Diana hit the ground with a tremendous thud. Flat on her back, she opened her eyes only to have her vision blurred by the tremendous amounts of rain pouring down. All she could make out was the red light at the top of the Washington Monument, blinking slowly on and off. Then a bolt of lightening flashed across the sky, illuminating the Washington Mall in a flash of otherworldly light for a brief second. That second was all Diana needed to see the figure hurtling towards her from above. She quickly rolled back onto her hands and upper back, pulling her legs and lower torso out of the way of her incoming pursuer. The hammer slammed into the mud and she kicked forward, sending the bottom of her right boot squarely into the bearded jaw of it's wielder, knocking his grip loose. He fell back, away from his weapon, and she leapt into action, using her momentum to spring up, grab him by his cape, and swing him over her head to smack face down into a mess of grass, mud, and gravel. Before he could so much as move, her boot was on his neck, pinning him to the ground.

"You missed," she said, matter-of-factly.

"What?" the blonde sputtered into the mud.

"You didn't punch me through the monument. Villains love doing that. Great way to give a fight some political symbolism," Diana smirked. He had hit hard, but the bantering was coming easier today, so clearly nothing was broken up there.

"Vile enchantress! Do you believe the battle won?"

"Well, seeing as you're facedown in the giant mud puddle that is currently the National Mall, I would consider this a win for me, yes."

"You dare mock Thor, God of Thunder?!" his voiced boomed, seemingly not just from his mouth but from the clouds themselves.

Diana's brow furrowed. "Wait, god of wha—" she began, as her captive flung out his arm to receive his hammer, which had somehow dislodged itself from the muck and flown to its master's grip. In that millisecond that hammer and hand made contact, she felt the surge of electricity coming. She whipped around, bringing her bracelets up to meet the bolt as it lunged towards her. Bolts and static shards screamed off of her enchanted armlets, and she was blown backwards, tumbling head over heals, stopping only when her head slammed into a tree with a resounding crack.

She looked up. Through the storm she seemed to see two Washington Monuments, gliding in and out of each other. And then suddenly, he stood over her, his flowing blonde hair smeared with dirt.

"Now tell me, wench. Where are you keeping Loki?"

to be continued...