The next day, when Mercy woke up, she found herself back in her own apartment. Her wheelchair was placed by the bed.
With a nervous heart, she tried moving her toes. Discovering the familiar sensation had returned, she nimbly rolled over and sat up. Her rigorous training allowed her to regain her calm quickly; if not for the unfamiliar clothes she was wearing, she might have suspected yesterday's experience was just a dream.
"Hiss..."
Standing up, she realized her lower body was sore. Reaching down, she felt traces of something unspeakable. Linking this to the known relationship between Thea and Diana, her mind couldn't help but jump to a wild conclusion.
Although the feeling was strange, regaining her mobility still thrilled her. She took several deep breaths to calm down, dressed neatly, and went to work at LexCorp.
Yesterday she was facing amputation; today she walked normally. Lex Luthor acted as if he didn't see it at all. He assigned work as usual, then waved his hand to dismiss her.
The joy in Mercy's heart evaporated instantly, as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head. All that remained was bitterness and resentment.
...
The African Savanna, Ethiopia. Inside a wooden cabin cut off from the outside world.
The room was filled with a charming fragrance. Thea and Diana had just finished another "sparring session"—one that lasted an extremely long time, with an atmosphere both heated and intense.
While magic didn't modify the body as effectively as divine power, it still had some effect. Coupled with Thea's recent intense absorption of sunlight and moonlight, her physical constitution was rapidly catching up to Diana's. Their sparring sessions could now go back and forth evenly for several rounds.
"Is the daily management of the temple going okay?" Diana stood up, generously wrapping a bath towel around her body, and asked Thea, who was combing her hair to the side.
"Mm. Isadora, whom you recommended, is indeed a fanatical believer of the Moon Goddess. Under her leadership, many nearby citizens have started to believe. I can even absorb faith energy from the temple. I imagine the Goddess of the Moon's situation up there must be much better." Thea was quite happy mentioning this.
Originally, adding the Water Attribute to her body had lowered her overall magic power to balance the attributes. However, with the re-establishment of the Temple of Artemis, the statue Thea left on Themyscira—through some unknown connection—had actually transmitted quite a bit of faith energy to her.
This energy likely came from the Amazons over the past century. The quantity wasn't large, but it was pure. Thea converted this faith energy into divine power, then into magical power, greatly making up for the previous deficit. Her overall magic had even increased a notch. Now, the circulation of Thea's five elemental attributes was becoming increasingly flexible and natural.
As long as she found Earth Attribute magic to add to her body, she could form a perfect internal cycle. Light, Dark, Earth, Fire, Water, Wind—six elements circulating together. Saying "endless life" might be an exaggeration, but her endurance would reach a level hard to imagine.
"Isadora was a member of Mother's Royal Guard. She has extensive combat experience and devout faith. With her presiding over the temple, it will surely be foolproof." Diana didn't spare any praise for the person she recommended.
Thea didn't speak. The temple was originally just to attract Diana's attention. Later on, Thea barely managed it; Bruce Wayne did all the work. He probably worked so hard to repay a favor.
Flipping through the data Mercy provided, Diana sighed deeply seeing the photos of the past. Just as she wanted to speak, she sensed something and said sternly, "Someone is coming. Very fast."
Thea looked out the door and let out a light Eh? "Amanda Waller? How did she find us here?"
Exchanging a glance, both were a bit puzzled. Fortunately, Waller arrived quickly, pushing open the cabin door alone.
"Finding you two was truly not easy." Waller's tone was steady, showing no panic. She chose to turn a blind eye to the fact that they were only wrapped in bath towels, with long legs shining and faces flushed.
"You run all over the world. I used thirty satellites and two action-simulation analysis teams just to find you."
"Oh." Thea gave a noncommittal response. She didn't intend to hide her relationship with Diana from anyone; those who knew, knew. She was just curious what Waller wanted.
"Amanda, we just met three days ago! I even congratulated you on becoming the leader of A.R.G.U.S."
With the Secretary of Defense gaining a firm foothold, Waller had switched sides extremely quickly. Leveraging the resolution of the Enchantress incident, she finally secured her promotion. The deputy became the chief; the chief became the deputy. She and Steve Trevor swapped positions—from subordinate to superior.
Thea was a bit puzzled. This should be a very busy time for Waller; blocking their door in such a hurry wasn't her style.
Waller offered a faint smile. "I'm not looking for you. I'm looking for Ms. Prince."
"Looking for me?" Diana's beautiful eyebrows furrowed. In this timeline, without the bond with Steve Trevor, she had little to do with A.R.G.U.S. Why look for her out of the blue?
Waller didn't plan to play charades. "Nine hours ago, the Black Room was burgled. The thief was your friend, the archaeologist Minerva. She stole a dagger of unknown origin."
"Cheetah!"
The name instantly surfaced in Thea's mind. In the original timeline, Cheetah used Diana's relationship to enter the Black Room, stole the God-Killer Dagger possessed by the Cheetah God, and then stabbed herself in the chest with it, becoming the supervillain Cheetah.
But in this timeline, their friendship was only average, and Diana didn't have much entanglement with A.R.G.U.S. Yet, Cheetah still stole the dagger just like the original.
Later versions of Cheetah could scratch the Flash while he was running at super speed and bite through Superman's skin to infect him. All signs indicated this woman wasn't simply possessed; her body might have been directly occupied by the Cheetah God (Urzkartaga). Otherwise, how could a corrupted ordinary human be so powerful? That would be too exaggerated.
"Surveillance footage shows her speed is currently extremely fast. We tracked her for five hours before she vanished into a crowd. However, everywhere she passed, many humans were infected and turned into walking dead under her control. I need your assistance." Waller took out her tablet and displayed photos of several infected people.
Thea took a rough look. Since it involved Diana, she couldn't ignore it.
This woman looks like a failed vessel. Better to just shoot her dead.
Thea took the Artifact Longbow out of her ring and turned to ask Waller, "Where was her last known location?"
Waller was a bit confused. What are you doing taking out a bow and arrow? Who knows how far away that person is?
Waller didn't know Thea had the skill of super-long-range sniping, but Diana knew. She hurriedly pressed down on Thea's arm. "She isn't a bad person. We should try to save her."