The Watchwomen

Chapter 36 (Act III): Return To Sender

We last read Chapter 35, in which we learned just how dire Allie Bannister's scheme actually is and how many people it ends up affecting. Its victims include several well-known major characters from multiple heroes' lives as well as a few of the heroes themselves, with half of the Paragons—Dr. Duncan Drevis, The Crawler, James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse, and Herman—among them. From Earth to alternate dimensions like the Shimmering Plane and the Elemental Realms, no man across the universe is safe from Allie's wrath, and the only ones left standing are the women. With the extermination of mankind quite literally on the brink, it's time for Sonya and the remaining Watchwomen to make a final stand against Allie Bannister and her forces, including a mind-controlled Viper, to save the universe before Allie's dreams of a "women-dominated society" come to fruition at last.

This time, we see how well their efforts go, as one of the heroines makes a rather timely arrival.....

***********************************************************************************************

-Diamond Legion Skybase, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States-

"Isn't it brilliant?" Allie Bannister said sadistically as she projected a holographic series of four screens on one of the widest walls of her office, displaying the pain and suffering being undergone by untold thousands of men and boys across the globe. "I've specifically designed the superweapon to be as certain and as lethal as possible.....but also as slow as possible. They will pay dearly for every last offense they've committed on our kind.....and after I have won, we will take over this Earth."

"NO!" Voltara cried in despair when one of the screens shifted to Hawaii to show her younger brother Duncan amongst the victims. She dove forward to try and tackle Allie, with the intent of snatching the remote from her grasp and stopping the superweapon. However, George—one of Allie's two bodyguards—also acted, forcing himself on top of Voltara like a football player tackling the person with the ball. "Stop! Our friends are going to die! My brother is going to die!"

"Why the tears? You should be happy!"

"Why on Earth would we be happy?!" Nightclaw snarled. "You're a genocidal maniac!"

"I'm freeing you from your oppressors. The people who only seek to manipulate you and use you to their own ends. I'm about to give you—to give all of us—a better life.....and this is how you treat me? For shame....."

"I'm not going to let you go," Sonya said with resolve. "You're going to face justice for this."

Allie chuckled amusedly. "Sonya.....come on. No matter how much training you've gotten, you must not forget who gave you said training. Even with your combat prowess.....you're of no danger to me."

"Is that what you think?" Sonya challenged as she sharpened the blade of her combat knife. "Let's see."

She began walking intently towards her former "master", with Nightclaw also roaring and preparing to charge forward.....only for Allie to pull out a second remote that looked exactly like the one she had used to pacify The Viper earlier, before the latter's brainwashing procedure. Now, Sonya, Nightclaw, and Voltara were all encased in separate pink stasis fields that perfectly matched their body shapes, leaving them no room for movement. They were also rooted in place and silenced, unable to speak or move besides irregular and erratic twitching episodes.

George got off of the now-pacified Voltara and returned to standing by Ringo's side while Allie confronted the helpless heroines. "I wanted to do this together, you know," the Diamond Legion leader vented with rising anger and sadness. "But it seems that even now you fail to understand our mission, even though as women you've been through it firsthand. I suppose you three will just have to spend the rest of your days as our foot soldiers!"