Wonder Woman in Ankara #2

Wonder Woman was created by Dr William Moulton Marston in 1941 and is the © copyright trademark of DC Comics. My Wonder Woman stories are only fan fiction and based, primarily, on the 1970s CBS TV show (albeit, updated to the present time of writing). However, any resources from adaptations and the comics may be utilized. All characters are entirely fictional. Except for any characters found in DC Comics or related adaptations, these stories and characters are my creations, unless otherwise stated. In my stories, Wonder Woman is the only known superhero.

02 A friend says what hurts

Kebabs Galore was a well-situated diner near Ankara’s bustling Kizilay Square. Its circular exterior curved around the corner of the small pedestrian plaza that it overlooked. There was an outside seating area too, but it was a cold winter’s afternoon, therefore, diners naturally preferred the warmth, the smells, and the view of fresh meat spit roasting over the counter.       

Two white gentlemen in dark woollen coats entered the premises. One removed a trilby hat which had been shielding his bald top from the cold; the remainder of his hair dyed black. Although of average height, he looked decidedly small next to his hardy young associate. He ordered the food while the younger man seemed more interested in eyeing the diners. One lady in a window seat caught his attention, as her face was partially obscured by holding a menu out in front of her. By the time they were seated, he could see she was a beautiful looking westerner in glasses, who had taken to staring out of the window. The two men ate quickly. Once the meal was consumed, they approached the counter once more.

“That was truly delicious,” said the older gentleman in a cordial American accent. “I would like to thank all the kitchen staff, personally.”

He brandished a wad of notes from his wallet. The notes stash overrode any suspicion that it was unusual for a diner to be making such a request. The server hurried into the kitchen to gather the staff for the reward. All but one of the kitchen staff assembled before the gentleman. The younger man once more surveyed the diners and noted the attractive lady had managed to slip away. At the back of the premises, one of the kitchen staff was making a hasty exit. He was joined by the recently departed diner. 

“I presume there’s a little more to you leaving than simple modesty,” said Diana Prince. She wore a tan mac and casually put-on leather gloves while talking. “You’re right, by the way. It is you they want to talk to, Mr Reza Bayar. I must say your recent mug shot doesn’t do you justice.”

Diana was right; standing six feet, four inches tall, Reza Bayar was a strikingly handsome young man, boasting a triangular jaw, coated with a well-groomed stubble. His bristling biceps flexed in noticeable contractions, either through wearing a t-shirt in the shivering cold, or more likely, the adrenaline sweeping through his veins at that given moment. He glared at his unexpected company. His fight or flight response waiting to switch into action.

“Who are you? A cop?”

“Oh, no, my name’s Diana. I’m just somebody who may be able to help you, depending on what you tell me. You see, I know those gentlemen you’re running out on happen to be the CIA. Believe me, I’m in no hurry to meet them either. So, how about we go some place, and you tell me all you know of your friend, Fadi Fakih, in his final days?”

The mention of Fakih’s name shook him. Bayar bolted like a bat out of hell.

“Well, I guess I overcooked it,” Diana said to herself.

She spread her arms out wide from her sides and began pirouetting into a cycle of ever faster rotations. A white burst of light erupted out of her being: Wonder Woman stood ready to give chase.

The speed of Bayar’s departure surprised Diana. On the street, he was nowhere to be seen in either direction. She figured he wouldn’t want to pass the windows of the restaurant, thus, more likely he ran towards Kizilay Square. The sight of Wonder Woman breezing past the public in her in the freezing temperatures, turned heads along the way.

Opening out into the wide stretch of the Ataturk Boulevard, Diana once more halted to decide direction. A sudden commotion to her left grabbed her attention. A black Saab had abruptly pulled up. The nearside passenger door swung open. 

“GET IN!” ordered a bearded man holding a handgun.

The threatening command was directed to Reza Bayar who crouched behind a road sweeper on the sidewalk. As the cleaning vehicle pulled away, Wonder Woman caught clear sight of the situation, but the congested street blocked her path. Bayar raised his hands. The armed passenger angrily gestured him forwards. Within touching distance, Bayar trapped the gunman’s protruding shoulder off the door and its frame; he reeled in agony. Bayar tore across the dual carriageway as if he were on wheels himself. The Saab sped away just as Diana arrived at the incident.   

Staying with her original target, Wonder Woman hurdled the busy thoroughfare of traffic in a single bound.

As Bayar approached the shopping mall, he ran into more trouble. Two men in dark suits brandishing firearms alighted out of a silver Mercedes: one sporting a moustache; the other, mean like a cruiserweight boxer. He turned on his heels, heading into the shopping centre, using the huge pillow of the building as cover. Although the armed men saw him, they were forced to put their weapons away on entering the mall.   

Security was tight. The guards on the entrance were somewhat amused to see Wonder Woman walk through the doors, whereas, Diana was quite unamused to have lost sight of Bayar for a third time. There were several upper levels to the shopping centre and one below. Did Bayar go up, down, or stay on the ground?

There was something else troubling Diana, ever since the pursuit began, she felt a tingling like static electricity emitting from the ruby stone of her tiara.

Reason dictated Bayar would stick to the ground, or lower level, in case he needed to exit, therefore, Wonder Woman searched there first.

A chorus of public gasps were heard above. Diana looked up to see Bayar hesitantly climbing over the glass railing on the top floor. The startling sound of a gunshot reverberated around the chamber. Reza clutched his back and toppled over the balcony, precariously, landing in the safety netting with a terrifyingly high drop below.

Wonder Woman leapt to the top floor, where she immediately drew fire from the mean hitman. Diana instinctively deflected the rounds with her bracelets. She hopped over the railings and charged the fleeing attacker who suddenly became much less mean.            

The moustached assailant could see Bayar was still moving. His strategy was to cut the safety net with his penknife while posing as a rescuer.

“Don’t worry, I help you, friend,” he said.

Slipping over the barrier, he quickly went about cutting the first tied corner. The weight of Bayar sagged the net vertically inwards. He cried out, facing the great height head first. The assassin was about to break the next bind when a smooth hand clutched his wrist.

“I don’t believe you cut the mustard,” said Wonder Woman. She raised him above her head and threw the sneak back the other side of the railings into the waiting hands of security guards. Taking her golden lasso, she looped it around Reza Bayer, to haul him up.

“Thank you, Wonder Woman,” he said, heavily breathing.  

“Don’t you think it would have been safer if you had hung around with Diana instead?”

“You know this Diana?”

“Very well.”

“I owe you my life. Any friend of Wonder Woman’s is a friend of mine.”

“Alright,” said Wonder Woman, placing a hand on his shoulder. She saw the police approaching them. “Time to leave! Are you very scared of heights?”

“Yes, yes!”

“Too bad! Put your arm around my waist and hold on tight.”

Wonder Woman vaulted them up to a maintenance platform beneath the glass ceiling. They soon found a hatch onto the roof. For Reza, the experience had become so surreal that he wasn’t as nearly as scared as he thought he would be when Wonder Woman took flight off the building with the acrophobic in her arms.  

“If you don’t mind, I need to ask you a few questions before I let you go?” said Diana.

“Let me go?” Reza gulped. “Don’t let me go!”

Gliding the air currents over to Segmenler Park, Wonder Woman put Bayar down on a secluded path. He sat on a park bench in a daze at events. Wonder Woman knelt in front of him.

“Excuse me,” she said.

Diana removed her tiara and combed it above his person.

“What are you doing?”

“You appear to be emitting some sort of radiation?” Wonder Woman told him.

“What? How do you know?”

“The ruby in my tiara picks up certain frequencies that usually go undetected by the outside world.”

“How is this so?” Reza anxiously queried. “I work in a kitchen.”

“Well, it’s unlikely to be the microwave! Suppose you tell me – starting with Fadi Fakih.”

Bayar sighed.

“It’s not like what they’re saying about him in the news,” he lamented. “He wasn’t an extremist. He was a happy guy, you know, until four months ago.”

“What happened?”

“We would like to getaway into the country around the city. Some place where we could chill, smoke, see the stars clearly. Sometimes we take girls from university, but on this occasion, it was only Fadi and me. We were strolling on grassland near Pursaklar when the earth started moving …”     

“You mean an earthquake?”

“We thought so at first. The earth was collapsing in on itself. It crumbled around us. Then we saw it… It was like a huge funnel cloud, but instead of rising into the sky, it went down deep into the earth. I’m sorry, I don’t explain good.”

“You’re doing fine. Carry on,” encouraged Diana.

“I froze for a second. The ground fell beneath my feet. I found myself on a ledge overlooking this pit into hell. Once I realized I was still alive, I try to escape. I must have scrambled up thirty metres of dirt to get out. Fadi had called for help. He was still waiting for me at the side of the road. We decided to get out of there as fast as we could.

There had been no word from the authorities. So, a few days later, we drive out there again. The army had erected high walls around the landslide. We were relieved. It was no longer our responsibility. Later, when we learned the American base was to be built there, we couldn’t believe it …”

“Wait!” Wonder Woman interjected, rolling her eyes. “You’re telling me they’ve built the new shipping base at the site of this crater?”

“Yes! This was what made Fadi mad. He blamed America. I tell him not to worry. He takes no notice. After that, I didn’t see much of him. He stopped going to lectures. One time I ask what’s going on. He says there are bigger things in his life now. He was anxious. He would wait for phone calls while in the gym.”

“Argh!” cried out Reza. He keeled over on the bench.

“What is it?”

 “My back! My back! Agony!”

Diana noticed a small hole in the back of his shirt. She lifted the rear of his shirt up where it matched a small hole in his back.

Wonder Woman sighed.

“I think we better get you to a doctor. I’m afraid you have been shot.”

For Part 3: click here