DC: The Brave and the Bawdy

Wonder Woman: The Woeful Tail of Barbara Minerva

Barbara Minerva pushed her hair out of her face and adjusted her glasses. She scribbled down notes and theories into her notebook while quickly rereading the page of the book to double check her work. She was deep in the zone at her college's library burying herself in the studies of the Amazons.

Despite what her colleagues said, Barbara believed that the Amazons were real. She was among the few who believed that the myths of ancient cultures may have been based in reality. Her theory was that the Amazons were mystically empowered by their gods. She believed they were a powerful warrior tribe that valued strength and conquest above all else.

"What's this?" laughed Barbara's classmate, pulling her notebook away while she wasn't looking.

"Viktor!" shouted Barbara at the tall student, "Give that back!"

"Writing another paper on fairy tales, are we?" snickered Viktor, looking over the notebook, "Ooh. So the Amazons did blood sacrifices? Hot!"

Several of Viktor's friends snickered as Barbara ripped the notebook out of his hands and tucked it away into her backpack, red in the face. Maybe part of the reason she was so fascinated with the Amazons was their strength. They would never have to put up with this. Barbara had to put up with it all the time.

A scrawny girl with a slight hunch and an oversized pair of glasses, Barbara had always been low in the social pecking order. College hadn't been any different, only now she was being mocked for her academic beliefs as well as her appearance.

"I can't believe they let you write about this stuff," laughed Viktor, "What a waste of time."

Barbara scowled at Viktor's back as he and his friends turned and walked away. She huffed and returned to her studies. She had to focus on that. If she ever wanted to be taken seriously, she needed to make progress in the field and find more evidence to back up her theories.

"Whoa!" she heard someone say from the other room.

Barbara looked up in confusion. Quite a few voices of astonishment were coming from that room. Barbara put away her things and walked in to check it out. Dozens of students had gathered around the TV mounted on the wall, where the news was playing live footage of a plane on the ground with a smoking turbine.

"Witnesses say it was a goddess who saved the plane," said the reporter.

The video feed cut to a recording of a tall, muscular woman with long black hair standing beside the plane, looking it over. She wore red and blue armor, complete with a sword and shield. Her chestplate bore a stylized golden eagle and a golden rope hung off her hip. She was the most powerful looking woman Barbara had ever seen.

"The woman in question has given no comment and hasn't been seen since," said the reporter, "but the public has already taken to calling her Wonder Woman, after the apparent W-shaped golden symbol on her chest."

"Wonder Woman..." whispered Barbara with a smile, "Wow..."

***

Eight years later...

Barbara pushed the brush out of the way, kicking her leg through the leaves and forcing herself through the thick foliage. She smacked at a golf ball-sized fly buzzing around her face, spitting as it hovered near her mouth. By moving her hand to do so, she released a branch that swung right back into her face.

"Gah!" she cried out in frustration.

"For crying out loud," sighed the woman behind Barbara.

"That's what we get for letting the geek go first.," said the man next to her.