Party Crashers!

by Erica David

  “YES!” Diana’s friends chorused in unison. They had heard the story many times. As the youngest Amazon, Diana had been eager to prove her worthiness, especially to her mother, Queen Hippolyta. When the tribe of warriors had learned that the World of Man was in trouble, Hippolyta decided to send an Amazon champion to help. Diana had volunteered, but her mother thought she was too young.

  Instead, the queen decided to hold a tournament with twenty-one of the most difficult challenges ever imagined. The winner of the tournament would become the champion. Diana entered the contest in disguise, hiding her identity. When Diana won, she revealed herself to her mother. Her heroic display had earned her the right to be known among her people by the title of “Woman.” It also meant that she could travel to Metropolis and begin her journey as the champion of the World of Man…sort of. School came first.

  “Then you know that I could never have won the tournament or made the perilous journey to your world without excellent leadership skills,” Diana said.

  “We get it, D. No one’s questioning your leadership,” Kara said. “It’s just that all that Amazon stuff isn’t quite the same.”

  “What she’s saying is that a queen needs to be light on her feet,” said Zee.

  “Ah, you speak of acrobatics. I think you will find that I am quite well versed in those,” Diana told them.

  Zee and Kara exchanged a look.

  “Okay, let’s begin with something simple,” Zee said. She motioned to Babs, who tapped her phone. Suddenly, music piped out of the speakers in the dance studio. It was a slow, stately waltz. “Just feel the music. Let it move you.”

  Diana nodded eagerly. She listened to the rhythmic sweep of the music—one, two, three…one, two, three…one, two, three—and closed her eyes. Soon, she began to sway in time. She imagined that her feet moved with a warrior’s precision and an acrobat’s grace. She forgot all about her surroundings, and as she danced across the floor, she felt like she was floating.

  Unfortunately for her friends, what Diana imagined was very different from reality. Zee looked on, alarmed, as Diana’s arms jerked and chopped through the air. Her legs kicked out at odd angles, seemingly of their own accord. As Diana neared the far corner of the studio, Karen had to tuck and roll to avoid being hit by one of Diana’s loose limbs.

  “EEEEP!” Karen cried.

  But Diana didn’t notice. With her eyes still closed, she veered suddenly to the left and accidentally collided with Jessica.

  “Ow!” Jessica yelped, rubbing her shin.

  Zee signaled to Babs to cut the music, but not before Diana had her grand finale. As the music built to a crescendo, so did her dance moves. She double-chopped with her left hand, kicked once with her right leg, and finished with a series of stomping steps that pounded the floor like a jackhammer.

  “Whoa, there!” Zee said, once the music stopped.

  Diana opened her eyes. What she saw left her puzzled. For some strange reason, all her friends were huddled behind Kara, using her as a shield.

  “What do you think, Zee Zatara?” Diana asked cheerfully. “I have been told that I move with the grace of the nine muses.”

  “Which one of those muses has two left feet?” asked Babs. She thought about it for a moment as her mind raced, then got excited. Really excited. “WAIT! Who says muses even have feet? You don’t need feet to muse. You just need a brain. A really BIG BRAIN! A MONDO brain, like the size of a Colossus! Like, so big it wouldn’t even fit in a jar. But what does fit in a jar? PICKLES! And pickles DON’T DANCE!”

  Zee and Diana blinked, both were confused.

  “You’ve got to think like a person, not a pickle,” Babs said as though the answer had been staring them in the face the whole time.

  Zee patted Babs on the shoulder, then turned to Diana.

  “Your style of dance is very, um…interesting,” she said politely. “But it seems like maybe you’re used to dancing alone. The homecoming queen usually dances with the homecoming king.”

  Zee suggested that Diana try practicing with a dance partner. But when she asked for a volunteer, everyone quickly huddled behind Kara again.

  “Kara, looks like you’re up,” Zee told her.

  While the other girls were hesitant to partner with Diana, Kara wasn’t worried. Her superstrength meant that she could survive Diana’s moves without getting hurt…much. She stepped forward and, doing her best homecoming king impression, swept a deep bow in front of Diana.

  “May I have this dance?” Kara asked jokingly.

  “Excellent!” Zee said. “Now, remember, Diana, the boy usually leads.”

  “Why does the boy lead?” asked Diana. “I have excellent leadership abilities! Did I ever tell you of the time when I entered the Tournament of—”

  “YES!” everyone answered.

  “It’s tradition that the boy leads,” Zee said.

  “But it doesn’t always mean he’s the best leader,” Kara added. She offered Diana her hand and tugged her into a ballroom dancing stance. “Babs, cue the music!”

  Another waltz began to play. Kara and Diana set out across the dance floor. At first, the two girls looked evenly matched. If every once in a while Diana accidentally stepped on her friend’s foot, Kara didn’t seem to notice. But then a strange thing happened. When Kara wanted to go one way, Diana wanted to go the other.

  “This way!” Kara said.

  “No, this way!” Diana replied.

  Kara gripped her friend’s hand and spun her across the floor. Unfortunately, she didn’t know her own strength. Diana twirled so quickly that she accidentally bounced off the wall!

  “Yikes!” said Karen.

  But Diana didn’t mind. Enthusiastically, she took Kara’s hand again. It was her turn to send Kara flying—literally! She tossed Kara so hard that she flew across the room, floating above the ground!

  “Careful, Diana!” Zee called. But it made no difference. The two girls were locked in a spirited tango.

  “Let me dip you!” Kara said.

  “No, let me dip you!” Diana insisted.

  Zee had seen enough. For everyone’s safety, she stepped between the two girls. It was clear to Zee that Diana needed more than a strong partner if she was going to learn to dance elegantly. Diana needed a bit of magic.

  “Ecnad, ecnad!” Zee said, casting a spell on Diana’s shoes. In no time, Diana glided gracefully across the floor. Kara, Babs, Jessica, and Karen were pleasantly surprised by what they saw. This Diana turned perfect pirouettes and was no longer in danger of accidentally clobbering her friends!

  Karen was the first to realize this. She partnered with Diana and led her in a graceful waltz. Soon, Diana was dancing with each of her friends, flowing elegantly from one girl to the next. But suddenly, her feet began to move faster and faster. She swirled and twirled so quickly that none of her friends could keep up.

  “Slow down, Diana!” Jessica huffed, dancing as fast as she could.

  “I am trying!” Diana said. But her enchanted boots had other ideas.

  “Uh-oh,” said Zee. She was still getting used to her magical powers, and her spells sometimes went haywire. Now Diana’s feet were moving so quickly that they had almost become a blur! The rest of her body struggled to keep up.

  “Stop these shoes, Zee Zatara!” Diana shouted.

  Zee tried to reverse the spell, but every time she got close, Diana’s rapidly churning feet carried her away. Her shoes danced her out of the studio and into the hall.

  “Come back, Diana!” Zee called, running after her. The other girls followed.

  In the hallway, students scattered when they saw Diana approach. Her arms and legs flailed wildly. She accidentally dented lockers and sent homework flying. Worst of all, she was on a collision course with Hal Jordan, who was standing by his locker.

 
Hal heard the commotion and saw Diana careening down the hall. But what looked like trouble to everyone else looked like fun to Hal. As Diana grew near, Hal spun left, dodged right, and ducked nimbly. His fancy footwork from the football field came in handy. When he spun and darted around Diana, it almost looked like the two of them were dancing.

  “Go figure,” Jessica said to Zee as they caught up. “Hal Jordan is the perfect partner.”

  Zee took advantage of everyone staring at the two dancers and beamed a spell in Diana’s direction. “Teef tlah!”

  The magic worked! All at once, the boots stopped moving. Diana was caught off guard by the sudden stop. She lost her balance and keeled over into Hal’s arms.

  Hal quickly returned Diana to her feet. “Next time, how about letting me lead?” he joked.

  “Thank you, but that is not necessary,” Diana answered. “I have excellent leadership abilities.”

  “Step away from him!” Carol Ferris shouted from across the hall. She had witnessed the whole incident, and she wasn’t happy. The cheerleader walked toward Diana with a determined gait. “You will not have him! I WILL BE QUEEN. AND HAL JORDAN WILL BE MY KING!”

  “I do not need Hal Jordan. He is useless in battle,” Diana replied.

  “Hey!” Hal said indignantly.

  “He will be mine!” said Carol. It made no difference that Hal was slowly backing away from her.

  Zee stepped in and took Diana’s arm. She quickly led Diana down the hall, leaving Hal to deal with Carol. There were more important things to worry about. After all, homecoming was at stake!

  Night fell over Metropolis. While most of its citizens were fast on their way to sleep, Selina Kyle tiptoed across the roof of Larry Stinson Jewelers, dressed in a sleek black suit and mask. Selina Kyle was now Catwoman.

  She prowled through the shadows until she stood over the store’s elaborate stained-glass skylight. She thought it would be a pity to ruin such a beautiful work of art, but that didn’t stop her from doing what she did next. She bared her sharp metal claws.

  Within moments she’d carved a hole in the glass just wide enough for her to fit through. Catwoman peered down through the opening into the store below. She dropped a rope through the hole and slithered down into the store.

  Like most cats, Catwoman landed on her feet with barely a sound. She stood in front of the empty glass case where she’d first seen the Star of Andromeda. Beams of red light crisscrossed the air all around her. They were motion detectors.

  “Well, if it isn’t the cat’s cradle,” Catwoman said smugly. She knew that it would take more than a fancy light show to stop her. In just a few seconds, she had slipped easily through the laser beams to the vault where the jewels were kept at night.

  Catwoman had to admit that the vault was impressive. It had a huge round door at least eight feet thick made of solid steel. A less-experienced thief might have been nervous, but she wasn’t worried—cracking safes was her specialty. Slowly, she spun the metal wheel on the outside of the door and listened to the tumblers in the lock. It was as if they told her what to do. In no time, the lock clicked, and the heavy steel door swung open.

  “Child’s play,” Catwoman said with a satisfied smirk. “Or should I say cat’s play?”

  Her smirk faded, however, when she stepped into the vault. There, with her hands poised to lift the tiara from its case, was the super-villain known as Star Sapphire! Star had used her powers as a Violet Lantern to enter the vault without leaving a trace.

  “Well, well, well. Two sapphires instead of one,” Catwoman drawled. In fact, she knew the second sapphire quite well. “I wasn’t expecting you here, Carol.”

  Carol Ferris huffed, annoyed. “I told you not to call me that, Selina!” she said. “It’s Star.”

  “Well, Star, what do you want with my tiara?” Catwoman asked.

  “Your tiara? You don’t deserve this tiara!” Star snapped, reaching for it.

  “No, don’t—” Catwoman warned her. But it was too late. As soon as Star Sapphire lifted the tiara from its case, a loud siren wailed. She had tripped the alarm.

  Catwoman knew that there wasn’t a moment to spare. The police would be on their way. She rushed over to Star Sapphire and grabbed the tiara. But Star wasn’t going to give up so easily. She held tight to the tiara. The two villains were quickly caught in a tug-of-war!

  “Give me that!” Star Sapphire hissed.

  “Let go, you purple pest!” Catwoman snarled as the two of them tumbled out of the open vault. “This is no time to argue!”

  Catwoman and Star Sapphire got so caught up in their fight over the tiara that they didn’t hear the sound of justice approaching.

  “Halt and unhand that crown!”

  Catwoman and Star Sapphire turned.

  “Wonder Woman!” they both gasped.

  Wonder Woman stood with her hands on her hips, her long dark hair flowing over her shoulders. Behind her, the rest of the super hero girls stood ready to rumble.

  The villains forgot their fight over the tiara for the moment. Star Sapphire cut loose with a heart-shaped energy blast from her power ring. The super hero girls dodged it. Catwoman used the momentary distraction to make a run for it. She sped through the store, ignoring the motion detectors. When she reached the front door, she smashed through it with a flying kick.

  Star Sapphire wasn’t about to be left behind. With her Violet Lantern powers, she created a heart-shaped cloud, hopped on board, and flew through the store. She rose through the hole in the skylight and escaped into the night.

  “Not so fast, sweetheart,” said Supergirl, flying after her. Green Lantern and Bumblebee followed, while Batgirl, Zatanna, and Wonder Woman chased Catwoman.

  Catwoman was quick and nimble. She led the heroes back through the store and out into the dark streets of Metropolis. The only light came from the moon overhead. It cast shadows that made the perfect cover for a cat burglar on the run.

  “I do love a stroll in the moonlight,” Catwoman said. “But I purr-fer to take it alone.” With that, she knocked over a row of trash cans and sent them rolling toward her pursuers. Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Zatanna dodged them easily, but not before Catwoman ducked into an alley.

  “Oh great. We’re in for a night of cat puns—and me without my thesaurus,” Zatanna said.

  “It’s a cat-tastrophe!” Batgirl joked.

  Wonder Woman hurried into the alley after Catwoman and saw her climbing up a fire escape on the side of an old warehouse. She uncoiled her Lasso of Truth, twirled it over her head, and hurled it at the thief. The lasso narrowly missed, but Wonder Woman looped it around the fire escape and swung herself up after the villain.

  “Still there?” Catwoman asked, glancing over her shoulder. “Why, you’re positively purr-sistent, aren’t you?”

  “Great Zeus! This is no time for wordplay!” Wonder Woman said.

  “Did you say ‘play’? Could I interest you in a game of cat and mouse?” asked Catwoman.

  “How about cat and bat?” said Batgirl, climbing up behind them. The three girls reached the rooftop, where Zatanna was already waiting.

  “What can I say? The perks of teleportation,” she said. “Looks like you’re surrounded, Whiskers.”

  “Don’t you know it’s not wise to corner a cat?” said Catwoman.

  Suddenly, Star Sapphire flew overhead on her heart-shaped cloud. Supergirl and Bumblebee zoomed after her, with Green Lantern following in a hang-glider construct powered by her power ring.

  Star Sapphire swooped down toward Catwoman. Just when it looked as if she was going to rescue Catwoman, she plucked the tiara from her head!

  “Are you kitten me?!” Catwoman snarled.

  Supergirl tore off after Star Sapphire. With a burst of superspeed, she caught up with her and punched a hole through the heart-shaped c
loud. The force of the blow knocked the tiara out of Star Sapphire’s hands.

  “Sorry to break your heart,” Supergirl said. “Actually? Not sorry.”

  “Nooooo­ooooo­oooo!” Star Sapphire cried.

  The world’s most expensive sapphire tumbled through the air.

  “I got it, I got it, I got it,” said Bumblebee. The wings in her suit beat double-time as she zipped after the tiara. All eyes were on her.

  Catwoman saw that this was a good time to make her escape. With everyone distracted, she tiptoed off into the night.

  Knowing that she was outnumbered, Star Sapphire shot straight up and disappeared into the night sky, becoming a small purple pinpoint of light in the distance.

  “Careful, Bumblebee!” Wonder Woman called. The tiara was falling fast and headed straight for the ground. Bumblebee dove. Everyone held their breath. It seemed like she’d never reach it in time. But at the last possible second, she snagged the tiara before it splintered into a thousand pieces.

  The super hero girls breathed huge sighs of relief. It wasn’t until everyone was safely back on the ground that they noticed the villains were gone.

  “It’s just as well,” Batgirl said, snickering. “If they’d stuck around, they would have been in tiara-ble trouble.”

  The others groaned. They all agreed that it was definitely time to call it a night, as soon as the tiara was returned to its rightful owner.

  Though the midnight heist had kept the super hero girls up late, they managed to arrive on time for school the next day. As Babs, Jessica, and Zee walked in through the building’s tall double doors, they were unprepared for what would greet them.