"C-Callista . . . suffers from . . . MPD; Multiple Personality Disorder. It's almost like she has two minds inhabiting her body. The psychiatrist says she must have developed it during her first few years here, after her family moved here from Crete. Those years were tough, as her father had died three years before. She and her mother struggled to get by, before Lyta, my aunt and Callista's mother, inherited Domaine Publishing from our grandfather.

"Callista's dominant personality is a little harsh and cruel, but otherwise very kind and generous. Callista's other personality is completely cold, ruthless, and greedy. Luckily, with the help of a psychic, we were able to bury her cruel personality. It must have sensed the powers of the amulet and drawn off them, giving it the power to shove away Callista's true personality and take over the body."

Diana had her face set in a worried look.

"Ororo, you scout the Eastern side of Atlanta, make sure to pay special attention to wooded areas. Try to subdue Callista without harm. Debbi and I will scout the Western half of the city."

Ororo nodded. With a flash of mystical pink lightning she transformed into battle dress and flew out the window.

Diana darted into her room, quickly donning the colorful armor of Wonder Woman.

"Come with me, Debbi."

Debbi followed, as Diana held her hand out of her large window, the Transparent Craft resting in the palm of her hand. It contorted suddenly, spewing outward to form the shape of a plane.

Debbi wasn't surprised enough to react; she lived in a world of super-heroes.

"Come, Debbi."

Wonder Woman carried Debbi into the plane, before willing it into invisibility. The plane shot off into the sky.

"The magic of Bastet's amulet is preventing me from discerning her location," Wonder Woman explained. "However, the radio was able to narrow our hunting grounds to the forest below. You stay here; I'll hunt Callista down." Saying that made Diana feel uncomfortable, as she realized for the first time that she had to do whatever it took to stop Callista.

Debbi felt a rush of cold wind against her face as Wonder Woman stood up, her hand resting on her lariat.

The Amazon Princess leapt from her plane, gliding swiftly downward towards the tall treetops.

Her prey and her hunter alighted gracefully several yards away. The Cheetah's muscles bunched beneath her smooth hide. She sprang forward, a spotted blur, her snapping fangs aimed for Wonder Woman's throat.

"Suffering Sappho!"

Diana leapt to the side as Cheetah crashed into and through a large oak tree, splinters of wood whirling in all directions.

"Mraowr!" the Cheetah yowled as she sprang towards Wonder Woman, her glittering claws slashing towards her. Diana moved with all her speed, deflecting the sharp claws as sparks flew. Diana raised her knee into the Cheetah's stomach, and slammed her to the ground.

"It pains me to do this to you, Callista," the Amazon sighed. "But I am afraid I must! I pray that you can forgive me!"

The Cheetah sprang to her legs; her shimmering claws once more tearing through Amazonian flesh and metal. Diana whirled, her heel smashing into Cheetah's head, sending the cat woman sliding across the ground.

"MRRAAAAAAOOOWWWWWRR!" Cheetah let loose a blood-curdling yowl of rage and pain as she leapt forward in a rage, spit flying from her lips as she viciously attacked Diana.

"This ends now!" Diana cried.

Wonder Woman rolled with the Cheetah's next leap, and tossed her lasso around to hissing creature.

"Callista listen to me!" Diana cried. She twisted to avoid the Cheetah's claws, and gave her a swift chop to the back of her neck. Cheetah stumbled, but remained on her feet as her claw slashed out, drawing blood.

The Princess of Themyscira gritted back her pain and kicked Cheetah in the chest once more. Diana's hand flew out, her finger pressing into a tiny point on Cheetah's lower back. It took laser like precision to find this point, as it caused the sleek muscles all over Cheetah's body to seize up. She collapsed, and was gathered in Diana's strong arms. The Amazon sank to her knees, placing Cheetah's paralyzed body delicately before her.

Wonder Woman closed her eyes as she sat in a meditative position, her lariat clasped firmly before her.

Diana felt warm sand beneath her. She pushed onto her feet, and looked around. It was warm here, and a brilliant moon moved slowly across the sky. Closer examination revealed it to be a silvery chariot, a beautiful pale woman riding upon it, gently urging her shimmering horses forward.

The air was warm, and tropical trees swayed in the moist wind. The Grecian Gown that covered Diana's slim frame fluttered.

The princess smiled. This was a mystical place, one of the most sacred in the world.

<"Mother Gaea!"> Diana called. She sank to her knees in a deep bow.

The sands shifted beneath her as a stunningly beautiful woman stepped from the trees. She possessed not the sultry beauty of Aphrodite, but the wholesome beauty of someone kind and good. Her seemingly youthful face was unmistakably ancient, framed by raven curls. Viridian robes wrapped around her body. She and the Princess Diana seemed near carbon copies of one another.

<"Greetings, my daughter.">

<"O Ancient Mother . . . back upon the mortal plane a terrible beast has thrust itself upon the mind of my ally, forcing control of her body. I implore you to wrest control from this monster and return my friend to her normal self."> Diana looked up, the primordial power that shone in Gaea's eyes drawing Diana in.

<"Only she can do that, Daughter of Hippolyta!"> Gaea replied. <"I can give her the strength to heal herself and break free, but only the power of her will can break free from the control of this monster! Let us watch . . . ">

Gaea waved her hand, and the mists swirled in front of her, forming a window into Callista's consciousness.

Callista lay, beaten and tied in chains. Above her stood an exact copy of her, only clad in red leather, a whip clasped in one hand.

"You know that I'm superior to you, Calli!" Callista's crueler personality cried. "Actually, I hate your name, too! I much preferred Debbi's name for me when we were children . . . what was it? Eviless! I love it!"

"It sounds . . . like the name of a cheesy villain . . . from a 1940's comic book!" Callista responded.

The air hissed as the barbed tip of the whip slashed through it, drawing a burning line of pain upon Callista's side. She whimpered as her eyes filled with glistening tears.

"Why won't you scream for me, Callista?"

"You . . . sadist!" Callista accused.

"Scream!" Eviless cried. Her whip struck Callista again, but she held fast and refused to let one scream pass her lips.

Suddenly, strength flooded her body like a wave. The cuts and bruises from Eviless's first attacks vanished. With a sharp crack, Callista's bonds fell in shards around her body.

"M-my God . . . what happened?!?!" Callista murmured, looking at her freed limbs in shock.

"My thoughts exactly . . . you haven't been using steroids, have you, Calli?" Eviless asked. Callista ignored her and rushed forward, swinging her fist toward Eviless's face. Eviless cackled and leapt to the side, leaving Callista to punch thin air. With a flick of her wrist, Eviless sent the whip coiling around Callista's ankle. She yanked, sending the rich publisher to the misty ground. Callista once more bit back a scream as her side struck the ground painfully.

"You're much stronger in your own mind than you are normally, but with this whip, I still have the advantage!" cackled Eviless.

Callista's hand tightened around the whip. It sparked, bursting into flames, and fell to the ground in cinders.

"What whip?"

Callista leapt forward, her leg swinging up to smash Eviless in chin. She stumbled away, dazed.

"This is my mind, skank! Get out!" Callista screamed. Her other foot smashed Eviless in the side, doubling her over in pain.

"Not bad Calli! But not good enough!" Eviless choked out.

Callista attacked, only to have her opponent fade from view.

Callista whirled around, confused. "What the hell? Where are you? Stop this and fight you stupid bi- oof!"

"Mommy always said never to cuss, Calli!" Eviless said as she reappeared. She pulled her fist from Callista's stomach.

"Shut up!" Callista snarled. Suddenly, white-hot beams of energy lanced from Eviless's eyes, slamming into Callista. She was hurled backward across the astral plane, every atom of her being igniting with pain.

Callista groaned thin wisps of smoke curled up from her body.

<"Suffering Sappho, she shall be slain!"> Diana cried.

<"Aye, Diana. If Callista perishes here, she is gone in ever sense of the word!"> Gaea replied ominously.

Diana's eyes blazed with determination. <"There must be something we can do! I shall not sit here idly whilst my friend is being killed by herself!">

<"There may be one way to help Callista . . . "> Gaea said thoughtfully. <"Laws that I myself helped to pass prevent me from intervening directly in the lives of mortals, but I can intervene indirectly.">

"Callista!"

A faint, spectral image of Wonder Woman flashed in front of her.

"Sister! Hear me! Though you are not physically an Amazon, you represent and hold dear all the qualities we admire. You have the mind of an Amazon, and the willpower to throw off this monster! This is your mind!"

A blast of energy from Eviless destroyed the image of Diana. The Amazon's slim frame contorted as she faded from view.

"Diana's right!" Callista said forcefully. She kicked Eviless in the face, sending the entity sailing backward. "This is my mind! I control what goes on in here! And no figment of my personality is gonna change that!"

A huge cat bounded from nowhere, pinning Eviless beneath her paws. Eviless cried out as the cat's claws dug into her flesh, not drawing blood, but still causing severe pain. She phased through the cat's paws, and her body contorted, spraying outward to slam into the cat with astounding force. It flickered from view as Eviless regained her former shape. She spun, only to see Callista standing before her. But she had changed.

Callista wore a denim skirt, the edges lined with stars, as well as a sleeveless red, midriff revealing shirt, a golden eagle sprawled across it. Slung over her shoulder was glittering lariat and clasped around her wrists were two shimmering silver bracelets.

"You look so tacky!" Eviless chuckled, running forward to tackle Callista, who rolled with the attack, sending Eviless flying across the plane.

Callista charged forward, her fists pummeling Eviless. Her hand clamped around Eviless's throat as she pulled the leather-clad image up to her fast. She raised her fist.

"You made me nearly kill a boy in the first grade!" Callista snarled. "You alienated me from my friends for five years! Now I'll alienate you forever!" Her fist snapped down, slamming with astounding finality into Eviless's face. Callista's struggling evil personality fell limp, and Callista tossed her deep into the farthest corners of her mind.

Around them lay the Lariat of Gaea, glowing eerily in the moonlight.

"Hmmm . . . I wonder how that happened? Never mind; it opens an excellent window of opportunity!"

Debbi leaped from the branch, dropping five feet to land between them. She scooped the amulet into her hands and looped it around her neck. She concentrated, and it dissolved into a fine mist, seeping into her senses. Spasms shook her body, and she felt flames ignite every nerve of her body.

"Aaaarrrgggghhh!"

Debbi fell to her knees, the pain forcing her down.

"You are not strong enough to possess this power!" a taunting voice hissed. An apparition floated in Debbi's vision, visible to only her. It was a woman, clad in an Egyptian dress, her dark skinned arms crossed disapprovingly in front of her. The woman's face, her entire head, actually, was in the shape of a cat's, with pointed ears and piercing yellow eyes.

"I am!" Debbi snarled, pushing herself defiantly to her feet. "I am strong enough to possess this power, you feline bimbo! I have tribes of Central Americans and several business corporations wrapped around my little finger! What do you have? Maybe a cult or two . . . "

Bastet's feline eyes widened in shock. "Y-you dare to speak thus to a goddess?! Impudent mortal!"

"Impudent my butt!" Debbi cried. "And this had SO better be what Callista had gone through, or I'm gonna kick your immortal butt from here to Oregon!"

Bastet's mouth curled into a vicious smile. "Aye . . . your cousin suffered this same treatment! And I am just a figment of your imagination . . . just a fraction of the true Bastet's power placed in this amulet. Your determination is astounding, mortal, as was your kin's! It must run in the family . . . You now have access to the Amulet of Bastet, mortal."

Bastet vanished from Debbi's view. She looked down at herself. She was covered with a thin, soft layer of fur, and long claws tipped each finger, flashing wickedly in the cold light of the moon.

"Excellent . . . " she purred, then hopped out of the circle the lasso formed. "Wait . . . now would probably be a good time to kill that Amazon . . . she'd pose a problem in the future otherwise."

Debbi . . . the new Cheetah . . . spun and ran towards Wonder Woman's prone form. Suddenly, flames leaped up from the lasso, singing Cheetah's fur.

"Mrraaaaaoooowwwwr!" she yowled.

Cheetah stumbled away, falling onto her back. She hissed in pain.

"Never mind that!" she growled, and stalked off into the forest.

<"Unh . . . What in Gaea's name? Where did these flames come from? Are they from the lasso?"> Diana murmured. The flames flickered and died, and the Princess lifted the lasso into her hands, twirling it into several tidy loops. <"I still have much to learn of you, gift of the gods, do I not?">

"What the hell?" Callista pushed herself into a sitting position. "I feel like I just slept for about a year . . . "

"It's Gaea's magic at work, sister," Diana murmured. She clasped her lasso to her girdle, and willed her plane to descend. A set of stairs rippled down from it. "Come. Let's go."

"Where's my necklace?" Callista cried.

Diana looked around. "I'm not sure . . . And Debbi isn't in the plane."

"A million bucks says she stole the damned thing!" Callista murmured. "I knew she'd bribe her way out of that mental hospital we put her in!"

"Mental hospital?"

"Yeah. Deb's a complete lunatic sometimes. I guess there's just a history of mental problems in my family!"

Diana didn't know what to say to that, so she led Callista into the craft, and the two flew home to Callista's mansion and enjoy a long night of movies and ice cream.