It was a marvelous idea! Diana Prince once read that Charlie Chaplin entered a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest and finished a distant fifth. What if she attended the Comic-Con as Wonder Woman? Oh, not in her regular costume, a rented one, with her hair worn slightly differently. How would people treat her if they saw not the world-famous superheroine but just a citizen in an ersatz suit? Why would they say about Wonder Woman that they would never say to her face? Did the general public's perception of Diana how Diana imagined? What things would she learn undercover? What gossip would she learn? What lies would she uncover? Who would ever believe that the beautiful imposter really was Wonder Woman? Superman had told her that much of the success of his disguise as Clark Kent came from playing on people's expectations. They expected Clark to look one way and behave one way and Superman to look and act very differently. That is what they saw despite the identical faces and physiques. Additionally, everybody knew that the real superheroes were far too busy saving the world to attend a simple Comic-Con. She hastily purchased a ticket under an assumed name.
**
Diana gazed at her reflection in the full-length mirror. The costume was a very good copy. It didn't fit her frame quite as well as her own, and the bracelets and tiara were aluminum rather than Amazonium. "No way these things will stop bullets," she mused aloud. "But then again, there probably will be no need for them to do that at the convention." The boots were a bit distractingly loose, but she thought she could deal with that. The lasso looked pretty but was useless for anything but display. Still, wasn't that the point?
She took an Uber to the convention. Her pass bore the alias, Diana Daw. After passing through security, metal detectors, body scanners, and explosive sensors, she was on the convention floor. Diana took in the exhibits wide-eyed. People looked at her with interest but with no more intensity than at any other cosplayer. For the first time in her life, Diana felt invisible and ordinary. It was a vastly liberating sensation.
The things they said about Bruce Wayne and Superman! She could not wait to tell both men what she had heard! She followed the crowd to the Wonder Woman exhibit. There were at least a dozen other tall, trim, brunettes in star-spangled outfits milling about. Diana fit right in. The real Amazon noted that some costumes worn were almost perfect copies of the genuine article. Others were sincere attempts that fell short of the mark.
The gossip among the fans caught her attention. The fans were of two minds regarding Wonder Woman's relationships. Half thought she was intimate with Steve Trevor regularly. Others argued that intercourse would rob her of her Amazon abilities. Both sides wanted Diana Prince to be a more sensual persona.
"She doesn't actually have to bed down with a guy but how about seducing him until he makes his attentions clear and then slapping the cuffs on him?"
"They need more like that issue where Diana went undercover to prison and was strip searched!"
"I'll say!"
"William Moulton Marston understood the character best."
"So true!"
Diana listened to it all and wondered what they would do with the answers if they knew them for certain. She and Steve weren't technically intimate but were as close as possible. Sometimes on undercover missions posing as husband and wife or lovers, they had even shared beds in various hotels and tents in remote locations. This was awkward for Diana because she never slept well those nights. It wasn't just that lying there in Steve's embrace was distracting, nor the fact that Steve would often get raging hardons, which she did not take personally. No, the problem was that she had to wear night clothing on those assignments and Amazons only slept in the nude. There was no way she could be comfortable wearing anything at all to bed. Even a skimpy bikini would keep her awake until dawn. But her sleeping naked with Trevor would be too much of a temptation for them both. She understood what Steve was doing behind the locked bathroom door or, just beyond the edge of the campfire every night before they turned in. She wished she could help him in that area, but was unsure how to broach the subject. Steve was too much of a gentleman, and in too much awe of Diana to face the issue head-on. He shared the misconception, that if he deflowered Diana, she would lose all her powers. The truth was, that away from Paradise Island, Diana did not need to maintain her virgin status. Her powers would not desert her, she ached to tell Steve the truth but held back, actual intercourse was a huge step, and it would certainly complicate both their lives.
Superman understood her situation. They could be the ultimate power couple, but, even after their breakup, Lois Lane ruled his heart. She remembered, bitterly, during passionate necking, he called her Lois. Diana broke things off and told Supes to grow up and call her back once he's washed Lois completely out of his soul. Bruce Wayne had been a fun fling, but Diana was adamant that she would not become another notch on Bruce Wayne's bedpost. Especially after seeing his bedpost and realizing that it bore actual notches!
"Nice costume!" said an alluring male voice. Diana turned to face it, "Steve!"
No, it wasn't Steve Trevor but an impersonator! Diana stared. "If you hand me your phone, I'll take your picture next to the life-size cutout and the mock-up of the invisible plane."
On second appraisal, the imposter was more handsome than the real Steve Trevor.
"Sure."
"Diana handed her iPhone to imitation Steve, smiled next to her cutout, and waved as she sat in the fake invisible plane. This was such a good idea!
He handed back Diana her phone, and said, "Why don't we hang out as a duo and tour the con?" he read her nametag, "Diana?"
Diana stood a long moment.
"If you are with someone," he added hastily, fearing that he had made a faux pau.
"No," it was her turn to read his nametag, "Steve? Really?"
"Steven Bishop actually, Diana, so, yes?"
"Sure!"
Diana took Steve's picture at the cutout and the plane. Someone in the crowd commented on Diana's and Steve's quality costumes and said they looked so natural together. Diana's, and then Steve's phone was used to capture the two of them pretending to be the real Steve and Diana.
She was face to face with Steve. Someone from the crowd said, "Steve Trevor should kiss Wonder Woman."
Steve looked at the crowd, faced Diana, smiled, and, figuring that he had nothing to lose, bent in, and, placed a delicate kiss on Diana's startled lips. The crowd applauded. Diana looked at Steve. Surprisingly, her Amazonian passions did not rise. Steve wasn't taking liberties with Diana Prince and wasn't being in costume a form of acting anyway?
Give her another one! A long one!"
And that is just what the phony Steve did! Diana felt something unfamiliar. This Steve Trevor's kisses were extremely nice; better than the real Steve's, if she was being honest with herself.
"If you want to slap me for being so forward," stated Steve, "I'll completely understand."
Diana stared.
"I know what I just did can be considered assault. I'm not really like this..."
"It's fine, Steve. In fact, it is my turn to kiss you."
This kiss was the most satisfying of all.
"You're incredible, Diana!"
"Nah, I'm just a kissable brunette."
