"Callista?" Ororo's soft voice cut through the darkness. Callista could barely see the dim outline of the Mutant Goddess as the door swung open to reveal her towering frame. "Are you well?"

"Y-yes, 'Roro . . . just . . . bad dreams," Callista murmured, shuddering. She felt a slight pressure on the bed next to her. Ororo laid a comforting arm around her friend, hugging her close.

"About Diana?" she ventured. Callista stared at her in shock.

"How did you know?" she asked.

Ororo sighed. "I had one as well . . . but it doesn't feel like a simple nightmare. I think something horrible happened to Diana."

"Of course! The telepathic link!" Callista cried in realization. "We communicate with Diana so much over it . . . maybe it gives us sort of a rapport with her?"

"That would make sense . . . how would we contact her?" Ororo asked. Callista leapt out of her bed, hurrying to her desk, where a device that was clearly Amazonian stood. It was like a small television screen, with Greek pillars on either end. Long cords stretched out from it, attached to a headband, which Callista placed onto her head.

"This . . . Diana gave it to me in case I ever needed to contact her," Callista replied. "Her own telepathy doesn't extend this far . . . but this device should be able to zoom in on her mind . . . "

The screen flickered . . . and remained black. Callista gasped, pulling the headband away. "She's not okay and she's not in California!"

She reached to the desk, where a phone stood, and swiftly dialed a number. Biting her lip in nervousness, Callista counted the rings. One . . . two . . . three . . . a masculine voice answered.

"Tony? It's Calli. Yes . . . I know it's been awhile. Yeah, I can tell time, Tony, I know it's late. But this is important . . . I need you to contact Iron Man."

Glancing around, Diana saw that she lay on the outstretched palm of a massive bronze statue. She recognized the stern face as that of Odysseus, ancient hero of the Trojan War and King of Ithaca. Glancing around her, she saw that she was in a building straight from Ancient Greece. She wondered if she was back on Paradise Island, before banishing the foolish thought immediately.

"Gaea . . . " she groaned.

<"Ah . . . the sleeping Princess wakes!">* a shrill voice crowed.

*(Translated from Ancient Greek)

Diana glanced upward, to see a beautiful woman floating on thin air. She had the pampered, plush body of a harlot, but the hardened, deadly look of an experienced murderess. She wore an emerald gown that hung on her frame in such a way to stir the passions of any who admire women, and golden glinted on her bare skin. Her hair was long, and a shocking violet, but what surprised Diana most was her eyes; blood red and bloodthirsty.

<"Who are you? What have you done with James? Tell me! Now!"> Diana demanded.

<"Your mortal boyfriend . . . Well, the potion that changed him into a being nearly as powerful as you, and allowed him to resist the power of your lasso, has worn off. But still, I hold sway over his mind. Let us just say . . . I have been learning what you see in him.">

Her full lips curved upward into a vicious smirk, and realization hit the princess like a fist.

<"You . . . you are Circe!">

<"Aye, little Amazon. I am.">

<"How did you find out about James? How did you know about my masquerade as Diana Prince?">

<"The minds of mortals are like books to me, Princess. Me, your greatest foe!">

<"You are no foe of mine . . . I have never even met you until this eve!"> Diana protested angrily.

Circe laughed. <"You little fool!"> she crowed. <"Just because your mother kept you locked away from the world doesn't mean that I do not hate you as much as I do your sisters . . . you ruined my life millennia ago . . . you wrecked the world of sin I had created with your blasted Amazon philosophies!">

<"Much of what you speak transpired before I was even born, Circe,"> Diana replied. <"Why do you blame me?">

<"Simple, wench. You espouse the same blasted ideals as your sisters . . . As the Olympians have, I too have taken to operating more discretely . . . and it was working. You see, dear Diana, I love hatred. It fills me more than the sweetest wine, and I would do anything to see the world swallowed in discord! I had been making small progresses . . . wars and such here and there, but you come, flagrantly tossing about your little tenets . . . preaching peace and love incessantly! 'Tis enough to make me ill! You tore holes in my little schemes, and have already begun to unravel my plans, simply by being there.">

Diana stood, despite the burden of her chains. <"Why? Why do you fear love and peace so much? Why can you not see the wisdom of Aphrodite's way . . . the love and goodness that is at the very core of every human being!">

<"Your love is lust and your goodness is a masquerade, Amazon!"> Circe responded. <"You waste your time . . . greed is the center of the mortal heart, evil the liquor that they indulge! When you strip away the altruistic bull dung, your precious humans are decadent, wretched beings. So few of them praise the ideals that you do, they only follow your example because of your beauty and your strength. They are shallow creatures, Diana. Think of Adolph Hitler. Attila the Hun. Bloody Mary. Stalin. Mussolini.">

The eyes of the Amazon Princess were filled, to Circe's shock, with pity rather than rage. Diana looked upon the sorceress. She truly believed that hatred was the only way, that humanity was at its heart evil. She was Wonder Woman's opposite, the antithesis of all that the daughter of Hippolyta was. And Diana pitied her.

<"Nay, Circe. You are wrong. When you strip away the rage . . . the wars and the violence, humanity is good. At the core of every human being, no matter how evil, is a spark of goodness. They have the potential to become noble people, and some have simply used that potential to its fullest. Mother Theresa. Gandhi. Princess Diana of Wales. Joan of Arc. Elizabeth I. Charlemagne. Even you, Circe, beneath the layers of hatred and hurt, are a good woman. Can you not see that?">

Circe was livid, clenched fists glowing with the primal power at her command. She raised a hand, ready to wash away the Amazon's life in a wave of magic. But Diana stood firm, her deep, sky blue eyes making contact with Circe's crimson orbs, and the witch lowered her arm, and spat in disgust.

<"Be silent. I grow weary of your babble. You are here for one purpose, Diana, and that is my entertainment.">

<"Entertainment?"> Diana replied.

A low chuckle emitted from Circe's slim throat. <"Oh . . . you shall see.">

"Down there." Tony Stark's voice was altered by the advanced technology in the smooth metallic plate that was the face of the famous Iron Man. His boots thumped softly as they landed on the Spanish tiles of the Domaine Mansion. His passenger, the brightly clad Captain America, stepped onto his own crimson-clad feet, shouldering his legendary shield, as Hawkeye and the stoic Martian Manhunter descended a few yards away.

Oh boy does this bring back memories . . . Tony thought. And not all of them are good ones, either. Calli and I had a passionate relationship . . . whether it was sex or arguing. But she sounded worried . . . and I know she's friends with Wonder Woman. I can't put personal matters above my teammates' well beings.

The group of heroes descended into the mansion, where soft lights illuminated a sitting room. Hawkeye glanced at Iron Man. He was acting nervous, edgy. The archer assumed he must know this Domaine woman. She sat in a plush chair, worry evident on her face. Hawkeye had seen her before, and she looked quite different from the pictures on television and the newspaper. Without her makeup and her hair styled, Callista Domaine was pretty, but definitely no Wonder Woman. Her concern was something Hawkeye could not equate with the savvy, vicious, and confident businesswoman that was the Callista Domaine the USA knew. Standing protectively beside her was a tall, regal African woman, clad in a skimpy outfit with capes tied to her wrists. A startling shock of white hair poured from her scalp.

"Hello," Callista said, standing to greet them. "Thank you so much for coming."

"No problem, Miss Domaine," Captain America replied. "If our friend is in trouble, it's our duty to help her in any way possible."

Callista smiled in gratitude. Tony was shocked; the lack of flirtation when provided with such fine male specimens as Hawkeye and Captain America was very unlike the Callista he knew. Carefully, the publicist reiterated the problem.

Hawkeye frowned. "Anybody powerful enough to take down Wondy is gonna be tough!"

The African woman stepped forward. "I shall come with you. I am Ororo, maybe you know me as Storm. I am a friend of Diana's, and I shall help you in any way possible."

"Glad to have you along, Storm," Captain America replied. "Well, team, let's get to work."

Following the vague directions given by Callista and the Mental Radio, the quintet of heroes soared across the sky in an Avengers League quinjet, borrowed for speed.

"There." Martian Manhunter sat, eyes closed in concentration. "There is much interference, but we are right above Diana."

"You sure?" Hawkeye asked, glancing uncertainly at the dark seas below. "There's no land below us."

"Our instruments are malfunctioning!" Iron Man replied. "The compass and tracking systems are going insane . . . it must be an arcane influence. Any foe of Wonder Woman's has a good chance of being an irate god or goddess . . . so the island is most likely masked from our view."

Captain America followed Hawkeye's gaze out the window, before glancing back at Ororo, who clutched her armrests in white knuckled grips and had squeezed her eyes tightly closed. A bead of sweat rolled slowly down her dark brow.

"Storm must be claustrophobic," he observed. She was nervous boarding the plane, and it had just gotten worse. "We better try it. Only bad thing that could happen is we could get a little wet."

The group of heroes launched themselves from the jet, which was left to hover over the sea. As they descended, reality seemed to shift, and a tiny islet was revealed to them. It was lush and green, with exotic beasts stalking through the gardens. An ancient Greek palace stood, painted marble looming like the ghostly remnants of Athens in her golden age.

Suddenly, Martian Manhunter pressed a powerful hand to his forehead. "Another group approaches . . . they have a telepath with them . . . she's sensed me!" A shower of ice shards sliced through the jungle foliage, cutting towards the Avengers League. Swiftly, they dodged, as several shapes burst from the trees. Two men, more bestial than human, attacked from the air, one with the brutish features of a primate and the other with three glittering blades jutting from the back of each hand. A scarlet-haired woman and a man who resembled an ice sculpture followed, haloed by telekinetic energy. J'Onn recognized them. The Beast, an apelike genius, Wolverine, a mysterious and savage fighter, Iceman, whose name explained all, and Jean Grey, a telepath and telekinetic with powers to rival J'Onn's.

"The X-Men!" J'Onn cried in surprise.

"Stop!" Jean Grey yelled to her teammates. "They aren't our enemies!"

Jean stepped forward to greet Captain America.

"What brings you here?" Cap asked.

"Our teammate vanished, and I tracked him here," Jean Grey replied. "He's in that palace . . . "

"He must be with Wonder Woman!" Hawkeye surmised.

"Then I suggest we join our formidable forces to rescue our captive comrades," Beast replied, already bounding through the thick jungle branches.

The heroes soon reached a break in the thick trees, where a large amount of beasts stalked and slept; lions, tigers, wolves, leopards, all sedate and calm, as if well fed, and tranquilized. The trees were filled with brightly colored birds, and the grass was thick with writhing serpents.

"'In the wild wood they found an open glade, around a smooth stone house-the hall of Circe-and wolves and mountain lions lay there, mild in her soft spell, fed on her drug of evil'," Beast quoted under his breath. Hawkeye looked at his new comrade.

"Huh?"

"Don't worry . . . he always does that," Iceman assured.

"The Odyssey, Homer," Beast replied, landing with grace that did not fit his massive form. "Seemed appropriate, considering our Greek surroundings, although that palace is a design from around a thousand years after the Odyssey took place."

"Well . . . whatever 'drug of evil' these critters have been huffing," Hawkeye said warily. "It doesn't leave hangovers!"

The beasts had risen to their feet, rough tongues sliding over glistening teeth. The air was filled with the flaps and squawks of birds, and the snakes reared their scaly heads upward. And they changed, growing new features, becoming grotesque mockeries of animal life.

"Goddess . . . " Lightning crackled around Ororo's hands as she prepared for battle. The creatures surged around the assembled heroes, claws and teeth and talons brought to bear.

<"Well . . . Diana . . . it seems it is time for my entertainment.">

<"I will not let you use me for your sick games!"> Diana replied. Her shackles vanished, but before she could attack, something struck her side with the force of a falling star. She was sent careening across the massive room, before an agile flip landed her gracefully on the marble floor.

Wonder Woman glared at her attacker, fists raised, before she realized who he was.

"Superman?!"