Floating high above the pristine floor, lovely visage illuminated by Circe's mystical floating flames, is . . .

Diana, Princess of Paradise Island, Diana Prince, Wonder Woman of the Avengers League, she is the champion of the legendary Amazons and daughter of Queen Hippolyta. Trained for centuries in the art of war, she is stronger than Heracles, swifter than Hermes, wise as Athena and beautiful as Aphrodite, and uses all her powers to teach and defend the Amazon ideals of peace and love as one of the mightiest heroes alive!

Yards away, ebony and crimson costume stretched tightly across bulging muscles . . .

Kal-El, Last Son of Krypton, Clark Kent, Superman of the X-Men, he was sent from his doomed home planet and landed on earth where he was found and raised by the Kents, and then adopted by Charles Xavier. Thanks to the solar energy of Earth's yellow sun, Superman possesses powers far and beyond ordinary mortals, which he uses to fight for Xavier's dream of equality between mutants and humans alike as one of the few heroes who might be mightier!

Circe's shrill cackle echoed throughout the hallowed halls of her palace. <"Delicious! Superman and Wonder Woman, among the mightiest heroes the mortal world has to offer! Diana . . . Superman is under a minor spell . . . He retains all of his knowledge and skill, all of his wits as well. I'm not controlling him, I've simply switched his loyalties to me. He'll do anything to defend me, like a hound against a burglar. And you are that burglar!">

<"Witch! How dare you toy with a being's emotions like that?! They are his and his alone!"> Diana yelled.

<"So says a woman serving the harlot Aphrodite!"> Circe replied. Before Diana could respond, Superman slammed into her in a blur of crimson and ebony. Rolling with the blow, the princess of the Amazons hurled her opponent backward. He flipped in midair, struggling to regain his balance. The golden loop of the Magic Lasso wrapped soundly around him, Wonder Woman pulling the other end taunt.

"Superman! Listen to me!" Diana cried. She had battled him once before; when the Avengers League assaulted the X-Men*. He had won the fight, as Wonder Woman had underestimated his strength and pulled her punch. She was still kicking herself over her embarrassing shock, which allowed Superman to send her careening away from the battle. Diana knew she could hold her own against him, but a battle was too risky when another way was presented.

*(X-Men #9)

Superman regarded the Amazon with a cool look. Suddenly, he yanked the glimmering cord, pulling Diana into the air, before hammering her backward through a series of columns. The pillars, and part of the ceiling they supported, collapsed on her, burying the Amazon in marble rubble.

<"I suggest you cease your attacks with your lasso, Diana. With this, you cannot reach him,"> Circe cackled. She held up a strand of string, with a shining piece of flint hanging from it. Even from her position far below, Diana could feel its power. <"'Tis a shard of the sickle Chronus used to slay his father Uranus. Since Gaea created this weapon as she did yours, it can resist the power of the Golden Lariat!">

Great Hera! He is as strong as ever . . . and he can resist my lasso! For my own sake and his, I cannot hold back . . . Athena grant me skill and strength!

Rubble burst upward in a wave of marble fragments as Diana hurtled towards her opponent, swinging a massive column like it weighed nothing. The marble actually cracked as she sent Superman sailing into the wall. The blow only seemed to make him mad as he charged, eyes glowing with energy. His powerful fists shattered the marble, and Superman engaged Diana in a frenzied, midair combat.

Iron Man shot by Ororo like a rocket, buffeting a hawk with dazzling energy beams. The Mutant Goddess brought the fury of the wind upon the airborne demons, and they became like sparrows in a hurricane.

{Whoa! Careful, Storm!} Iron Man cried, his voice sounding in Ororo's skull via J'Onn's telepathy as he was nearly blasted from the air by the woman-made tempest. {You aren't the only flier here!}

{I am sorry,} Ororo replied, before being swept back into combat.

Bobby Drake pelted his opponents with projectiles of ice, slashing through heavy fur and plated armor. A blinding blast of telekinetic energy sizzled through the air nearby him, nearly frying a creature that resembled a yeti. In shock, he turned, and saw Jean Grey hovering above the crowd, an aura of telekinetic energy surrounding her lithe body. Her eyes glowed with fury, and Iceman shivered despite his resistance to the cold. He had never seen the 'mother' of the X-Men so furious. Of course, a lioness is most dangerous when defending her cubs, her den, and her mate.

{These things . . . I can't get into their minds!} Jean cried, a protective bubble of mental energy forming around her.

J'Onn lashed out at them telepathically, but it was as if he was using his mental powers on stone. {It is as if they don't have any!} His emerald fist send a beast that looked like the mythical Minotaur sailing backward.

{But they got bodies!} Logan snarled, slashing crimson lines across the broad chest of a wolf man. {So that's where we hit 'em!}

Captain America clouted another beast on the head. They were blurring into one; he couldn't tell hawks from cultures and lions from wolves now. A fiery explosion from Hawkeye's arrows downed several more, but they still numbered in the thousands.

"Goddess! Do they never cease?!" Ororo raged, words whisked away by the fury of her storm as she sent raw lightning coursing through the body of another beast.

Gaea! He nearly scorched me there! I must be more vary of his abilities! Diana chastised herself, as she engaged in heat rays and bracelets with the enraged Superman. He swooped upon her, slamming her into the floor below. More heat vision followed, like rays of sunlight from the sky, and Diana parried these on her bracelets, or dodged them and allowing the destructive power to devastate the shining floor of the palace. Growing tired of this, Wonder Woman turned Superman's deadly attack back upon him, the searing beams slashing into his own hide. He cursed in pain. Flipping head over heels, Diana bounced away, hit the wall for momentum, and caught Superman with a double-fisted blow.

"You'll never beat me," he said, twisting to avoid another punch as they restarted their deadly midair ballet.

Wonder Woman kicked him in the stomach, driving the wind from his lungs. She could not hold back at all, lest Superman land another punch that would send her sailing out of sight. A vicious roundhouse to his ribs; a palm strike to the nose; a kick in the groin . . . the Amazon unleashed her fury upon the X-Man, finally slamming her arm down on the back of his head, knocking him out of the air.

"No man can beat an Amazon . . . not even a Superman!" Her heeled boot slammed into the back of his head, driving his face into the floor. Groaning in pain, Superman grabbed her ankle in an iron grip, and slammed her next to him with enough force to shatter the marble. Diana rose, but an uppercut staggered her, before a devastating right hook sent her flying in a star-spangled blur across the entire throne room to collide brutally with the statue of Odysseus.

Diana's eyes fluttered open as she pushed away her pain, bringing her spirit beyond the physical beating her body was taking.

"By Athena, that's it!" she snarled. Her muscles strained as she hefted the entire statue of Odysseus above her head. Thousands of tons of marble hurtled through the air, shattering as they slammed into the approaching Superman. He tumbled backward amidst the rain of rubble, and Diana dropped to the ground, still wary.

She dodged a flying boulder as Superman reemerged, angrier than ever. He assaulted Wonder Woman, attacking her once more with all his power. The Princess of the Amazons fought back with all her legendary skill, and matched the Man of Steel blow for blow. Superman deflected a kick to his skull and sent her careening once more in a high arc across the room. Wonder Woman flipped agilely, landing on her feet.

Superman shot towards her, barely visible at the speeds he moved. Diana vaulted to the side, bouncing off the wall and whirling about Superman in a flashing display of gymnastics and acrobatics as she deftly dodged his attacks. A flurry of precise kicks drove him to the ground, but he leapt back, obviously attempting to recuperate. He puckered his lips, and Diana raised an eyebrow, confused at his tactics. Suddenly, a blast of wind struck her, and a thin sheet of ice coated her face.

Instantly, she began scratching at it, clearing it away with ease, but Superman grabbed her arm, twisting it roughly, and punched her into the wall again. Cracks formed across the magically enforced stone, and blood flew from Diana's mouth. Groaning, she stumbled to her knees.

Thick, powerful fingers wound themselves into her hair, hefting her prone body upward. Superman's eyes glowed with the energy of his heat vision, and Diana could feel the sweltering warmth emanating forth.

"Suffering Sappho . . . no!" Her bracelets crossed, and the powerful blast exploded outward, scorching both combatants. Diana, forcing away the pain with all of her discipline, cupped her hands together and slammed them over Superman's ears. The Man of Steel roared in pain dropping Wonder Woman. Even before she landed, she rammed a kick in his solar plexus.

He almost had me there! Diana thought to herself. She smashed a knee into his abdomen and landed an elbow on his temple. Twisting, she lashed out with her foot, and sent him careening away. Before he could recover, her tiara cracked into his forehead. Diana rolled across the floor to dodge another barrage of heat vision, recovering her lasso in the process. Before she could throw it, he attacked her, grabbing the golden coils in one hand. He yanked it viciously, attempting to pull it away as Diana deflected an elbow strike.

Diana whipped the rope across his face, before wrapping her lasso around his waist. Twisting, she yanked him into a floating sphere of flame. He shrieked as the magical flames burned his body. Diana tugged again, pulling him free and slamming him into the wall as she loosed him from the lasso. Superman whirled about to extinguish the flames, but warily watched Diana.

Both combatants parted to evaluate their wounds and their next courses of action. Diana hurt all over, and had a few scorch marks from close shaves with his heat vision. Blood ran in a thin rivulet down her jaw line, melding with her crimson lips. Her body would be covered in bruises by the next day.

It seemed up until now that he was winning, he is as strong as steel and heals so swiftly, but Circe's flames have wounded him. Maybe he is more vulnerable to magic than he is to my physical blows?

Circe avidly watched the battle, eyes wide with excitement. Living alone on an island was incredibly dull, especially with only bestiamorphs to keep you company. But this . . . was incredible. The battle seemed able to shift either way. As Superman bore down on Wonder Woman again, Circe's attention was brought to a commotion outside. She had been vaguely aware of a disturbance outside her palace, but she was sure her bestiamorphs would handle it. Perhaps they were simply tougher foes. Her transformed soldiers would take them in the end.

Diana sprang at Clark, grabbing him by his shoulders and slamming him into the ground. Using her momentum she flipped to her feet, still holding him, and launched him into a nearby wall. Enraged, Superman sent her sailing the entire length of the throne room once more, where she crashed with a resounding slam into the wall. Stars began to dance before her eyes as the nearly indestructible wall resisted her impact. She landed gracefully, despite her pain, and readied herself as Superman raced forward, a near-invisible blur of black and red. He was preparing to finish her off, and Diana realized she must do the same.

Gods of Olympus, grant your daughter strength! I cannot let him win . . . in the name of my mother, Queen Hippolyta of Paradise Island . . . The Amazing Amazon laced her fingers and swung, with every ounce of her strength. "YOU WON'T WIN!"

Never before on earth had such a blow been struck; the very echo of the blast was louder than thunder, shaking the palace on its foundations. Superman shot backward more swiftly than he had attacked, shattering the magically enforced wall like glass as he shot out towards the rising sun, vanishing swiftly over the horizon.

Her hands went numb; perhaps a finger or two had broken. The strength seemed to leave her limbs, ebbing away slowly like water from a broken jar. Circe raised her eyebrows.

<"Impressive, Diana,"> she murmured. <"Very impressive . . . ">

Suddenly, a multitude of shapes leapt in through the gaping hole in the ceiling, dropping swiftly to the floor. The Avengers League and the X-Men. And they were not happy. Not at all. Diana was already standing, lasso and tiara in place as she shakily prepared to fight. The light of Jean Grey's telekinetic power drowned out the floating flames, as she prepared to rend Circe asunder. The heroes aligned themselves against the ancient witch; new battle slowly teetering into the canyon of chaos.

"Fools . . . " Circe hissed in heavily accented English. "You will regret challenging me!"