Tina was right

Though you couldn’t truly know what the risks were that Zatanna mentioned, you felt Tina only had the best intentions. You would agree that pragmatism was key. That was the scientist in you. Sometimes Wonder Woman could be too noble for her own good.

“I think Tina has a point,” you said, and you expected Diana to have more of a reaction but she only watched you then, as if waiting for more. “There might be some risks but… I think we can trust in Zatanna’s power. She saved you once, she can do it again.”

Now the other women looked to the sorceress, and though you didn’t mean to put her on the spot like this, your belief in her abilities was genuine. Zatanna appeared to take your faith in her to heart and gave a nod.

“I will try my best to make sure the spell is clean,” she promised Wonder Woman. The princess set her jaw, casting her eyes over her enemy once more. You could tell Diana wasn’t quite convinced.

“You will not be the only one in danger,” Tina said soberly. “If they found out about you, they could find out about us. They could find out about John.” It seemed a dirty trick to bring you into the equation, and sounded a little like selfish self preservation, but you knew Tina wasn’t interested in keeping herself safe.

Having you back her up made her bolder, and she decided to use Wonder Woman’s protectiveness to her advantage. “John is valuable… and I don’t only mean to your treatment. His specimen may hold the key to… everything. Every treatment. For every one afflicted. I’ve been running tests constantly on his semen and his bodily fluids and the potential is-”

“Fine.”

Diana sighed, her shoulders sagging, more so as she let her tension go rather than in defeat. “I will allow this. This once,” she said sternly. “And you can stop talking about John’s… fluids,” added the woman and she wiped a bit of drool from her mouth.

Doctor McGee simply nodded, also sighing with relief. Zatanna remained a little stiff but was determined now that a path had been set. She stepped forward, shaking her wrists a little as if to warm them up.

“First things first,” she began. “We can’t have her smelling your funk on each other again and figuring things out when she wakes up, so… Esirodoed…” Zatanna cast a spell, gesturing at both you and Wonder Woman. An aura fizzed around you and it felt like your hair was being gently blowdried for a second, then the air suddenly became fresher. Crisper. You saw Wonder Woman smack her lips a little and nodded. The Mistress of Magic seemed satisfied on that front. “Now for the hard part,” she said, moving to Cheetah on the bed, taking a breath then closing her eyes.

There was a pointed pause of concentration, then when Zatanna opened her eyes again they glowed with purple light, her hair rippling with mystical energy. “Noitcidda muc S'namow Rednow tuoba tegrof!” she chanted, her voice reverberating, the sound echoing in on itself a little. Her hands moved above the serene villain’s face, so peaceful and pretty while ****.

That same magical luminessence began to filter through Cheetah’s closed eyelids, then faint wisps of violet energy wafted up from her forehead. “Tegrof!” Zatanna snapped, clapping her hands together and the light and auras dissipated with a burst. The spell was done. After a momentary silence Zatanna stepped back. “She’s waking up.”

Now tension returned to the air and McGee retreated from the bed, putting you behind her protectively with an arm. It felt odd to be shielded by all these women but hey you were a feminist too. Wonder Woman redoubled her grip on her lasso, looping the rope around her arm and keeping the line taut. Cheetah’s face scrunched and her eyes opened slowly, the glare of the space station lights causing her discomfort and she turned her face. She saw Wonder Woman then snarled and lunged… or tried to, but she was strapped down and bound by the lasso.

“Where am I? How did I get here?” she demanded, struggling against her binds.

“Be still, Minerva!” Wonder Woman warned her, tugged at the snare. Cheetah hissed.

“Stop calling me that! Barbara Ann Minerva is dead! There is only Cheetah! Only the Goddess of the Hunt!”

“And I thought I knew dramatic,” Zatanna quipped, folding her arms over her chest.

“Ah the witch... You could not even face me alone, Amazon! Pitiful...” she growled. Though the angry cat lady saw both you and Doctor McGee, she didn’t seem to recognize you or pay you that much mind. Perhaps she thought that you weren’t much more than station security while Tina was just part of the medical team.

“Just tell us what you know,” Zatanna said, stepping up in her guise as interrogator again.

“What I know? I know that a gag will render you powerless, you second rate peddler of cheap tricks,” Cheetah snarled. There was a sigh from the mighty mistress of magic and she gave Wonder Woman a look.

“Tell us the truth,” the Amazon menaced, pulling on lariat and now it glowed again, its powers activated. The cheetah goddess groaned, trying to fight the compulsion. “Tell us what you were doing in that jungle,” Wonder Woman commanded.

“Grr… Gorillas… Those dirty apes… Gorilla City will rise again…” said Cheetah now, wanting to bite back her words but she couldn’t stop the confession. “They must be stopped…”

“The world is at peace with Gorilla City,” Wonder Woman said. “Grodd is allowed his home and he obeys the armistice.”

“Grodd obeys nobody!” the villain laughed. “And now he seeks the Seed of the Green… and with its power take over all of Africa… but the Seed will be mine! I will get to it first.”

This sounded serious, and way beyond your paygrade. The professional heroes in the room exchanged looks.

“Where is the Seed?” Zatanna asked. Cheetah growled under her breath, obviously struggling against her will being undone.

“I… don’t know…” she admitted, and she sounded a little embarrassed. “I was searching for it when Wonder Woman interfered with my hunt.” And that seemed to be it, the predator now panting. No more details forthcoming. Tina raised an eyebrow to magician and she gave Wonder Woman a quick glance so that the Lasso of Truth’s powers kept going.

“Tell us about anything you found out in the last few hours,” demanded Zatanna. “About anything…”

The villainess was frustrated and tiring, but she glared around at her captors indignantly. “I followed a clue to the Seed to a shaman’s hut deep in the vines… but the old man proved useless… my trail has gone cold. As does his blood now soaking the earth.” There was a grin that was cat like but bigger, sharper.

“What happened then?” Zatanna went on, ignoring this for now.

“Then… then the Amazon was upon me… we … we fought and… she bested me again with her… strength and agility… her magnificent… body… grr…” the beastly woman shook her head, trying to fight the lasso’s power. The magician needed to be sure.

“And then?”

“And then …” the woman was half straining to remember, half wanting to fight her urges. “She must have knocked me out… and now I am here… with you… beautiful idiots…” and with that Cheetah passed out from the strain. The golden rope stopped glowing and everyone in the room seemed to relax.

“I think it worked,” Tina said, and Zatanna nodded. Wonder Woman still seemed troubled but she nodded as well. Secret safe then.