke her eyes seemed to focus in his direction and remained there even when the body she was holding disappeared. Her head snapped around as another figure appeared but Daryn's urgent voice managed to hold her in place.

"Diana look at all the kids you've spoken to since you came to Gateway. I'm betting you made a difference in many of their lives. Not all of them probably, but many. Diana you can't win every battle. The important thing is that you are fighting for it. We all need you to keep fighting otherwise some idiot in a costume is going to come along and tell us how it should be and not give us a choice. You take the hard route and make us work for it. It's gotta be our choice Diana and you make it so that we can have a one. Gateway needs you right now. Since you been gone it looks like someone is making trouble as the city is tearing itself apart. Let the guilt go Diana. You got nothing to feel guilty about."

As Daryn finished, Jerry could see the light of understanding dawning in her eyes. "Wonder Woman you're our example. Superman is the protector of the world and Batman is the garbage collector. You're our hope. You're the one that tells us, and shows us, that we can do better. We need you back Wonder Woman."

As he finished he was almost pleading with her and large tears were rolling down his face. Reuben and Daryn were alternating between staring at him and looking at Diana, while Diana was looking directly at him. None of them saw the change. One moment, they were in the temple of war, the next they were in an open air temple of bight white marble. Statues of Greek Goddesses encircled them.

Diana was still looking at Jerry and a smile spread over her face. There were tears in her eyes as she looked from one to another and said simply, "Thank you."

She stepped forward and embraced each in turn, with Jerry receiving the longest one. "It's good to see you back Princess," Daryn said with a warm smile.

"It's thanks to you three that I am Mr. Phillips." Her demeanor changed in an instant as she remembered his words. "What is happening in the City?"

In a few moments Daryn, Rueben and Jerry had brought her up to date on the recent events in Gateway City. "We need to get back," she said. "How did you get here?"

"Circe," Daryn replied.

Diana raised an eyebrow. "And where is she now?"

"South America. She's trying to break the curse that was on your body." In response to her confusion, Daryn continued. "She thinks that the priest you talked to in South America put a curse on you. She couldn't break it so she was going to find him and have him break it. Hopefully she was successful."

"Umm," Jerry interrupted, "I think we'd better get back to the detective. She did mention that something might come along to take over your body while you were out and he's guarding it."

"Where is he?"

The three men looked around. "Well, I'm not sure. Is this still where we entered the temple?"

"I believe so," Diana answered. "Where did Circe create the entrance to allow you into this place?"

"We were in your hospital room. She used Cassie and the girl she's possessed by to open the portal and then we found ourselves in a temple that was pretty badly ruined. Circe said we would need to return there to get back and that someone would need to guard it. Mike Schorr was the best option, so he stayed behind."

"Not by his own choice," Reuben muttered to Jerry.

Diana's forehead creased as she thought about the problem. "This place changed when I regained my focus. So I should be able to focus on where we need to be…"

Diana's eyes drew down once more as she thought more about the situation and the three men kept their peace. A wave of disorientation swept over them and they reached out to steady each other. When their sight came back into focus they were standing in the courtyard of another temple. Sounds of a struggle were coming from inside and Diana took to the air and flew ahead of the others. They all burst into a run trying to catch up with her.

Unlike the pristine exterior to the temple, the interior was a mess. There were bullet holes in many of the walls and pillars, chairs and benches were upturned and near the middle of the room two figures were battling.

The blue police uniform confused Diana at first, but then she realized that she was looking at the detective she had met in Gateway City. He was putting up a brave fight against his female adversary, but was slowly being worn down. Diana flew into the back of the woman and knocked her away from the detective.

Her momentary approval for the woman's technique as she rolled to her feet from the blow turned to surprise as she recognized her. "Wanta!"

"Surprised to see me Diana?" she replied as she circled towards the glowing, golden rip in the air. Diana countered by moving to stand in front of it.

With a scream of rage the woman leaped to the attack. Diana parried the blows with ease even though the skill of the attacks was considerable. Stepping inside the next blow Diana caught Wanta's shirt and tossed her to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" she asked the prone woman.

"Just lucky I guess," she sneered in response. "I don't know how long I've been here. Don't even know where here is. I died in that prison you sent me too and I've been here ever since. I was nearby when I felt something strange happen so I came to look. That's my ticket out of here, or would have been if you, or he, hadn't interfered. You're not going to leave me here."

"There is nothing I can do for you Wanta. You cannot return through that portal as it leads to my body. As sorry as I am that you are here, it was your own choices that led to it. Hopefully, one day you will be allowed into an Afterlife."

Wanta jumped to her feet once more and threw herself at Diana in a rage. Her anger overwhelmed as she threw blow after blow. Diana countered each one and then delivered her own to the center of Wanta's chest sending her stumbling backwards.

"We are leaving," Diana said with finality. She indicated with her hand that the four men should enter the rip. Daryn helped a bruised Mike Schorr to his feet and supported him into the portal. Reuben and Jerry followed.

"I'm sorry," Diana said as she stepped back into the portal and disappeared.

Next Issue:

Well this was a giant sized issue, next one will be Double Sized as the villain behind the troubles is revealed and Diana goes to work trying to save Gateway City with a little help from her friends.