Chapter 243: Misdirection Part 3

As new attacks were launched in the other cities, the justice league could no longer look at the situation lightly. Now all members outside the country performing other missions were required to return. 

Because although the spores released in other cities weren't as major as Metropolis, Gotham, or Star City, casualties were still taking place. Not to mention the whole slew of criminals who were taking advantage of the situation to either steal, kidnap, or cause harm to others.

Among all the cities that had attacks launched, Gotham was surprisingly the quickest to recover. But considering its new title as one of the safest cities in the world, it's wasn't as much of a surprise. In addition, the presence of the Flash and Superman helped greatly to get things in order, especially since the Gotham PD were well-funded and could also pull their own weight. Lastly, Gotham also had Wonder Woman and Harley who aided in their endeavors to get things under control.

All in all, the city was largely under control after a few hours hours, with all those affected by the spores getting treated. All those who weren't affected were given measures to protect against it as researchers at the Ark Academies and other working labs worked hard to find a cure.

But just because Gotham had become an incredibly safe city, it didn't mean crime was completely gone. Given this particular set of circumstances a lot of individuals chose to risk it and try to take advantage of the situation for monetary gain or pleasure.

One such incident was currently taking place in one of Gotham's less affluent districts.

 Here, a woman could be seen stumbling near the sidewalk, clearly struggling to even move. She kept on screaming, "Help, please! Someone help me!" as she sobbed uncontrollably. 

Her eyes were closed tight as she scrambled to the wall and any other object in her way, hoping it would aid her to move, as she could quite obviously not see.

A man in a hoodie came up from behind and grabbed her. He said nothing and merely tried to bring her into a nearby building. Judging from the gloves he also wore and the mask that covered his mouth, it was clear he was trying his best not to be seen or heard.

 He was but one of many individuals this night who felt they could take advantage of the situation and get a few gains in. In this man's case, those gains involved assaulting a poor woman.

He managed to successfully break into a nearby café and dragged the woman in, forcefully throwing her onto a table as she continued to cry and plead, "Please, I'll give you everything I have, please don't hurt me." 

Still, the man said nothing, clearly in a hurry as he himself knew the dangers of what he was doing and what consequences would follow. Yet, he still proceeded.

As the woman tried to catch grab onto the table to help her stand, the man came up from behind and pinned the woman down to that very table and began to forcefully strip her of her clothes. "No!" she yelled, struggling hard to break free from the man's hold.

 However, the man was insistent, going as far as to launch a few blows toward the woman's face. However, the woman persisted and continued to yell, "Help me! Someone *sob*"

At this time, the man grew angry and impatient, unable to hold his anger. He yelled, "Shut up, you bitch!" 

He began to use more force and even tried to gag her mouth. 

*Crack!* But at this time, the sound of glass shattering could be heard coming from behind. 

The man showed worry and immediately turned around, only to see that a furious Wonder Woman had broken through the storefront window. This sight made him widen his eyes in panic.

Just looking at the scene, Diana already knew what was transpiring. And for someone like her, who was always taught that men in the outside world were beasts, liars, and horrible, it only served to make her angrier. Especially given that the victim was clearly even more defenseless than she would already be.

From how she looked at it, this man before her preyed on a woman who could be said to be more than defenseless, all so he could just get carnal pleasure, uncaring for the consequences that would follow the woman for the rest of her life. 

In Diana's mind, that injustice could not go unpunished. So she frowned, and her gaze turned serious as she yelled, "Enough!"

The man's heart began beating fast. He wasn't a criminal by occupation, so encountering the city's most well-known superhero at the moment was basically the worst thing that could happen to him. He knew he couldn't get out of this, so he simply had to raise his hands in surrender. 

He was in a bad situation, but he knew that at best, he would only be charged for a few months.

However, Diana had other plans in mind. She reached for her lasso and quickly threw it toward the man. Before he could even try to do anything, it came around his neck. 

The man had seen numerous videos of Wonder Woman fighting on TV before, showing how she normally got criminals by letting her lasso reach their arm area and tugging on it so they couldn't use their arms at all.

However, this time Diana pulled while the lasso was still near the man's neck. Taking it from there, the man's eyes bulged as he felt the incredibly strong force now gripping at his neck, cutting off his air supply. The man immediately brought his hands toward his neck and began to struggle, barely able to get out the words, "Please, *arck!* I'm sorr-."

Diana's expression remained cold. "Animals like you only deserve death." 

At this time, another voice appeared on the scene. "Wonder Woman, stop!" 

Looking back, Wonder Woman could see Superman hovering just outside the store. He had been brought to the scene due to the commotion he heard with his super hearing. With the city now under control, he had just been patrolling to ensure everything was in order before he had to leave and tend to other places.

Seeing where the situation was, Superman decided to intervene because from the way things looked, Diana was about to kill this man. As Diana looked at Superman, he further added, "Let the justice system deal with him. He will get what's coming to him."

Diana, frowned upon hearing this and replied, "You think I do not know the laws of this land? At most, what this man will get is a few years of incarceration. Whereas, had he been left to succeed, the woman would've been traumatized for life, perhaps even being burdened to carry a child she didn't want. A mark that will forever change her life. And you wish to tell me to allow this? I, Diana, Princess of Themyscira, shall carry out my own justice."

As Diana said this, she pulled on the lasso, dragging the man closer to her before unsheathing her sword and slicing at the man's body, severing his head from his body in a single swing. 

The man's head flopped to the ground gruesomely but Diana showed a disgusted expression as she muttered, "May Hades toy with your soul."