Terror of the Soulless one

Chapter 2.  The Garden of Peril

by Skytower

When she was growing up Diana had often heard the bards' remark that wars were dances without choreography. She had never understood what they had meant, since the ritual dances that commemorated the Amazon's historical battles were strictly choreographed. In her first melee as Wonder Woman Diana realized what they were talking about. A battle, be it with swords, guns or simply hand to hand combat was a dance of death. If there was a pattern to it that pattern was known only to the grim reaper.

When she came out of the Quonset hut Diana took the battle in one glance. She ignored the smaller groups of dancers and let her eyes envelop the ball as a whole. The German's were loosing. A small group had formed a tight disciplined unit and was working their way back toward the U-boat. Many were armed only with clubs or pipes. Those few that still had guns used their remaining ammunition carefully. Steve and the surviving monkey men were shadowing the German's, taking what cover they could behind rocks or bodies. The monkey men threw small rocks at the sailors and every so often a man would fall clutching at his head.

Wonder Woman ran toward them intending to bowl into the sailors and get to the few who still had guns. When she was half way there she spotted two men on the U-boat. They swung the deck gun toward the monkey men.

Steve saw the gun moving at the same time Wonder Woman did. At his shouted command the monkey men scattered even as the first shell landed on the sand. The explosion shook the cave and sent water and sand high into the air. The sound echoed in the cavern and caused the surface of the water to ripple.

Ignoring the sailors Diana raced toward the U-Boat deflecting stray bullets with her bracelets as she ran. The sailors ran too, abandoning their tight formation in favor of a chaotic scramble. She reached the U-boat before they did. Leaping onto the deck Wonder Woman slammed the barrel of the gun with her fist just as the one of the men pulled the firing lever. The barrel swung around and pointed at the deck and the gun fired. The explosion lit up the cavern like the noonday sun and Diana was thrown into the cave wall with enough force to cause her to black out.

Diana felt every inch of her body as she woke up. Every sore, hurt and scraped inch. It felt like the entire island had landed on her back. She opened her eyes and saw only grey darkness. Gathering herself the Amazon moved. The rocks moved slowly and with great reluctance. After a few moments light began to filter in through the rocks. One arm broke free and then the other. With an effort that no normal person could have made Wonder Woman climbed out of the pile of rocks that had covered her. She looked at the crowd of monkey men who stared at her with astonishment. They had been clearing the rocks but now stood still and stared. Wonder Woman realized why as she pushed a rock that was twice her size aside to complete her climb out. It fell to the ground and the ground shuddered.

"Impressive." Miss Syn said. She was standing beside one of the monkey-men. "You may be what I have been searching for all these years."

"What?" Diana asked looking around. The sub was a charred wreck that stilled burned. The beach was covered with body parts and blood. The air stank of oil, gunpowder and blood.

"There is a saying." Miss Syn said. She was wearing a blood soaked hospital gown and there was a bandage on her head. But her tone of voice told Diana that they were in a quiet library discussing a literary point over a cup of tea. Nodding a command at the monkey-man she walked over to Diana. "On his first try god made the black man, but he was too dark, and on his second try he made the white man, but he was too light, so on his third try he made the oriental, who was just right."

"That's ridiculous." Diana snapped stepping out of the pile.

"Of course it is." Miss Syn looked at Diana closely. "But there is no culture on Earth that does not have it's own variation of that saying. Each thinks themselves as perfection, or at least above every other race." She walked around Diana examining every inch of the Amazon's body. "My own father thought that way about my mother. He was English, she Chinese. She was far more intelligent than he was, and he often beat her for that crime. In my youth I was curious about humanity and perfection. For years I have been indulging that curiosity."

"Is that you have been doing?" Diana demanded. Miss Syn took hold of Diana's arm and brought it to her face.

"Yes. Using the vast lore of the people who used to live here. They were excellent scientists. Interesting, not even a scratch."

"I am not an experiment." Wonder Woman said coldly taking her arm back.

"That I regret more than you know." Miss Syn said. "If you did not have my word of honor I would take great pleasure in examining you. Perhaps even matching you with one of the sub humans."

"And if you didn't have mine I would take you back the United States for trial." Wonder Woman nearly snarled as she spoke but controlled herself.

"A fine stalemate." Miss Syn said smiling.

"Where are my friends and Lady Cynthia?" Diana demanded.

"Lady Cynthia and her children are resting with Sid and his wife. Major Trevor was wounded, he is unconscious but will recover."

"What about Etta Candy?"

"Gone." Miss Syn said. She bent down and picked up a rock from the pile that had buried Diana.

"What? Where?"

"Through there." Miss Syn said tossing the rock in the direction of the hole in the wall. "She was helping with the wounded when a trio of nazi's came out of the water and took her as a hostage. Stone went after them."

"Just Stone?"

"That part of the island was once my personal garden." Miss Syn said. "Most of my failed experiments are quartered there, held in by the natural geography. There are lava streams that border it on either side. No one who goes there returns. I was inclined to let them go, protecting her was not part of our bargain, but Stone felt he owed it to your major."

"How long ago did this happen?" Wonder Woman demanded, barely controlling the rage she felt.

"Two hours or so." Miss Syn said. "The sub humans are repairing the wall in case any of my failed experiments wander this way."

"I'm going after them." Wonder Woman said. She took a step and then stopped and looked back at Miss Syn. "When I return my friends and I will leave."

"Of course." Miss Syn smiled. "But if you don't our bargain is over."

"Is that what your word is worth?" Diana demanded.

"Death is the great release." Miss Syn said calmly. "I keep my word with you because you are my equal, like myself you are powerful. If you were dead or powerless there would be no reason to keep my word."

"I will return."

"I'm sure. But my sub humans must keep repairing this wall. If it is sealed when you come back..."

Diana picked up a rock and held it in her hand.

"Then I will break through it." She said crushing the rock in her hand.

"Magnificent." Miss Syn smiled at her and there was pure lust in her eyes.

Diana turned and left.


As she moved cautiously through a jungle that was both Earth born and alien Diana tried to control herself. That smile, that irritating smile, floated across her mind's eye. Miss Syn was so far beyond any evil she had ever encountered that the Amazon found her revulsion running deeply into her soul. The urge to reach over and snap the woman's neck was overwhelming.

A plant with sharp teeth snapped at her and Wonder Woman jumped out of the way just in time. The sickly green and yellow thing was tall and slender with a four foot wide head. It had looked like another jungle tree until it had moved. Tensing herself Diana jumped clean over the plant and landed in the center of the path just out of its reach. The plant hissed and snapped in anger at her. Not just anger but hatred as well. Diana could feel it emanating from the plant, drawing out her own rage. Hate reached for hate and the emotion swamped her. Growling Diana took a step forward but stopped just in time. A dozen or so smaller versions of the plant had lain quietly coiled on the ground around it. Now they leapt to life and snapped loudly with their teeth. Tearing herself away from the hateful plant Wonder Woman moved on.

That was not the only plant that Diana was to encounter that day. Plants that sang, plants that talked like parrots and plants that lay peacefully on the ground tested her time and again. The plant that sang nearly managed to plant a stinger in her neck. The plant that talked sounded so much like Etta that Diana was all but overcome with sleeping gas before she broke free from it's strangling vines. The ones that lay on the ground looked like grass until stepped on. Then they became the center of a giant trap that sprayed acid.

Diana lay on the ground out of range of the acid spewing plant. She was tired and each plant had tested more and more of her strength both physical and emotional. If Etta was surviving it was a miracle.

A sound made Diana roll onto her stomach ready for battle. She stood slowly and waited silently as the sounds came closer. After a few moments of silence Stone stepped out onto the path. He looked untouched by the jungle.

"You look for your friend?"

"I do." Diana said.

"If she lives she lies in that direction." Stone said pointing toward the west. "Night comes and I can search no longer."

"Why not?"

"At night we are blind." Stone said.

"Oh."

"I will tell the mistress that you are alive." He said starting to walk past her.

"Why do you serve her?" Diana asked as he walked past her. "Why do any of you serve her? Don't you know what she's done?"

"Without her we would not exist. Without her we will die." Stone said turning to face her. A flicker of something in his eyes told Diana that he had a conscience. "Our life is a decade, only she knows how to extend it. Every ten years we must have a special drug or die."

"But what about the women she brings here?"

"The lives they have in your world are no different from the ones they have here. The only difference is that hear we allow them to bear children."

"What happens to them then?" Diana asked. "I haven't seen any."

"Few survive the birth. Those that do the Mistress takes to a special place for further study."

"You let her do this to your mothers?" Diana gasped out her outrage.

"We survive." Stone said coldly. "Man would do no less."

"So you have no mercy for them? No feelings? No love?"

"I have some, but I have a responsibility to my race to ensure its survival. Up until now the mistress has never been able to produce females."

"Up until now?"

"Lady Cynthia bore twins, on human female, one sub human female."

Wonder Woman gasped as the implications of what he said hit her. Miss Syn lived by her word, but that word might not extend to the children Lady Cynthia bore.

"Our kind grows quickly." Stone said. "In less than two years she will be old enough to mate."

"What then?" Diana asked. "No one woman can produce an entire race!"

"But if the mistress learns how it happened she can produce more females."

"They will be products of rape!" Wonder Woman protested. "Do you want to build your race on an evil like that?"

"What other choice do I have!" the monkey man shouted. "Should I let my race die because of the lives of women who will die anyway?"

"A race built on pain and suffering will not last!" Diana shouted at him.

"We will last." Stone said and his eyes matched his name as he spoke. "Humans will kill each other with this war and when it is over we will attack. The humans will be too weak to fight us. We fight until the last human is gone and the last human city falls to the dust. Then we will rule this planet and if any humans are left we will drive them before us with the lash!"

He screamed out a mighty challenge and then vanished into the jungle once more.

Diana trembled with rage as he left and realized she was in another trap just in time. She leapt away just as the plant's jaws reached for her.

How much of that was the plant and how much was Stone? Diana wondered as she moved quickly down the path. Miss Syn seemed to harbor no worldly ambitions, but the monkey men might be different. But Diana knew the plant they were standing near thrived on hate. The monkey man had seemed reasonable at first. How much had been the plant? Could his race really be a threat? Diana hurried along as much as she was able. Etta was her friend but she had to get back to Miss Syn and stop her. Word or not Wonder Woman could not let the woman play god.


Everything about the tree was beautiful. Its thick trunk was a kaleidoscope of rainbows, the branches a luminescent gold, the leaves a deeper shade of that gold. In the light of the setting sun it seemed to be surrounded by diamonds floating in the air. The ground around it for twenty feet was a soft white fluff. Wonder Woman came to a dead stop, her jaw dropping open as she saw what was happening under the tree. Etta Candy, stripped naked, was on her knees. Diana had never seen Etta naked. Her body was slim with a pair of wide hips. Her breasts were small with dark brown nipples. Etta's arms were wrapped around the waist of a naked German sailor. His penis was in her mouth and they were both rocking back and forth in passion. Behind her another naked German took her from behind, ramming his body back and forth with an insane passion that drew growls from his throat. It wasn't rape. Etta wasn't tied up nor was she protesting in any way Wonder Woman could see. Her moans were moans of pleasure.

"Etta!" Diana called moving toward her.

The first step didn't affect her at all, it merely stirred up some of the fluff and raised a dust cloud. Diana sneezed. By the third step Diana knew something was wrong, but by then the German who was taking Etta from behind had seen her. He pulled out of the other woman with an audible popping sound and lurched toward Wonder Woman.

Diana took a step back and slipped. She landed in a cloud of the white fluff. It coated her skin and after that Diana had a hard time thinking at all. The sailor fell on top of her and his mouth found Diana's even as his hands found her breasts. Diana's mind screamed for her to fight back, but her body had other ideas. She kissed the man back, running her tongue around his even as her breasts seemed to catch fire at his touch.

As her mind went numb under waves and waves of lust Diana squirmed and writhed out of her costume. Her large breasts welcomed the sailor's mouth and teeth. With a quick movement she undid her belt of strength and left it on the ground. The sailor didn't bother with the zipper on the back of her costume. Setting himself he pulled it down to her ankles and then fell on top of her. Fumbling with mindless lust he managed to unlace her boots and pull them off. He fell onto his back and Diana dove between his legs. She found his penis and took it into her mouth as a starving person might have consumed food.

The sun set and the moon started to rise. None of the humans noticed. At a certain point Etta joined Wonder Woman and her lover. She crawled over to them and pushed her way between Diana and the German sailor. She pulled his penis from Diana's pussy and thrust it into her mouth. Diana was not to be denied and plunged her tongue into Etta's own pussy. She licked and caressed madly, driving her tongue deeper and deeper into her Etta's womb.

Suddenly they were alone and Diana found that Etta's face was between her own legs. Diana spread them as far as they could go and the two women locked themselves into a classic lesbian love grip. They did not see the sailors drawn closer to the tree by strong vines. The moonlight lent a ghastly pallor to the horrid scene as the sailors were taken. Vines forced their way into the sailors mouths and down their throats. Every opening in the bodies of the unfortunate Germans was an opening for the vines. The bodies were soon obscured and bones could be heard crunching under the strain. Diana and Etta didn't see, hear or care. Though it happened only a few feet away both women were oblivious.

By the time the vines started to encircle Diana's and Etta's ankles both women were exhausted. Only the lust-inducing drug that covered their skin kept them going. Diana felt as if she had drunk Etta dry and wondered if Etta felt the same way. She could feel her tongue scrapping against the dry walls of her friend's vagina, but Diana's own juices continued to flow. Only Etta's clitoris was still moist and Diana's tongue licked it over and over again.

At the touch of the vine against her skin Diana felt an overwhelming sense of joy fill her mind. Though a part of her realized it was just another drug that part was too far gone to make much difference. She and Etta were dragged, still locked in their lesbian clutch toward the center of the plant.

But then they weren't. Something slipped under their bodies. Diana felt her legs lifted and then her thighs. Etta was still licking away as both of them were lifted off of the ground. It was a snake Diana realized. After wrapping the lower half of her body and Etta's head and shoulders in it's coils the snake eased it's head between their bodies. Slowly it wrapped Diana and Etta's waist in a figure 8 and then moved to take in the lower half of Etta's body and Diana's head. Once both women were contained within its coils the snake moved away from the plant. The vine snapped and the plant could be heard whistling in rage and pain. The snake ignored it and moved on.

For Diana it was like making love in a giant slinky. Neither she nor Etta could stop their pursuit of sexual activity but the snake's movements made it harder. The snake's skin moved over her own with an ease that reminded Diana of silk stockings. Even when it shifted in another direction and its scales scrapped slightly against her skin Diana felt exultation rather than revulsion. She wasn't sure how long they traveled. For Diana her world was Etta's body. Anything else was simply background.

The warm flow of water from a waterfall doused the drug-induced passion. The water hit Diana like a fist, forcing its way through the coils of the snake. She pulled her tongue out of Etta's pussy coughing and sputtering as the water flowed into her mouth and up her nose. The flood lasted only a few moments but it was enough. With her mind finally clear Diana tried to move but the snake held both women securely.

"Wonder Woman!" Etta cried out and Diana cringed at the pain and despair in her voice. "Help!"

"Be calm Etta." Diana answered trying to force her friend to be strong by keeping her own voice clear of the pain she felt.

"That plant... Those men... US!" Etta wailed her voice rising to a screech.

"Be strong Etta!" Diana shouted.

The snake started to loosen its grip and Diana was able to squirm her way out of the coils. She was in another cave. Yellow and green glowing lamps were spaced irregularly around the small cavern. They showed a round cave with small pool of water fed by the run off of the waterfall the snake had taken them through. Further back in the cave Diana could see a small structure but the light was too dim to make it out. The air in the cave was fresh and cool raising Goosebumps on Diana's nude body. Etta lay on the ground sobbing and retching.

"Etta." Diana whispered walking slowly over to her.

"Don't look at me! Don't touch me! I'm a slut! I'm a whore!" Etta croaked the words out between sobs. Her normally curly brown hair was plastered to her head and her eyes were wide with near hysteria.

"You're not!" Diana said firmly bending down next to her. "That plant hit us with some sort of drug."

"To hell with the drug! I enjoyed it! I wanted those men inside me! I wanted you inside me! I wanted to be inside of you! You tasted..."

Diana started to put her arm around her but Etta pushed her off.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! I was a virgin Wonder Woman! I was saving myself for marriage! What am I going to tell a man now? What man is ever going to want to touch me after today? How do I tell him!"

"Etta it wasn't your fault!" Diana shouted. "No one could have stopped themselves! I couldn't stop myself!

"Yes you could have!" Etta shouted back.

"What?" Diana drew back from her. "Do you think I wanted to do that? That I wanted to strip naked and make love to two men and you?"

Etta stopped crying abruptly. For a few minutes they were both silent as her sobs subsided. Finally she wiped her nose with her arm.

"I..." she started and then stopped. "I thought you did."

"What?"

"Your costume... and the lasso... and Steve... Major Trevor, I hear him talk about some of the things that happens to you... I mean... I heard him talk about Dr. Nazi and the way you..."

Suddenly Diana realized the truth. She saw Etta as a close friend and Etta saw Diana Prince the same way. But Etta didn't see Wonder Woman that way. To Etta Wonder Woman was only what she had seen in person rarely and heard a lot of second and third hand. What Etta would not believe of Diana she would believe of Wonder Woman. Diana felt a gate slam shut as the realization hit home. It was the same gate that kept her from Steve. The gate she forged when she chose a dual identity. A gate she was beginning to hate.

But now wasn't the time to tell Etta the truth.

"Etta I wear this costume because in combat I can move more easily." Diana said. She crawled closer and Etta flinched but did not draw back. "My lasso is a gift from the gods, but it can be miss-used. I didn't enjoy what we did, anymore than I ever enjoy being forced to do something against my will." Diana put her hand on Etta's shoulder. "I was a virgin when I came to man's world Etta. I had that stolen from me just as yours was stolen from you today."

"You..."

Diana nodded and Etta put her arm around the other woman and drew her into a hug.

"I'm sorry!" Etta said. "What I said..."

"It's alright." Wonder Woman said. "I know what you're feeling."

"I used to wonder if your costume could even come off." Etta whispered and both women broke down into laughter.

"I think you know it does now." Wonder Woman said and again they both laughed.

"How do you live with it?" Etta pleaded suddenly.

"It's like any wound," Diana said, "time let's live with it, you never forget, but you force yourself to try and go through one day without remembering. Then two days, then three. As time goes by the pain fades."

"But what will I ever tell a man?" Etta asked and again there was a desperate pleading in her voice. Etta was raised in man's world Diana knew. For her to contemplate live without marriage was impossible. Indeed most of her life was spent in pursuit of a man.

"If he is the right man and he loves you he will understand." Diana said firmly. "He will understand that it wasn't your fault."

"But I liked it!" Etta said. "I think."

"Would you do it again?"

"NO!" Etta shouted.

"Then you didn't really like it."

Etta started to laugh again but it turned into a hiccup. The two women sat on the ground for a while as Etta trembled and Diana hugged her. Then Etta took a deep breath and seemed to sink into herself.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Another cave." Diana said. She stood up and looked around.

"Oh my gosh!" Etta said.

"What?" Diana asked looking around for the foe she was sure was about to attack them.

"You! You're... shaved... there?"

Diana blushed.

"I went home for a festival in honor of the gods." Diana said. "It was part of the ritual."

"You're kidding?" Etta looked at the Amazon and Diana shook her head. "You're not kidding?"

"Wow." Etta said. "I'm sorry... it's just a shock. You mean you..."

"One of my sisters did." Wonder Woman said.

"You let someone else... Another Woman!"

"It's my culture." Diana said calmly daring Etta to judge her.

"I guess I really was drugged." Etta said turning away from her. "I didn't realize it before." Etta stood up and ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry. Was it... I mean did you..."

"It was part of the ritual." Diana said. "I enjoyed the ritual."

Etta looked like she was going to ask something else and then she just gave up. Her arms sort of waved from side to side as if she was going to try to hide her nude body, but then they just fell to her side. Etta looked down at her self. Her body was covered in scratches and bruises and dirt.

"My god what a mess I am."

"Come on." Diana said heading toward the waterfall. "We can clean up and go get our clothes."

"I'm not going near that plant again." Etta said pulling back.

"Etta I have to have my magic belt and lasso or I'm powerless in man's world." Wonder Woman said.

"You mean you're not strong without them?"

"No, the only way an amazon can be truly strong in man's world is to wear the magic belt of Aphrodite."

Diana stepped into her water and after a moment Etta stepped in beside her. For a few minutes both women let the water run over their bodies. Diana welcomed the peace of the water as it hit her shoulders and washed away remnants of the drugs and the love fluids from Etta. When she felt they were both clean enough Wonder Woman took Etta's hand and led them out of the waterfall.

They stepped out onto a small rise that opened to a path that led to a small pond. The waterfall fed the pond and in the moonlight Diana could see the pond emptying out into a stream that flowed into the jungle. The sight was a breathtaking one. The sky was full of stars and the air was sweet with the smell of the sea and the jungle.

"Its night?" Etta said. "How long were we..."

"Hours I guess." Wonder Woman said. "We'd better wait until morning. We barely survived the jungle in the daytime."

"What about the snake?" Etta said. "You don't have your powers and that thing was strong enough to carry us both here." Etta paused for a moment and looked around. "Why did it bring us here? Where did it go?"

"I don't know." Diana said. She looked around grateful for the full moon. "But those lanterns in there belong to someone, perhaps we should just wait. They may be friendly."

"They may not be." Etta said.

"What choice do we have?"

Etta sighed.

"None." She shivered and Diana put her arm around her friend as they stepped through the waterfall and into the cave.

... End chapter two.