“When I was a child there were many witches, and they bewitched both cattle and men, especially children”Martin Luther
“They finally decided she was a witch.”Tom Jaine
-1-
It had been two weeks since the Titans had wrapped up their affairs in the HIVE base. They still had found no sign of Rose or those who had spirited her away. Oh, they had found traces of her, and of the jet that she and her two unknown friends had gotten into—and how had it landed in the Rocky Mountains so smoothly?--but after that the trail went dry.
Dick could have followed it, yes...if he wasn't busy with both day-to-day Titans operations and Batman stuff back in Gotham. But he would have followed up on Rose by now....if not for Gotham. And it was Gotham that claimed his attention now.
“As usual, Donna's in charge until I get back,” he said to the crowded room. “I may be gone as long as two weeks, but I hope to be back sooner. No guarantees. Gotham is really hectic right now. Jason...” he cut himself off. “A lot of stuff going on right now,” he repeated. “Call me if it's an emergency, but if in doubt, let Donna handle it. She's more than capable.”
Donna hugged him. “Come back as soon as you can. It's really too bad Batman can't 'allow' some more help in 'his city'.”
“The thought has crossed my mind more than once. But things being the way they are right now, especially in the Twin Cities.....more costumes isn't going to help. At the moment. I may change my mind....”
“But don't hold our breaths,” Donna finished for him. “We know.”
“We'll look for Rose when I get back. But again, no guarantees.” He waved, and the others said their goodbyes.
He had to take the motorcycle back to Gotham, as Wally was still in no shape to do much of anything. The events in the HIVE base had only exacerbated his injuries. Raven had done her best to get him back into shape, but he was still a good ways away from active duty.
So the others listened as Nightwing's cycle roared to life and faded away.
There was a brief pause, then without further ceremony Donna walked to the center of the room. “As much as I would like to look for Rose, I don't want to split the team or leave New York to search for her without more information.”
“Clearly, she was comfortable with whomever she departed with,” Raven said. “I could sense that much.”
“And those others? What could you sense from them?” Donna prompted.
“I didn't get much. One was cold and stern, yet protective of her. The other was thoughtful and patient, and very caring. Both of them were more concerned with her, than us. They were not allied with Deathstroke, I can tell you that much.”
Donna frowned. “Yes, and he got away clean too. I don't like that much, either.”
“Not the first time,” Beast Boy muttered.
“Don't seem to be right to be just sitting here in the Big Apple waiting for something to happen instead of looking for Rose,” Terra said. But she said it softly, eyes cast down.
“You miss her, I know,” Donna said. “I do, too. But right now we can't go hunting for her. As for nothing happening here, don't worry. Something always does. Something will find us, sooner rather than later.”
-2-
“Right you are,” Circe agreed, watching Donna in her scrying pool from an age away.
It had been a long haul for the sorceress. First she had been trapped in the tear of Hades with Hippolytus, and in her escape she had lost her mother's mask. That loss hurt her dearly. Nor could she find it now, it was lost to the winds of time and had a will of it's own. It was hers by right, and she wanted it back.
But first she had helped Ares against Kronus, however reluctantly. She was tired of celestial politics, so much was certain.
But those celestial politics had revealed, amongst other things, that Donna Troy, Wonder Woman's faithful pupil, was in fact a daughter of the Titans of Myth. Circe found this information very interesting. Very interesting indeed.
There was no point in trying to take that power from her; an old fool mage had already tried that, she knew. Nor to make her a pawn, that also had been tried. But to best her by wit, wile and combat, break her spirit, prove herself greater than her....yes...that would be a fine task. Which would lead in turn to her besting Wonder Woman and recovering her mother's mask. Not necessarily in that order.
But it would begin with Donna. Yes, with the apt pupil it would begin.
After the chaos of Kronus' attempted takeover, she had fled to her own mythical island, which was in some ways still an age away from the mortal world, and gathered her power and her strength. But now it was time to return to the world. Time to strike.
Donna was with the Teen Titans (Circe's lip curled in a sneer at the very thought of those children taking that name), their nominal male “leader” had left, and they had lost another member recently as well, and their speedster was still weak with injury. Yes. She would defeat Donna and her little friends as well, maybe kill one or two, prey on Donna's doubts about her heritage, and her victory would be final.
"The beginning of the end of the champions of the Themyscria is nigh,” Circe whispered to herself, smiling. She would strike when she was strong and Donna was weak. Weak...but not without friends she could use as playthings.
Circe made the relevant gestures. Arcane symbols glowed in the air, and turned into a portal, which she stepped through.
-3-
Wally had retreated to the medlab. He had done what he could at the HIVE base, but he was still not yet ready to return to duty. And as for returning home once he was.....the political situation....it didn't bear thinking about.
Raven came in. She said nothing, but reached out and took his hands. He squeezed them, perhaps a little too tightly. But Raven only smiled and squeezed back.
“Rachel,” he began, using her real name, “I think maybe we should talk about--”
“When you're well, Wallace,” she said. “Not before. When you are healed fully, I will be more than happy to pursue our relationship as far as you wish. But not while you are still in such physical pain.”
He nodded, squeezing her fingers more tightly.
She didn't object. Instead she said, “As for your emotional pain for what has happened in those cities you call home, we can certainly talk of that now all you want....”
-4-
Circe's first thought had been to perform some minor act of vandalism somewhere in New York, not exactly near the tower but close enough to lure the Titans out. But she quickly dismissed the idea. Behaving in such a way is exactly what the Titans would expect and were used to, and typical of her as a manipulator. Too typical. Not that she wouldn't mind lulling them into a false sense of security, but she wanted to catch them flat-footed from the start. Just because she was confident that she could beat them, did not mean she would dismiss their abilities out of hand. Certainly not Wonder Girl's; the awesome source of her power was what had called her attention in the first place. And she knew enough of the others to realize they would not be easy.
Still, her fingers were itching with sorcerous power; the need to turn some New Yorkers into fighting animals to assist her, or simply into hapless beings to taunt the Titans, or just call monsters from other planes, was an ache so strong it was almost physical. Generally, she needed her own doctored food and drink to turn men into beasts. There were other ways to do it, but they took more of her power. And she'd need all her power to face Wonder Girl.
Not just Wonder Girl, she corrected herself. Child of the Titans of Myth. Potentially more powerful than Wonder Woman herself. Her power could be....no, stop it. Think like that and she'll beat you. Do the unexpected. Change the rules.
Ignoring a few cat-calls from men on the street, Circe moved towards Titans Tower.
-5-
Wonder Girl sat on the roof of Titans Tower, eyes closed, soaking in the sun rays. It was a slightly cold day, but that didn't bother her.
Physical stuff was easy.....it was the mental and emotional issues that were hard.
She had tried not to think about Kronus. Tried hard. But her father was a Titan of Myth. Not just any Titan of Myth, but arguably the worst.
And she was supposedly all the good in him.
She had busied herself with helping Wonder Woman, and the Titans. The whole Rose Wilson affair had kept her mind busy. For a while.
For a while.
She was supposed to be leading the team right now. She had always been the unofficial second in command, and had filled in for Nightwing before. But now...
...now things were different.
Sighing, she decided to go back downstairs and organize a patrol. Nightwing was more into training sessions, but she--
Her train of thought was cut off as abruptly every window in the tower was blown out. At once. She wasn't hurt, but her boots and the leggings of her jumpsuit were ripped.
She sprang into action immediately, flying up into the air and into the tower. Quickly, she found the others. Starfire and Cyborg were unhurt; Raven and Kid Flash were located in the medbay, which had no exterior access and no windows. There was glass in there, but Raven had shielded Kid Flash form it and was not affected herself. Terra and Beast Boy were cut but not seriously. Dagon had been “sleeping” in his room; now he was grumbling and slapping on the helmet Raven and Cyborg had made for his daylight operations.
“Wonder Girl,” a voice drawled.
She froze, she knew that voice.
“Bring your little friends out to play,” the voice continued.
“Circe?” Wonder Girl flew out of the shattered Tower windows and stared down at the witch, who stood with feed apart and a smirk on her face. “What is this? A direct attack isn't like you; too brave. Or do you think I'm not anywhere near Wonder Woman's power level, even with the Titans at my back?”
Circle laughed, a musical yet unpleasant sound. “Not at all, Donna Troy. On the contrary, I know the source of your power. I learned of it not long after you did.” Her eyes gleamed and she showed her teeth in a cold grin. “It interests me.”
Wonder Girl's eyes bugged out, but to her credit she remained calm. “So you come at me head to head, without your precious mask? Have you lost what mind you had, acting like some common supervillain? You've been in Man's World too long.”
“You should talk,” Circe returned.
A rock came flying at her from behind, but without even turning to look at it, Circe waved a hand and it crumbled to dust. “Tell the little elementalist to come out here. And all your other friends too.”
“They'll come when they're ready. In the meantime perhaps you should worry about me.”
“Be assured, Troy,” Circe responded, “That I am taking you seriously. Very...
very...seriously.”
The witch didn't blast Wonder Girl, didn't pull any kind of transformation or summoning tricks. Instead she simply flew at her, hands glowing with purple power.
Wonder Girl barely held Circe back, fingnails like talons clawing for her face. What had gotten into the witch? This wasn't her normal style at all, attacking like some mindless brute.
Then she realized.
The Black Sun. It was all connected. The strange detachment of Terra's powers; the trials she herself and Wonder Woman had already faced, Superman, Aquaman, the swamp elemental...it was all slowly but inexorably coming together. Slowly but surely coming to a head.
“Circe, listen to me,” Donna said, holding the witch back with her strength, locking eyes with the ancient legendary spell-caster. “This isn't you. Ever since Gaia--”
“I know that!” Circe screamed, knocking her back. “Don't you think I know that?! I understood that long before you precious heroes did!”
“But it's still affecting your mind,” Wonder Girl pleaded. “Still--”
“SHUT UP!” Circe flew at her again, and Wonder Girl rushed to meet her.
No more playing around.
The others understood and took this as their signal to move. Dagon was first, he looped around with his spooky speed and caught the witch from the side. But with his helmet on he couldn't bite the witch, limiting one of his offensive weapons.
He clawed at her anyway as Wonder Girl also crashed into Circe. The impact knocked him away, but he was immediately up again.. Cyborg and Starfire were next into the fray; the Tamaranean's starbolts neutralized by Circe's sorcerous energies. Wonder Girl got in two solid hits on the witch, who then dissapeared in a puff of purple smoke.
“Her timing couldn't be worse,” Terra said, coming out of the tower, a cut on her cheek.
“Isn't that the way it usually works?” Beast Boy came out behind her in the shape of a crocodile.
“I think she's lost it,” Wonder Girl said, standing up. “And she knows about my....my origins.”
They considered that for a moment, then there was a scream from inside the tower. A very distinctive scream.
“Raven!” Wonder Girl flew back inside.
-6-
Raven had been shielding and healing Kid Flash, but now she was locked in struggle with Circe.
“You have power,” the witch admitted as she struggled with Raven's soul self, “But you lack the experience or drive to wield it properly. Too afraid of your father's lineage; which, I must say, is interesting by itself. I really should have looked in on you children sooner; Wonder Girl aside, you are a fascinating troupe of brats!”
“I have faced sorceresses before,” Raven countered, slamming Circe against the wall with her soul-self.
“Enchantress? Please.” Circe kicked both Raven and her soul self away. “Not even in my league. And you couldn't even beat her...because then, as now, you refuse to embrace your father's power as you should.”
Raven said nothing as her soul self vied with Circe's purple energy.
“But then, if you
did embrace that power, you'd be with him and not here, wouldn't you? Oh, and don't worry about your boyfriend. He's so weak and helpless, he's not worth even touching until I've finished with the rest of you.”
Wally tried to get up, but Circe almost casually swatted him aside, and this was what provoked Raven to scream.
As she went to Kid Flash, distracted, Circe's powers thrashed into her, and she screamed again, collapsing.
Wonder Girl and Dagon were first in the room, but Circe caught each of them by the throat, laughing.
Overconfident laughter. Dagon clawed her arm, weakening her grip, and Wonder Girl, having had more than enough of this game, hit her full in the face with a hard punch.
A punch that sent Circe through the wall and into the rec room. Terra was waiting for her there, pummeling her with rocks until she was knocked all the way outside, through the shattered windows and down the beach, into the water.
“You bore me, earth-shifter,” Circe said, and shot Terra with a bolt of purple lightning. Terra screamed and collapsed.
“I wonder how the blood of a centuries-old witch tastes,” said Dagon.
Circe's only answer was to slap him so hard he lost a tooth and landed hard on the sandy beach.
Cyborg barreled into her. “Wonder Girl's right, rough stuff isn't your style.”
“Oh, how little you know of me,” she countered, kicking him off.
Starfire was in her face again, hurling a hail of starbolts, and Wonder Girl was right behind, ready to continue the physical contest. Circe was forced onto the defensive.
“Very well then,” she hissed, and chanted words of power. A quartet of mythical beasts materialized around her. “I didn't want to use the 'sneaky tactics' you all so loathe from me, but it seems I must live down to your expectations.”
Beast Boy came charging out in the form of a cheetah.
Circe sneered. “You want to be an animal? So be it. WORM!” The purple blast of energy hit Beast Boy.
Circe frowned and concentrated. It was difficult for her to do this without potions or tainted food, and without her mother's mask, but she would do it...
...except that Beast Boy was only a worm for a handful of seconds, then shifted to a giant elephant. “Animal forms are my power, your royal purpleness!” he shouted, charging at her. “Your jedi mind tricks won't work on me!”
Circe stared in angry disbelief, then set the mythical beasts on him.
Beast Boy didn't know what to call them. One of them looked vaguely like a chimera; the others were totally unrecognizable. But clearly he would have a problem taking on all four at once.
Dagon was stirring, but feebly; and Terra was out like a light. Kid Flash was still down inside the Tower, and would be walking wounded even if he got up. Raven was only now coming out of the shattered Tower, shaking her head.
So Wonder Girl, Cyborg and Starfire came in at the witch directly. Circe was able to counter Starfire's starbolts and Cyborg's white noise cannon, but not the hard kick from Wonder Girl that connected with her chin.
Circe flew back into the water with a loud and, to her mind, somewhat embarrassing splash.
These brats are right about one thing, at least, she admitted ruefully to herself.
I must revert to more traditional tactics.
Wonder Girl advanced on her, but suddenly the entire area was cloaked in mist. She grit her teeth and dived right in.
Raven was healing Dagon and Terra. “Ow,” Terra muttered.
“I shall help Wonder Girl with Circe. Rescue Beast Boy.” Raven plunged after Donna into the mist.
They could still hear Beast Boy struggling with the mythical monsters. Cyborg and Starfire were helping him, but they were still outnumbered, four to three. Terra cursed and shot towards them on a rock.
“This,” Dagon said chasing after her, “Is going to be a long day.”
Continued...
