Post by starlord on Jul 21, 2009 15:10:46 GMT -5
Teen Titans
[/b]Issue #42: "When Circe Comes Calling..." part 2
Story by: Jay McIntyre
Cover by: Jamie Rimmer
Edited by: Brian Burchette[/center]
“TOIL and grow rich, what's that but to lie with a foul witch and after, drained dry, to be brought to the chamber where lies one long sought with despair.” William Butler Yeats
“Pale hands I loved beside the Shalimar, / Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell?” Laurence Hope
-1-
Wonder Girl and Raven plowed into the mist. "Can you see her?" Wonder Girl asked.
Raven's eyes stared into the mists. "She has crafted several illusions of herself. I cannot clear her mists entirely, but perhaps enough to provoke her..." she trailed off, not needing to entail the risks involved in doing that. They had already seen what Circe did when enraged.
Wonder Girl weighed the risks in her mind, then nodded. "Do it."
Raven closed her eyes and concentrated, and slowly the mists about them began to clear.
In the middle distance, they heard Circe scream with rage, and then she chanted Words of Power, casting another spell. Before they could pinpoint her, the incantation was complete.
A giant snake materialized above them, blotting out the sun and mitigating what little mist-clearing Raven had been able to effect. Wonder Girl flew up to meet it, but before either could properly react, it lunged down and swallowed both of them with one gulp.
-2-
Beast Boy was struggling with the Chimera-esque creature, Starfire was blasting a round-looking thing with an impressive maw, and Cyborg was holding the remaining two brutes at bay by his robotic strength alone. But he was weakening.
"Get off him!" Terra screamed and hurled a rock storm at the Chimera-wannabe. "Off! Off! Off!"
Dagon slammed into one of the two brutes facing Cyborg, leaving only one for the big man to deal with. The vampire's helmet was still on, and Raven had healed him, but even so he had no problem admitting (to himself, at least) that he was more than slightly shaken up over this.
With Terra's help, Beast Boy was able to match the Chimera-thing, turning into a giant ape to combat it. "I never figured Circe to be the type to play D and D," he remarked.
"Where you think Gygax and all that lot got their info from?" Terra countered, smashing the creature with a giant boulder.
Cyborg picked up "his" monster and slammed it into Starfire's, then he added his white noise cannon to her star bolts.
Dagon clawed and scratched desperately at his. They simply weren't hurting the things fast enough. It stomped him flat into the muddy grass.
-3-
The giant snake didn't have much luck digesting Raven or Wonder Girl. The former simply teleported out, and the latter punched through the leathery hide, killing the creature in the process.
"I'm not impressed, Circe!" Wonder Girl shouted. "Is that the best you can do?!?"
Instantly, a floating Raven tensed. "That may not have been the best thing to say," she whispered.
"No," Circe's voice agreed from the fog. "It wasn't."
A huge sheet of purple energy slammed into them. Wonder Girl had time to get her bracelets up, and Raven used her soul-self for protection, but they felt the power of the blast just the same. Raven was sent flying; Wonder Girl's costume became even more shredded, but she stood her ground, baring her teeth.
Now she could see the witch, smirking in the mist. Wonder Girl flew right at her, only to fly through her, as it was an illusion. Skeletal hands erupted from the shallow sea-bed , trying to drag her down; almost impatiently, Wonder Girl broke the limbs, and carried them, still twitching, in her hands. "When I find you, Circe," she hissed, now genuinely angry, "I'm going to make you EAT these!"
Circe, while not exactly afraid, was certainly impressed.
-4-
Starfire and Cyborg finished off their two monsters, which sunk back into the muddy sand. Terra and Beast Boy likewise destroyed theirs, and it too faded away.
That only left Dagon, who had been fighting alone against the last beast. It had stomped him flat into the sand, but he had turned to mist and then reformed, clinging to it's back, trying to choke its barely-existent neck. As it was daylight, he couldn't take his helmet off and bite the thing. So he sunk his glove-sheathed claws in and hung on for dear life as it tried to buck him off!
"Let go, fang-face!" he heard Terra scream, and jumped clear. A huge boulder slammed into the thing from the side, knocking it down; Starfire finished it off with a torrent of starbolts.
"Don't race into the mist," Cyborg advised. "That's exactly what Circe wants us to do. Starfire, Terra and BB can fly high, give us the lay of the land, and we can find Wonder Girl and Raven that way."
Terra gave a sarcastic salute, and helped Cyborg onto her rock. Dagon couldn't fly, exactly; he could transform into mist, and his senses worked at strange frequencies when he did so. But he didn't want to fly into Circe's own mist while in that form; he had unpleasant notions of what she could do to him if she really set her mind to it.
So he retained his physical form and crouched on the rock behind Cyborg as Terra shot up into the air.
-5-
Inside the Tower, Wally West sat up on the medical bunk.
No, not Wally West. Kid Flash.
He was tired, sick and tired, of being the helpless victim. That wasn't who he was or what he did. Ever since the horror that had befallen Keystone and Central, he had been like this, healing slowly. Too slowly. He still wasn't entirely sure if it was because of the damage itself, or some sort of psychological trauma from the attack and the events that had followed. But either way, he was tired of it.
This was, he was grimly determined, the absolute last time that his injuries would prevent him from doing his part.
(The fact that Raven was responding to him on an emotional and potentially physical level probably had something to do with it, too.)
So he closed his eyes, sat, and focused his will on getting better.
Sick time is over, he thought to himself. No more playing around.
-6-
The skeletal arms, still under Circe's control, still kept trying to bend around and grab at Wonder Girl. She held them full out in front of her.
When a giant octopus tentacle magically erupted from the floor and tried to wrap around her, Wonder Girl.... simply ignored it. Flew right on through. Raven teleported it away.
Finally, Circe appeared in front of her again. Wonder Girl went to smack her with the skeleton arms, just as advertised; but the witch shattered into glass, glass that tried to cut Wonder Girl. She deflected most of it with her bracelets, and some of it damaged the skeletal arms she was wielding; the rest of it just annoyed her.
"I thought you didn't want to rely on traditional tactics?" Wonder Girl shouted as Raven teleported to her side. "If you want to fight, fight!"
"Provoking her may not be the best--" Raven began, then abruptly she keeled over, unconscious.
Wonder Girl was puzzled why Circe didn't do that to her as well; perhaps her own nature prevented it.
Then a shadow fell over her. She looked up, and smiled to see Circe falling out of the sky, coming at her.
She succeeded in smacking the incoming witch with both skeleton arms, as promised, which broke on impact; but this affected Circe not at all, as she slammed Wonder Girl into the sea bed, with an audible splash and BOOM.
The force of the blow caught Wonder Girl by surprise, and she was forced into the sea-ground itself.
Circe's hands found her throat and kept her head underwater, whilst the witched used her magical power to give her the strength to choke Wonder Girl. "Child of the Gods or not," Circe seethed, "You still need to breathe--"
Both of Wonder Girl's boots planted themselves in her midriff, then heaved.
Circe was sent skyward again, shouting in surprise.
Wonder Girl got up and helped a woozy Raven to her feet as the other Titans arrived. Starfire blasted Circe, and Terra added her rocks; a moment later, Cyborg found his range and contributed his white noise cannon.
Circe was hard pressed to hold it all back with her shielding; the purple ball of power brightened and flared as the pressure continued to get to her. Raven's soul self was slowly lifting up to add itself to the equation, and Circe began to panic.
A shockwave of violet energy blasted out, catching them all, but Circe had been forced to sacrifice her shield to unleash it. Some of their attack was neutralized by it, notably Terra's rocks and Raven's soul-self. But Starfire's starbolts and Cyborg's white noise energy continued for a few seconds unabated before the violet shockwave knocked them down; Circe felt those attacks, and they blasted her further backwards into the sky.
All the others were down.
Except Wonder Girl.
Who, once again, stood her ground, arms crossed above her so her bracelets could take at least some of the punishment.
She launched herself into the air and, before Circe could recover, punched her in the face with both fists.
Hard.
KATCHOWWWW.
The shockwave, worthy of the sort of punch Superman would throw when seriously annoyed, sent Circe flying, and half-unconscious. Wonder Girl made to follow, but she couldn't catch up with the force of her own blow to Circe, who vanished from sight, not from any sort of magical trickery but simply because she had been thrown too far, too fast.
Wonder Girl slowed to a stop and stared at her own fists in amazement.
What am I? What am I becoming?
-7-
They gathered on the beach, and Raven healed their wounds, such as they were. The mists were gone and the sun shone down once more. There was no sign of Circe.
"No point in hunting for her?" Beast Boy asked.
"What, and get separated? No, she'll be back," Wonder Girl, said.
"No, Donna. We shouldn't just be sitting ducks for her," Cyborg argued.
"Victor," Wonder Girl put a hand on his arm. "Trust me. If there were a simple way to find her first, I would do it. But there isn't. My own punch sent her further than my ability to pursue."
"I do trust you. I just wanna get to her first."
"Then by all means, scan to your heart's content. I'd love to get the drop on her," Wonder Girl assured him.
They all stared at her then, understanding what she had already understood herself that she was growing, somehow. Becoming more.
Becoming better.
Cyborg nodded, began his scan.
-8-
Circe woke up.
Her head throbbed and she was flying through the air.
She looked down, and saw that she was actually beginning to fall; and that her impact would be very unpleasant.
Specifically, it would be unpleasant to crash land into Spain.
Spain!?
Wonder Girl had hit her that hard?
Circe was impressed that the girl was tapping into her heritage, but this only motivated her to take the girl out. She gestured, and teleported safely to a field; a horse neighed and bolted. She ignored it.
If only she had her mother's mask.... but alas, her scrying for it had not enabled her to find it. Yet she couldn't help but feel it was somewhere nearby.... most frustrating.
In any case, she should go back on the attack before Wonder Girl and her little friends were ready for her. She gestured in the air.... slightly more difficult without her scrying pool, but she knew exactly what she was looking for.... ah. They were on the beach of their tiresome little island (with their even more ridiculous Tower). The cybernetic technomancer was scrying for her, his way, with his in-built machinery (and they called her magics dark! To think!)
She smiled. Well, she knew a way around his detection equipment. Several, actually. And she could...what was the phrase? Oh yes. Get the drop on them.
Chuckling to herself, she focused on Wonder Girl and began to cast another spell....
-9-
"Nothing yet...." Cyborg began.
Suddenly Wonder Girl screamed and fell over. A half-invisible Circe, like some sort of ghost, had her hands embedded in Wonder Girl's back!
Cyborg tried to pull Circe off, but his hands went right through her. Frowning, he backed up and scanned as Starfire's starbolts passed uselessly through the phantom Circe. "It's like she's not there!"
"It's not illusion magic..." Raven said, frowning as she reached out with her soul-self. The dark shadow brushed against the ghostly Circe without effect. "It's like a displacement of some sort. Only as much of her as her as she wants to be here."
Circe laughed, the sound faint. "That's right, fools! You can't hurt me, but I can hurt Wonder Girl.... a lot!"
"Ngghhh...gurrkk....." Wonder Girl's face was red and her jaw was clenched, but she didn't look so much look in pain as frustrated and angry. The others all hovered around, not sure what to do (save Starfire who was still blasting through the transparent Circe, and Raven whose soul-self was still trying to find a way to interact with the witch). But Wonder Girl looked like she had at least some notion of what to do.
"If you can touch me...." Wonder Girl wheezed, "Then...I...can...touch...YOU!"
Awkwardly, she bent forward, dragging a surprised Circe with her, and at the same time lashed out backwards with a boot. The boot connected and Circe was knocked free, and sat on the wet beach.
Circe looked astonished. "You...shouldn't have been able to do.... that...."
"All this ranting about my heritage," Wonder Girl said, turning slowly around and staring holes in Circe, "And it never occurred to you I might actually try to use it?"
Circe shook her head, purple locks flying. "It's not a question of trying. It's a question of knowing how, without even the most basic training! It's not like you'd ask Kronus for help, now is it?" Circe laughed a little, but it was clear that the laughter was bitter, her composure shaken.
"Any readings, Cyborg?" Wonder Girl snapped, not taking her eyes off the enemy.
"Still nothing," Cyborg shook his head.
"Your primitive technomancy cannot match my powers," Circe said smugly. "Technocracy--that is, what you call 'science'--is still thousands of years away from matching the power of magic."
"Lady, I didn't ask for this," Cyborg snarled. "Were it up to me you could have my father on a plate for doing this to me. And magic is not my enemy, just you."
"A modern Frankenstein?" Circe gave a ghostly smirk. "How amusing."
"It is typical of you that you cannot see science as anything but the foe," Raven put in.
"Eh? No no, it is a useful tool, at times. But an inferior one, nonetheless." Circe crossed her arms and smiled smugly.
"Well if science cant touch you...." Wonder Girl reached out and grabbed an astonished Circe by her ghostly arms, "Maybe my heritage can."
She yanked the witch to her feet, and slowly, Circe became flesh before them.
Circe stared in horror. "Impossible!" She blasted Wonder Girl away with an ensorcelled punch.
One of Terra's rocks smashed Circe in the back.
"Insolent earth-shifter! You dare to strike--OOF" another of Terra's rocks smashed into her. "You dare to strike--AUGH" this one pummeled her in the face. "You dare to strike--YEAHH!" Terra shifted the ground under her feet and forced her to land flat on her face.
"ENOUGH!" Circe roared as she bolted to her feet.
Terra was laughing at her, but abruptly she keeled over and threw up.
Circe's rage failed and her face grew sly; she moved closer, fingers twitching as she prepared a spell. "Your powers are tainted by the rising darkness, aren't they, little one?" Circe whispered, beginning to chant.
Terra looked up, glaring, and made to answer, but instead she threw up again.... into Circe's face.
"AUUUUGH!" the witch screamed in disgust in frustration, her spell disrupted. Her next open-handed slap knocked Terra aside, and the earth shifter collapsed.
Beast Boy was there in seconds, taking the form of an Elephant, colliding with Circe with the speed and power of a freight train, then stomping all over her once she was down.
But though he caused her pain, Circe was on to him now. While she couldn't permanently change his form, she could do so temporarily. "Gnat," she spat, and suddenly he was nothing more than a fly. She tried to swat him and crush him, but he buzzed away.
Cyborg knocked her flat with a shoulder-charge, and then he and Starfire were blasting away at her on the ground. The others were closing in.
Circe had spells that would make Cyborg's metal parts rust, and turn Starfire's alien nature against the others, but both of them took time, spell components, focus, and a lack of people attacking her. It would also be much easier.... with her mask.
Enraged and frustrated, she did what she could; which was teleport both Starfire and Cyborg away to random locations. But as she tried to get up, Raven's soul self draped over her.
Circe had seen enough and done enough not to be afraid of Raven's heritage, especially since she knew the empath would not properly use it. But all the same, this surprise attack had not gone well.
And even as she sent lightning crackling through Raven's soul self, she knew Wonder Girl would be waiting to pounce.
She kicked out blindly with both legs, and sure enough, both Wonder Girl and the vampire were there. Both kicks connected, but neither was seriously put off. So she did what she could; making the vampire's undead blood boil in his veins, causing him to scream and collapse, before teleporting away.
Even so, she narrowly avoided another punch to the face from Wonder Girl.
This time, she retreated all the way to her own island, to rest and plan anew.
She needed her mother's mask. Without it, this farce would just continue. Clearly, Wonder Girl was tapping into her godly heritage, on some instinctive level. She needed something to counter that, and the mask struck her as the most likely answer. And besides, she needed it back anyway.
She rested for a time, healing her wounds, drinking her own potions, which when properly mixed could heal instead of harm, and consulting her scrying pool.
It still could not give her a precise location for the mask, but again, she received the distinct impression it was somewhere near the Titans' base. Neither at the Tower, nor in New York City itself...but close.... yes...somewhere close. The larger area of New York State? No. Neighboring New Jersey or Pennsylvania? Again, no. Connecticut, or perhaps even Rhode Island? No...No.....
"The water," Circe whispered aloud. "Somewhere in the nearby Atlantic itself!" She almost punched herself from frustration at what was blindingly obvious after the fact. "I instinctively wanted to lure them into the water.... because that's where the mask was! The Gods must be laughing at me!"
Even with this information, her scrying pool would still not give her the exact location. Fuming, she set off to scour the ocean floor.
-10-
Dagon was still moaning.
Kid Flash looked over at him as the vampire writhed in agony on the next medical bed. At the moment, Dagon was in worse shape than he was. Not as bad as he had been, but certainly far worse off than he was now.
Fortunately, he was responding to Raven's healing arts much more swiftly than Kid Flash had. He would be back on his feet soon.... but probably not in time for the next encounter with Circe.
Starfire had found herself teleported to Wilkes-Barre, in Pennsylvania; Cyborg had been sent even further, to Cincinnati. Fortunately, both had gotten back, and as yet, Circe had not yet struck again.
Wonder Girl was stalking back and forth in the medical bay, black hair flying like a battle banner. Wally had rarely seen her so angry. "When Circe comes back for round three, we will be down another member."
"You sure she won't just call it a day?" Terra asked. Raven had stabilized her condition for the moment; that had been easy. But she would get worse as the mysterious Black Sun continued to grow in power.
Wonder Girl shook her head. "She's obsessed with my heritage and the power it brings. I don't know if she intends to steal it from me or just prove that she can beat me despite my access to it. It might be that she doesn't fully know herself; this rising darkness is clearly messing with her head. But it will take more that to scare her off. And besides," she went on, eyes glinting, "I don't want her to call it a day, I don't want her to run away. I want to catch her. I want to beat her."
"Uh, matter of personal pride?" Beast Boy put in.
Cyborg and Terra tensed, and Starfire actually looked offended on behalf of her friend.
"In part," Wonder Girl admitted. "But also, how many have gotten away lately? We didn't really do much except stir the hornet's nest on that criminal island; that time traveler got away from us, and so did some of the HIVE leadership, not to mention Deathstroke."
"Rose," Terra said in a low voice.
Wonder Girl nodded. "Exactly. We need to show the bad guys they can't just run away after we beat them."
"But you won't," came Circe's voice from outside, strangely amplified.
"X'hal," Starfire spat.
"Here we go," Wonder Girl said, leading the others outside.
Dagon and Kid Flash looked wearily at each other, not saying anything.
-11-
Wonder Girl came skidding to a stop as soon as she saw Circe floating above the waves. Flying wasn't normally one of her gifts. Teleporting into the sky and dropping on them was one thing, flight quite another.
But the reason why was obvious; she had found the mask of Hecatae. It was on her face, and only her eyes could be seen; they glowed unnaturally.
"I did hear," Circe said conversationally, "About that fool mage who tried to posses you. Of course, he lacked my power and means, but even now, as you are tapping into Kronus' power willing or no, that I could hold you."
"Thanks," Wonder Girl said, fists balled up and ready to strike. "Your point, before I smash that mask to pieces?"
Circe's eyes flashed with rage, but she composed herself. "My point was, I had in mind something...ironic, in view of that event. And with the mask, I can achieve it."
As she began to gesture, Wonder Girl flew at her, all the while shouting, "Cyborg, BB, go back inside!"
But it was too late. Cyborg grabbed her legs and threw her into the surf, and Beast Boy loomed over her in the shape of a horrific, tentacled thing; the stuff of nightmares.
"Your men are mine to control," Circe said sweetly. "And they will help me destroy you...."
