Story: "The Silver Wing of Terror" (22 Pages)

Credits:

George Perez (plot)
Mindy Newell (script)
Chris Marrinan (pencils)
Romeo Tanghal (inks)
Agustin Mas (letters)
Carl Gafford (colors)
Karen Berger (edits)

Feature Character:

Wonder Woman

Supporting Characters:

Etta Candy
Epione

Villians:

Silver Swan
Henry Cobb Armbruster
Mister Choi

Other Characters:

Solomon Buchman and Maxine Sterenbuch

Synopsis:

Maxine and Etta are trapped in an electronically rigged cage. And so is Diana. And if Diana tries to escape, an upsurge would kill both Maxine and Etta. Diana seems to be helpless. Her lasso and tiara were taken away from her by Armbruster's men.

Meanwhile, Valerie is back into Armbruster's arms. She is unconsolable, blaming herself for all the troubles Armbruster's had gone through just to get the pouch containing Dr. Buchman's records. Armbruster begins brainwashing Valerie that Diana will eventually kill her if she gives her the chance to. All these are on screen for Maxine and Etta to watch. Maxine's desperate and Etta's planning their escape.

Diana asks Mr. Choi why Silver Swan hater her so much. Mr. Choi tells Diana that she's the perfect female paragon. Beautiful, smart, powerful, virtuous -- every man's desire. She's the perfect target for Valerie's insecurities. Just as Diana's resistance to physical harm serves to test Valerie's destructive capabilities.

Valerie prepares to undergo the experiment again. And Maxine sees this. Maxine begs Mr. Choi to stop it to no avail. Immersed inside the tank, the power begins to pour in. Armbruster instructs them to add more power make it 100%.

Etta puts her escape plan in action. She jumps out of her cage while Maxine hangs onto her back. Electrical surges destroys the monitors in Dr. Choi's room as Diana escapes from her cage. And as a preventive measure, Dr. Choi begins shutting down the power before the electrical surge might bring damage. Armbruster's mad. This can't be happening to him! He needs more power! While his technical people advise him to stop the process, he declares that it should push through, regardless of the fact that it might irreparably brain-damage Valerie. Armbruster is not listening and commands them to add more power -- even if it kills Valerie! And Valerie hears it all.

Diana captures Dr. Choi and gets back her lasso and tiara. She finds Etta and Maxine are safe. Thanks to Etta's rubber waist trimmer which served as an insulation.

The tank where Valerie is immersed begins glowing bright with power. And the technical men can't do anything about it. Armbruster tries to talk her to relax since she's damaging the equipment. But it's too late. Her tank explodes. And Armbruster begins running for his life.

Valerie is closing in on Armbruster. Armbruster finds Diana, Etta, Maxine and Dr. Choi together and asks for their help. Valerie sound blasts everything on her way just to get to Armbruster. But Diana stops her. Maxine tries to stop her but Valerie's rage is encompassing and the only thing that would calm her down is the truth. Dr. Choi begins by telling Valerie to stop feeling sorry for herself. Dr. Choi prods Armbruster who is tied up with the lasso of truth to tell everything.

Valerie learns that she never murdered Dr. Buchman it was an accident. The radiation that made Valerie ugly gave her powers to reshape things using her voice. Dr. Buchman wanted to help her become beautiful without undergoing surgery, it was something to do with Valerie's molecules. But Armbruster wantes more. So he made Valerie fall in love with him. And Armbruster took advantage of her. He never loved her, he never liked kissing her!

Valerie is in shock. Armbruster tells her that he and Dr. Buchman were always arguing and that argument went too far. There was that fortuitous explosion and Valerie came upon Armbruster. Armbruster made Valerie think that she was the one to blame for Dr. Buchman's death. But it was totally an accident.

Diana became the perfect foil to rechannel Valerie's energies. But Maxine came into the scene. Along with Solomon Buchman. Diana's first encounter with Valerie proved to be a failure on Valerie's part and Armbruster subjected her again through Buchman's transmutation (Dr. Choi has taken over Buchman's role). But Valerie reverted back to her old form. Again, she was immersed into the tank and it paid off. But Armbruster never counted on Maxine and Solomon to be back for Valerie.

Valerie is now fuming mad at Armbruster. As she was about to kill him, Diana convinces Valerie that she's not the killer she thought she was. Maxine talks her out of killing Armbruster. And Valerie breaks down and hugs Maxine.

Themyscira. Solomon learns that Valerie never killed his father, Dr. Buchman. But Solomon is at a loss as to how to begin his life.