Chapter 1 - Follow the Lead
Diantha stood atop the building, peering down at what looked like a deserted warehouse along the waterfront. At first glance, it looked like the ones on each side of it; dark, dingy and uninviting. But her trained eye could make out the little things that set it apart.
The other buildings had some light to them, an old flickering bulb above a door way or at least some kind of illumination coming from inside. The one that her eyes were trained on was too dark, there was no light at all coming from it.
The sad state of repair also was a tip off, there was too much wrong with it. A door ajar, almost all of the windows boarded up, the graffiti was even out of place.
It was too uninviting, even for a building in this area of town. It screamed 'stay away' and that was what had her attention at the moment.
Her contact in the underworld had pointed her towards this place, they all kept away from it and he'd said the word was out to keep it that way. It had piqued her interest right away, even if it didn't lead her any closer to her friend, Night Sparrow, there was something going on that needed her attention.
Diantha checked her equipment, her arm braces, lasso and head band all in place, each one a critical part of her protective armour.
She stepped up on to the ledge of the building and pulled her black hair back in to a pony tail, tying it off to make sure it didn't get in the way for the fight. She took a last look at her brightly coloured costume and Miracle Maiden leapt out in to the night air, her powerful legs pushing her tall, lean body towards the middle of her target.
She braced for the impact with the roof and as her feet pushed against it, she felt it give way and she continued through it to the concrete floor below. She landed hard, falling to one knee to steady herself and ensure she wasn't an easy target. Looking around the darkened room she couldn't make out anything that looked to be a threat. She stood up as a stray piece of the roof clattered to the floor beside her.
She took a single step forward and suddenly the room was filled with light, she squinted at the sudden change and only recovered in time to deflect the incoming bullet with her left hand brace. The bullets continue to assail her and she easily deflected each one as they came in. Once she had her bearings she managed to locate the weapon, it was an automated nest on the back wall of the warehouse and she oriented herself to it, raising both hands up in front of her to deflect the incoming projectiles.
Diantha focused on the gun and knew something was wrong when she heard a low "thump" in addition to the high pitched rounds of the firearm. She looked for where the sound had come from, but the noise of the gun and its echo's around the room made locating it in time impossible and she felt a much softer impact on her braces.
Before she could do anything else, the gunfire stopped and she watched whatever had impacted her expand around her hands and lock them in place. She quickly realized she was in trouble, the expanding foam, or whatever it was, had bound her hands together as she had crossed them in front of her and she felt her strength slipping away.
Like all amazons, even the queen like herself, once bound, their strength was reduced to that of any other human. She quickly looked around the warehouse, each of the exits had been re-enforced with metal, as were all of the windows. She looked up at the ceiling, the whole she'd made in it the only escape, but without her strength she had no hope of making it to it.
Diantha looked at her encased hands, knelt down on one knee, raised them above her head and slammed them in to the concrete.
The foam absorbed the energy of the blow and bounced back, right in to Diantha's face, she felt her head twist from the force of the impact and she fell backwards as darkness engulfed her.
* * *
Johnathan watched Miracle Maiden deflect the incoming bullets until she'd finally determined where they were coming from. The automated gun was keeping her busy and when she raised her arms up together he activated the second gun in the nest. It was a low speed projectile, but that couldn't be helped, it was a risk that she'd be able to dodge it instead of deflect it, but he was across town and he'd spent quite a bit of time analyzing her defensive tactics.
99.6% of the time, once she'd found the source of a projectile attack, she'd raise both hands up and proceed to a direct frontal assault on the source. Of course, he had installed four nests in the building, just in case the first time was that 0.4% that she instead grabbed something and tossed it right at the source.
He watched her on the monitor, struggling to find an exit and then finally look up to the ceiling. He was about to engage the EletroCannon, the third gun in the nest when he watched her slam her restrained hands down on to the concrete and knock herself out cold as they rebounded in to her face.
Johnathan, his hand just above the firing button, stared in amazement as Miracle Maiden lay sprawled out on the floor, a trickle of blood running down from what he assumed was a broken nose.
His hand came down on the button and a bolt of electricity arced through the air, landing on her prone body and it jerked in response.
One thing he'd learned was that there was no such thing as 'too careful' when it came to superheros.
Chapter 2 - The Truth of the Matter
Diantha came too, her head felt like someone had plugged her hair in to an electrical socket and her body felt worse.
She quickly regained her senses and quickly found her way to her feet, springing up from the bed she was on. She focusing on the unknown man in the room with her, he was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room and seemed unconcerned about being the focus of Miracle Woman hard gaze.
She lunged towards him, he stayed perfectly still and simply said "Stop."
Diantha body jerked to a halt in mid stride and she fought to keep her balance as her momentum tried to carry her forwards.
Diantha stood confused as she tried to work out what was wrong, why she had stopped her attack. Nothing seemed to make sense so she decided a little bravado was in order. She stood up straight, clenched her hands on her hips and looked down at the stranger, her six foot tall frame towering over him in his seated position.
"Alright, make it good, or I'll finish what I started and make you wish your mother had never conceived you little man." She said, standing menacingly over him.
The man just cracked a small smile and opened his hand.
"This wasn't easy to get a hold of." He said, a small tassel of golden rope in his palm, it gave off a faint glow.
"I'm told Hephaestus asked for a king's ransom for just this one end cutting of your lasso, but I'm sure he still as the other one in his possession." He said, pointing to a full length mirror on one side of the room.
Diantha turned towards it and saw herself in the mirror, her lasso weaved through her hair, wrapped around her forehead replacing her headband and glowing like the cutting in the hand of her captor.
"Now then, follow me." He said as he stood up and walked out of the door, Diantha's body followed behind him as she fought to break free, knowing it was no use. Her lasso could compel the gods themselves, she was no match for it.
She followed him out in to another room, a single chair was placed in the middle of it in front of a video camera on a tripod.
"Sit." He commanded and pointed at the chair. Her body followed the command, the lasso demanding compliance from her.
"I have some questions, your going to answer them truthfully, completely and succinctly."
Diantha felt the lasso enforce the command.
"What is your secret identity?"
"Diantha Queen."
"Does anyone else know you were at the warehouse?"
"No."
"Does anyone else know you were looking for Night Sparrow?"
