[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/kVIzfOu.png[/img][/center][indent][sub][COLOR=FDE384][I]New York City, New York[/I][/COLOR][/sub][/indent][indent][sup][right][COLOR=FDE384][i]Present Day[/i][/color][/right][/sup][/indent][hr][indent][sup][COLOR=FDE384][b]Issue #5.02[/b][/color][/sup][/indent][center][color=FDE384]𝗪𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡[/color] & [color=81CFFF]𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟[/color][/center]
[indent][indent]New York City. It was the first American city that Diana visited with Steve after the first World War. At first, she wasn't impressed and thought it was uninspiring compared to Europe and their cities. Steve explained how New Yorkers were the ones that caught his attention more than the fancy skyscrapers. He noted how they were the ones that made the city extraordinary. Of course, she didn't understand what he meant at first; however, she realized his words as the city grew into what it was today. Its people overcame struggles throughout a century and became stronger as a result. And now, it was under attack once more by a swarm capable of turning a person into a savage killer.

Wonder Woman made her way to Central Park, ground zero of Stryfe's attack, to investigate the scene. She noticed plenty of dead bodies scattered throughout the park while a few of the infected were still around. Some of them started fighting against each other while others roamed around looking for their next prey. Suddenly, a young man with blood around his mouth hopped on top of a car's hood and screamed at the top of his lungs. His eyes were heavily damaged due to claw marks while his hands were covered in blood. Then, he leapt off of the hood and starting charging towards Diana without hesitation. Before defending herself, she tried to warm the man but there wasn't a response. That was when she waited for the moment to strike. 

The crazed man tried to grab Wonder Woman but failed miserably because she responded by sending him to the ground with enough force to be knocked out cold. None of this made sense to Diana. She tried to piece together how Stryfe was able to produce these bugs. It wasn't possible that a single man was able to mass produce those bugs and create the art sculptures. That was when she thought of Aladdin. To her, it made sense since he talked about planning something big for the world. However, during their last encounter, he didn't give any hints about the attack nor seemed done with her. There were enough possibilities and reasons for Aladdin to be behind the attack but none of them were reliable. 

For now, she considered him to be a contributor to the attack.

After turning away from the unconscious man, Diana saw the art piece in the distance and ran towards it because she thought nobody else was in the area. Until a thug with an assault rifle caught her out in the open and opened fire. She blocked the bullets with her bracelets and quickly pulled out her shield as more men arrived to assist. With no cover in sight, she was stuck with only her shield and bracelets to protect her for bullets. One of the men went around her and got a clear view of her.

But he didn’t get enough time to make a good, solid shot.

The sky cracked with a loud ‘thwoom’ as something breached the sound barrier. As the man turned he soon found his gun removed from his hand. In a split second he was flying through the air. It was enough of a spectacle to draw the attention of a few more of the thugs present, though they knew they needed to keep the pressure up on Diana. If they broke their fire she would have just enough amount of time to rethink tactically and bring them down.

As the thug hit the ground a loud, but a clear voice called out to the group of armed thugs.

[color=81CFFF]“Hey! You guys know its rude to shoot armor-piercing bullets at girls, right?”[/color]

The gunfire stopped. For a second. Before they immediately began firing at this new target that was levitating above them with their hands pressed on her waist and what seemed to be a confident posture.

Diana thought that she was a goner until the arrival of the mysterious girl bearing an "S" on her shirt. It was remarkable how fast she took care of the armed man, but they kept firing their weapons. Until she called them out. The silence gave Diana enough time to get herself in position and a quick rest. The thugs turned their attention towards the stranger and opened fire. She didn't even flinch as the bullets clashed against her body. Diana was astonished at the sight of the girl standing in the air with no care. Meanwhile, as the thugs contemplated their approach against the two of them, one of them began to slowly walk backwards from the group while reloading. The man's choice gave Diana an opening. She raised her shield and charged towards him with determination. He was too late to respond and immediately felt the consequences with a shield-bash. 

Diana knocked the thug's gun out of hands and sent him to the ground. The others turned around and saw her near them, opening firing at her once more. She put her shield up to block the bullets and tried to reach for her sword, but she remembered the vow to never use it unless in emergencies. It was going to be interesting fighting without it, but she still had the lasso to use. Diana took another look at the stranger as she seemed to use her amazing speed to push the fight further, disarming a few of the thugs and throwing one of them into another one. 

“Get her!” One of the men growled as they scrambled to their feet.

“Which one?!”

The blonde girl seemed to chuckle at their worries before quickly grabbing the one giving the orders by his collar and throwing him into the air.

As Diana pushed forward she contemplated how many more she needed to take down. As far as she could tell, the new girl was diverting just enough attention to help her quickly take the group down one-by-one. There were only three men left now. First, she dealt with the first one by using the same shield method but ending it with a kick to his face. For the second, she flipped over him and simply delivered a swift kick to the right side of his hip. As she did so, the final guy threw his weapon aside and pulled out a sharp knife out of his pocket. He aimed the blade at Wonder Woman and challenged her to combat. Before she could respond to his request for combat, he vanished in a matter of seconds as something grabbed hold of him and sent him across the street.

It didn't take much time for Diana to shuffle the now unconscious group of men to a few adjacent light-posts and restrain them. 

[color=81CFFF]“I mean, I warned them.”[/color] The blonde remarked as she remained levitating in the air, eyeing the structures around them as if she was looking for something.

After rounding up the group, Diana finally had time to breathe and realize how similar the stranger's powers were to hers. The teen's strength, flight, and speed were genuinely remarkable and unmatched by anything in the world except for Wonder Woman. It made her question if she was another God or a rare metahuman. So with that question in mind, Diana started to hover over the ground and made her way towards the stranger to examine up close. Once she was close to her, Diana took a moment to study her outfit. It looked simple albeit oddly charming, especially with the strange red "S" standing out for the blue. Then, she stared at the teenager and asked her a simple question.

[color=#FCDA63]"Who are you?"[/color]

As is snapping the girl out of a trance, Diana’s question seemed to catch her off-guard.

[color=81CFFF]“Oh, uh, gosh. Well, I—”[/color] There was a slight pause as the blonde's eyes widened as she met eye contact with Diana. [color=81CFFF]“—holy crap, you’re Wonder Woman.”[/color]

Diana couldn't help smiling at her genuine reaction to meeting her in person. It was always good to be reminded that some people still liked her. Especially when there were some people hellbent in destroying her reputation and ruining her life at the same time. 

The girl cleared her throat. [color=81CFFF]“Sorry. Kara. My name is Kara. Though the people over in Metropolis call me Supergirl, not that I’ve never really decided on a name or anything. Big fan.”[/color]

[i]Supergirl.[/i] Diana liked the name because it went well with the "S" on her outfit. Though, this was the first time that she heard about her in Metropolis. It was when she noted to herself to study her activities and other possible new heroes. Hopefully, she would get some time to research after the mess with the committee was done. 

Diana extended her hand out to Kara and responded, [color=#FCDA63]"Nice to meet you, Supergirl. I'm assuming that you are here to deal with this crisis upon us?"[/color]

Kara extended her hand in kind, grasping Diana's own. 

[color=81CFFF]“Well, I’m not here for the scenery.”[/color] Kara uttered as she released her grip, as her pupils seemed to change as she looked back in the direction she was looking in before Diana had started their conversation. [color=81CFFF]“I’m noticing a lot of activity all over Manhattan, we’ve got to take down these towers before the entire city goes insane. They seem to be the source.”[/color]

[color=#FCDA63]"Of course but we can't do it by ourselves."[/color] Diana let go of Supergirl's hand and turned her attention towards the city's skyline and the swarm. [color=#FCDA63]"There has to be other heroes either coming or already here. We need to find them and work together as a group to help out non-infected, take down the towers, and capture Stryfe and his goons."[/color]

[color=81CFFF]“Can’t disagree with that. While you deal with this tower in Central Park, I’ll try to do damage control. If that's okay. You're the expert, but there's a lot of people who need my help and I'm not a girl who likes sitting on her thumbs.”[/color]

[color=#FCDA63]"Fair enough."[/color] Diana said with a smile and started heading towards the art piece. She stopped for a moment and turned towards the newcomer. [color=#FCDA63]"Actually, I want to give you some advice since I sense you're new to being a hero. Avoid the negativity that people might give you because they might be mentally damaged for this mess and don't mean it. Think about your actions because it might influence what people think about you. I learned that the hard way recently. And if you're feeling like the world's on your shoulder, just calm down and breathe. It helps me out a whole lot."[/color][/indent][/indent]
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