CHAPTER 1 THE CRACK IN THE WORLD Wonder Woman soared above the skyscrapers of Gateway City She wheeled out over the sparkling bay and then swept back toward midtown She scanned the streets for trouble for ways she could help But for once the whole town seemed to be at peace Wonder Woman dipped low skimming the treetops She flew over Memorial Park with its neighborhood playgrounds and ball fields Then she heard angry shouts I can’t believe what you’ve done Will a girl’s voice yelled Why did your team tear up the park We didn’t a boy’s voice growled It wasn’t us What’s up Wonder Woman wondered She stopped hovering in the air high above a playground Below rival softball players faced each other Their team names the Eastside Eagles and the Westend Warriors were
on their uniforms A boy and a girl were shouting at each other nose to nose Their teams were backing them up Wonder Woman thought a fight might break out at any moment The situation sounded pretty bad But then Wonder Woman looked at the playground behind them She realized what had happened there was far far worse The playground equipment had been destroyed Swing sets lay toppled onto the ground The jungle gym was a twisted mess The seesaws were splintered planks of wood A group of little kids were crying Their moms and dads were gaping at the destruction No one could believe their eyes Wonder Woman settled to the ground Normally the appearance of the six-foot-tall Amazon Princess Diana would have caused everyone to stop and stare But the kids were so focused on their argument they didn’t notice her until she landed right beside them What’s going on Wonder Woman asked What happened here
The kids glanced at her in surprise For an instant Wonder Woman thought her arrival would put an end to the argument But instead it gave each side an audience The Warriors messed up the playground the girl shouted She was the captain of the Eagles and appeared to have quite a temper Did you do this because we won the last five games Will That was last year Emma Will the captain of the Warriors snarled This year we’re gonna cream you Like how Emma growled She pointed her bat at the nearby baseball park The diamond was torn up The bleachers were smashed The bases were scattered You haven’t left us a field to play on I can see you Warriors doing that but why destroy the playground too We all played here when we were little Our brothers and sisters and cousins play here now Emma’s teammates grumbled in agreement behind her We didn’t do it Will was nose to nose with Emma again We wouldn’t How could a bunch of kids make this mess anyway Wonder Woman thought Will had a point This destruction was far beyond anything kids would be capable of But that argument didn’t convince Emma She and her team just kept shouting And Will and his team kept yelling back
