by Dr. Chloroform
Lieutenant Diana Prince was concerned about Shiera Sanders’ behavior. First, she hardly said a word as they drove to the dock. There was an MP driving them, so they couldn’t actually discuss JSA business, but usually they would have at least talked a little. The normally friendly socialite had instead spent the ride reading the file on the artifact and ignoring Diana altogether.
Now the statuesque Diana found herself outside the dock warehouse, relegated to guard duty as Shiera and Major Steve Trevor spoke with each other inside. The look that Shiera had given the major had shocked Diana, since she knew that her friend was deeply in love with Carter Hall. Then it hit her. She wasn’t Shiera. Diana looked around and found a place to change into Wonder Woman.
When she returned, the Amazing Amazon found a scene of utter chaos. A greenish gas began pouring from the windows and doorways of the warehouse, and a large van was pulling up next to it. The Cheetah ran out of the warehouse, opened one of the van doors, and hopped inside. Then she saw Wonder Woman.
“I was hoping you’d show up, Wonder Woman,” the Cheetah said with glee.
“I’ll bet,” Wonder Woman said as she charged at the now-moving van.
“No, really I was,” the Cheetah replied, opening the other door to reveal a strange-looking device inside the van.
The Cheetah flipped a switch, and the device began to glow. Suddenly, Wonder Woman’s wrists were pulled ahead of her, pulling her off her feet and right into the flat metal side of the device. Despite having the strength of Hercules, Wonder Woman couldn’t free her wrists from the metal plate.
“Great Hera, what madness is this?!” Wonder Woman exclaimed.
“An experimental electromagnet,” the Cheetah replied, then sprayed Wonder Woman in the face with her perfume bottle. “And that was a little dose of my catnap gas. Say goodnight, Amazon.”
“Merciful Minerva, so sleepy… can’t fight it… everything… getting… black,” Wonder Woman said as the sleep drug rendered her unconscious and at the mercy of the Cheetah.
***
Shiera Sanders opened her eyes to find herself tied to a chair in her underwear. The memory of opening the door and getting a face full of sleeping gas for her trouble suddenly came rushing back to her. Looking around, the resourceful archaeologist saw a letter opener on the nightstand. After a superhuman effort, she managed to get ahold of the sharp piece of metal and within moments cut herself free of her bonds.
Soon, the winged form of Hawkgirl was landing at the warehouse. Diana had told her where the artifact was arriving the night before, and it looked like a battle had taken place there. Hawkgirl recognized Major Steve Trevor and asked what had happened.
“It was the Cheetah,” Trevor answered between coughs, fighting the after-effects of the gas that the villainess had used. “She disguised herself as an archaeologist and stole the Eye of Bast.”
“The Eye of Bast!” Hawkgirl exclaimed, realizing the significance but deciding to keep it to herself for the moment.
“Has anyone seen Diana Prince?” Steve asked, beginning to look for the woman who was Colonel Darnell’s secretary. Meanwhile, Hawkgirl took off again, intent on finding the Cheetah before it was too late.
***
Meanwhile, Wonder Woman was coming to only to find herself tied to a chair as Shiera had been. The difference was that the Amazon Princess was bound by her magic lasso, a rope that not even her powerful muscles could break. Moments after she awoke, the Cheetah came into view, smiling in triumph.
“I’m glad you’re awake, Wonder Woman,” the blonde villainess said. “I want you to bear witness to my taking over the world.”
The Cheetah let her words sink in before she explained to the bound Amazon princess, “The Eye of Bast is a power source created by the ancient Egyptian cat goddess, Bast. I’m going to connect it to the experimental electromagnet I used to capture you and shut down every machine in the world.”
“Great Hera!” Wonder Woman exclaimed. “Millions will die if you do that.”
“Exactly, Wonder Woman,” the Cheetah said, an insane look on her face. “And the survivors will have to obey me if they want any of their machines turned on again.”
“Then I guess we’d better make sure that doesn’t happen,” the entering Hawkgirl said as she fired her crossbow into the electromagnet machine, causing it to overload and explode.
“No! You’ve ruined everything!” the Cheetah cried in anger, charging the winged heroine. “How did you find me?”
“I know something about the ancients and their devices,” Hawkgirl said as she threw a net that entangled the Cheetah, causing the blonde villainess to fall to the ground bound and helpless. “This is the only place in the city where the moon and river are in the same relationship as they are in Egypt. They’d have to be in order to activate the Eye of Bast.”
“Thanks, Hawkgirl,” Wonder Woman said after she was untied. As she picked up the netted Cheetah, she added, “I’m glad you were here to save the day.”
“I’m sure that you would have managed without me,” Hawkgirl said modestly.
“Perhaps, but I guess this proves it’s good to have friends,” Wonder Woman said as they left the building.
The End