3 comments/ 20693 views/ 16 favorites Wonder Woman: The Beastmistress By: Ksennin Based upon the stories featured in the Wonder Woman comic book, Volume Two, issues #17-19, by George Perez and #105-108, by Phil Jimenez. Told now without any damn censoring. The present story is an abridged version. If interested, write the author for an extended version with expanded scenes. ***** PROLOGUE: INTERSECTIONS Wonder Woman stood before the ceiling-high plasteel windows of the Watchtower's observation deck, facing the blue-white orb of Earth, her tall and graceful figure somehow both imposing and crestfallen at once. The war with Imperix was over, and Earth, with the help of Apokolips and various alien factions, had prevailed, but at no small cost. Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons and her mother, had fallen fighting the Imperix probes, and many other amazons had perished when their whole island became a suicide weapon against Imperix himself. Superman walked slowly towards her, and Krypto, his white-furred canine companion, followed at his heels, but the Man of Steel gestured him to remain behind, and the dog, with unique understanding, complied. "From here, Earth appears peaceful," she said. "Unblemished." "Yes, it does." "It's in our hearts where the scars remain." "Diana..." At loss for further words, he placed a hand on her bare shoulder, and she covered it with hers, thanking him in silence. They stood motionless for a lengthy while, until she turned around, her bright eyes moist. She did not speak, choked with emotion. He understood from experience the pain of her loss, and reached out, embracing her. It was uncharacteristic of Diana, always so strong and assured, to seek solace in others, but she accepted the embrace and hugged him back tightly. "I know," he said, stroking tenderly her long, glossy hair. After a few seconds, Diana raised her head, her moist eyes seeking his. Her lips parted hesitatingly. "Kal...?" He drew back, nervously. "Help is needed in the relief efforts." She stepped back and nodded. Both strode out, keeping their distance. Krypto tilted his head to a side, staring with curiosity. The female with the sweet scent was in evident distress. He could easily sense her need, her powerful readiness, and how his master responded to it. Yet they failed to act for no apparent reason. Humans were strange. ****************************************** New York City also showed the scars of war, as Superman flew over the devastated areas. Luthor's government was doing a decent job with the relief efforts, but the Man of Steel wanted to ensure personally that no live victims were still trapped under the debris. Krypto's senses, even more acute than his, were proving invaluable for this. He remained worried about Diana, but knew there was little he could to help her, and his power was more useful here. Just holding her could stir again feelings he preferred not to disturb, and Lois was always very touchy regarding his friendship with Diana. Krypto barked loudly, and Superman followed the noise. Apparently unharmed, a young girl sat on a clearing, surrounded by tons of shattered concrete and twisted rebar. It was strange that his vision had failed to see her until up close. "Everything will be alright." He spoke softly, approaching the girl, smiling to reassure her. The girl looked up with unusual purple eyes, and smiled back. She was clean, too clean for her surroundings. He reached for her, and his hand recoiled at the touch of something enveloping her, a nimbus of strange forces. Krypto barked suddenly, and jumped before Superman an instant before a flash of purple light exploded at them, making the dog yelp and then fall to the ground, dazed. Immediately, something fell on Superman, too fast and noiseless to be human. Sharp claws raked invulnerable Kryptonian flesh, drawing blood, and a long prehensile tail coiled tightly around his neck, cutting off his breath. The creature was fast and strong, and likely magic-powered, which made it more dangerous. But it was not enough. He was Superman. Before the sharp claws could reach his face or abdomen, he flew up, pulling his attacker up with him, and depriving him of leverage before slamming against the concrete slab above them. Grabbing the furry tail at his neck, the Man of Steel, who could survive the airless vacuum of space, pulled the furry being around to face him, and struck with a punch that could shake mountains. The bestial foe cried out in pain, and his clawed limbs flailed at the hero again, but Superman dove down and drove his enemy into the ground at supersonic speed. Superman stood up, removing the now-limp tail from his neck. The unconscious creature was some kind of were-beast, a fur-covered humanoid with feline characteristics. It resembled the Cheetah, Diana's old foe, but male. "Well done!" A deep, musical voice spoke behind him. The girl had changed into a beautiful woman with long, dark hair, and shinning purple eyes. She wore a revealing top, tight leather pants riding low on shapely hips, and a strangely disturbing perfume; everything about her exuded an overpowering sexuality. He stepped back. The trap had become far more dangerous. "Who are you?" "A damsel in distress, obviously," she said with a wide, dazzling smile, somehow much closer to him now. Her eyes were impossibly deep and captivating. "-Who must now give her hero his due reward." She stood on tip-toes to kiss him, pressing her firm body against him, and her blood-red lips were sweet, like roses just past their prime. "Sorry," he said, pushing her away gently. "But I-" "Should have known better than to send a male to do a woman's work, of course." She lifted one finger to his face, running a long fingernail along his jaw line, while her eyes sparkled with unnatural light. "I can see what the Amazon sees in you, but really, you could be so much better..." "Amazon?" Superman asked, confused, his sight clouding. He could no longer hear Krypto's low growl. "Diana-?" She smiled, as darkness began to claim him. "Oh, yes. Diana. We go way back, you know." PART ONE: THE WITCH AND I "And this is Princess Diana of Themyscira," Professor Julia Kapatelis told yet another dignitary in rigorous black-tie. "Pleased to meet you." The young black-haired beauty smiled brightly, extending her hand, her use of newly-learned Modern Greek still flavored by the cadences of her Themysciran dialect. The bald, portly man muttered something inaudibly and took her hand with what appeared almost like awe. His eyes stayed on Diana's large blue eyes, under the perfectly curved dark eyebrows face framing them. Julia smiled. She had to give him credit for staring at her face and not her chest, unlike so many others. But then, everything about Diana was really entrancing. Few were prepared to meet a real royal demigoddess in the flesh. They had been touring Greece for a week now, as part of Diana's official duty as ambassador to the world, delivering her speeches about peace, understanding, and the improving of mankind. At her point in life, Julia no longer believed that words could sway mankind into virtue, even delivered by such extraordinary envoy, but she was glad to accompany Diana, and to help her discover the country where the Amazons had once lived. It was for Julia a return to her homeland, and for Diana, an encounter with her heritage. But for most others they met, it was just a publicity opportunity, or an item of curiosity. "That's the last of the dirty old men," Julia said. "You've given them enough to dream about for the rest of the year." "I thought I had dressed modestly enough." "Well, you tried." Wearing no make-up, Diana was dressed in a white robe covering her from neck to ankles, bound at the hips by looped golden thread, with a length of the same fabric draped over one arm. Her hair was gathered high on her head, calling attention to her graceful long neck. It was supposed to be conservative and discreet, but with Diana's curves pushing the cloth out in all directions, the outfit emphasized more than understated. "Why must so many stare at my chest or behind, Julia? I understand there is a mammalian fixation, but there are others here with breasts larger than mine-" "But they're twice your weight, dear, if not more! It's a matter of context. Your curves, in your frame, make quite a different effect, believe me." Diana pursed her mouth. "I wonder how many men actually listened to my speech during the opening ceremony." "Maybe you just made the message harder to forget." "Really?" "Ah, child, you may be the only girl I've known to be sincerely worried about being too beautiful!" "There are more important things, Julia." "Oh, yes. But then, these are men. They may never realize that." ****************************************** "There she is, Mistress." "Indeed," a deep, musical voice replied, with both curiosity and disdain in her tone. "Must she be destroyed, Mistress?" "Did her buxom charms get to you, as well?" "Mistress, it seems a pity to waste such-" "For once your taste is true. It would be a pity indeed. I must know more. Does the Kapatelis crone go with her everywhere?" "It seems so." "Arrange things, Theophilus. I want to meet her." ****************************************** "Ah, we're so glad that you accepted our invitation, Princess." Theophilus Ventouras smiled broadly, leading Julia and Diana into a room large enough to stage sporting events, where the Amazon's entrance was met by hungry eyes from most of the expensively dressed guests. "You honor us with your presence." "I hope my being here does help your fund-raiser." Diana was radiant in plain white again. "Oh, these are the richest people in Cephalonia and all neighboring islands." He gestured widely. "To meet someone as world-famous as you, they won't mind some fleecing!" "And here I thought the politicians were bad," Julia muttered, uncomfortable in her sober, out-of-fashion dress. As an archaeologist and scholar, she had known her share of obligatory fundraisers, but as the evening went on, her irritation with the superficiality of it all increased exponentially, along with her admiration for Diana's polite patience. She wished that Vanessa, her teenage daughter, had already joined them, as parties were for the young, after all. But perhaps this was the kind of party that Julia did not mind Vanessa missed. "Come, Princess, there's someone else you just must meet." Theophilus led Diana to a secluded corner, taking advantage of Julia being busy at the buffet table. "I'd rather wait for Julia." "Will be just a minute," he insisted, and drew back a curtain that led to a small private room. "Let me introduce to you our esteemed Cassandra Colchis." "Princess Diana, I presume?" The beautiful woman with the purple eyes had a deep, musical voice. ****************************************** When Julia found Diana, the Amazon Princess was busy in fast conversation with someone who was surely a high society heiress, or maybe an actress or model: a dark-haired woman of indeterminate age, dressed in flimsy silk showcasing the length of her legs and the suppleness of her slender frame. Her long hair was bound in elaborate jeweled braids, with many long curling strands archaically decorating her unlined forehead. Most women, no matter how comely, were easily eclipsed by Diana's radiant beauty, but this woman almost held her own. Julia disliked her immediately. "Sorry to interrupt, Diana, but it's late, and-" "Oh, Julia, I'm sorry. I just-" "I'm sure Theophilus will put you... both up for the night." The strange woman smiled. "You have nothing to worry about." "Thank you, but-" "Of course! I already had your things brought over from the hotel," Theophilus stated casually. "And the island ferry left over an hour ago, anyway. I'm afraid you must accept my hospitality." Julia frowned. Something told her she should indeed be afraid. ****************************************** "She's fascinating!" Diana exclaimed. "And so beautiful!" Julia shook her head. It was unlike Diana to behave like a schoolgirl. It was the Superman thing all over again. "I suppose, if you like the slutty type." "Oh, come on, Julia! She-" "I'm sure she was all that," Julia said dryly. "I'm just cranky. It was a long day." "I'm sorry, it was selfish of me." "Oh, please, Diana! It's fine if you meet new people! You shouldn't hang around an old hag like me all the time!" "Really? Why not?" Diana smiled, and bent down to peck Julia on the cheek. "Go on, child, get some rest." Julia smiled as well, her foreboding forgotten. ****************************************** Diana hardly noticed the luxury of the chambers she was given, her mind full of her latest acquaintance. Cassandra Colchis had engaged her in discussion as deep as her lovely eyes, and Diana had felt entranced by the older woman's words as much as by her dazzling beauty. Even the disagreements on gender politics had been stimulating and thought-expanding to the point of being thrilling. Julia had become both her friend and surrogate mother in Patriarch's World, while Vanessa was that newfound wonder, a younger sister, but Cassandra promised to be something else, something that Diana had not found yet in this modern world. Even when the discussion had turned to the gods of Olympus, Cassandra had continued her questions with none of the skeptical unease that all others, even Julia, always showed on the topic, almost like she already believed in their factual existence, before Diana had even spoken to assert it. As Diana undressed, a soft knock sounded at her door, and she ran to open, glad that Julia had decided to continue chatting, full of eagerness to explain in depth her newly rising feelings to her friend and mentor. "Julia, I'm-!" She opened the door, to find a pair of bright purple eyes meeting hers. "I like your choice of bed wear," Cassandra Colchis said with a smile, her eyes moving down to drink of Diana's nudity. "Cassandra?" Diana cursed herself for the stupidity of her question. "What would you think of our hospitality if you were left to sleep in a cold bed, alone?" After a moment's hesitation, Diana merely stepped back, and the other woman followed her into the room. ****************************************** Julia groaned, trying to find a comfortable posture. The mattress was far too soft for her bad back. They had a busy week still ahead. Hopefully they would both get a good night's rest. ****************************************** Their mouths met slowly, tentatively, neither wanting to rush things, letting lips brush slowly and breaths mingle while hands slid gently over soft skin, teasing, hinting at much more to come. Next to Diana's perfect balance of lush voluptuousness and athletic tone, Cassandra was soft and slender, long-limbed and pear-shaped, with small high breasts and dark nipples which soon became hard and compact under Diana's tongue. Yet her wiry strength surprised Diana. She had tried to be gentle at first, knowing that even her un-augmented Amazon strength was far above that of a normal woman or man, but Cassandra had a power in her frame that somehow went beyond the physical. The silken sheets became the battleground for a slow and dreamlike contest of wills and skills, as both women sought to pleasure each other with single-minded devotion, their own pleasures magnified in the mirror of the other's flesh. Unlike the wild urgency of her recent sexual experiences, Diana found instead a soft but powerful assurance of the inevitability of mutual ecstasy that made her long to stretch each instant into lasting forever, to obliterate time itself in the delightful oasis of Cassandra's body. Diana's first orgasm was not an explosion of release, but the first step on a staircase of pleasure that rose higher and higher, and she recognized that her skills at female lovemaking were dwarfed by those of her companion, whose touch seemed to find with magical ease every sensitive spot, to work there with true virtuosity. Even Mala, her fellow Amazon, friend and first lover ever, who had pursued lesbian sex as an art for centuries, could have learned many things from Cassandra. Diana normally took the aggressive role during sex with women, but now she relented, allowing her partner to dictate the pace and direction of their pleasures, yielding gladly to be driven to places of vast, uninterrupted bliss. ****************************************** Julia stormed out of her room, enraged at the news brought by the telephone call. Despite her better judgment, Julia had allowed Vanessa to stay with her Uncle Stavros in Athens for the weekend, to attend a concert at a local festival, and see one of those noisy Euro-pop bands she loved. Stavros was supposed to bring her to Cephalonia today, so they would all travel together by boat to Ithaca, Zante, and the Arcadian and Messenian Gulfs, before flying to the Aegean Islands and Lesbos, where Diana said an Amazon city had once stood. It had all been worked out in detail, but now Vanessa had called saying that Stavros had become suddenly ill, even needing hospitalization, so of course she could not travel on her own. Surely Stavros had overindulged on drink or food, and now the whole schedule was ruined, Julia thought as she barged into Diana's room. "We need to reschedule everything-!" "Oh, hello." "What? It isn't even noon yet!" Cassandra Colchis complained. Julia stared. ****************************************** "But I should go with you." "What for? I just need to check on Stavros and pick Vanessa up. We'll be back in no time, and I'm sure you can use the time to get better acquainted with your new friend." "That is unfair, Julia." Julia tightened her mouth and held back her answer. Of course an island without any men would lead to different practices, and Diana, innocent as she may appear to be, was an adult, and one with greater responsibilities and powers than most. Even if Diana was like another daughter to her, Julia knew she had no right to contest her sexual choices. But still she could not shake off her disappointment and anger. After all, they had just met. And the woman was so obviously a hussy. Did Diana have no standards at all about who she slept with? "Maybe we both need a rest. I could use some time alone with Vanessa, too." She tried to ignore the pain in Diana's eyes as she left. Vanessa idolized Diana. Would finding out about this incident influence her in any way? Julia did not know if she could accept that. ****************************************** Nearby, the woman they knew as Cassandra Colchis smiled. ****************************************** "It's all a matter of chauvinistic possessiveness. Men cannot share, so they must own, control, oppress, and ultimately deny and destroy, what they desire. It's their nature." "But is that solely a male thing?" Diana sat by her new friend and lover at the terrace of the Ventouras state. Refreshments rested untouched at the table by their sides, and the recent calls to attend lunch had gone unheard. "Can women not be equally possessive?" "Not the same way. A woman may develop a bond, an attachment, perhaps with a sense of entitlement, only as part of a process of sharing, where what is asked is just what is offered. Men have no such capacity for deep involvement. They just seek the superficial sense of power, of ownership. They demand and give nothing in return." "That's far too broad a statement! I've known-" "Look at the world, Princess, and tell me if it proves me wrong. Men rule this world, and see how it suffers for it. How can an Amazon not agree?" Wonder Woman: The Beastmistress "The Amazons tried in the past to supplant the rule of men, and paid for their mistake, for becoming just as extremist and narrow-minded as men. Our philosophy has changed. Balance is needed, not an inversion of roles. And balance is born of understanding." "Perhaps. But can a man understand a woman, or even himself? See this world of greed and war. Man would destroy his own future. Are they above the irrational urges of beasts at all?" Diana's reply was interrupted by a sudden explosion, as part of the estate burst into flame, and concussive force threw Cassandra off her chair to the stone-paved floor. "Are you alright?" Diana's question was full of concern as she helped Cassandra back to her feet. Receiving an affirmative, Diana turned and rushed off to the burning edifice, her feet not touching the ground. "Ah, she can fly indeed." Cassandra brushed dirt off her stylish dress and stared at the Amazon Princess in action. "Impressive." The explosion had taken place near the dining room where lunch was to be held, destroying a whole side of the building. Entering through the shattered wall, Diana picked up three unconscious guests from behind the remains of the bar and took them outside, to the nearby lawn. Returning to the building, she heard the ceiling above her groan and shake, as the burning structure supporting the upper floor began to collapse. Knowing that others could still be under the piles of debris, she flew up to support the damaged central beam, ignoring the heat on her hands. "ANYONE STILL HERE?" she asked, as fire continued to spread all around her. A man groaned in pain somewhere close. "HELP! SOMEONE PULL HIM OUT!" Diana called, but servants and guests alike dared not to approach, as flames rose and smoke billowed all about. Not knowing the man's specific location, Diana did not know if she could leave the beam and find him amidst the smoke fast enough to pull him out safely. Yet the structure continued to break apart and would fall down around them soon. She would survive but he would not. She had to risk it. "I guess lunch is ruined." Cassandra walked into the ruined place, ignoring the flames. Her hands wove complex patterns in trailing purple light. "Find the poor man, will you? I'll hold this mess up." To her astonishment, Diana felt the weight of the beam lessen and then disappear. "But-?" "I was not hungry anyway." ****************************************** "The bomb was likely meant for me, you see," Cassandra said. "Small people cannot bear anyone better than them." "But-?" "The authorities will be here soon, and our presence may just cause poor Theophilus further complications. Perhaps we'd better continue chatting at my own place." "Your own place?" "Aea, a small island of my own, near here, I can answer your questions there." "Aea?" Diana's eyes opened wide. "You recognize the name?" The purple-eyed woman smiled. "The same of Homer's tale?" "Yes, I was not called Cassandra Colchis back then, of course." ****************************************** The island was lushly covered by wild vegetation, and the white marble estate sprawled tastefully among the greenery. "Welcome back, Mistress." The tall, dour-faced man in the black suit bowed deeply as the two women approached. "There was another attempt, Nikkos. At Theophilus'," Cassandra said. "I expect results today." "Will be done, Mistress." "We shall be taking a bath. Arrange it." Cassandra reached for Diana's hand. "Come; let me show you my domains." "Should I still call you Cassandra?" "Oh, Circe will do." ****************************************** "-They had been pigs all along, of course. My arts only made it literal. And pigs they were even after I undid the spell." They approached a wide but shallow pool in the open terrace, already filled with steaming hot water. "But did you really love him?" "I believed him... different from the others," Circe replied after a moment's hesitation. "But after a year of basking in my attentions, he chose to leave, to return to Ithaca. It was his possession, you see, just like that cow Penelope. Men just cannot give up their possessions, even in the face of true happiness. Odysseus was no exception." Diana heard the bitterness in those words, and her own disappointments regarding Superman and all other men she had known in Patriarch's World paled in comparison. Feeling more than ever that maybe the sorceress was the equal she had sought, Diana cast her misgivings aside, and approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Circe," Diana whispered, calling her by her real name for the first time. Circe turned about and pulled Diana to her. Her hands removed the Amazon's soiled clothing while their lips met, and both moved into the soothing heat of the bath, which soon paled compared to that of their bodies. Stars and a bright full moon filled cloudless skies, and they continued under that faint light, until Diana finally fell back, breathless, her arms and upper back on the pool's edge, the water level with her heaving chest, and her eyes closed in sated contentment. Circe then stood up, so the water was at her thighs, and clapped her hands, her eyes shining. "Let's make it more interesting." Two tall figures approached from the terrace's sides, broad chests and shoulders and narrow hips marking them as males. After a slight reverence, they moved into the pool. Diana frowned. "Who-?" "They serve me." Circe's hands moved to caress the muscular limbs of the new arrivals, drawing both to her. "They can serve us both." "I -I don't think-" "You think too much," Circe laughed, and pushed one of her servants towards Diana, before turning to kiss the one she held back. His pupils were large and liquid, astonishingly golden in color. The hand reaching for her was covered by a soft, silken down. He smiled, and his teeth gleamed white under the moonlight, the pointed canines larger than normal. "No, thank you." Diana pulled away, and lifted herself off the water to sit on the pool's edge. "I'd rather not." "Would you prefer mine? Or another one?" "No! Sorry, I just can't. Not with a stranger that I-" "I was a stranger, too." "I felt like I'd always known you," Diana whispered, though she wondered what she could really believe. "Watch us, then." Circe drew the servant back to her, while the other one embraced her from behind. The sex was rough and frantic. Sharp nails and teeth worried flesh while they struggled in erotic abandon, and the waters churned violently around them. Circe was simultaneously entered from front and behind, and urged her partners on to greater efforts with shrill cries and gasps that joined their grunts and groans in discordant harmonies. These noises became wilder and more growl-like as the sex progressed, and the torchlight reflected in the churning waters cast dancing shadows and highlights on the joined bodies, and Circe's lovers seemed hairier and more muscular. Diana's eyes caught every detail of the feverish tryst, and a heat restarted in her loins, urging her to touch herself, to echo the passion she was witnessing. Circe turned then to stare at her, and Diana felt her whole attention captured by the wild passion held in those eyes. Circe's voiced demands became more and more urgent, but her large purple eyes never left those of the Amazon even during her evident culmination. As her lovers withdrew silently, Circe dove into the water, to rise up with a smile, slicking back her wet hair with her hands. "Good for a warm-up," she said, breathlessly. "Did you enjoy watching us?" Diana blushed, realizing that she had been touching herself after all. "Did you feel tempted to join?" Circe waded towards Diana, her servants in tow, their visages darkened. "Yes," Diana replied honestly. "But-" "I knew you would." Circe caressed Diana's muscular thighs where she sat, asking them to open to her touch. "You just need to learn to let go." Her mouth dove at the wet junction of the Amazon's legs. Diana closed her eyes, surrendering to the delicious skills of the sorceress, soon allowing Circe to pull her back into the pool. Their mouths joined and both turned during their embrace, so Circe was back to the marble wall of the pool, and Diana felt another pair of strong hands touch her from behind. She tensed at this, but Circe's touch begged her to accept it, and soon the Amazon Princess relaxed under the combined caresses. "Now you do me." Circe moved out of the water to sit at the pool's edge, spreading her legs. Diana leaned forward, her shoulders and arms above the water, anxious to taste again Circe's intoxicating flavor, and wondered if she would also taste the seed Circe had received from her lovers, or if the waters had washed it away. The sorceress soon grabbed onto the Amazon's hair in appreciation, and whispered soft, loving obscenities. Taking advantage of her position, the servant behind Diana slid his hands from her slender waist to her wide hips, preparing to enter her. "What? No, I-?" Diana stirred, but Circe held hard onto her hair, keeping her from moving away, from denying what was to come. "Accept it," Circe muttered hoarsely. "Enjoy it." Diana hesitated, looking up at Circe with worry, but did not pull away, as she could have. Her eyes closed with momentary pain as the servant started entering her, the tightness of her sex making the progress of his hot, rigid member difficult, despite the water around them and her own wetness. He began to thrust back and forth, and each motion let him slide deeper into her, until she felt him slap against her buttocks, the wet hairiness of his hips an afterthought in the undeniably rising pleasure of the coupling. "Nice and big, isn't it?" Circe laughed, pulling Diana's hair, urging her to continue the oral ministrations, making the young amazon even more aroused, more aware of the multiple sensations contributing to her rising pleasure, of the delicious taste of Circe's sex in her mouth, of the vigorous thrusting from behind that drove her closer and closer to orgasm. But Circe beat her to the climax fast, and the sorceress slid back into the pool, kissing Diana hungrily before moving to a side, into the arms of the waiting second servant, her desire far from sated. Diana reached forward to the pool wall facing her, as her male lover increased the tempo of his thrusts, becoming more and more violent in his motions. She then felt Circe press next to her, hip to hip. They turned to each other and their excitement grew higher as their stares locked, both drinking of the mirrored passion in the other's eyes, while their respective lovers serviced them from behind. Finally the pleasure grew too intense to hold. Closing her eyes, Diana pressed her forehead to the pool wall. Her knees almost slipped on the pool's tiled floor, while her lover pounded her with savage strength and speed, his torso pressed against her back now, his wet hairy skin rubbing against her own smooth one. She moaned, feeling orgasm approach, but did not want to come yet, wanting Circe to join her in climax. The sorceress was crying out loudly her pleasure; much more vocal than Diana, she had been moaning and squealing almost from the start. Diana turned then to look at Circe, and her eyes opened wide in shock and horror. Circe was lost in her pleasure, eyes closed and head shaking from side to side, arms trembling as she held to the pool wall precariously, crying out her feverish excitement. Glancing back, Diana was then struck by the larger picture, by the sight of the large hairy creature mounting the lovely sorceress. The quadruped body retained suggestions of humanoid shape, but the dark-furred frame and limbs, and the elongated head with its open, slavering jaws were undeniably inhuman. Diana gasped in shock, and twisted to behold over her shoulder her own lover, still more human than Circe's, but changing with each second. The handsome exotic features become more and more bestial as he lay over her, thrusting into her depths with a wild urgency she now recognized as fully beast-like. Diana knew she had to stand up, to stop this awful act, to escape and save Circe as well from that thing possessing her, but her body sidestepped her horrified consciousness, having continued along its own instinctive path, and before volition could become action, with an overflow of sensation that almost drowned her fear and shock, Diana found herself at the verge of a powerful, violent orgasm. "NO!" She pulled away violently, an instant before reaching her climax, throwing off her now even more bestial lover in abrupt denial of her body's demands. Just then Circe cried out her own orgasm, and Diana saw that whatever had once been human in her partner was now fully gone, and the sorceress trembled in the throes of her climax while mounted by a massive, savage-looking wolf-like creature. A low growl called her attention, and Diana turned to see the servant she had just thrown off, fangs bared in angry protest, his feline body crouching near her. "Merciful Hera," Diana whispered. An animal. They had been coupling with animals. ****************************************** "Would you have preferred a canine?" Circe asked casually, stepping away from the pool, while a short man in a dark suit brought her a long silken robe. "I find them best myself, too." "No, no." Diana stood away from Circe, her blue eyes following the wet beasts as they were led away by other, apparently human servants, that tugged on heavy chains. Circe. She should have suspected. "I did not-" "Oh, please!" Circe shrugged, gesturing for another robe to be given to Diana. "You had mated with beasts before, no?" "But-" Diana began, confused, remembering what she had experienced in the Netherworlds of Tartarus during the Challenge of the Gods. She wondered whether she could consider all that had happened in those magical realms as fully real. But then, Circe's creatures clearly were also magical, though this was the real world. "I... have, yes, but-" "Then you know no human male can compare for a good, hard fuck, Diana. I thought we could share such pleasures, too." Diana did not know what to think. She took the robe offered her, and saw that the slender youth who bore it was lightly covered in faint fur as well. He did not meet her eyes. "Were they men you changed into beasts, or beasts you made into men?" Circe smiled. "Is there any difference?" ****************************************** "I thought your magic work only within this island." "So it was, centuries ago," Circe sat at a table covered with plentiful delicacies, and with a gesture, invited Diana to join her. "But a small understanding with Hecate increased my power." "Hecate? The witch goddess?" "The Crone aspect of the Trinity of the Moon. Not as popular as Artemis among the rabble, but more helpful of her followers. In a way, we are both avatars of higher powers, Diana; though the Olympians may have scorned my Patroness, just like men unwisely scorned me." "The Olympians are not infallible." Diana's own words surprised her. Once she would have thought it blasphemy, but the Challenge of the Gods had taught her to see the deities in different sight. "But-" A deep voice cut in. "Excuse me, My Mistress." "You'd better have good reason to interrupt us, Nikkos," Circe said coldly. "You asked for results today, Mistress." Nikkos bade other servants to enter, dragging in two struggling young men, their clothes ripped to shreds. "These were the ones responsible." "Good work, Nikkos." Circe smiled mirthlessly. "You'll be rewarded later, at my chambers." She stood up, her green robes flowing around her, and approached the captives. Both were barely teenagers, and their eyes were full of fear. "Who organized it?" Circe approached them. "Who leads your pathetic little group?" "You can kill us! But we won't-" "There are worse things than death," Circe hissed. "What are you doing?" Diana interrupted. "She enslaves our people!" the youth cried out. "Turns them into her pets! She-!" "Be silent, scum." Circe's gesture made his mouth close unnaturally. "These fools sought my death. They must be punished for their crime." "You only have your man's word of their guilt-" "Nikkos can never lie to me. Nor can the sentries I have everywhere. I need no other evidence." "If they are responsible, then you must turn them over to the local authorities." Circe turned around, and laughed. "You are so naive! The only authority that matters in these islands is mine." "But you cannot-" "Please leave us, Princess, if you have no stomach for justice. We can talk later." Diana stepped forward. "You cannot kill them. These are not the old days anymore, Circe." "All days are mine if I wish so, Diana. Do not argue with me in front of my servants." "I cannot let you kill them." Circe's eyes narrowed, and her voice changed as she spoke: "You are not just naive, Diana, you are ignorant. You know nothing about this place, this world, Princess of the Amazons. Your people ran away to a hidden island for a reason; their ideals could never survive in reality. Not then, not now. But I've been here, living for centuries in the shadow of man's madness and incompetence. I understand reality." She stepped closer to the amazon. "I can teach you, Diana. You can be my pupil, my partner, my lover. Or you can choose to oppose my will. But believe me, it would be better if you ran back to hide at your puny island, than dare to defy me." Diana's blue eyes did not waver matching Circe's stare. "I cannot let you kill them." Circe's mouth closed in a tight grimace, and the look of bitter disappointment in her eyes almost broke Diana's resolve; almost. "So be it, amazon. You spurn my wisdom, and my love, as Odysseus did. In my youthful folly, I let him go freely." Her voice was steel now, cold and cutting. "But I've grown wiser, and you, I now brand my enemy." "It doesn't have to be like that, Circe. Just let-" "It must be like that," Circe said, and purple fire sprang from her fingers. ****************************************** Their fight was as brutal as their lovemaking had been tender. Circe's servants changed into hideous hybrids of men and beast, and charged at Diana, to aid their mistress, but their animalistic strength was no match for the full power of Wonder Woman, and they were easily defeated. Circe alone was the true threat. Blasts of unholy fire sought the flying heroine, and garden trees and marble constructs alike came alive, trying to trap her in their reshaped grasps. Diana tore off a chunk of marble from a shattered column to throw as a missile against Circe, but the sorceress blasted it to dust. "Please Circe! We don't have to fight!" "Yes, we do, you ungrateful bitch!" Circe spat. Her eyes shone with inspiration and she moved to the corner where the bound captives still crouched. As she waved her hands and muttered gutturally, both young men began to shift and change, while screaming in pain. "Once under my spell, they are mine to command! I can order them to kill each other, unless you come down to me!" The transformed youths pounced on each other, snarling like the savage wolves they grew to resemble. Blood soon stained their fangs and claws. "NO!" Diana cried out, and flew down to face Circe. "Good," Circe said, unleashing a new blast of furious power. "Die now." Diana stood her ground, both arms held up before her, focusing her will on the crossed bracelets, channeling her Olympian-given power to withstand the barrage of eldritch energies. Pain coursed her body and her skin began to burn, but she began to walk towards Circe. Wonder Woman: The Beastmistress Circe continued her attack, knowing that the Amazon was fast enough to knock her unconscious between beats of her heart if she relented, and the energy discharge rose in power. Seeing Wonder Woman continue her slow approach despite this, Circe mumbled a dozen words, and her animorphic servants woke up and rose all about the ruined chamber. Answering her command, they surrounded the Amazon and began to close in to her, fangs and claws gleaming in the remaining light. Diana knew she could not resist Circe's attack while also fighting her creatures off. Gritting her teeth, and using all her concentration to hold her balance and resistance, she lifted one leg up, bringing her knee close to her chest. With a grunt, she brought her foot down against the marble floor. The stomp made the whole palace shudder, and Circe fell to the ground, startled, stopping her attack. Diana used this to free the golden thread she still wore as makeshift belt, as she flew up. The magic lasso sprang from her hands under her will, and its noose surrounded the baffled animorphs, before closing and gathering all of them into a single clump. "WHAT IS YOUR TRUE NATURE?" As Diana shouted, the fire of Hestia ran through the lasso. The bestial creatures screeched in response, and with a hard tug, Diana threw them all at Circe. "You devious bitch!" Circe gasped, with what almost sounded like admiration. She shaped her magicks into a sphere of protection, as around her the servants began reverting to their true shapes, some becoming men, some beasts, but all turning on her as their bestial minds were momentarily freed from slavery. Dozens of changing voices growled or yelled at her. "But your trick will not free them for long!" To the surprise of both Diana and Circe, loud gunfire erupted from a side corridor, and several armed men and women entered the room, aiming their weapons at the sorceress. "KILL THE WITCH!" Many among the still-shifting animorphs echoed the cry, but hands, claws and bullets could not pierce Circe's magic protection. "DIANA!" The call was from a voice that the Amazon Princess instantly recognized. She rushed to embrace Julia in the incongruous guerilla outfit. "You'll all pay," Circe muttered, waving her hands at the new arrivals. "I needed a change of service staff anyway." The men and women continued their shooting, unfazed, the purple fires raging harmlessly about them. "Molly," Julia explained, showing Diana the improvised bracelet on her wrist, shared by all the new arrivals. "The humble herb that, as Hermes told Odysseus, could negate Circe's transformation power. Being an old scholar has it uses, after all." "Molly? MOLLY?" Circe asked incredulously, as her magic dissipated harmlessly around her new enemies. Cruder manifestations of power could still work, but Wonder Woman had turned to face her again, and most of her former servants had run away, escaping the many ricocheting bullets. Several paces away, Nikkos lay fallen in a puddle of blood. There was no use in fighting a losing battle. "We will meet again, Amazon, and debts shall be paid," Circe snarled. Purple fire exploded, filling Circe's entire palace, and as it faded, the witch was gone, along with all evidence of her presence. ****************************************** Men and women cried with relief and happiness, hugging nude long-lost relatives. Even those who saw familiar faces among the dead still joined in the celebration. They were at last free of Circe's shadowy reign. "The Resistance contacted Stavros, to try to draw us away from Circe, from this place where she controlled all local officials through her magic or wealth," Julia explained. "They hoped for your help, but my foolish jealousy almost ruined everything. I'm sorry, Diana, I-" "You were right about her, Julia." Diana's voice was hoarse. "I was the one being foolish. I hoped-" Julia shook her head. "Hope is never foolish." Diana nodded, and looked away, tears running down her face. PART TWO: OF BEASTS AND MENxxx It came too fast, even for the Flash. He tried to run but his legs refused to work like they should, and he fell on all fours, coarse hair sprouting all over his body. He tried to scream for help, but his mouth failed to shape words. Women in outlandish costumes surrounded him, laughing with vicious merriment. Wally West was no longer the World's Fastest Man. He was no longer even a man. ****************************************** "Circe has taken over New York," Wonder Woman stated. Surrounding the Amazon Princess in the lawn of Liberty Island, under the clear afternoon sky and the looming presence of the island's famous statue, were dozens of young, athletic women, dressed in multiple bright-colored schemes. Most wore daringly skin-tight fabrics, and several whose figures could easily rival the world's highest paid models, actually wore little at all, proud to flaunt their spectacular physiques, following the lead of Wonder Woman herself. But the assemblage was not a fashion show, and their looks were trivial compared to the power they wielded. Almost every super-powered heroine in the world was present at this place. "Every man in the city, including meta-powered ones, was transformed and rendered helpless by the witch's magic, and any man who enters the city at any moment will suffer the same fate. Also, Circe called for all female meta-criminals to willingly join her assault, and many answered her summons." "Who're we talking about?" asked the short-haired blonde with the impressive muscular build, the circular cut-out in the chest area of her white unitard calling attention to her equally impressive buxomness. "Small fries or heavy hitters?" "We must assume several of all levels, Power Girl. Oracle identified Killer Frost, Silver Banshee, and Mongal among others." "Dibs on the last," Power Girl muttered with a half-smile. "Why would they work together?" asked Black Canary, dressed in dark fishnet stockings, tight black spandex and leather. "Any larger agenda?" "Canary's right," Power Girl added. "Why go to such pains to take over New York anyway? Loot? Ransom? Doesn't sound like Circe." "It may be a grand gesture," Diana said. "Circe was not quite this powerful before. Maybe she found a way to tap into the residual Imperix energies. She may be trying to draw other magic-users to her, to expand her spell even further, perhaps to encompass the whole world." "Thus getting rid of all men? And is that such a bad idea?" someone muttered, and many others chuckled. "Come on, they have their uses," Black Canary protested, resulting in further laughter. "Circe may indeed want that," Diana said somberly. "But if her magic starts expanding beyond New York, the government could order a nuclear strike." Several voices rose at once. "Nuke New York?" "That's madness!" Wonder Woman made a hushing gesture. "Circe may trust that, too, but remember who is now the president of the United States of America." That silenced the assembly. Current president Lex Luthor had a long-standing reputation in the superhuman community. "What about Doctor Fate? Or Zatanna?" The young girl asking wore tight red jeans and a black t-shirt emblazoned with Wonder Woman's stylized eagle symbol. "Can't they stop this, magic against magic?" "Zatanna is keeping the spell contained, but neutralizing it falls beyond even her powers," Diana told Wonder Girl. "Fate was in the city when the spell hit, like many other members of the Justice Society and the Justice League." "Like my father," the green-skinned Jade said grimly. "And my husband," said Big Barda, the tallest and most physically imposing woman present, in her scarred Apokolipsian battle armor. "This may be a trap not even he can escape. Why are we wasting time talking?" "We must not attack blindly," Diana replied. "We'll enter the city in groups, relying on teamwork, routing communication through Oracle. Barda, Starfire, Canary, and Troia will each lead a group. Priority will be to take down all enemy meta-humans and locate the transformed heroes. You will carry samples of molly to neutralize the individual transformations, so we can reinforce our numbers with those freed." "What about Circe?" "I will see to Circe myself." ****************************************** Loud noises roused him from unconsciousness. He moved cautiously towards the sounds. Things did not smell right. ****************************************** The grotesquely over-muscled woman with the yellowish skin struck Power Girl, and the blonde heroine was sent through the air like a missile, becoming literally embedded in the thick concrete wall of a banking building. Panicking women scattered away, yelling. "Thought you'd be closer in might to the Kryptonian, woman." Mongal spoke in a sibilant accent, walking closer in long, thunderous strides. "But I see there is nothing more to you than your fat teats." Power Girl grunted and shattered concrete felling all around her. She stepped forward, rotating her shoulders, with eyes narrowed. "Fat teats?" Abruptly, Mongal dropped face-first to the floor, one arm bent back in a painful lock. "Exchange pleasantries later, girls," Wonder Woman said. "Hey!" Power Girl yelled. "I called dibs!" "Fuck you both," Mongal spat. Her fist struck the ground like a missile impact, unbalancing Wonder Woman enough that Mongal grabbed and threw her against Power Girl. "Now I'll-" A bark stopped the monstrous female. She turned and frowned. "Pet of yours?" Drawing back her leg, Mongal kicked at the red-caped, white figure. "Damn," Power Girl muttered, a moment later, half-smiling, half-wincing. "Gods..." Wonder Woman arched her eyebrows. "He is really... strong." "Yeah." ****************************************** Feinting first a high kick, Huntress dove low at her opponent for the double-leg takedown, ready to dodge a possible knee. The woman known as Shiva moved down and forward, while turning to a side, hands moving to control the head and lead arm of her attacker. Completing the rotation, she threw the Huntress with a desultory grace against a wall several paces away, close to where Black Canary had previously fallen. "Nice moves," Vixen snarled as she rushed at Shiva, her speed and ferocity far above that of a human. Shiva seemed to move just slightly, inching forward and to a side, dodging Vixen's outstretched nails to strike with a casually extended ridge hand. "-Fuck!" Vixen gasped, rolling to her knees, her ribcage burning with pain. Only her mystically emulated animal strength had kept her ribs from caving in. The briefings at the Suicide Squad had obviously fallen short regarding Shiva. Cheshire had been a piece of cake in comparison. "So much talent, so little true skill," Shiva said calmly, moving in for the kill. "Desist," said a nondescript middle-aged woman wearing a shapeless trench coat. "Who-?" The martial arts master frowned, her combat awareness baffled by the strange chi of the apparently harmless woman defying her. Suddenly Shiva's head jerked abruptly, and she fell, instantly unconscious. "Who the fuck?" Huntress echoed, open-mouthed. The trench coat woman's body began to shift, changing shape. "Look out! Another of Circe's-!" >>No. "J'onn? J'onn J'onzz?" Vixen asked, surprised, recognizing the telepathic presence in her mind. The woman's skin had turned green, and her head grew bald while her skull enlarged. Strong limbs bulged under an outfit of blue boots and a flowing cape fastened to tight, brief shorts by two wide straps crossing over an otherwise bare chest, strategically covering large, round breasts. "Damn, J'onn, you look really hot like that," Vixen muttered. "Should we now call you J'enna?" "I cannot adopt my usual male shape without falling under the power of the spell," J'onn J'onzz explained. "So this is a compromise." "Some damn big compromises you're packing." Huntress frowned. Maybe what they said about Vixen was true. ****************************************** Wonder Woman brought her knee up again, and the man bearing the powers of Cheetah fell, unconscious. He had been fast, and vicious, yet had lasted only seconds before the Amazon Princess. As Diana bound her fallen opponent with her lasso, a purple-eyed woman dressed in an extravagant fur coat stepped forward from the shadows, clapping. "Impressive as always." Wonder Woman turned to face the witch. "Gender-swapped copies are always inferior to the originals." "Males are always inferior to females, of course." "Your song has not changed, I see." "I was curious about a were-beast I did not create myself." Circe gestured casually and the limp Cheetah was thrown far from where both women stood. "A pity. He was almost satisfactory in other matters. But I've always had the worst taste choosing lovers, as you well know." "It doesn't have to be like this. You could just stop this madness-" "Madness is what now rules this world of men, Diana. Madness is opposing my saving the world for us, for women." "By destroying men? What kind of world would you make?" "A better world! One where women can live and love in peace! Where males become the animals they truly are, in shape as well as in nature, but subject to us, living only to serve our needs, as inferior creatures, as beasts should! Mankind had its chance, dear, and they blew it. It's the time of Womankind, now." "You are insane." "Insane? Because I dare to speak the truth? And act upon it? The truth you know but will not recognize? I know you, Diana; we have shared so much. You love and lust just like I do! And you know that males are fit for us only if reduced to their true animal nature, distilled to their most honest and pure essence!" >Oh, please,Sounds like a Lit sophomore who just read Hesse's Steppenwolf. Did you two really-? "I need some privacy now, Oracle," Diana sub-vocalized. >Now? "Please." >Fine, Princess. Be careful. As the communicator went offline, Diana stepped forward, rising her empty hands in a gesture of non-aggression. "Circe, your power could help the world, if only you-" "I am helping the world. I'm succeeding where you and your kind failed, Amazon." "The destruction of men is not the answer!" "I'm not destroying men. I'm improving them." "Please, Circe, you cannot-" "I can, and I will!" "I won't let you." "Yet you know I'm right!" "I know that I must stop you." Sadness filled Diana's voice. Standing close to her, Circe's beauty was still breathtaking. "Again." "Oh, this time will be different, Princess." Circe's voice was cold as ice. "Really?" "You see, I've recently upgraded the quality of my servants." "The mightiest heroines of the world are bringing down your allies, even as we speak." "That scum? Oh, good riddance. I meant him." A deep growl rose behind Diana. She turned fast, but a massive, white-furred shape rushed at her, faster than a speeding bullet. "No!" Her arms barely shielded her throat in time before the feral creature's irresistible power bore her down hard, her eyes filling with the red and gold symbol of a stylized "S" that still covered its broad chest. She winced, being slammed against the debris-covered floor like a puppet, but lifting her legs up between them, she pushed him off. Her attacker struck the farthest column of the ruined commercial complex with his back, and the whole structure, already damaged by the recent destruction of the Imperix War, shuddered ominously. "No, no," Diana muttered. "NOT HIM!" The feral visage showed bared fangs almost too large to fit in his muzzle. The upper torso and arms remained nearly human, but the lower body and head were that of a canine, and hirsute white fur showed through the torn blue and red outfit. Only the remains of that famous uniform identified the grotesque creature as having once been the hero called Superman. "Quite an improvement, isn't he?" Circe smiled, licking her lips lasciviously. "Can't wait to sample him once he's finished with you." "How could you-?" "I found it quite fitting." Circe shrugged. She snapped her fingers theatrically, and lights and security cameras all over the ruined commercial plaza became active again. "And I will enjoy later broadcasting to the world how their most admired male hero became a hideous, savage beast and killed poor, noble Wonder Woman." ****************************************** The transformed Superman charged her with murderous fury, his full Kryptonian strength undiminished by the metamorphosis under Circe's magic. She dodged, and kicked at his side, sending him to slam against an automated escalator, which twisted like taffy under his body. Taking advantage of his mindless state and her superior combat skills she could deflect his attacks, but she was afraid of unleashing her own full strength against a foe that had no apparent sense of self-preservation. He could actually kill himself charging into her blows if she did not hold herself in check, but he held no such considerations for her. She could not beat him like this, Diana knew. Not without killing him. Circe had blasted to cinders the strands of molly that could have freed him, and as long as she held back, worried about the man beneath the beast, the Amazon princess could not match such sheer power. "YOU ARE NOT A BEAST! FIGHT, SUPERMAN! BREAK FREE OF HER CONTROL!" Growling, he rushed at her again. She could have flown out of the enclosed mall space, to seek assistance from the heroines elsewhere in the city, but containing their fight to their present location limited the danger of unleashing such a thoughtless rabid powerhouse on the crowded city. Instead, she dove under him, and slammed her shoulder against his abdomen. Grabbing one of his arms, she threw him down, to strike the floor slab below with a thunderous noise. "FREE YOURSELF! FIND YOUR TRUE SELF!" She needed her lasso. She needed Truth. If there was a man without a horrible beast inside, it was Superman, and her magic lasso should help reassert his true nature. She rushed to where the bound Cheetah had been thrown by Circe, but there was no one there anymore. "Looking for this?" On a mezzanine in the plaza's opposite side, Circe played with the golden lengths of metallic rope in her hands. "Nice trinket." "NO!" Diana cried out. "No cheating, dear." Circe laughed, as her magically-controlled slave struck Diana from behind. ****************************************** He was baffled by the smell of the male. It was familiar, but wrong, and it made the fur on his neck stand up. ****************************************** Wonder Woman barely managed to keep her attacker from ripping out her throat, as she rolled in the floor, trying to grapple free from his unbreakable grip. She focused on her flying power to rise, but he was pushing hard against her, and the floor beneath them shook with the stress of their opposing powers. She managed to knee his rib-cage, and used the space created to twist aside and gain his back. His neck had become inhumanly thick, but still she tried to apply a knockout choke with her arms, using her legs to hook around his body, while focusing her flying power to keep them in place. His nails raked at her forearms, and he sought to bite her, but lacked proper distance. As she tightened her hold, he howled and looked up, and red fire burst from his eyes, striking the roof above them. Thick pieces of the reinforced concrete slab fell on them after the heat-vision blast, and for an instant Diana's concentration wavered, allowing her foe to fly at supersonic speed against yet another part of the roof slab.