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Author's Note: Here's 24. The picture here is a one time deal for this chapter and I think everyone knows what means. There's one more chapter after this one, hopefully up tomorrow. I'd like to thank djkauf for the wonderful editing, DC Comics for the wonderful characters and mittfh for helping me by creating that wonderful picture of Wonder Cassie for me.

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Chapter Twenty Four:

Have you ever accidentally stuck your finger in a broken socket? There was one in our basement when I was younger. I was helping my grandfather change a bulb and I touched the socket by accident with the tip of my index finger. The electrical jolt that went through my body was like a tiny tingle. The one that went through my body when the cold steel of the vambraces touched my bare skin was nothing like that. I’m not really sure how to describe it. I think the best word might be overwhelming. I stammered like I was drunk---not that I’ve been, but I’ve seen it on TV. I found myself falling into the shelving again. I’ve never had an orgasm before but I was pretty certain it felt something like this. It was so good and so overpowering that for a moment I was lost to it.

And as quickly as the feeling came, it was gone. I didn’t even realize my eyes were closed until I opened them. When I did and I looked at myself, I was in the shock of life. My clothes were gone, replaced by something else. I flushed in embarrassment. It was some kind of outfit, the skimpiest thing I’d ever seen. It looked like a bathing suit but I think it was more like a corset of some kind. It was bright red and there was metallic gold W across my tight chest. Looking past it, I saw blue bottoms with a spangle of white stars. On my feet were boots. I groaned, I looked like something out of a fetish catalog---not that I’d ever looked into one of those. I reached up to touch my chest, noticing my gold bracelets had been replaced by the silver vambraces; those went from my wrists up to almost my elbow.

I’m not sure what happened but putting on the vambraces was clearly the catalyst for it. I felt and looked ridiculous. I’m not sure whose cruel joke this was but it definitely wasn’t funny. This thing I was wearing was ridiculously tight, it even made breathing hard to do. When I pushed myself to my feet however, I seemed to glide up onto them without a problem. The boots had a heel but it wasn’t any trouble at all to walk in them. The tightness I felt on the ground was gone as soon as I took a few steps, almost as if the suit was acclimating itself to my movements. I know it sounds freaky but it felt as if it was made specifically for my body.

Except of course there’s no way in hell I’d ever wear anything like this.

I took a few more steps, wondering how something like this even happened. I stepped out through the hole I made, wondering how Artemis could have gotten all that strength. I knew part of it was these things on my wrists but there had to be more to it than that. I tried to think things through but my thoughts were interrupted. I heard someone running down the hall toward me and I had a pretty good idea who. I wasn’t wrong either. I didn’t see her at first but an arrow whizzed by my head. I cursed and a second later, another arrow came. This one went right for my face and I caught it, snapping it in half in mid-air.

I turned toward Artemis; she was about half way to me. She had her bow raised, ready to fire another arrow. Instinct took over. I took the tiara off my head and threw it just as she fired her arrow. The tiara ripped the arrow in half and continued straight for her. It hit the bow first, cutting it in half then went right for her head. She turned at the last second, the tiara slicing her cheek. She cursed, clutching her face and I charged her. I was tired of throwing my punches with her. I let her win the first fight because I thought she was my friend and she was an innocent but now I was pissed. This girl had just mopped the floor with me and she definitely wasn’t throwing her punches. She wanted to kill me and would have succeeded if I hadn’t taken away her power. She might not be as strong anymore but she was the biggest threat in the room right now.

I think my speed surprised her. She knew I was fast but when I was angry, I seemed to be a whole hell of a lot faster. It was something I did when I stopped those guys from hurting my mother on the beach. I charged them so fast that they never saw it coming. I did something very similar to Artemis. I was on her in a flash; she didn’t even have time to react. One minute the remains of her bow were in her hand, the next I was snapping it like a twig. I snatched the front of her armor and lifted her off the ground. I pulled her close, glaring at her.
“Where’s your Goddess?” I asked, then head butted her.

I lowered her unconscious form to the ground then dragged her back into the main room. The girls were still calling out “Shim’tar” but stopped as soon as they saw me. There were a lot of blank expressions on their faces. They parted again as I dragged Artemis behind me, moving toward the platform. When I got to the front of the group, Akila and Karna looked at me in awe. I dropped Artemis at their feet, giving her body a nudge. Then I walked up the steps, turning to the group as I got to the top.

“Here’s your precious, Shim’tar,” I shouted, pointing at Artemis. There were some murmurs and gasps. “This is all a joke; you’ve all been made to behave like fools .”

“The Queen will not stand for you treating her Champion like this,” said Karna angrily as Akila bent down to check on the fallen Artemis.

“Where is your Queen now?”

I was hoping I’d get a rise out of her. I had a pretty good idea where she was. She was probably in her office, cowering like the coward she was. I’m not sure how she managed to subdue Cameron and her team, her girls probably caught them off guard but once the real fighting started she turned and ran. I scanned the crowd, wondering if she was going to even bother to look back as she scurried away like a cockroach. I wanted to see Crossan again just so I could beat her into submission for taking Connor and my grandmother. I was beyond playing with this woman.

It didn’t take long. She came out of the hallway I just left moments before, with a hostage no doubt. Just like a coward to use an old woman as a shield. I locked eyes with grandma and when she looked up at me, her face lit up. I’m not sure why but before she looked terrified but seeing me somehow made her extremely happy. I smiled at her, glad to see she wasn’t badly injured. Crossan was keeping grandma in front of her, a gun pressed to her temple. It was definitely a sight.

“Stay back or she dies.”

Grandma groaned. “Vanessa this is ridiculous.”

Vanessa? I looked at Crossan, I mean I really looked at her and groaned. How did I not see it before? As soon as grandma said the name though, I made the connection. The only pictures I’d ever seen of my Aunt Vanessa were when she was much younger. Grandma never kept any older pictures of her around the house because she said they hurt too much. But looking at this woman now I saw the girl in those older pictures, it was hard to imagine they were one and the same, actually. I looked from her to grandma too, noticing the resemblance immediately. There was no way that you couldn’t tell these two as mother and daughter. I don’t know why I never saw it before either. Maybe because all I ever saw when I looked at Crossan was crazy.

“Aunt Vanessa?” I asked, grandma nodded.

“I’m not your aunt,” she snapped angrily. “Helena is no sister of mine. He’s that foul orphan that my dimwitted parents took in.”

“Let her go” I said, walking down the steps. “You don’t have to hurt her.”

“Come any closer and I’ll put a bullet in her head.”

I stayed where I was. “This is crazy, she’s your mother.”

Vanessa spat. “She stopped being my mother a long time ago, the day that she told Helena all about the Amazons, the day that she passed on her right as a mother to someone else’s daughter.” Vanessa laughed like a maniac. “But look around you, Mom, I’ve found my own Amazons. It didn’t take me long. I found a bunch of saps, a bunch of sad, lonely girls like me, just looking for some place to belong. Then I found the Goddess and she promised that she’d help me make things better, help me rid the world of the true Amazons out there.”

“Vanessa” said grandma, tears in your eyes. “You misunderstand. I was telling Helena for Diana, just like I promised. I was going to tell you too, when you were old enough.”

You lie,” said Vanessa angrily. “You always loved Helena more. I’m your daughter, not her.”

I took another step forward, hoping that she was distracted. “I’ll be the first to admit, my mother isn’t the best person to get along with but I assure you, this hatred you have for her is foolish. I’m not sure what kind of person you envision my Mom to be but she’s far from perfect.”

Vanessa scoffed. “You’d say anything to get me to release her.” Tears were streaming down Vanessa’s face too. “You’re Helena’s precious daughter, her prize and joy. The one she’d do anything for.”

My mother? Do anything for me? Clearly, this woman didn’t know what or who she was talking about. Clearly, she was more deranged than I thought. I took another step toward her and she panicked. She pointed the gun at me and fired. I threw up my wrist, the bullet bounced harmlessly off my left vambrace. Vanessa looked shocked but fired again. On the second shot, grandma reacted. My grandma was the quiet, non-violent type. She watched the news and reality television. But the woman who was standing before me was a completely different person. She moved like a woman half her age. She thrust upwards, slamming her head into Vanessa’s chin then she grabbed Vanessa’s wrist, twisting it until it cracked. The gun fired toward me but the bullet went past my face, taking some of my hair with it. It was the last shot as the gun clamored out of Vanessa’s hand. Grandma flipped her over her shoulder, twisted her arm and put her heel on the back of Vanessa’s head.

My mouth dropped open. It was by far the coolest thing I’d ever seen.

She looked at me and smiled. “I am an Amazon dear, we are warriors born.”

Vanessa was down but not out of the fight yet. She lifted her head and shouted. “Protect your Queen from these Infidels.”

Through the whole exchange between her, me and grandma, the girls had been standing like emotionless statues. But as soon as Vanessa barked her order, they came to life. They raised their weapons and charged. I snapped around, barely missing the first sword that came at me. I disarmed the wielder, dropping her with a light punch. A lot of the girls came at me in similar fashion, moving too slowly and too clumsily to be very effective. I put six or seven on the floor long before they got anywhere near me. I fought alone; grandma was busy keeping Vanessa on the ground. Some of the girls tried to push past me to get to them but I never allowed them to get close.

It was a thirty on one fight and I was winning. I dropped several more until Karna came at me. She was a little more skilled but just as sloppy. She left herself open. I spun around, slamming my back into her incoming swing. It knocked the air out of her then I backhanded her in the face. She gasped something about her nose and dropped into the ground. I vaguely remember breaking the nose of someone before, it sounded very similar, I had to wonder if it was hers. Anaya and Laris came as one, trying to pin me in. They were fast but had no style. They both had poles and tried to come at me from both sides. I moved forward, allowing them to hit themselves in the face.

Then I grabbed the poles, pulling them toward one another until they collided face first. I yanked the poles from their hands, spinning them around in mine and taking out two more girls who tried to get close. Akila came at me with a long chain. She lashed it around one of my poles and yanked it away. Then she swung the chain at my head. I threw up my arm, allowing it to wrap around my wrist. She tried to pull me off balance but I pulled her instead. I pulled with all my strength, yanking her in too fast for her to get her footing. I slammed my first into her stomach, knocking the air out of her and gently dropping her to the ground.

After that, it was an onslaught of stragglers, ones that I easily defeated. It had been thirty to one and in the end, only one was standing.

I turned to Vanessa and laughed. “What else do you got?”

Sinister laughter filled the room, rumbling off the walls. It echoed around the room, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere. Then there was a flash of bright light, causing me to shield my eyes. When the light dissipated and I could see again, things had changed. For one thing, there was no longer a dais and a bust on the platform but a large gilded chair, sitting upon it was a gorgeous woman in a green dress. She had long flowing purple hair and was holding a silver goblet. At her feet were several pigs. I looked around the room as it filled with more grunting and squealing. All the girls I just bested were now pigs too, as if they were being punished for their failure.

I flashed onto my dream from the other night. I saw pigs in the lobby of the spa and knew it wasn’t such nonsense now. I also knew that there was only one person in antiquity that turned men into swine and she definitely wasn’t a Goddess. I looked back at the woman sitting in the chair and realized how much of a fool Vanessa had been.

“Circe” I said with a sneer.

She smiled and clapped. “Well done my dear, truly spectacular work.”

I pointed to the pigs. “Turn them back now!”

She laughed, it echoed around the room. “Who are you to speak thus to me. You heroes are all the same these days. First it was that upstart magician and now it’s you, the little girl Amazon.”

I needed to stand my ground in this. I tried to remember what I knew about Circe but it wasn’t much. I read The Odyssey several times, I knew all about Odysseus’ encounter with her. He was only able to beat her because he got help from the Gods. As much as I loved and cherished them, I think I was on my own here. I looked around; the only ones who weren’t pigs in the room were me and her of course and grandma. Ok, so technically Vanessa wasn’t a pig. She was a bird, a swan I think. I’m not sure why she warranted such elegant treatment but I’m sure Circe had her reasons.

Grandma stepped forward. “You leave my granddaughter alone.”

“Shut up you old goat” said the Sorceress, pointing her finger at grandma.

The metamorphosis was instantaneous. One minute grandma was there and the next she was a goat. I was shocked as all hell for a second. Then my anger took over. It flared and I took a step forward. Circe raised her finger at me, wagging it back and forth. I stopped, wondering what evil she had up her sleeve for me. But she didn’t point it at. Instead, she lifted her glass to her lips and took a sip. She drained her glass and snapped her fingers. From behind the chair came a large black dog on a chain. It sat down next to her like a statue, allowing her to place the goblet on its head. I looked at the black dog and saw very human looking blue eyes staring back at me.

“That’s a good boy Connor,” she said, stroking his back.

My heart skipped a beat. No, it can’t be. She looked at me and smiled viciously.

“You harpy” I sneered and she laughed.

“Your boy is very precious. We lured him here by telling him you were in trouble. He raced in like a gallant knight in shining armor, ready to rescue his damsel faire. I thought about turning him into a pig like those foolish DEO agents you sent after me but I couldn’t waste such a beautiful specimen as him. I’m thinking about making him a horse next, I’m not sure but he was definitely wasted as a human.”

"Turn him back now,” I said angrily.

“You’re such a broken record my dear. No fun at all, just like your predecessor.”

“My predecessor?”

She groaned. “Didn’t Hera tell you anything?” She sighed heavily. “I’m speaking of Hippolyta of course, the first Queen of the Amazons. You wear her oh so precious Girdle. Well to be fair, it’s actually Gaia’s Girdle but no one seems to remember that.” She laughed and waved her hand. “Pish posh. Where was I now? Oh yes, you remind me so much of Hippolyta. What a twit she was, all chaste and no fun, like her Huntress patron. You couldn’t believe how much magic I had to work to get her to spread her legs for that moron Hercules.”

She laughed aloud. “Antiope, on the other hand, she was the fun one. They were like Order and Chaos you know, Yin and Yang. When Hercules came and seduced her sister, Antiope saw right through his charms. I think she might have had a little magic herself because my spells didn’t work on her. But there were other ways of persuasion. For the longest time the Gods held the Amazons in high esteem, they were warriors beyond measure. It was particularly boring for me, especially seeing as Hippolyta kept foiling all my great schemes. It was all thanks to that wonderful Girdle of hers.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “I just had to have it. That’s why I bewitched that foolish King to send old Herc after it. Then I whispered honeyed words into Hippolyta’s ear and got her to bed the Barbarian. It was all going pretty well until Hippolyta got the last laugh. She switched the belts. There were two Girdles you know, one belonging to Hippolyta and the other her sister, Antiope. The night before, unbeknownst to yours truly, Hera visited Hippolyta and told her my plans. So Hippolyta switched her belt for her sister’s. So when Herc took the fabled Girdle of Hippolyta, it was actually the humdrum one of Antiope. The only two people who knew were the sisters.

“Of course this didn’t go over too well with Antiope. She threw a little fit and cursed the Gods. She and her followers stormed out of their lush island paradise and decided to follow their own path. As for me, I stupidly fell for the ruse. The belts were identical, you know. I didn’t realize it until it was too late. As soon as that happened, I flew back to the island in a rage, bound and determined to raze it to the ground. But the Gods beat me to it. They didn’t destroy the place but they put protection on the belt. A mortal and only one with Amazon blood, from the Queen’s lineage, could only wear it. I tried for years to find her heirs but they were well hidden from me.”

She sighed, blowing some hair from her face. She waved her hands. “Ya da ya da ya da, long story short. I tracked it to Greece but I didn’t know where. I couldn’t find it myself, it needed to be found and worn by Hippolyta’s heir. I tried your grandmother first but Diana was a foolish woman. So I drove her car off a road, it was all very tragic. Thankfully, for me she had a daughter. But the Gods were shielding her from me. But fate as it would seem was on my side. You see, the woman you know as your grandmother is actually a descendant of Antiope, a Queen of the Amazons. Her blood flows through your grandmother’s veins as well as her daughters. I wasn’t able to get to Diana or her daughter but the Gods didn’t know Julia’s secret. She refused to play though and ran from me; I didn’t actually catch up with her until years later when my dearly departed Sebastian killed her meddling husband. By then Julia was too old to put on the Girdle but her daughter was perfect. Vanessa was easy to manipulate. I twisted her around my little finger, told her to create this place, set myself up as an All-Mighty Goddess, it was quite impressive actually. Things were going pretty good---better than my scheme in San Francisco---then you came along.”

I shuddered at the way she said “You”. The look in her eyes was like fire. She leaned forward in her chair, glaring at me. “So why are you telling me all this?”

She laughed. ‘It must be true what they say about blondes, Princess,” She laughed louder at her own joke. Then she cut off in mid-laugh, leaning forward and glaring. “Because you’re going to play my little game or else I’m going to fry your loved ones.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. I was sure she knew all about the belt and all its secrets. I looked at the swan that used to be my aunt then at the goat that was my grandmother. There was something bothering me about all this though. I knew she needed me but she’d yet to use any of her magic on me. If I were as big and as powerful as her, I’d use magic to force me into submission. But she was talking, why was she talking? I needed to find out.

I took a deep breath. ‘If I agree to your terms, you’ll turn everyone in here back into humans?”

She nodded. “Yes, except for Vanessa, a silver swan is rather fitting for her punishable failure."

I nodded. A small part of me thought she deserved it but another part of me knew it was wrong. I bit my lip, trying to think things through. I looked at the dog; the one I know knew to be my boyfriend. His eyes stared at me and I could Connor in them. I took a deep breath. “You’ll turn him back first?”

She smiled and waved her hand. In the place of the dog was a human being but it wasn’t my Connor. Instead, it was a girl, about my age, with long black hair.

She was completely nude, the collar and chain around her neck. Circe burst into laughter. “Isn’t she precious?”

The girl that was now Connor looked around and blinked in confusion.

“That wasn’t the deal.”

“You said human, you didn’t specify gender.” She reached down and patted her on the head. “Good girl, I think I’ll call her Claire.”

“Change her into a boy or the deal is off.”

“Fine.” The Sorceress sighed and waved her hand, the girl turned into Connor, clothes and all.

He looked around confused until he saw me. He smiled. “Cassie, you’re all right?”

I nodded. “I’m good.”

“Now you’re part of the bargain,” said the annoyed Sorceress.

I shook my head. “You said you’d turn all of them back.”

“You really are not the life of the party you know that.”

She waved her hand again and all the pigs in the room turned back into humans. I looked amongst the crowd of people, seeing Amazon girls and DEO agents alike. I caught eyes with a very confused Jay and Cameron, sitting back to back. I smiled at them. Jay noticed me first and his face lit up. Then Cameron saw me and she frowned. I had a pretty good idea what she was thinking. I turned from them and looked over at grandma. She was confused too but she looked all right. She locked eyes with me then looked over at Circe. I think she knew what I’d just done and I could see the disappointment in her eyes. I gave her a quick wink before turning back to the Sorceress.

“We had a deal girl,” she said with a sinister smile. “Come along, you and I have a lot of business to attend too. I have a scheme in San Francisco going at the moment, a couple of mages I’ve left on ice for too long. You know how these things go.”

I crossed my arms in front of me. “You want the Girdle then come and take it.”

The smug smile disappeared from her face to be replaced by a nasty sneer. “You impudent little bug,” She said, raising her hand at me.

I took a deep breath, hoping I was right. A bolt of lightning shot from her hand and I flinched, closing my eyes. But nothing happened, I felt no pain. I opened my eyes and was shocked at what I saw. There was some kind of invisible barrier around my body; the lightning was bending around it. I was shocked as all hell but not as shocked as the Sorceress. She raised her other hand and fired another bolt at me. The two concentrated blasts should have fried me but they hit my shield but didn’t go through. I could see the look of fear on her face, the look of a woman who was clearly defeated. I took a step toward her and she stepped back, lowering her hands.

“How…its not possible…it can’t be….” She was stumbling over an explanation. Then she looked me from head to toe. “It’s the combination of the three…” She sighed. “That’s how it’s done, that’s why I couldn’t…”

“You’re defeated witch,” I said, bearing down on her.

She laughed. “Finer men have said that to me before and have failed.”

She raised her hands and disappeared into a cloud of black smoke. I jumped at her, getting caught up in her spell. The smoke swirled around me and then I was no longer in the spa. I hit the ground, which turned out to be sand. I spit it out of my mouth and looked around. It didn’t take a genius to figure out where we were. It was Themyscira, the island of the Amazons. Why did she bring us here? I got to my feet and looked around. Not too far down the beach, Circe was standing there. I thought she might have been smug about her amazing escape. But she looked confused and really pissed off. I brushed the sand off my skimpy outfit and started toward her. She turned and when she saw me, she fell backwards on her butt.

“You” she said, “you did this. Stay away from me”

I laughed. “Not so high and mighty now, are we?”

“How did you withstand my magic?”

I shrugged. “Beats the hell out of me.”

She got to her feet, her confidence returning. “That can be arranged.”

She pulled a dagger from her dress and came at me, quicker than any opponent I’d ever faced. It was so fast I couldn’t react. It probably would have skewered me; in fact, it should have skewered me. But something happened, something stopped it. Or rather stopped her. Instead of stabbing me in the gut like it should have, the dagger blade stabbed into a cane. Both of blinked, both in surprise and shock. Standing in the sand next to us, his cane separating the both of us, was an old man. But not just any old man. It was the one from the park, the one who warned me about the storm. He winked at me and when he did so, I noticed that his eyes were gold.

“You” said Circe, pulling away. “I knew you’d be involved with this. Non-interference my foot”

The old man smiled. “This has gone on long enough; this girl is under His protection. Do you dare go against Him?”

The color drained from Circe’s face. Her eyes narrowed. “This isn’t over, Spinster. I will have that Girdle.”

She threw her hand over her head and disappeared into her black cloud again. This time I wasn’t fast enough to follow. I stared for a few seconds at the spot where the Sorceress had been standing then I looked at the old man. He smiled at me. I was confused. How in the hell did he get here? Who in the hell was he? I searched for answers, looking him up and down. Besides the gold eyes, there was nothing that said he was any different from any other person I’d ever met. Except for something, I didn’t notice before. It was his cane, or rather the handle of it. In the park, he’d been holding it by the handle so I couldn’t see but now I saw and everything seemed to make sense. The handle of the cane was actually the head of the owl.

He winked again. “Cassandra Sandsmark” He said, touching my shoulder. “You’ve had a busy day.”

I nodded. “No thanks to you and the others.”

He smiled. “It is not in our nature to interfere. I believe our Queen told you this.”

“Then why did you step in now?”

He smiled, waving his hand. A park bench appeared out of nowhere. He walked over and sat down. I slowly followed, not sure if I should be talking with him or not. I say him because I was having difficulty trying to think of his name. Well her name actually. The old man sitting here was a façade, I knew that now. I was kind of an idiot not to notice before, after all Glaucus did lead me right to her before. I’m not sure if I should have felt privileged or scared that so many Gods were taking time out of their busy schedules to come and visit me.

He patted the spot next to him on the bench. “I want to talk to you about a few things before I take you back.”

I reluctantly sat next him. “Is this the part where you tell me I’m destined for greatness?”

He chuckled. “No, this is the part where I make sure that everything is all right.”

I sighed, looking down. I tried not to think about what I was wearing. There were a lot of thoughts rolling around in my head. The first being Circe, of course. “Will she come back?”

He nodded. “Most likely. She’s been after that Girdle for some time now. She’s convinced that it’s some all powerful talisman that will grant her insurmountable powers.”

“It’s not?”

The old man shrugged. “No one knows its true power except the wielder of it.”

I nodded. “But that’s not what you wanted to talk about, is it?”

“The Father was very pleased with your performance today” he said, “you showed true courage and great control fighting against an enemy who could very well have destroyed you. He was quite impressed, proud even.”

I nodded. “Good for him.”

He smirked. “He wishes a favor of you.”

“Of me?”

“He wants you to make those girls what they were pretending to be. There was a reason that we sent you to that place and a reason that you were meant to drive off the False Queen. Those girls have potential and as soon as you name them thus they will become what they were pretending to be.”

“Amazons”

He groaned, pushing himself to his feet on his cane. He reached into his pocket and took out a gold pocket watch. I looked at it, seeing it decorated with the head of Medusa. “Wow, is that the time already?”

I couldn’t see the clock face but I’d take his word for it. He turned to me. “It appears our time here is up.” He held out his hand. “Come, my dear. It’s time to begin what Circe tried to start.”

I was reluctant to do so. There were so many more questions I wanted to ask him, so many things that didn’t make sense. If I was truly supposed to be some kind of new Queen of the Amazons, I needed a lot more help than this. I closed my eyes and saw my grandma, she was smiling at me. I knew that smile; it was the one she gave me when everything was going to be all right. I opened my eyes and realized that for the moment maybe she was right.

I reached out and took the old man’s hand.