Ultimate Wonder Woman #4: Glass Jungle Pt.1

[jackalope]

Ultimate Wonder Woman #4
World of Wonders part 4: Glass Jungle pt.1

44 Fathom Road, apartment 6

Two knocks. The door squeaked open and Iris leaned in. Diana smiled welcomingly.

“Plaise.” Diana gestured her to enter.

“Nice, like what you've done with the place.” says Iris looking about. The majority of the room was unchanged except for the wall opposite her bed which now had a variety of weapons hanging from the wall. “Very... you.” She scanned over the items. A short sword, ancient Greek looking, half a dozen half sized javelins in some sort of quiver, a golden lasso, a long sharp spear head, something that looked like a section of a shield, and five handguns.. “Five?”

Diana nodded, “One, two, tree, four, fieve.” She counted them.

She's been watching Sesame Street, thought Iris. “You had four last week. Where... when did you get the fifth?”

“Warrior challenge me, night last.” Diana shook her head, “no good at fight. Needs train much.”

“You can't keep taking... you shouldn't, these are dangerous people,” Iris waved her hands in front of her, trying to explain.

“Yes, no train, so take gun weapon from him.” Diana said matter-of-factly.

“No, I mean, if you keep taking guns off people, they're going... you could get in trouble. If not with them, then with the police.”

“Po-leese,” Diana sounded out. She nodded, interested. “<They are the guardians of this city, this is correct?>”

Iris concentrated, “slow down when you speak Greek to me, please. Yeah, the police are the city guardians, defenders of the law, catchers of criminals, protectors of the innocents.” Iris looked at the top of the old closed off fireplace in the middle of the wall. “Awesome what are these? Retro folk art.” She picked up one of the small clay statues.

Diana suddenly looked worried. She made a please-be-careful-touching-that movement, getting Iris to carefully put the statue back among the others on the mantle. “They are... powerful people, ah, god, and woman god.”

“This,” Iris asked, “is a shrine, your shrine?” Diana nodded. Iris looked over them. “Holy crap, these are your gods, and goddesses. You're like a pagan, an old school pagan, the original pagan.” Diana looked confused.

“<You do not honour your gods?>”

Iris laughed, and then stopped, seeing Diana's sincerity. “Ah, well, some people do. Grandma, she goes to church most Sundays. I'm more of a... humanist.” Diana frowned. She tried to word what she was thinking, “I don't think that gods are... real.”

Diana now laughed hard. “<You are truly strange people.>”

Iris smiled, waiting for her chuckling to end. Finally she turned back to the statues, “I think I know who these are. I did a paper on ancient religions in my feminist studies degree.” She lightly tilted the first statue. “Artemis right?” Diana nodded surprised. “This one is... Hera?” She pointed to the next. “Aphrodite. This must be Athena. Demeter. Hestia. Hermes?” Diana nodded. Iris pointed to a statue in the middle of the line-up. “Who's this?”

Diana stepped forward. “<That is Zeus, king of the gods. He demands worship, he does not like to be ignored.>”

Iris smiled and gently shook her head, “Shit, Professor Minerva would have loved to see these. She was kind of obsessed with this kind of stuff. When she gets back maybe I'll bring her over.” She moved off to the doorway. “Lunch is ready soon,” she took a final look around the room, “you can add colour to the room if you like.” Diana looked about.



Emerald Mall

“Situation?” Sgt. Mike Schorr walked to the entrance of the mall, currently blockaded by some plastic police barricades, and a couple of shotgun armed cops.

A thin cop with a headset on answered. “It's a zoo in there sir. We've got reports of snakes, donkeys, rabbits, birds, even a gorilla.”

Sgt. Harold Champion walked up behind, eating a donut. “A gorilla?” The cop nodded.

“You called the local zoos, animal sanctuaries? Found out whether there have been any escapes.” Mike looked up at the mall. He heard the faint sound of a peacock squawking.

“Nothing's missing as far as we can tell. Animal control already went in but we lost contact with them half an hour ago.”

Mike and Harold looked at each other. “I guess that’s our cue,” said Mike. He turned to the thin cop. “Keep the media out.” They walked in.



44 Fathom Road

When Diana came down the smell made her salivate. On the couches Aria and Iris sat with plates on their knees. TV was on in the background. Diana looked at the golden disks on their plates in small towers. Diana raised her eyebrows.

Aria smiled, “Pancakes. Yours are in the oven.”

Diana beamed and ducked into the kitchen. She quickly walked back in into the room, juggling the hot plate between her hands, hopping onto the couch by Iris. She started tearing the pancakes with her knife and fork. She moaned with the taste. She looked about, fork in mouth, Iris and Aria were staring at her. “Whal?”

Iris handed her a bottle of golden brown liquid. Diana tentatively took the bottle, as if it was one of her sacred statues. She flipped the top and poured it on the pancakes. Dipping a forkful in, she lifted it to her lips. She closed her eyes.

In less than three minutes her plate was clean.

The attention turned back to the TV. Cameras zoomed into a mall. The reporter mentioned a number of escaped animals. Through one of the second floor windows a lion padded across briefly. Diana sat forward on the edge of her seat. “No one knows where these animals are from and how they got into the mall,” the reporter continued.

Diana turned to Aria, and with a nervous tone asked, “<Are these animals commonly found in such places?>” Aria shook her head. “<Are people of the village put in danger by these animals?>” Aria nodded. Diana stood up on the sofa, then jumped, putting the plate into the kitchen and running upstairs, her bare feet thudding on the wooden steps.

A few seconds later Diana was hopping down pulling one of her thick leather boots on, a the quiver of javelins on her back, a lasso hanging from her belt, and short sword at her side. Finally getting it on, she stood. She seemed to be shaking slightly with what became apparent was excitement.

Iris raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

Diana jumped on the spot with joy. “<First the greastest food I have eaten, then, and then... a Hunt!>” Her eyes flared. “<How far is this mall of emerald?>”

Iris looked to Aria. She hesitated. “<It is seven blocks west, then fourteen north.>” Diana whipped the door open. “<Diana?>” Diana leaned back in. “<Take care.>” Diana broadly showed her teeth and took off.


Barry Harlson swept the rubbish aside. Only two weeks back he had been a full-time resident of this street but with a random stroke of luck that had changed. He stood up, stretching his back and breathed deeply. In the distance he could hear the faint wailing of siren, a police chopper, but the people of Gateway city went on with their business, eating lunch and hurrying back to work. He leaned on the broom handle. One woman in particular was in a hurry, sprinting like an Olympic athlete at breakneck speed. She ran down the street so fast she was almost a blur. As people dodged aside as they saw her approach he glimpsed the silver wrist guards on her arms. It made him remember. A final prayer. A secret despair. Then a golden piece of luck that fell into his hand. Worth over a thousand dollars. Enough to buy new clothes, to get a new job, to rent a small house. As the woman ran over the roof of a car in the distance, followed by a honk and a shout, Barry Harlson smiled and went back to sweeping.


Emerald mall

The police communication unit was working quickly testing the comms gear to make sure the radio silence wasn't a technical fault. “One, one, two, alpha respond.” Nothing. The acting commanding officer at the scene was feeling the pressure. It had been suggested that SWAT be called in. He could just imagine the headlines, 'Endangered Animals Shot Dead.' The Chief would not be happy. How the fuck did a lion get in there anyway? Already animal rights protesters had started gathering with signs and chants. “Get the press back,” he barked. Journalist lined up infront of their respective camera men, each giving their curious news segment. The Chief was calling. He rubbed his head. He noticed someone shouting and the camera's turn. One of those bloody animal protester girls, charging the front line. This one was even dressed all barbarian-like. He started to radio a couple of badges to catch her. The girl leaped. Higher than the approaching cops, higher even then the vans parked nearby. The camera's followed the hang time as the girl curved upwards and then dove straight into a second floor window. People gasped as the glass shattered. Two cracked boot marks remained in the pavement.

Diana rolled. Onto her knees she ducked behind a stand of ladies night gowns. She pulled a javelin from the quiver. Leaning out she saw a long brown snake slither by. She zigzagged between two stands, avoiding the snake, and getting closer to the entrance of the shop. Behind her a display of coloured neckerchiefs hung. She grabbed one, rolled it and tied it around, keeping her hair off her face, white with a red star right in the center of her forehead.

She ran, adjusting her pace to avoid squeaking on the shiny floor. She paused and saw two women; hiding huddled under a clothes stand. One of them, shaking, made sign not to talk. Diana tried to reassure them with a smile but this seemed ineffective. Some way off a lion roared.

She ran towards the sound. Above her a monkey swung across pipes that crossed the roof. She passed an emu slowly travelling down an escalator. In the food court a donkey stood eating chips over one of the abandoned counter. She looked or signs of blood or tracks but there were none. Two rabbits dodged out of the way. Pop music played quietly in the background.

A shrill scream echoed through the open area of the mall followed by a blond woman in high heeled shoes clumsily running from an upmarket clothing store on the opposite side of the mall. She stopped, took of her shoes, picked them up, and kept running, screaming all the while. Behind the woman, Diana saw the broad face of a gorilla look at her, then lumber back into shop.

She picked up speed and veered towards the shop. Her arms pumping in front of her, the javelin glinting at her side. She dropped and skidded low along the ground. She saw the golden legs of a giant cat leap off. Throwing a javelin, she leaped back onto her feet. The javelin barely missed the lion that growled and threw itself between some racks. Diana grinned, running after it, plucking the javelin out of the manikin as she went.

As she raced racks off clothes fell in front of her, forcing her to leap. The lion bounded up the shop's escalators. In her mind she laughed, seeing it retreat. Artemis, guide my strike, in her mind she prayed. She leaped up the escalator, only hesitating to regain her balance on the moving surface. Running onto the next level, all of a sudden the beast leapt, it jaws going for her hand. Its teeth barely scratched it, instead it grasped the javelin. The weight of the beast circled around her, until it landed and the momentum threw her around. She lost her grip on the javelin and flew into the nearby wall.

Cushioned by the clothing she fell into, she immediately returned to her feet. The lion stood looking at her, javelin still in mouth, then turn and flung it down the escalator. She waited to see if it would charge. Instead it growled and made its way around another stand, out of her sight. Keeping low she stalked it, keeping her steps as quiet as possible. She drew her sword. Passing around a corner she saw the lion sitting at the end on a small enclave of handbags. A medium sized dog ran in front of her and started barking. She looked at the lion, which looked back at her, then the dog. It made no move to attack either. She bent down and patted the dog, who continued barking until it ran off and started dragging something back. A dark blue shirt. The dog wagged its tail expectantly.

She picked up the shirt, looking over it, then back at the dog and lion. There was something on the sleeve of the shirt. Some sort of shield design. She spelt it out in her mind. P-O-L-I-C-E. She quizzically looked up at the dog and lion. Again the dog barked. She whispered “Poolleee...”

“Men can be such animals.” The voice came from behind her. As she turned she saw a tall beautiful woman in an expensive looking dress. The woman's long hair seemed to move slightly surreally behind her, as if she was underwater. Diana squinted. In the mall light it looked violet, as did her eyes. Her eyelids lowered as she smiled at Diana. “<Don't you agree, Amazon?>”