Wonder Woman #26: "The Dead-Beat"

Battle weary, drained of everything, she trudged upwards, toward the world above. The Mother Box was scorched and burnt out, yet she still held on to it tightly, and she had no idea what she would do next. Her mission was complete. Granny Goodness was driven from the world, but however long that would last, she didn't know. At least... She was given something to think about before she left, thought Wonder Woman as she sighed.

"Diana," The Phantom Stranger walked toward her slowly. "I was just coming to--"

Diana put up her hand. "It is done." She walked past him, and he turned slowly, following her with his pale blue eyes. "It's done." He didn't say anything in reply. He just followed behind her, the silence between them so loud.

Home. Themyscira welcomed it's Queen with open arms, instruments playing and a feast declared. Diana smiled weakly as Phillipus greeted her on the steps of the palace. "My Queen, it has been too long!" She placed a hand on one of the Amazons who passed by. "Lara, prepare our Queen's bath, will you not?" The Amazon nodded, and then Phillipus turned to Wonder Woman, leaned to her ear and whispered: "I will call off the feast. Are you well?"

Phillipus knew her too well. "I am tired, Phillipus. Do not call off the feast, it would suit me well to be surrounded by my sisters." They walked through the winding, marble corridors, Phillipus nodding as Diana told her of Athena's mission for her champion. As they approached Diana's chamber, a voice interrupted them:

"Wife."

Diana turned and was met by Hippolytus, her cousin and husband*, and King of the Amazons. "Husband" He was taller than she remembered. His long, blonde mane hanging behind his head, his beard thick and full. "I hope you have been well in my absence?"


He didn't reply. Instead, he embraced her tightly, surprising the exhausted Amazonian as his massive arms wrapped themselves around her. "I have missed you." The hug lasted too long, and Hippolytus suddenly withdrew. "You will have to tell me of your adventures in your 'Man's World'." He smiled. "Enjoy your rest."

As he walked away, Diana turned to Phillipus. "Is he alright?"

"He craves adventure." She laughed softly, and this too surprised Diana. "He is of Royal Blood." She searched for the words. “I think he wishes to join you in Man’s Word. He is a born warrior and there is no war for him here on Themyscira.”

“He wishes to join me?” Diana contemplated this idea, and then smiled. “I would not be saddened by that notion.”

“I’m sure,” replied the General with a wink. “He has been reading the great philosphers of Man’s World… Aristotle, Kant, Jung… It was surprising to witness. Donna Troy visits regularly with books, and he absorbs them like no other. He reminds me of you during your tutelage…” She laughed. “Will wonders never cease, eh, sister?”

Diana shook her head, and entered her chambers. "Has everyone gone mad in my absence?!" The two old friends shared a long laugh, and Phillipus excused herself.

Alone, Diana placed the Mother Box on the desk, built by the finest carpenters of Themyscira three hundred years ago, and stared at it for a moment, lost in thought. She would have to go to the League, maybe have Ray examine it. But not right now, she thought, as she removed her battle stained costume, and slipped into the especially prepared bath. All her problems drifted away as the soft scent of rose petals filled her nostrils. Her problems left her. Closing her eyes, she relaxed completely.

Marianne Lewis lay on her back in her psychiatrist's office, her eyes closed. She'd been having the nightmares again. The pills her previous psychiatrist had prescribed for her no longer worked, and so she thought it best to get a second opinion. Doctor Preston came highly recommended. "Umm... I've not done this in a while, what do you..."

"Tell me what's wrong with your life."

She was struck at the sheer weirdness of his wording, but he was the psychiatrist, and she replied. "Well, I've been having nightmares again."

"Again?" Marianne could have sworn she heard the smacking of lips. "Oh, do tell."

She pressed her eyes together tighter, remembering. "I'm being chased inside a library. I can't... Find anyone. But if I scream I can hear people shushing me. It's awful. And I wake up and I realise I've been sleep walking again. I'm in the kitchen or nearly out the door. Like I said, they've just started happening again, and I don't know why."

"Areeeeee you under any stress?"

"No. I don't think so. I might need a stronger prescription or--"

"Excuse me?" She opened her eyes, and he was out of his chair. "Excuse me, are you the highly paid, highly trained, highly talented psychiatrist? I'll be the one to decide if you need a stronger prescription or anything of the sort! Now, close your eyes. Usually we can sort this kind of thing out with a bit of reinforcement therapy. "She did as she was told, outraged, but he was the highly paid, highly trained, highly talented psychiatrist. "Don't forget drop dead handsome."

"What?!" Her eyes opened as she wasn't in the office of her psychiatrist anymore. She was... "Oh. Oh, God." She was in the library. And she heard it. Coming at her. Headed straight for her. "No!"

"Shush!" a small man put his finger to his mouth as he walked by past the aisles that Marianne was between. He vanished deeper into the library.

"HELP ME!" She followed him, but heard the thumping footsteps of the thing behind her. "Oh GOD!" She ran as fast as she could. Her screams were met by the louder 'shushing' by those unseen people around her. "HELP! HELP!" She screamed and she screamed and then--

"NO!" He hit the brakes as hard as he could, but it was too late. She had came out of nowhere, ran straight into the road and now she was. She was. She was. "Oh. Oh. God." He climbed out of the car, ran to the back of his vehicle, and she lay there, writhing in agony. "What did you... What did you... Why did..."

"Huhhh heeeelp me..." She spasmed, and then her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

"Oh, God."

Her doctor looked out from the office. He was a tiny, ugly man. He looked back at the secretary, gibbering and drooling over her desk, pulling out her hair, and he looked behind her, where the real psychiatrist was sitting clawing at his face. He smiled. "A job well done. Well. Onward and upward..." He bowed at the two, and then walked down the street, into obscurity.

"Tell us again of how you battled the Doctor 7 villain*! And this ‘Overmaster’**!" Hippolytus took a gulp of his ale, and grinned. This had been the grandest banquet that they'd thrown on Themyscira for months, and every single citizen of the island was here, apart from those on watch at Doom's Doorway. It was a time of celebration, as it had been too long since they’d had Diana amongst them.


“Husband, I couldn’t possibly--” The sky was lit by the stars, and the warm island air made it a wonder for Diana to behold, but the night was wearing on, and Diana would soon have to return to Patriarch's World. She was out of uniform for the first time in what felt like forever. And forever, she thought, could feel like a long time for an Amazon. She wore her flowing royal robes, starkest white against the dark blue sky above.

“I insist!” She thought back to her Justice League responsibilities… It was her turn on monitor duty, so while there was the finest of Themysciran sweet wines available to her, she hadn’t been drinking. Every now and then she looked to Phillipus, who was muttering to herself. Diana smiled at her when their gaze met, and Phillipus just nodded. Diana brought her goblet to her lips, and feigned drinking. She was not thirsty, but she had to keep up appearances... She sighed as she lowered the goblet back to the banquet table. Had things really changed in her absence from her home? Maybe it was time to pull back from her duties as Ambassador, especially considering that Hippolytus would be journeying to Patriarch’s World too…

"No, no, husband, enough of my stories." She dabbed her lip, and stood, her arms raised. She had been seated at the head of the table, next to her, Hippolytus, and from then the entire nation of Amazons had been seated all around. Numerous tables held numerous sisters of Diana, and they were all within range of her hearing. "It is has been a good night, has it not?!"

There was a cheer as goblets were raised.

"As is every night on Themyscira! As is every day! We are all proud to call ourselves Amazons!"

Another cheer, louder, prouder.

"My mother would be proud of the example we set today." She paused, momentarily, and Hippolytus noticed, and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, and smiled. "And would be proud of the example we set tomorrow! Now, raise your cups, and let's show Apollo we're still here!"

The island shook with the howls of jubilation.

“Yes, drink up, Amazons!” Phillipus rose from her seat, and Diana looked at her, bemused and smiling.

“Phillipus, are you well?”

“I am indeed! But you made a mistake there, Diana. You see… I’m not Phillipus. And what you’ve all been drinking? That wasn’t just wine…” She clicked her fingers, and the Amazons gasped inwardly, their bodies seizing up. Diana, on instinct, reached for her lasso, and then froze in place... She could still move, but something had frozen her sisters in place, and she wasn’t about to leap into something without knowing what. She stood frozen, and watched as ‘Phillipus’ continued. “… The fun you can have with the right selection with herbs, and the right incantation.”

Wonder Woman continued to play along, feigning paralysis: “What… Have… You… Done… To… Philli… Pus?”

“I put her in a cage, along with another one of your sisters. But I guess you deserve to see me in all my glory…” Phillipus took something from behind her back, and placed it on her face. Diana knew what it was. The Mask of Hecate. That meant only one thing. As her General raised her hands, and purple energy swirled around her body, cascading across her limbs and sparking off the floor, Diana instinctively knew who she was up against. Her grip tightened on the lasso. Her muscles relaxed. The truth, she thought, the truth is… I can move just fine. The truth, she thought, is what I make it. The truth is, that in a moment’s time, when she stands revealed, I’m going to hurt her for hurting my friend.

The light show faded, and Phillipus was gone. In her place, standing tall and looking as elegant as ever, was Circe. She stood on the table that the paralyzed Amazons were sat around, and stretched her self around. “Mmmm. It feels good to be back in my own skin. Your General is coarse. I like my..” She smiled, “softness.”

“Hhh.”

“I’ve come a long way since that jaunt on Aeaea*, don’t you worry.” She smiled, the power at her fingertips tangible. “Did you miss me, Wonder Woman?” Circe grinned, and she hopped down from the table. “Honestly, Diana, did you miss me?”


There was a lingering silence before Diana replied. “…No.”

"And that’s not a lie, is it? Because we all know about you and your relationship with the truth…” She laughed. More a cackle than anything else. Her purple hair rustled in the gentle wind offered by the island. “You remember this, don't you?" She placed the Mask of Hecate before Diana's face, and the Queen grimaced. "Yes, you do, don't you? We played a very fun game that day, all that time ago*. You wanted something, I wanted something, and you refused to play along, didn't you? Oh, what fun we’re going to have together. First I take your body as my own, you trapped within mine, and I slaughter all you precious Amazons! You shouldn’t have played games with me, should you, Princess? And with your Amazons dead you’ll be nothing at all. Your hands covered in the blood of thousands. And when that deed is done, I’ll simply return you to your own body, and cast you into a thousand oblivions.” Circe took a small pouch from her belt, and grinned, a glint of obsidian visible as she opened it up. “Hades’ Tear. A vortex to the worst torments you could imagine, all within a tear-drop. Before his death, he dreamed up the worst punishment he could for the worst inhabitants of his realm and it was so horrendous he wept. I was very lucky to acquire it from the new Lord of the Underworld when we met last. My beautiful, demented Ares." She sighed. “If only you hadn’t tormented me, Diana. Then I wouldn’t have to commit genocide” She laughed, and then crouched atop the table before Diana’s face. “Why did you play such a mean game, Diana?”


"Because..." Diana choked, and didn't finish her sentence.

Circe leaned in. "Because what, Amazon?"

Wonder Woman headbutted Circe squarely in her perfectly formed nose, and the sorceress screamed as blood lapped down her face. "Because you're an idiot. A poor, naive, idiot." She smiled, as she pulled her lasso in front of her, reading for battle. "And you were so transfixed on me playing along with whatever game you were playing, that you didn’t notice that I wasn't drinking."

Circe threw up her hand, and Wonder Woman was tossed up into the air. "Eeehhhyyyyahhh..." The sorceress clutched her face, wincing. "Oh, damn." She whispered a healing spell, her nose wrenched back into place, and then she looked up to where she had thrown Diana. “You pay for that now!” She blinked. “Where’d you go, you little bi--”

A fist connected with the back of Circe’s head, sending her reeling forward. She gasped, and then grabbed a small satchel from her belt, and threw it to the ground. Giant golems of rock and dirt began to grow. “Oh.” Diana pulled her lasso free, and began to whip it about, the length of rope swinging audibly faster as Diana grit her teeth. “Catch.” The lasso tore through the stone and muck as she let it loose, and Circe shrieked in anger, her head throbbing.

“I’m going to kill all your sisters, Diana! For this… this… humiliation!”

“You don’t know the meaning of the word,” snarled Hippolytus, still groggy from the poisoned ale, as he stalked toward her. He’d been waiting for this opportunity for years. Before he reached Themyscira, she had captured him, transformed him into a beast-man, and if it wasn’t for Diana he’d still be there, a shade of the man he was now*. He’d been waiting for this opportunity for years. “But I’ll show you.”


She spun around, her eyes wide, and then began to smile smugly. “Oh, if it isn’t the lion-man. Want me to stroke behind your ear? Or are you going to try and stop me?!” She cackled manically. “Ha, don’t make me laugh, animal.”

He ignored her, pulling his sword from his side and continuing toward her. A golem howled with unnatural tones as it drove forward toward him, but Hippolytus roared loudly, his sword singing as he leapt upward, and sliced down the middle of the creation. “I’m not an animal, Circe!”

Circe grinned, and tendrils of purple light whipped out from her finger tips, and lashed down across Hippolytus’ chest, tearing flesh and cloth off of him. “I’m going to put a collar on you, lion-man. You can sleep at the end of my bed.”

Diana shot down from the sky, and slammed into Circe, who at the last second before impact wove a protection spell. “Quiet.” She raised her fist but Circe just spat, and a tidal wave of force pushed Diana once again up into the sky. Diana had looped her lasso around the wrist of Circe without her noticing, however, and the sorceress too was pulled into the sky. Diana wrenched hard on the lasso, and punched Circe in the jaw as she came close. “Sleep now.”

Circe hit the floor hard, and Hippolytus trudged toward her as the golems disintegrated. He raised his sword as he approached her, and Diana flew down. “Now you’ll pay, witch.”

Circe smiled and raised the Mask of Hecate to her face. “No, my fierce little darling, you will.”

Diana reached out, but there was a flash of purple, and Hippolytus arched back, the sword falling from his hand. “Cousin!”

Hippolytus looked at her and then leaped at her, his hands around her throat. “I won’t let go, Wonder Woman.” His grip tightened. “I’m going to kill you now.”

“Hhhhhk…” Diana had no leverage. Circe-- possessing Hippolytus’ body-- was atop her sternum, his hands like a vice around her throat. Her lasso was out of reach, dropped in Circe’s attack, and… his muscles were like steel... She flipped her legs up, and grabbed him around the neck, flipping him over. She took a breath, a hesitation in the attack, and drove forward, then slammed her fists into his face. “You… Give my cousin… My husband… Back his body…”

“Oh, you call him husband, do you?” Circe laughed with Hippolytus’ throat. “You never truly thought him as such though, did you? You never consummated your marriage-- Truly.”

“Nor would I have expected her to. It was a marriage of convenience.” Circe spun around to be confronted by her self, and an obsidian whirlwind began to form in her hand. “And this, I believe, is yours.” Hippolytus, as Circe, had unleashed Hades’ Tear. And it was headed straight for the body-swapping sorceress.

“No--!” Circe reached out, and Hippolytus grabbed her, pressing the sliver of magic to her chest, and as the cyclone of power engulfed them, Diana reached out for her husband--

Hippolytus held fast to Circe, and Diana could hear his final words as he faded from existence. “To die will be an awfully big adventure…”

There was a scream of something unearthly as the void sealed shut, and Diana stood, her robes torn, her eyes wide and full of grief. “Hippolytus?” She fell to her knees, and dug her fingers into the dirt. An emotion permeated the island, and a rain of sorrow began to fall. The Amazons, separated from Circe’s influence, were coming too, all having witnessed the battle, and went to comfort their Queen. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and stood. “We must find Phillipus and whoever else Circe dug her claws into. Search the island. Check with the watch at Doom’s Doorway, see who is here and who is not. Now is not the time for mourning.” She grit her teeth, and went forward to with the search.