Wonder Woman
The Green-Eyed Monster
by Libbylawrence
Nihon Hoso Kyoaki, Japan’s only noncommercial public television network, had featured a wide range of subjects on their broadcasts including the ornate and elaborate aristocratic tea ceremonies that were so much a part of the lifestyles of many wealthy and privileged women and the more modern and colorful festivals celebrating anime characters and plots. However, seldom had the nightly broadcast displayed a more dynamic scene than it did during one live feed in which a massively muscled green woman with long blonde hair slammed the famous heroine Wonder Woman through a building in the commercial district.
Viewers gasped as the image of battle was displayed in their small apartments, crowded hostess clubs, or on the huge “Jumbo” screen that loomed over the pachinko arcades. The fight between the Justice Society heroine and the oddly shapely monster was big news and diverting TV!
As for Wonder Woman herself, the entire battle had completely taken her by surprise. This was no easy feat considering the Amazing Amazon Princess of Paradise Isle had a career of death defying stunts that stretched back over forty years! She shook off the impact of the blow and stood back up only to receive a second punch that knocked her backward through the wall of the nearest building.
She landed hard and frowned as her keen eyes caught the sight of approaching lights.
“Subway train! This gives me a chance to copy one of Superman’s oft proclaimed abilities and be both faster and stronger than a locomotive!” she thought.
She jumped up and stood her ground as the subway raced toward her. She was not showing off her remarkable powers since the train was heading directly for the rubble that had crashed down on the tracks along with her battered body. She had to stop the subway or dozens of people could be injured or killed!
Wonder Woman stood calmly before the rushing train with her hands placed confidently on her hips.
She planted her feet carefully and once she had made certain of her balance she reached out to stop the train in its tracks and gradually slow its movement until she could ease it to a stop.
“Praise Hera! If I had not had enough room, my efforts could have caused as much injury as the crash would have. I can see the tabloids screaming about Amazon causing whiplash cases!” she thought.
Having made certain that no one was injured, she shoved much of the rubble aside and then leaped to the surface where she saw a crowd of eager onlookers and police.
She turned to the police and in perfect Japanese she explained what had occurred and asked about her foe’s movements since the hulking green woman was nowhere to be found.
After a few moments of conversation, she turned and raced off into the brightly illuminated Tokyo night.
“This has been a rough night but then again what did I expect when I was summoned away from a JSA meeting by the Titans and ordered to come here to perform one of their remaining challenges. Sometimes I wonder just how much more complicated my life can get!” she thought.
She referred to her current situation’s origin. Diana and her Amazon sisters worshipped the Greek gods who in turn came from an older race of beings known as the Titans. The imprisoned Titans had been freed and their first action upon gaining their eons-sought liberty had been to supplant the gods and goddesses of Olympus. They had admired Wonder Woman’s spirited resistance enough to offer her a chance to gain freedom for her patrons if she could perform six challenges as selected by the Titans upon a timetable of their own devising.
These tests had come at random moments and her personal and heroic life had become a truly difficult act to balance since she never knew when a Titan would arbitrarily declare that she was needed to test her skills against a foe of their selection.
“I want nothing more than to complete the challenges or labors and free Hera, Athena, and the rest so I can get back to what now seems like my mundane life as wife, mother, and heroine! I’ve successfully completed two tests against Giganta and Hypnota. When I was told to come to Japan, I expected to face the malice of the brilliant Prince Maru a.k.a. Dr. Poison but instead I was attacked by that rampaging powerhouse before I could even gather my wits!” she thought.
She frowned in grim determination.
“Well, I’ll find the Jade Giantess and when I do she’ll learn it is not easy being green!” she vowed.
2
Meanwhile, within a lush garden far from the city, two women met in excited conference.
The first woman was clad in a kimono of rare and precious fabric and her every need was met by a group of silently devoted maids. She was Japanese and her youthful beauty was combined with a keen and ruthless mind. She was Princess Maru although to the world outside the tranquil garden, she was infamous as Dr. Poison!
She stared at her companion who was markedly different in appearance and manner. The blonde American woman was even more petite than Maru and her entire manner was agitated and restless. She wore a white bikini and sandals and paced back and forth as she talked. Her most attractive feature, for she was lovely, were her bright green eyes.
“I never felt anything like it before! The sheer rush of power intoxicated me! I was so strong! I could have smashed the whole city into ruins had I wanted to do so! Best of all, everyone noticed me! Who could help it! I was the center of attention! Me! Gell Osey was the top news story in all of Tokyo!” she cried with a delighted smile crossing her delicate face.
“I am gratified that you are pleased with my work. I never doubted my success would be total. I know more about bio-chemistry than anyone alive today!” said Maru.
Gell said, “I owe you! I know that much! You did more than make me super human. You gave me back my youth too! As Gell I look like a super model! Now, in my other form I am a super woman too!”
Princess Maru slapped an attendant as the girl fanned her reclining form.
“Stupid swine! You waved that fan too roughly. Have you no grace at all?” she snapped.
Gell smiled and said, “The potion you gave me made me into that powerful and startlingly beautiful creature but I changed back so suddenly. What triggered the change?”
Maru said, “The formula works upon the chemical reactions that occur within your body when you experience certain emotions. Anger, pain, or jealousy creates the catalyst for the transformation. You live up to the American nickname you were given at Holliday College in the forties. You become Jealousy the Green -Eyed Monster!”
Gell said, “I have heard that kind of remark all my life. Having been given to using the more Americanized form of my name Gell for short, I got used to being called Jealousy by those idiots who thought it to be funny! Still, by any name Gelliana Osey is not to be mocked!”
Princess Maru stood up and dropped her kimono as her slaves rushed forward to dress her in a one-piece costume of dark green. She slipped gloves and a mask over her features and said, “Nor is Dr. Poison to be forgotten! Now, that I have made you all you have ever wanted to be, I expect you to do your part and bring down the certain members of the Yamaguchigumi. Those crime lords with their 400 plus associated gangs will regret the fact that they rejected me and thus, shall they die for my amusement.”
The petite blonde nodded and said, “You got it, baby!”
3
Meanwhile, within a very small room in a house that combined a modern Western design with the tatami mats and antiques of the past, loud music blared out of a small cassette player as a pretty girl of sixteen danced wildly to the beat.
A frowning man of forty -two entered the room and shook his head as he tried to conceal his small smile of amusement. He tried to appear as the stern and unyielding father but Amane Shiomi had too much affection and humor in his nature to truly be as firm as he wanted where his daughter was concerned.
“Toshi! What is that terrible noise? I have heard more pleasant sounds in nightmares!” he said.
Toshi Shiomi frowned and turned off the cassette player as she pushed one lock of hair out of her face and sighed in mock disgust.
“You mean you’ve never heard Morrissey before? He’s a genius! The Smiths are brilliant!” she said.
Amane said, “I did not realize this was a family group. I am sure their father is proud. Still, I must ask you to turn down the music. It would not do for us to offend our hosts. My own parents are responsible for us so to speak since we are their guests. While we are here we must not do anything to damage their standing with the neighbors.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes in the time-honored manner of all teen girls and she hugged her father abruptly.
“Sorry, Pop! I will hit the malls and save the neighbors from the horrors of Brit rock!” she said.
Amane said, “Wait! You cannot go out in that outfit! You will be mistaken for a hostess from the water trades!”
She smoothed out her plaid mini skirt and casually tried to hide the hole in one knee of her black stockings as she adjusted the laces of her large black boots.
“Pop! What do expect me to go all O.L. on you? We’re just here for a week then we’ll be back home in Georgetown. I’m not ready to adopt a new wardrobe!” she said.
Amane said, “You could stand to dress like the young Office Ladies of Tokyo. They look professional and mature.”
Toshi said, “Yeah? And they look nearly dead! Forty-something at least!”
She bounced by her father and whistled as she headed out of the house.
“The Subway terminal is nearby. Maybe, I can find some fun in the Anime gallery! It’s not like the stores have anything that doesn’t have a sickening sweet cartoon animal’s face on it! The whole cute animal fashion fad is beyond me!” thought Toshi.
She never had a chance to finish her thoughts since before the girl could enter the Subway; she was grabbed by two men and shoved into the back of a black car. The car raced away as Toshi fell hard and knew no more.
When Toshi opened her eyes, she felt a wave of pain wash over her and she blinked rapidly in an effort to clear her vision.
“Those punks grabbed me! For a country with such a strong gun law, this place sure has its share of street thugs!” she thought.
She saw four dark suited Japanese men standing around the room. The room itself was nearly empty. A low table leaned crookedly against a high screen but nothing else could be found in the room. It was bare enough to be a cell and she realized that that was exactly what it had become for her!
“Who are you? What are you going to do to me?” she asked in Japanese.
They remained silent and the screen slid open to reveal a woman who had a serpentine tattoo across her chest and up one side of her face. The garish marking separated her from any claim to legitimate society in Japan but Toshi already suspected her abductors were not exactly tea ceremony ladies out for a wild evening!
The woman reached down and gripped Toshi by her chin.
“You will not speak. We will keep you here until your father Amane-san honors our demands. He will perform a task for us or we will kill you. That is all you are required to know, little one!” she said.
She shoved Toshi aside with a rough push and turned to leave as swiftly as she had entered. The row of goons calmly returned to their place and watched Toshi with eyes concealed by dark glasses.
“This trip is so totally bizarro! I will never leave the States again if I get out of this!” she thought.
Later, a worried Amane Shiomi turned to his wife Kimiko and said, “It is worse than I expected. We have received word from a local criminal known as Lotus Viper. She has Toshi and will only return her if I agree to use my diplomatic status to smuggle certain rare antiques out of the country for her!”
Kimiko was a small stout woman and she broke into tears as her husband confirmed their worse fears.
“What can we do? Have you alerted the National Police Agency? Or should we merely honor this woman’s desires and remain silent? How may we best save our child?” she asked.
Amane said, “I have taken certain steps. I did so before coming to you with the news. I hoped to resolve the matter before you could worry too much. I have contacted Wonder Woman! She is here and my colleagues in the service were able to reach her! She will save Toshi! I know she can do it!”
4 Meanwhile, Wonder Woman had been in discussion with Inspector Okuhara of the N.P.A. The balding man had been clucking restlessly with his tongue in one cheek as he listened to his honored guest.
“I knew there was trouble here for reasons I won’t explain. Still, this crisis is not one I will walk away from if I can resolve it. I can find the green monster easily enough if she shows her blonde locks again. For now, I’ll try to get some answers from the local gangs and learn where to find this Lotus Viper.”
Okuhara said, “The gangs are tied to Yakuza. They will never reveal anything. My men have tried many tactics and nothing has worked!”
Wonder Woman smiled and patted the golden lasso that rested against her hip.
“I have methods of my own!” she said.
5
Wonder Woman attracted stares from everyone she passed as she raced through the streets of Japan.
She had grown used to the fact that the combination of her stunning good looks and her dynamic powers would make her an instant object of adoration or curiosity no matter where she went. Still, the whispers from excited schoolgirls made her smile.
“The Japanese children are star struck yet they don’t make the noise that I’m used to hearing from my young admirers in the States!” she thought.
She knew that a girl’s life was hanging upon her actions so she bounded skyward and avoided the crowds with a series of such leaps until she found the seedy district populated by homeless people, criminals, and hostess bar workers from the so-called “water trade” along with ordinary poor citizens.
She questioned a few men in a bar and when her blatant mention of the word Yakuza brought several grim figures to their feet in a desperate effort to either flee or silence her, she merely caught two men by their coats and lifted them off the ground until they were kicking helplessly in her grasp. She looped her lasso around them as she spoke in fluent Japanese.
“You gentlemen are going to take to me where I can find a lady named Lotus Viper! She has made herself known to friends of mine and I intend to pay her a social call of sorts!” she said.
They told her where she could find the criminal since her magic lasso’s power to compel those caught in its coils to speak the truth left them with no choice.
She hurled them aside as a gunman jumped out of the shadows and opened fire.
Three precisely deflected bullets hit her flashing bracelets and bounced harmlessly aside.
She twisted the gun into scrap metal with one smooth movement of her hand and she slapped the startled gunman to the ground with the other hand.
“I see bullets and bracelets is still a popular sport even in a country with such a low level of armed crime!” she said.
She turned the thugs over to a group of slightly awe-struck policemen as they approached the bar and then she hurried across the city until she found herself facing a scene of battle and chaos!
“Great Hera! The green woman from before is fighting the gangsters!” she gasped.
6 Indeed, Wonder Woman’s analysis of the situation was correct! The Lotus Viper Gang was the first target of Dr. Poison’s vendetta against the mobs that had rejected her. Thus, she had dispatched the transformed Gell to their base to gain her revenge!
Gell had eagerly accepted the mission and she exulted in her raw power. Her green arms and legs rippled with muscles and power and she smashed through walls and ignored gunfire with a casual disdain.
“You creeps can’t hurt me! I can hurt you, though!” she said with a laugh.
She slapped a goon across the entire room as they scrambled to avoid her rampage.
Poor Toshi was scared and excited at the same time.
“Cool! That thing may buy me time to get free from my ropes! I’ve been trying to slip free from them for hours!” she thought.
The huge green woman turned to face the schoolgirl and she hesitated for a moment before she ripped her ropes free and left her sprawled on the floor.
“Man! That powerhouse nearly swept me out of the house with one touch of her hand! I feel weird too! I hope she didn’t break my arm or something!” she thought as she felt hot and a bit dizzy.
Wonder Woman raced into the room at that moment and she hurried to tackle the jade giantess.
They crashed to the ground as the gang hurried to escape from both women. There was no sign of the evil Lotus Viper! The cunning mob boss had fled at the first sign of trouble. She had abandoned Toshi and her own men with the ease of one who has lost many things in her time but who always expects new opportunities to turn up.
Wonder Woman elbowed Gell in the face and pried her crushing fingers away from her throat as they rolled around the room.
“I’ll make you sorry you came here! You always have to show up and spoil things for me! Don’t you? Don’t you?” screamed Gell.
Wonder Woman frowned as she kicked the woman in the face.
“I don’t know you! Why do you hate me so much?” she asked as she flipped backward and tossed her tiara across the room at the angry Green-Eyed Monster.
Gell roared as the spinning projectile struck her in the head and bounced away.
She brought her feet down to send a shockwave through the house.
Wonder Woman saw the force shatter the wall as it began to crumble around them.
She moved forward to shield the frightened Toshi but the girl was too far away from even Wonder Woman to reach in that short span of time!
As rubble rained down on the girl she screamed and then began to deflect it with a combination of super strength and agility that equaled Wonder Woman’s own power!
“Athena’s Eyes! How did you do that?” she asked as she helped Toshi get away from the crumbling building.
They raced outside where the remnants of the Lotus Gang and the growling Gell were engaged in all too brief a fight.
Toshi said, “I don’t know! When that thing touched me, I started to get hot. It was some kind of Witch Mountain moment!”
Wonder Woman said, “I wonder if her unique body radiation stimulated something within you that had been latent all along! We’ll talk after I tame that brute!”
She whipped out her golden lass and spun it until it created a whirlwind from the smoke and dust in the air.
She hoped to use it to blind her foe and catch her off guard but she never got the chance since a well-placed punch from Gell left her staggering!
As Gell laughed with pleasure, Wonder Woman fell before her. The green monster pummeled her again and again as she tried to fight to freedom.
“Got to put up with her attack for now! Can’t risk letting her turn her attentions to the mobsters or Toshi!” mused Wonder Woman.
Before she could try to withstand another punishing blow, Wonder Woman saw Toshi leap forward to crash into the green giant and drive her backward!
“Look, don’t make me turn this into a Godzilla flick! That would be totally clich�!” cried Toshi as she hit Gell and launched her own attack!
Gell growled and said, “I don’t fight brats but for you I’ll make an exception!”
She grabbed Toshi and received a swift kick in the chin.
Wonder Woman rolled across the floor and grabbed her fallen lasso.
She drew it into the air and as one loop wrapped around Gell’s mighty legs, she said, “I command you to surrender and calm down!”
Gell felt the powerful magic and slowly as her rage and jealousy subsided under the magic of the lasso, she returned to her normal form.
Wonder Woman bound the petite blonde in the white bikini and recognized her after a moment or two.
“Gell Osey! I can’t believe it! Your old passions have truly made you a monster!”
She ordered Gell to tell her how she had gained her amazing power and the trapped blonde explained her story to the Amazon Princess.
“I worked for years as a librarian. I never achieved the fame my beauty and brilliance deserved! Well, I was old and bitter when Dr. Poison found me and brought me here. She promised to give me youth, beauty, and power in exchange for my services! I gladly agreed and her formula made me the wonderful hulking creature that attracted everyone’s eye! She said the formula had never worked on any other subject but I was special enough to make it a success!”
Wonder Woman said, “The poor deluded woman sold her soul for a transformation that would have left others gasping in horror!”
She said, “We’ll get you home Toshi and turn Gell over to my Amazon sisters for treatment and rehabilitation!”
Toshi said, “What about me? I feel like a super girl!”
Wonder Woman said, “Your father is returning to Georgetown soon. When he does so, why don’t I have you visit a friend of mine who runs a school for girls? She can contact me and we’ll figure out what made you a Wonder Girl!”
Toshi smiled and said, ” My Pop was born right after the bombs fell at the end of the war. Maybe, that made me a mutant or something! Dynamite! I could be in the Junior JSA!”
Wonder Woman said, “We’ll see. For now, we have some clean up work to do and you need to call your folks. As for me, I have no doubt Dr. Poison’s spies have alerted her to her danger and she has fled her last lair for a new hiding place. She’ll turn up again and when she does, I will be waiting!”
The Amazon Princess spoke the truth. Princess Maru had indeed fled and her devoted slaves made her at home in yet another hidden base.
She was pleased that her experiment had made Gell into the Green-Eyed Monster and she was very happy that the threat of more attacks had brought the Lotus Viper Gang scurrying to send her word of their abject apology. She could count of them to obey her in the future. As for Wonder Woman, Dr. Poison knew she would kill her someday and she was willing to wait as well!
When a reunited Shiomi family returned to America, Toshi did enroll at Etta Candy Darnell’s Holiday Academy for Young Ladies but she also began a routine of secret training sessions in the use of her amazing powers. They had not faded and she was clearly as fast, strong, and invulnerable as a young Amazon! Wonder Woman had given her a costume that was reminiscent of her own red and blue outfit after Toshi eagerly agreed to let her train her in the use of her powers. A proud Toshi envisioned herself as a future super heroine!
“Man! That trip to Japan totally rocked! I may just like this new life of mine!” she thought with a grin as she turned up her cassette player and danced through her cluttered room.
The End
