Justice League_The Gauntlet

by Simonson, Louise

  Himon frowned. “I have so far avoided a direct battle with Darkseid and his minions. But your bravery moves me to reconsider.

  “I can think of one way to do it all—to free the captured Lowlies. To get your armor back, destroy Desaad’s record of your memories, even return you safely to Earth.

  “My plan will sound mad. We will both be in great danger. But the end will outweigh the risks. If you can bring yourself to trust me!”

  TRUST

  Diana leans from a recessed window in the weaving room of her mother’s palace. She is supposed to be spinning wool—a punishment for her most recent transgression involving a pot of glue and her nurse’s hairbrush.

  But Diana has put her spindle-whorl aside and is staring outside longingly, where the bright sun beckons and a light breeze spins tiny petals in springtime drifts of color and fragrance.

  And thus she sees the elegant veiled figure stealthily approach a side entrance. Hippolyta herself opens the door, so Diana knows this meeting is both secret and important.

  Then Diana hears them whisper her own name.

  They will talk in the upstairs parlor, she thinks. And the courtyard is now empty.

  She grabs the heavy grapevine that grows up the wall, swings carefully onto a cross-branch, and clambers, monkey-like, toward the second floor. There she hangs, silent, unseen, and shamelessly listening.

  Hippolyta is talking about Diana. About how much she had wanted a daughter . . . a perfect little girl. How Diana is the moon and stars to her.

  Diana’s heart swells with pride, and she climbs closer, eager to hear more about how wonderful she is.

  And then the queen says, “But she can be so difficult—”

  The other woman laughs, and Diana recognizes her voice. Her mother’s visitor is Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and War!

  “She isn’t a docile child, is she?” Athena says. “But gifted as she has been, what can you expect? I imagine her intelligence and curiosity have her constantly in trouble?”

  Hippolyta sighs. “Not to mention her pride and strength of will. I worry sometimes. Did the gods gift her too richly?”

  After a moment, Athena answers, “I understand your fears, Hippolyta. Godly gifts can be used for good or ill. Some of Diana’s traits may seem misplaced in a child barely out of the nursery. But when she is older they will put her in good stead. If you can help her learn to control them. If so, she is destined for greatness. If not . . .”

  Hippolyta says hesitantly, “Athena, I had the oddest dream. . . .” Then her voice sinks to a whisper.

  Diana edges out onto a smaller branch, trying to hear. But the vine beneath her feet tears loose. She clings desperately to the upper branch, as her toes scrabble for purchase.

  The adult voices stop. And Hippolyta looks out the window.

  “Diana! What—?” She reaches over the sill, hauls Diana into the room, and hugs her close. “You could have fallen. You—”

  Then Hippolyta’s body stiffens and she thrusts Diana back so she can look into her eyes. “You were eavesdropping!”

  Diana raises her chin. “You were talking about me! If I didn’t listen, how could I know what you were saying? Am I really destined for greatness?”

  Solemnly, Athena studies Diana’s mutinous little face. But her voice holds laughter. “Your truthfulness is commendable, Princess, though your manners leave a bit to be desired. And greatness must be earned.”

  “You wish to learn things, Diana? Excellent!” Hippolyta scowls angrily. “Tomorrow you will begin to study the arts of war, as well as the arts of peace. You must learn to pick your battles. And know your friends from your enemies.”

  Diana glances at Athena. Somehow she knows Athena is a friend. But she definitely does not want to spend her days being forced to study things she doesn’t want to know. She thrusts out her chin.

  And Hippolyta meets Diana’s obstinate expression with a similar stubborn thrust of her own jaw.

  “Trust me, Diana!” Hippolyta says, almost grimly. “These are skills you will master . . . for your own good and the good of us all.”

  Diana blinked. And her mind returned to present-day reality.

  “That’s one of my earliest memories, lost to Desaad,” Diana whispered. “We don’t have much time.”

  Himon smiled comfortingly. “As I’ve learned, to my regret, one person alone can’t save a world. But maybe two can—if we work together.”

  Diana looked at him.

  On Apokolips, she had seen what Earth would become under Darkseid’s control. She had experienced violence, cruelty, and betrayal. Was Himon truly different than the others? she wondered. Was he really a friend?

  Yes! Diana realized. Himon, in his dedication to a cause she didn’t fully understand, reminded her of her own mother. And Athena.

  Himon asked again, “Will you trust me?”

  Diana smiled. “With my life. We’ll stop Darkseid—together.”

  In his secret underground laboratory, Himon sat hunched over a magnifying lens, using tiny instruments to create a chain of computer chips that looked like a piece of dark string.

  Diana leaned over his shoulder. “I give up,” she said. “What are you making?”

  Himon carefully picked up the strand. “This is a Channel Blocker. When we are captive in Desaad’s laboratory, it will temporarily disrupt his Brain Binder electrodes and keep them from reprogramming your mind.”

  “When we’re—what?” Diana stammered. This was not at all what she wanted to hear.

  Himon handed her the filament. “Weave it among the strands of your hair. I’ve included jammers to protect it from discovery.”

  Apprehensively, Diana did as Himon told her. Mixed with her hair, the filament was undetectable.

  “Okay,” she said warily. “What now?”

  Diana and Himon, swathed in hooded cloaks, sauntered down the crowded main street of Armagetto. They were jostled by the throng, but otherwise ignored.

  “You’d think with their lives riding on it, the Lowlies would be looking for us!” Diana whispered. “We’re going to have a hard time getting captured if Willik’s enforcers are this apathetic.”

  Not that she exactly wanted to be captured. She felt queasy at the very thought of what they had planned. But she would do what she had to.

  “The Lowlies live in the moment,” Himon told her. “They’ve learned not to think about tomorrow, since it always proves worse than today.”

  Diana and Himon walked, unchallenged, toward the Precinct House. Two enforcers stood outside.

  Himon winked at Diana. “If we simply turn ourselves in, they may suspect a trick. So we’ll make them arrest us.”

  He pulled a fist-sized ball from his pocket, flipped a switch on top, and lobbed it between the enforcers. The ball exploded harmlessly with a dramatic burst of smoke. The enforcer looked around.

  “There! Get them!” he shouted.

  The enforcers grabbed Diana and Himon, who put up only a token fight.

  They dragged them before Wonderful Willik, who didn’t question his good fortune. Desaad—and great Darkseid himself—would reward him well for this capture.

  Willik ordered Diana shackled hand and foot. But Himon they wrapped, from toes to chin, in a thick, form-fitting metal tube, closed with straps of padlocked steel. A mesh dome enclosed his head. Oddly enough, the guards’ overly cautious treatment of Himon increased Diana’s confidence in his plan.

  They loaded the prisoners onto a flatbed transport and paraded them through the squalid streets of Armagetto. Occasionally, the transport stopped and Willik made a self-serving speech in which he praised himself for his daring capture of these dangerous criminals—just one more example of his concern for the safety of the people of Armagetto. The Lowlies cheered indifferently.

  The transport left Armagetto with its roaring Fire Pits. It picked up speed as it entered the area called Long Shadow. As they approached Grey Borders and rumbled toward the planet’s governmental capital, Parademon
patrols flew escort.

  And finally, they reached Desaad’s palace.

  Guards transported the prisoners to an upper floor and shoved them roughly into Desaad’s lab.

  Desaad was groveling before the main communication screen, where Darkseid’s granite face loomed darkly. Desaad flicked a glance toward Diana and Himon, and Diana could tell he was relieved, “. . . as you see, Sire, they have arrived, just as I promised. First Wonder Woman, then Himon, will be Bound to you.”

  A series of view screens threw a flickering light over Desaad’s terrible machineries. In a distant corner, Diana saw her armor and lasso. So far the plan was working. But what good were all her wondrous gifts when all that stood between herself and oblivion was a filament the thickness of a hair?

  ATHENA’S GIFT

  In the column-lined Temple of Athena, at the foot of Athena’s majestic statue, the Goddess-Queen Hippolyta stands, holding her infant daughter, Diana. Other goddesses surround her, watching expectantly as the oracle casts Diana’s birth augury.

  The seeress dashes the bones of a lioness upon the floor, then kneels, studying their arrangement closely. She gasps and looks up at the goddesses apprehensively. And when she speaks, her voice quivers.

  “Themyscira is under the protection of the gods of Olympus. But a time of crisis will come when gods may be set against gods. And the fate of all will rest in the hands of the Princess Diana.”

  Confused, dismayed, the goddesses whisper to each other: What does this disturbing prediction mean? Will they fight among themselves? Or will gods from other pantheons attack them? What part will this infant play?

  Whatever the meaning of the prophecy, the goddesses decide, their own responsibility is clear. They must guarantee that Diana has the special abilities she will need to fulfill her destiny.

  Hera, Queen of the Gods, steps forward first as is her right. Laying her hand upon the infant’s head, she says, “My gift to her is pride.”

  Queen Hippolyta smiles. “A fitting gift, Hera. She must understand and cherish her unique value. In Diana’s name, I thank you.”

  Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, kisses the forehead of the infant. “I give her grace,” she says.

  “She will be as beautiful as a sunrise,” promises Eos, Goddess of the Dawn, as she gently strokes Diana’s cheek.

  Artemis, huntress and protector of children, smiles. “I give her intelligence. She must learn quickly. And have great understanding.”

  Persephone, who was forced to spend half her time in the underworld, gives her courage, “. . . for Diana, too, will face dark times and will have great need of it.”

  Demeter, bountiful Goddess of the Harvests, gives Diana “strength of body.”

  Hestia, Protectress of the Hearth, offers “strength of character.”

  “Strength of will is my gift to her,” says grim Nemesis, bringer of retribution.

  Harmonia, who brings reconciliation, smiles gently. “Beauty and strength and intelligence are empty attributes without compassion. Though she will be well-suited for war, her empathy for others will make her strive for peace.”

  Finally, all eyes turn curiously to Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and War.

  Athena smiles. “Of war, she will have her fill. And I would give the child wisdom if I could, but true wisdom must be learned.

  “Our foreknowledge has brought her extraordinary abilities, which have already changed the course of her life. Our further interference could warp her growth and distort the choices she might make.

  “My gift is that Diana will grow up unaware of her destiny. Until the time is right, the details of this prophecy will fade from your minds. You will remember only her potential for greatness. And she will be free to discover her own path.

  “Hippolyta alone will half-remember the prophecy, as if it had come to her in a dream. For she will need to train—and sometimes to restrain—her exceptional daughter . . .”

  “Athena could hide that memory from your gods, Wonder Woman, but not from me!” Desaad’s crafty voice murmured in Diana’s ear.

  Awareness returned in a rush.

  Another memory lost to Desaad, Diana realized. This one from her infancy, before she could even consciously remember. She had never been told of such a prophecy, of course. Athena’s gift had spared her that. But it explained so much—

  Desaad interrupted her tumbling thoughts. “The prophecy will soon be fulfilled, in a way none of your gods could have foreseen. Because of their gifts, you yourself will bring disaster to Themyscira—and to your world. Once you are Bound to Apokolips, you yourself will lead the New Gods of Apokolips into the domain of the Old.”

  Without ceremony, Desaad lifted the spherical Brain Binder helmet and clamped it roughly onto Diana’s head.

  Within the helmet, Diana felt a movement like scrabbling bugs as electrodes automatically moved into position and attached themselves to her skull.

  She shuddered and looked wildly at Himon, but he winked reassuringly.

  I can do this! she told herself. Himon says it will be okay. He wouldn’t lie. I trust him!

  Desaad turned to Himon. “Observe, Himon. My Brain Binder has collected, and rewritten, this so-called Wonder Woman’s memories. When I press this button, it will overwrite her true experiences with ones I have devised for her. And she will exist only as Darkseid’s slave.”

  Desaad reached toward the computer console.

  “Dear Athena,” Diana prayed with what might well have been her last independent thought. “Help us! Please help us all!”

  With desperate eyes, she watched Desaad depress the button.

  Diana stiffened, then relaxed. Her expression lost its terror and became still and impassive.

  “Diana!” Himon screamed. “No! Nooooo!”

  Desaad smiled without mirth. “You see how easy it is. One moment she is a vibrant Wonder Woman; the next, she is a shell of her former self, empty of all but obedience.

  “Even now my master Darkseid waits as my computers compile an overview of her original memories, focusing on those critical to the overthrow of the Justice League and the conquest of Themyscira.”

  Desaad stared into Diana’s unfocused eyes. Yes, he thought, she has the zombie look of the Brain Bound. But did he have total power over her? he wondered. He would need to test his control in increments.

  First he ordered the two guards to stand beside the door with weapons pointed at Diana. Then he removed the Brain Binder helmet from her head and unshackled her hands and feet.

  Diana stood unmoving.

  So far so good, Desaad thought. Now, for the next test. The woman had a horror of Brain Binding. Let us see if she will betray her one friend on Apokolips.

  Desaad held out the helmet. “Wonder Woman, take the helmet and place it on Himon’s head.”

  Diana carried the helmet to Himon. But when she began to lower it, the mesh covering Himon’s head was in the way. She turned to Desaad and waited passively for further orders.

  Desaad chuckled. “Guard, remove the mesh!”

  One of the guards unlocked and removed the covering. Then, at Desaad’s signal, he stepped back, returning to full alert.

  “Continue,” Desaad commanded Diana.

  Himon tried to struggle, but the casing that sheathed his body held him immobile as Diana lifted the helmet and placed it on his head.

  Desaad smiled, satisfied. “If it were up to me, Himon, I would immediately obliterate your mind. But Lord Darkseid dislikes waste and has commanded me to withdraw your memories intact. He believes they hold technological possibilities.

  “But as a precaution, during the Withdrawal process you will wear the helmet. Despite my Master’s . . . preference, at your slightest move to escape, I will remove that possibility. Have no doubt, Himon, when I am done, one way or the other, you will serve Apokolips, body and soul.”

  “I have always served Apokolips,” Himon said coldly.

  Desaad sneered. “When I am through, you will understand that to serve
Apokolips is to serve the great Darkseid—for Darkseid and Apokolips are one!”

  During this interchange, Diana waited quietly.

  Pleased with her utter impassivity and his obvious control of her, Desaad went to the corner and picked up the armored breastplate. Even without her armor, she is strong, he thought. But with it, she rivals the mightiest of the New Gods. To command such power . . .

  Desaad knew he should wait for the final test, let Darkseid himself be the one to master her, but Desaad’s urge to dominate her was irresistible.

  He handed Diana the armor. “Put it on,” he ordered.

  “I must make sure her bond with the armor wasn’t compromised by the Binding process,” he said to the guards. “Keep your weapons trained on her. And if she does anything she is not ordered to do, kill her.”

  Diana stood before Desaad, wearing the breastplate. She slipped on first one silver bracelet, and then the other. She picked up the unbreakable lasso and snapped it into the loop at her waist.

  The guards, watching Diana through their weapon sights, were awestruck by that vision of beauty and power.

  Even in her rags, Diana had been lovely. But garbed as Wonder Woman, she was magnificent. Her long, dark hair hung down her back in sumptuous waves. Her armor caught and reflected the lights of Desaad’s lab and dazzled their eyes.

  But her face remained expressionless and her body retained the submissive posture of the Brain Bound.

  Reveling in his authority, Desaad ordered Diana to rise slowly into the air.

  Immediately she rose. At Desaad’s command, she flew slowly, first to the left, then to the right, finally drifting over the heads of the dazzled guards who trained their weapons on her.

  Then, faster than they could react, she was dropping behind them, kicking out, simultaneously catching both guards at the base of their skulls. As they fell forward, unconscious, she grabbed their weapons and fired them into the Brain Binding computer.

  “No!” Desaad shouted. “You’re Brain Bound! That’s impossible!”