Teen Titans #44: "When Circe Comes Calling" Pt. 3

“I'll bet even Helen of Troy had to have at least a little sunshine in her disposition.”
Loretta Young

Woman must not accept; she must challenge.
She must not be awed by that which has been built up around her;
she must reverence that woman in her which struggles for expression.

~ Margaret Sanger

-1-

Terra was screaming Beast Boy's name, unhappily and unwillingly throwing rocks at her lover. Starfire was ducking and diving Cyborg's white noise cannon, and returning fire with her starbolts. Neither of the women wanted to hurt their team mates. Starfire was doing better than Terra, but not much. Raven was teleporting in and out, striking at both of them with her soul self, trying to disrupt Circe's control and not succeeding.

Wonder Girl shook her head, unsettled yes, but mostly angry. "So that means it's down to you and me, one on one. Do you really think you can beat me, even with that mask?

"Well actually yes," Circe purred, "But as a matter of fact...."

She pointed, a languid gesture. Wonder Girl looked back, and saw the wounded Dagon and Kid Flash shuffling out of the Tower, likewise hypnotised.

Wonder Girl turned back to Circe, and drew in a lungful of air.

She expelled it in a scream.

Not a scream of fear or terror or anguish, but of pure, unmitigated rage. The island shook. Circe's eyes widened. The hypnotized Titans stumbled. The others stared.

Wonder Girl hit the sorceress with both fists, and sent her flying again. This time she shot after her, determined not to lose her.


-2-

"Terra!" Starfire called. "Concentrate on the others! Leave Beast Boy to me!"

Unhappily nodding, Terra floated away from Beast Boy and hurled boulders at Kid Flash and Dagon. Dagon shifted to mist and the rock harmlessly passed through him, whilst Kid Flash destroyed the other stone with a super-speed punch.

Terra floated upwards, knowing better than to let Kid Flash trap her in a speed-generated whirlwind. Dagon, though, continue to pursue her in mist form.

That gave her chills. What would Dagon do to her under Circe's control, without his normal restraint?

The mist solidified on her rock. Dagon was still wearing his helmet to protect against the sun and so he could not use his fangs against her, but there was still that tremendous strength. He took her thin, girlish arms in his grip and began to squeeze.

She brought in two massive boulders, one from each side, an slammed them into him, but still he would not let go. She brought in anther large rock on a looping trajectory that collided with both of them. The impact knocked her free, but sent her falling from her own perch, as well. Desperately she called another rock to fly up to her, and she caught it, yanking her arms hard in the process. She didn't like to remember the man who had taught her that survival technique.

Shuddering through anther gagging fit, she shot off to find Starfire before Dagon caught up with her again.

-3-

As Dagon pursued Terra, Starfire shot past the writhing tentacles of Beast Boy's horrible form, and as she predicted, Cyborg unintentionally shot Beast Boy with his white noise cannon, temporarily stunning him. Under Circe's dominion, they had no moral restraints on using their powers, but not much tactical sense either. Mind you, that was bad enough.

Her next thought was to lure Kid Flash towards Cyborg, but before she could even begin to turn in that direction the super speedster was there, throwing a series of punches that rattled her. Dazed, she ducked on instinct, and another blast from Cyborg's white noise cannon struck Kid Flash instead of her. Before Kid Flash could recover, she threw him into Cyborg, then shot into the air, getting away from both of them.

Raven ported in and grabbed the dazed Kid Flash and teleported away again. Starfire hoped the empath could contain him.

She met Terra coming down to meet her in the sky. "I think I knocked out fang-face for a second, but he'll be back on my case in no time!" the earth-shifter looked truly panicked. "How about you?"

"Not much better," Starfire admitted ruefully. "But at least I got Cyborg to shoot them instead of me. But it won't last."

"What do we do??"

"We try to survive. Everything depends on Donna now. If she beats Circe, all will be well. If not....we die as warriors."

"Ulp," Terra swallowed, eyes wide.

"Come on," Starfire said to her, "Let's find Dagon and focus our powers on him first."

Though neither one mentioned it, the sun was close to setting. Soon Dagon would no longer need his helmet, and then his fangs would come into play.

Then he would be that much more dangerous.

-4-

Wonder Girl pushed herself to fly faster than she had earlier. Faster than she ever had before.

It strained her muscles and her stamina, and she was worried about the state she would be in when she finally caught up with Circe. But this time would be different. She would not get away again.

Besides which, she reflected with a small smile, Circe would be in even worse shape.

-5-

Circe had briefly lost consciousness, then she had recovered in a weak sort of daze. Then her mind had come back into sharp focus.

Gods, literally by the Gods, such power! The sheer notion of it staggered her imagination more than she had dared believe, even up until this moment.

She was scared, yes, but also exhilarated and motivated. She would use her wiles, wits, and mask to break the brat godling, and then reshape her to her will. Wonder Girl had power, yes; power supreme. But she was also inexperienced and lacking depth and intricacy in it's use. Circe's wit was still the superior, and her mind would rule the day.

Which was not to say she regretted her earlier brash action. It clearly had been the required trigger. Without it, even Circe would not have realized the full extent of the resource that Wonder Girl represented, until it was too late.

All these thoughts flashed through the sorceress' mind in mere seconds. She allowed her body to remain limp in the air as she whipped and tumbled onwards. She had already realized, without any need for divination, that Wonder Girl would follow her this time without reprieve. This was good. It would mean that she had left the others behind, as Circe had hoped. Without her direct guidance, the male drones would fight on, relentlessly, but without as much tactical skill as they might otherwise. And that was fine. It would buy her enough time to conquer Wonder Girl's spirit. Once under her dominion, the others would not be able to stand against her.

She continued to "play dead" smiling to herself as she sensed Wonder Girl approach.

-6-

Wonder Girl saw Circe's tumbling body, sailing through the air. She closed faster and faster, fists clenched, ready for the next strike.

Abruptly Circe ceased her tumbling but not her motion through the air, and her eyes glared a glowing violet through her mask at the Amazon.

"Now listen to me," Circe intoned. "Now listen, to me. You...will....obey...."

Wonder Girl put her bracelets up and shielded her eyes from the witch's gaze, and continued to close.

"What--" Circe began, but whatever she would have said next was cut short as Wonder Girl's boot connected with her chin, hurtling the spell-caster ever higher into the thinning atmosphere.

Without pause, Wonder Girl followed her up. The sky, already darkening with evening, blacked out completely and showed the stars. At this high altitude, the moon was rising.

Theoretically, neither of their powers had anything to do with the moon. And if either of them could claim any symbolic allegiance with it, it would be Circe, not Wonder Girl.

Yet it was Donna who was growing stronger, faster, more powerful, more alert by the minute. Circe's eyes showed fear at this development.

Donna was becoming more, truly more, than just Wonder Girl...

...and for the first time, Circe was truly afraid.


-7-

If there was one good thing to come out of this mess, Raven reflected, it was that Circe's domination wasn't exacerbating Kid Flash's injuries any. Instead, to her surprise, he seemed to be healing faster.

Paradoxically, Wallace's healing rate, while still not at it's normal speed, was clearly in operation once more, she could both see and sense his residual wounds fading.

It was almost as if....Wallace had suffered some sort of hidden psychological damage from his beat down by the Rogues that had inhibited his healing, whether by accident or design. She still didn't know the full details of the elaborate scheme the Reverse Flash had pulled, and likely never would. But whatever the case, Circe's dominion over his mind had somehow paradoxically neutralized that problem, and allowed his healing speed to begin it's own return to normal.

None of this helped her keep him in check, however. She was containing him with great difficulty, as he vibrated and strained to escape her soul self. She had tried putting him to sleep, but that simply had not worked. And she was loath to hurt him.

"Wallace," she whispered into his mind. "You are safe within my soul-self. Circe cannot control you here. Rest...be at peace....come back to me. Please."

But these were only Raven's words. Circe's power was more extensive than this. Her control did flicker for a second, but that had more to do with what Wonder Girl was doing to her in battle. For a moment, Kid Flash's eyes flickered, but then he was struggling against her again.

"Wallace," Raven insisted, in a voice that was soft yet more forceful voice, "You are here, within my power. You have been here before. Remember? Come back. Come home.

It was at that moment, as she said those words, which Raven realized that there was no longer any doubt in her mind about her relationship with Wallace and where it was going.

So she pushed harder.

It was success, of a sort. Circe had the greater power, unless Raven wanted to dip into the darkness of her father. But Raven's first power was empathy, something that Circe had never had, even in the standard emotional sense of that word. And the witch was more and more distracted with each passing second by Wonder Girl's unbridled ferocity.

So a stalemate was reached; while Wallace was not truly freed, he was affected enough by Raven's words that he was hung in a sort of limbo; he curled up into a ball and trembled.

Raven held him and soothed him within her soul self, knowing that accomplishing even this much would take all her energy; leaving Starfire and Terra alone against Beast Boy and Cyborg and Dagon, and Wonder Girl alone against Circe.

She hoped it would be enough.

-8-

Higher and higher the witch and the amazon flew.

The air was getting thin to the point where it affected them both. Circe had some spells to counter this, and Wonder Girl could endure quite a lot, but each woman was beginning to show the strain.

The east coast of the United States was clearly delineated below them now, the lights beginning to come on in New York, Philadelphia, Gotham, Metropolis, Baltimore, Washington, and smaller cities. The sea faded out into darkness.

Neither one was wasting any time enjoying the view, of course.

Circe was scared now, yes, but no less determined than she had been before, Now her seasoned mind, experienced with centuries of wickedness, was desperately scrambling to find a way to defeat her enemy.

She waited until Wonder Girl repeated the trick of throwing punches with each hand simultaneously, and when she did, the witch grabbed each offending fist in a hand that pulsed with her violet sorcerous power. This time, not only was she able to withstand the blow, but also began to push back, sending waves of purple fire down Wonder Girl's arms, trying both to weaken her and sap some of her power for the witch's own use.

But this had not gone on for more than a handful of seconds before Wonder Girl realized what was happening and responded by head butting Circe's masked face.

Crunch.

The mask held. The nose beneath it had not.

Circe howled in pain and kicked Wonder Girl away, then blasted her with purple lightning. Three, four, five times.

It hurt Wonder Girl, so much was clear. But it also motivated her. She started coming again.

The Gordian Knot, Circe thought with dim horror. She is simply powering her way through my every spell and stratagem.

She put even greater sorcerous power behind her next kick, sending Wonder Girl back long enough for her to cast a short spell.

The intricate, brutal hex formed in the air with lines of purple energy, hurtled towards Wonder Girl and smashed into her. She tried to block it with her bracelets, but that was of no use against this spell.

Even in the fury of her wounded pride, Circe did not try to dominate Wonder Girl's mind again, as that doltish old mage had done. The very fact that it had been tried before should have told her what a mistake it was. Her mind control mostly worked on men anyway. Instead she tried to take some of Wonder Girl's godly power for her own.

It wouldn't be much, of course, given the fantastic well of power that Circe now knew Wonder Girl to have, but he hoped it would be enough to turn the tide.

Wonder Girl writhed and struggled against the spell, but to no avail and Circe felt the rush of power. "You're mine now, child," she crooned, using some of the power to heal her nose. "Don't resist. Come to Circe..." the witch moved closer, twitching her hands, increasing the flow. She felt the warmth of the stolen power in her chest. so exhilarating, so exciting!

Wonder Girl floated, shuddering helplessly.

Circe smiled in triumph and moved closer yet. "Gods, such power! Such power..." She was gaining more of it from the spell than she had dared hope. She planted her hands on Wonder Girl's shuddering shoulders, then embraced the brat, taking more of the power faster from the direct physical contact, growing stronger. She was going to win even easier than she had thought. The spell had had a greater effect than she anticipated, and the girl had not the shielding to stop her.

Wonder Girl looked up at her, blearily, trembling still. "I can't...." she murmured.

"No, you can't resist," Circe agreed, she smiled, stroking the girl's hair almost fondly. "So don't try. Give me your power, and you may yet serve me well. I may reward you for your obedience, child..."

Wonder Girl's eyes hardened. "No," she said, and reached out lightning-quick, and did something in her turn to weaken Circe's power.

She ripped the mask away from the witch's face.

Circe screamed in horror and loss. "Give that back!"

She lunged for the mask, but Wonder Girl held it out of reach, then tossed it contemptuously towards the Earth far below.

Circe's hex began to fade, and while she kept the power she had stolen, she knew it would not last. Not if she could not defeat Wonder Girl.

And of course she would; was she not the wiser and more cunning? Her own thoughts were shaky with doubt, now.

Her hands settled around Wonder Girl's throat and began to squeeze. The air was painfully thin up here already; normal folk could not breathe at such an altitude. Even for Wonder Girl, there were limits. Not that she would kill her; no. Not, at least, until she could create and utilize a proper ritual to truly and permanently take her power away. Then Wonder Woman would fall, and then the other heroes--

Her train of thought was derailed as Wonder Girl simultaneously slammed her fists into each side of Circe's head, and her knee came up and slammed into the witch's solar plexus. As quickly as it had come, the power was fading away. "No," Circe wheezed in pain and loss...

-9-

Cyborg and Beast Boy blinked.

Dagon staggered and put a hand to his helmeted head.

The last of the sunlight was fading, and abruptly the trio stopped fighting Starfire and Terra.

"What happened?" Beast Boy asked.

"My head," Dagon groaned.

Cyborg merely sat down and put his head in his hands.

"Donna has done it!" Starfire shouted, fists in the air.

"Good," Terra said. "Cuz I think I'm gonna spend a week in the hospital."

"And I'm afraid I must visit what humans commonly call...the dentist?" Starfire frowned. She had lost two teeth.

"We ain't exactly unscathed on this end either," Beast Boy answered. "But....sorry."

"Forgiven, boy-toy," Terra responded. "But uh, forgive me if I don't hug ya right this second, okay? My ribs...."

"Raven can heal us," Starfire said, then looked around. "Where is she?"

-10-

Kid Flash blinked, his mind clearing. "Whuh...where am I?"

"You are safe, Wallace," Raven smiled, her soul self withdrawing from him. "You are with me. Though the fight between them is not yet over, Donna has turned the tide against Circe, I can sense it. In the process, she freed you and the others."

"Great," Kid Flash said shakily, and clung wearily to her.

They lay on the beach for some time after that, just holding each other.

Eventually they heard Beast Boy's shouts of, "Medic! MEDIC!!"

They looked at each other, rolled their eyes, and went to join the others.

-11-

Now Wonder Girl drove them back down towards the planet.

Now it was Wonder Girl's hands around Circe's throat.

"You tried to take my power," Wonder Girl hissed into the witch's face. "Maybe I should try to take yours."

"You don't....have....the knowledge..." Circe choked out.

"I don't have your spellcraft, that's true. But who knows what I can do now, just by thinking it, just by willing it? But no. I won't sink to your level, and besides, I wouldn't want your foul darkness as a power source anyway."

"And your own power is not?" Circe smiled painfully, knowing where exactly that power came from.

She had scored a point; Wonder Girl frowned unhappily. "I'm not proud of that. But I will turn it to the light, and not darken it by adding your corruption to it."

Circe coughed a weak, derisive laugh....then her long fingernails jabbed at Wonder Girl's eyes. And there was magical power in those nails; she truly meant to blind Donna in that moment.

Donna screamed in rage and let go with one hand, punching Circe in the jaw, over and over and over. Circe struggled, kicking back, and one of her hands found Donna's throat as well. They rotated as they fell, now one having the upper hand, now the other.

But Wonder Girl had the advantage when they hit the water - hit it hard enough to start a tidal wave that would, minutes later, drench the other Titans on the beach. As they sunk into the darkening aquatic depths she maintained that advantage, even as Circe clawed at her face and kicked her as hard as she could. Those attacks did hurt Donna, hurt her badly; but she was determined not to lose the upper hand again.

And Donna did not lose the advantage even when they finally struck the Atlantic basin, more than two dozen miles out to sea.

The impact finally knocked Circe out.

Moments later, Donna--no longer Wonder Girl but something more--broke the surface, and flew towards the Tower, carrying an unconscious, soaked and bedraggled Circe over her left shoulder, the mask of Hectae in her right hand.

The mask called to her, but she did not put it on; she had meant what she said to Circe about not using the dark powers.




-Epilogue-

Some Time Later.... (Note: After the events of the Nemesis storyline have concluded.)

Nightwing smiled and took Starfire's hand. It was good to be back. Whatever else might go on in his life, he knew he could rely on her.

Starfire smiled back and kissed him on the cheek.

Terra still looked a bit pale, but she was recovering, her powers stable once more. They were all recovering, after the latest Crisis. The Crisis of the Black Sun, as they were calling it. Always another big trauma. But somehow they always made it through. Some things never changed.

But some things did. Sometimes people grew up.

They looked up, and saw Donna floating over them. Not Wonder Girl anymore. Now she was something greater, something higher, something amazing. Something cosmic. Something of Godly heritage.

Her costume was made of stars. Stars against a midnight black background, with white boots. It suited her. Made her look....regal. She retained her bracelets, but even these were longer, flared.

"Have you thought of a name for yourself?" Nightwing asked.

"Troia," Donna answered.

She floated over them and landed where Wonder Woman was waiting.

"Donna, you have always been something of a sister to me," she said. "But you have grown into more. Even before the Black Sun Crisis, even before you faced off against Circe, there were things...." she shook herself. "Things I can't properly discuss with you, even now. Things that were part of a possible future you helped avert."

"Really?" Donna raised an eyebrow.

"Really. And I approve your new name. Troia. It fits you, and our heritage and legacy, and your redemption of the source of your power. I have always been proud of you....but now more than ever." They embraced, briefly.

There were no civilian well-wishers or press here, not even those that knew their identities. Presumably Wonder Woman would be taking care of that part later.

What was important was that Wonder Woman had assured them that both Circe and her mask had been locked up, separately, after the havoc of the Black Sun. The witch had grown more and more irrational as that crisis had progressed, and what part of Donna's power she had been able to steal had faded away. Both Amazons and the Titans as well, hoped the Themyscrians could keep her imprisoned this time.

But that was a worry for another day. Troia shot into the air, followed by Wonder Woman, and the Titans applauded.

"Woot, you go girl!" Beast Boy shouted.

Terra whistled with both thumbs up.

Cyborg grinned, arms crossed.

"Excellent," said Dagon.

"Her prowess as a warrior recognized," Starfire said.

"You're amazing!" Kid Flash shouted after them, healed up at last.

Next to him, Raven merely smiled.

"Congratulations Donna," Nightwing said, softly, but he knew she would hear.

"They are truly proud of you, as they should be," Wonder Woman said.

Troia smiled, and flew into the bright new day.

END