Post by jackalope on Feb 20, 2012 7:57:53 GMT -5
Ulitimate Wonder Woman #16
The Wonder and the Vision: Where is Diana Prince? pt.4
The Wonder and the Vision: Where is Diana Prince? pt.4
The Sweet-Shop, Gateway City
“I do quite like chocolate but not the kind with nuts in it...”
“Where is Diana Prince?”
“Red is my favourite colour, especially in lingerie...”
“That is not what I ask you!” Diana brought her hand to her forehead, running her fingers through her dark hair. She tried again. “Where is Diana Prince?”
“I actu-ally prefer Terminator to its sequel Terminator 2...”
“Argh!” Diana stomped her foot in frustration, turning away from the bound Professor Jenkel, who hung upside down from an iron pipe, swinging slightly. “I do not understand why you don't answer question I ask?”
Etta Candy, sitting in the corner of the room, shrugged. “Maybe it's broken...”
Diana shook her head. “No, it does not break.” She turned back to the hanging man, and raised an eyebrow. “He tricks it somehow.”
“I know the lyrics to every Britney Spears song...” He sighed, “That’s somewhat embarrassing to admit.”
Diana walked back over to Jenkel, crouching down to look closer at his face. She pulled out the slightly bent photo of the missing girl. “Do you know this girl?”
A strain showed in his face, momentarily as he closed his eyes. “I wear the top hats to... make me seem taller.” He opened his eyes. “This is like therapy. You're not charging me right?”
She grabbed his arms shaking him. “Why won’t you answer questions ask!?” She let go and sunk to the ground. “<Stupid lasso was supposed to make it easier...>”
He raised his eyebrows, smiling smugly. “My favourite sandwich filling is peanut butter and jelly.” As he slowly spun around, still swinging with the force of her shaking, Etta narrowed her eyes- noticing the movement of his hands.
She scrambled to her feet. “He's fucking signing, he's signing his answers!”
Diana turned to her. “Is some code secret of sorts?” Etta nodded vigorously. Diana smiled, “Do you know to speak it.” Etta shook her head. Diana sighed; she turned back to the Professor. “So you do answer questions... with truth.” He nodded. She stopped his slow rotation when he faced her. “Why won’t you answer questions by talk?”
He nodded towards the stripper, Etta. “She knows.”
“He wants something...”
Professor Jenkel grinned his golden smile. “Bingo.”
Diana put her face in her hands. “Ok, what is you want?”
“Three things: 1. Untie me. 2. Is a job- I'll tell you later.”
Etta rolled her eyes, “And three?”
“Three is...” At that moment the door burst open and a dozen men stormed in holding a range of guns, wearing black leather jackets with orange stripes on them. “Three is stop them.”
A rattle of automatic fire was followed by the arrival of the huge tattooed leader of the West Side Tigers into the room. His orange and black-striped face obstructed by a large white bandage covering the centre of face, over what looked like a broken nose. “Sorry Jenkel, I called ahead but your people seemed tied up.”
Jenkel fell to the ground, as Diana released the lasso. Rubbing his head he sat up. “They're my Oompa Loompas now Tony... Anyone seen my hat?”
The Tiger Boss lunged at a nearby table and threw it across the room. His face contorted with rage and he bared his sharpened teeth. “Don't fucking call me that! Now where the fuck is it?”
“Where's what?”
The striped leader roared with frustration. “Fuck this! Just kill him, we'll find it on our own.”
“What about the girl?” One of the younger Tiger gangers pointed to Etta, who has backed into the wall behind her.
The Tiger boss looked her over, “Take her with us.”
“Dibs,” another of the gang thugs called. He stepped forward and suddenly cried out as he was pulled up the roof by his foot. He hung there by a golden rope. “I want to cry!” The gang turned to see what happened. Bracing herself in the iron beams of the roof, the Amazon smiled down at them.
The Tiger bosses injured face, caught somewhere between fear and rage, started to shout, “Shi...”
She dropped. Her thick boot landing on the face of one man, bullets sprayed out around the room as he fell to the ground. She was already in the air, leaping into a round house kick knocking two of them into the far wall. A man lunged; she swiftly dodged tripping him as he fell by her. Gunfire. Her body turned, wrist braces deflecting the bullets back into another three of the men. Upper cutting a nearby gang man into the ceiling, she dived under him and kicked another in the stomach. A long switch blade speared out inches from her face, she grinned and bit the knife in her teeth, pulling out of the man’s hand. As he swung by her, her arm appeared, cloths lining his throat. A shot rang out. Her blurred arm smacked it back at the pistol of the grounded man who fired it. Defenceless, he huddled up into a ball.
“Here bitch!”
Diana turned to see the Tiger Boss holding his handgun to the head of Etta Candy. She looked pissed.
“Drop yer... hands.” The Amazon dropped her hands to her sides. “Good,” he grinned, “See I can smell hero on people, and you reek of it.” He narrowed his eyes at her, noticing the switchblade she still held in her teeth. “Drop the knife too.” He cocked the trigger to make his point.
She let it drop from her teeth. Tumbling downwards past her neck, then chest, her hand moved in front of her. The knife had disappeared. The Gang leader raised an eyebrow in confusion, until a sharp pain pierced his hand. His trigger finger dropped to the floor, replaced by the knife which stuck out of his hand. Blood squirted. The gun dropped, as he started to yell.
“FFFUU...” BANG
He fell back, grabbing at his stomach. Over him Etta Candy stood, holding his gun. “I hope you bleed out,” she spat at him.
“Are you unharmed Etta of Candy?” asked Diana. The slightly shaken stripper nodded. Diana pointed out behind herself. “Stop.”
Professor Jenkel stopped, mid-sneak. He stood upright, leaning on his cane, top-hat and monocle in place. “Oh, ah-yes, I was-ah, just checking the coast was clear for us to leave, dear girl. Ladies.”
Diana looked at Etta. “You work for him?” Etta smiled and rolled her eyes. They turned and followed him, Diana releasing her lasso as she passed. Walking past the unconscious gang members, then the unconscious and bound members of Jenkel's guard, that Diana had knocked out earlier, the Amazon turned to the Professor, “Wheres do you take us now?”
“To a man who will know where your friend is...”
The door burst open ahead of them. Diana braced herself. A puffed looking dark haired man, holding an Uzi, stopped in front of them, panting. “Sorry I'm late Professor, my Grandma, she...” He looked down the corridor at the unconscious bodies. “Oh shit, I should have been here... I.”
“It's quite alright Eric.” Jenkel said, “There is little you-ah could have done against this freckled she-giant here.” He poked the muscled man with his cane. “Actually, it is somewhat fortu-hanate that you are late today, I have need of a personal bodyguard, you'll be paid for overtime of course.”
“Can we get moving?” Etta asked.
“Let us go.” Jenkel and Eric led the way. As they moved into the glass elevator, the Professor tuned to his guard, “How much would one have to pay you to get your hair dyed green?”
* * *
Metropolis Museum
A group of children shuffled through the huge rooms, surprisingly un-bored. The woman at the lead of them, in her early thirties, her blond hair in a tidy pony-tail and glasses sitting across her grey eyes, walks briskly into the next room.
“Now we move through to 'America at War.' Starting with the War of Independence, we come through to the Civil War, World War 1, known to many as the 'Great War.' For much of America's history the country has been at war.” She looked over the children's eyes, as they scanned the huge room full of objects and pictures. She smiled, she liked children, they had a natural curiosity to them that lent itself to wisdom. In a few years opinions would have formed and they'd think that they knew something. She sighed. That's when it would start to go wrong. “You may see war on television, if your parents let you, you may play war at school, and that's fine but what you must realise is that war is very different from pretend and when you are there.”
“Here we have World War 2, what some historians refer to as the 'the good war'. During the war there were from 50 million to over 70 million fatalities, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.” She passed her hands over the large black and white photos, the army uniforms, rifles. The children gazed wide-eyed over the objects. “Now when America joined the war in 1941, the war had already been going for two years. Anyone know what caused America to join the war?”
A Chinese-American girl put up her hand. The Museum guide nodded. “Pearl Harbour.”
“That's right; in December of 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour, which caused America to join the war.” She pointed to the diorama of the harbour under a glass cover. She pressed the button and the famous Infamy Speech of President Franklin D. Roosevelt started to play. As the kids listen intently, the guide looks up, over by the replica fighter aircraft a young man leaned, surfer blond hair hanging over his golden skin, smiling and watching intently. The speech finishes. She looks back to the group. A redhead kid puts his hand up. “Yes?”
“We know all this.”
“Yeah,” another from the class agrees. The guide looked to the teacher, who shrugged.
The guide tried again. “Did you know that over 8 million horses were killed during World War 2?”
“We knew that.”
“We saw Warhorse.”
“Tell us something we don't know. Something new.” A chubby girl crossed her arm.
“Right,” the blond woman raised an eyebrow, and took off her glasses. The entire class looked almost angry now, hungry for knowledge. “Ok, how many of you have heard of angels?” The class put up their hands. She smiled. “Well did you know that some soldiers claimed to see angels during the Second World War?” The kids shook their heads. “Well it's true, and it wasn't the first time, during world war one there were sightings of Angels at the Battle of Mons. The British claimed to see a line of glowing archers appear in the middle of the battle, which scared the Germans away. Some even claimed that some of the German army were found killed, by arrows!” The kids gasped. “Now during the second world war, American troops claimed to see glowing archers appear from the sky...”
“Justine!” The hasty whisper made the guide turn around. There stood the museums head curator, Mr Havelock, a wiry blond man in large red rimmed glasses, tapping his foot with furious frustration. “This is a place of history, not mythology!” he continued. Justine, the guide, rolled her eyes. The Curator turned, “Carol, take over for Justine here in showing these kids around.”
Carol looked at the two of them, sensing the tension, and nodded. “This way kids, let's go see the Dinosaurs!” The kids shuffled off after her, whispering about angels and archers.
Justine waited for the kids to leave. Mr Havelock crossed his arms. “Justine, you're a good employee, but your studies aren't exactly what you would call 'digestible' by most of the history academics, and certainly not by this museum.”
“I was just trying to engage the...” she started.
The curator interrupted, “Now you've just received your PHD so you're qualified, and a lecturing job has opened up at Gateway University, Gender Studies or Classical Mythology, or something equally unnecessary, I've put you forward to be considered, you've got a good chance. You can go corrupt older minds.”
Justine stared at the older man, trying to decipher his motive. Finally she replied, “...thanks?”
He nodded and walked away. She scratched her head.
“Didn't see that one coming, did you?”
The voice made her jump. Spinning around she saw the tanned teenager from earlier standing right in front of her. Angrily she said in a quiet voice, “Your stunt, I take it, with the kids back there?”
He smiled and shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets. “It's the way of the world sis, intelligence always wins against wisdom. You should know that, or have you been hiding among the mortals too long? Enjoying the 'quiet life' of a wall-flower...”
“Fuck you Apollo.” She stepped back, calming herself. “What do you want anyway?”
“Really? You are out of the loop... Daddy is calling us in, a big summit of Olympus, except in this realm...” She raised her eyebrows. His face now looked concerned, “it's big, trust me. My Oracle... You didn't think that the job offer was random did you? Zeus has been visiting the spinners. The modern world hasn't been kind to you has it?” She looked down. He looked around the gallery of weapons, uniforms, photographs and models. “...Not like Ares.”
She shook her head. “Nope, not like Ares. War, now that’s something they are good at...”
Apollo nodded. “Yeah, he's never really been the same since the second world one... He's never been so powerful.”
“Or so insane...”
Apollo looked at his sister, admiring her suitable mortal form. “You used to rule war yourself didn't you? What happened there?”
She shrugged. “The world changed, and the rules.”
“Well anyway, I'll see you at the Gateway.” Apollo said, as he started to walk away. He paused, “Oh and Athena, my Oracle said that one of your projects has left paradise- any idea what that means?”
Athena shrugged, smiling internally.
* * *
The Sweet-Shop Emporium
Jenkel and his bodyguard led the way across one of the many small causeway bridges that connected the many warehouses together. People seemed to part way as they approached, cooks manning the late-night food-stalls produced friendly smiles along with offers of free food for the travellers. Women of the night that lined the walls called out the Professor's name whilst trying to maintain their most seductive poses, hoping for acknowledgement from the crime boss king, as he passed. Professor Jenkel at most gave the subtlest nod to a few, ignoring the rest. Following behind, Diana waved to everyone, until Etta stopped her, pushing a kebab into her hand to keep her occupied and unembarassing.
The Professor swung his cane as he walked. “You know I have had many so many suitors come and want a chunk of my bus-ah-ness. H.I.V.E., S.P.I.D.E.R., Intergang, the god-damned Royal Flush Gang. You know what I told each of them?” As they reached the elevator, Eric the bodyguard walked ahead to hit the button, Jenkel turned around, flashing his large golden smile. “I told them all, each and every one of those two-bit crime operations, this is my city. I am its brain and I am its grimy little soul. I am its protector, the guardian it deserves. I told them to get the fuck out and to never re-ha-turn.”
The bell for the elevator rang and the doors opened. A huge bearded man stood in the elevator, looking grimly out through black sunglasses. On seeing the Professor, he gulped, apologising he made his way out of the elevator. The group got in. Jenkel waved to the bearded man, “Thank you Toby.” He removed a key from his pocket and inserted it into a slot by the elevator buttons. Turning it he hit floor 17 and 18. The elevator started to move. “This building is another one of my ideas, residential living. I can choose who lives here, nearby, and they pay their rent in exchange for services to me.” The elevator stopped and the doors opened revealing an upmarket looking apartment, a spacious room painted red, the walls covered in lewd paintings of the women. Jenkel took off his top hat and sighed, “So much for good taste.”
“Jenkel,” rough voice called, “I knew you were coming.”
“I'm sure you did,” the Professor called back, “And you'll know why we're here then.”
A dwarf, in underwear, with wild black hair covering his head and the lower half of his face, emerged from a doorway. He looked gruffly at the four intruders. “You're looking for a girl named Diana.”
“Everyone, may I introduce Dr Psychic, one of the most talented psychics in the entire world.” The Professor turned back to the small man. “Why are you not wearing any clothes good Doctor?”
“Because this is my fucking apartment, and you need my help.” His eyes flicked to the two women, his eyes leering with lust, he licked his lips. He closed his eyes a moment, outstretching his hands and fluttering his closed eyelids. “You,” he pointed at Etta, “abused by your step-father, mother had a drug problem, craving love but unsure you'll ever find it, and...” He opened his eyes, “Almost finished your psychology degree with honours.” Etta remained silent. “You on the other hand,” he turned to Diana, closing his eyes. “You... you are...” he opened his eyes, “a fucking mystery. Are you even human?”
Jenkel banged his cane on the floor, regaining the dwarf's attention. “We came here for information about the girl Doctor.”
“What do I get in exchange?”
“What do you want?” Etta said.
He smiled, baring his teeth. “A kiss from the big girl, with tongue. Or too smell her hair, her other hair. A pair of panties maybe, worn.”
Etta steamed with outraged, ready to scream an insult.
“Ok.” Diana stepped forward, surprising all of them. Dr Psychic grinned, pushing his hair back and brushing the crumbs from his beard. The Amazon walked towards the short nearly naked man, her long bare legs taking long slow strides. She leaned forward, her black hair falling down beside her cheeks. On tip-toes he pursed his lips. He felt his feet leave the ground.
Choking slightly, his eyes opened on hers, as she held him by his neck. Her eyebrows furrowed. “I change my mind, I do not wish kiss you, I am sorry.” His eyes flashed with anger, he flailed his limbs trying to grab her. With her other hand she pulled out her golden lasso. “I need truth from you, but all people tell is lies to me.” She tied the rope around his kicking feet. “Now plaise tell, where is Diana Prince?”
He snarled. “She's at Chang Tzu's brothel!”
“Thank you.” She quickly pecked his cheek. She put him back down, and turned to leave. His arm grabbed her sleeve, pulling her back towards him.
With wild eyes that rolled back, showing only whites, he spat the words, “I see war and fury, death comes dressed in black, with no tale. The gods gather in a mountain of steel at the gate, meeting to avoid her. You bring an end to a beginning. Running through green grass. Predator and prey. Earth in your bones, wind in your hair. Madness is coming; mind you don't lose your mind. Ha ha haa haahhar haha.” He fell back, unconscious.
Diana looked back at the three startled group members. “What a strange man...”