Castaways

Part 4. The Hell at the end of the Universe.

by Skytower

            The bath water was getting cold. The candles were burnt out. The small amount of jasmine that lingered in the air wasn’t comforting anymore. The fluffy white bubbles were all gone leaving only a oily residue floating on the surface. Wanda raised her head and looked down at her body. The water distorted a little but not that much. She still had long legs, a wide wild patch of black/dark-brown pubic hair, wide hips and full breasts. She was in great shape and muscles showed under tight white skin. It was a great body. Many men and women, heroes and villains had lusted after her. Too many. There had been plenty of lust and not enough love in Wanda’s life. Now it was too late.

            Wanda sighed and leaned back. There was no point in getting out of the tub. It wasn’t as if she had a lot to do.

            The bathroom was close to what she remembered of her old room. Wanda had grown up a gypsy in Europe. Her troupe had traveled in the spring, summer and fall and only stayed in towns in winter. Usually the towns were dumps. They were poor villages that barely tolerated the perpetually hated gypsies but were willing to let them stay in exchange for money or sex or magic. Baths to Wanda in those towns meant a tub in a kitchen heated by a wood fire. In the summer it was bathing in a pond, stream or lake. Not until she was sixteen and recruited by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants had Wanda known the luxury of a bath with hot running water.

            Janet Van Dyne however had been born rich and lived rich all of her life. So when Wanda had moved into Avengers Mansion Janet had taken it upon herself to make sure that Wanda was comfortable. Extremely comfortable.

            A sad smiled played on Wanda’s face. It was best not to stand in Jan’s way when she had a project. She had created a dream bathroom for Wanda consisting of a gold tub, Grecian marble floors, a silver and gold sink and a crystal chandelier. The walls were murals of forest scenes. Only the toilet was ordinary and only because Wanda had put her foot down.

            The smile fell away from Wanda’s face and she squeezed her eyes shut to block the tears. She could cry for Jan but how could she cry for a universe? Wanda was afraid that if she let one tear fall then others would follow and they would never stop.

            Wanda suddenly stood up and let the chill of the room raise goose pimples all over her body. It was too easy to revel in the grief but it would do her no good. But it was hard to hold it back. Hard for Tania as well. Wanda had felt her friend’s grief tearing at her many times over the past few weeks. She stepped out of the tub and dried herself slowly. The feel of the rough towel across her skin stimulated her and when she realized that Wanda dried herself quickly and roughly and then put on a robe. These days there was only one reason her body wanted sex.

            “Get out of my head,” She growled belting her robe tightly and walking back into her room. Tania was sitting on the four-poster bed.

            “They’re trying again,” She said.

            Wanda cursed using an old gypsy word. Tania was wearing an old pair of blue and white-stripped pajamas. The blonde woman gazed at Wanda’s body and then looked away.

            “Enough!” Wanda shouted. She brought her hands up and recited a spell. The lights in the room faded for a moment and then they came up again a small demon was revealed on each of them. Barely a foot tall Wanda’s demon was clutching her leg and playing between her legs. Tania’s was sitting on her lap and had his hand beneath her pajama bottoms. They squealed as each woman grabbed them and held them at arms length.

            “Tell your master to stay away from us,” Wanda said.

            Without a word needed Wanda and Tania threw the demons at each other. They collided and burst into a cloud of dust that rapidly faded.

            “Who do you think it was this time?” Tania asked.

            “I don’t care.” Wanda said walking over to the bureau. She threw off her robe and grabbed a bra. “We don’t work for anyone.”

            “We just stay here and watch TV.” Tania said leaning back and holding the remote. Across from the bed was a large flat TV that took the place of the window that should have been there. It got every channel from every universe. And they still sometimes had trouble finding something to watch.

            “Do you want to go back to the arena?” Wanda demanded pulling a pair of panties up her leg. She had deliberately chosen a white bra with red panties and over that she put on long T-shirt. The bra showed up through the shirt and Wanda didn’t care. Who cared what she looked like? No one saw her but Tania.

            “No.” Tania said. “But staying in this room for eternity doesn’t appeal either.”

            Wanda sat on the bed and felt the anger drain out of her.

            “What do we do Tania? What else can we do?”

            Tania was silent and Wanda sat beside her as Tania flipped channels. It was a question they had both asked in the weeks since they had been brought to Nowhere.

Nowhere. The name that Sue had told them was given to this place. Wanda had a lot of other names for it. When the Anti-Monitor had destroyed entire universes most of the heroes and heroines had fought him to the last. The villains ran. Twelve Grandmasters had formed a reality apart from the multiverse and into that reality had fled supervillains from every universe. There were no rules, no laws or even a public to protect. The supervillains constantly vied with each other for power and small sections of reality that they could control.

            For the Grandmasters it was perfect. They had set up a system where the supervillains could slowly gain rank with each victory. Those were games that the Grandmasters watched. The games that they actually ran were games against each other. But there was another set of games. If a supervillain gained enough victories he could game for a Grandmaster’s spot. If he won then the supervillain would gain the Grandmaster’s power. If he lost all of his pawns were the property of the Grandmaster and the supervillain was back at the bottom rung of the ladder.

            It was hell for anyone who wasn’t a villain. Many supervillains had fled their universes with minions to help them and un-settled grudges against the heroes. Those few heroes that survived were overwhelmed and enslaved.

            Tania and Wanda were different. The Wraithlord had claimed them as pawns but he had lost his game and that made them the property of Grandmaster 6 and sent the Wraithlord back to the bottom of the pile. But Grandmaster 6 had lost a bet long ago that denied him the use of mind control. Without that control Wanda and Tania refused to fight. The result was a limbo for the two homeless heroines. So far other supervillains had tried to control them with science or spells but no one had succeeded. The understanding seemed to be that anyone who successfully enslaved Wanda and Tania would earn points with Grandmaster 6.

            Tania settled on Wheel of Fortune and Wanda sighed. They hadn’t left the room in a week. They’d had some battles with the supervillains who had come to enslave them but no matter how much the room was smashed it was reformed after the fight. Wanda was beginning to wonder if they were not so much in hell but in purgatory.

            She heard a knock at the door and glanced at Tania. Tania shrugged and muted the sound. Then they both got off of the bed. Wanda stepped to the door and opened it.

            A tall well built man in a perfectly tailored blue business suit smiled at her. His face was handsomely made up with fine chiseled features and the light reflected off of his bald head. At his side stood a woman of the same height wearing the same style of business suit but she wore a skirt, not pants. Her raven black hair curled naturally and her face and figure were strikingly beautiful.

            “Lex Luthor and Circe the Sorceress,” Wanda said.

            “Not the ones you knew of course,” Lex said smiling. “And she is my wife.”

            “Really?” Tania asked.

            “May we come in and talk?” Lex asked.

            “Well another fight would break the boredom,” Wanda said glancing at Tania.

            “Come in,” Tania said.

            Wanda stood aside to let the couple pass and then closed the door.

            “I take it you work for Grandmaster 6?” Tania asked.

            “Yes,” Circe said.

            Without any direction Circe and Lex walked over to the table on the other side of the TV and sat down. Tania sat on the edge of the bed and Wanda sat down in the recliner on the other side of the TV.

            “You are not getting anywhere with this resistance,” Lex said turning his chair around.

            “We’re not fighting in the arena,” Tania said. “It’s pointless.”

            “It can be rewarding,” Lex said.

            “We’ve lost our world,” Wanda said fighting down her anger. “We fought for justice, we fought to help people; we aren’t going to fight for someone else’s amusement.”

            “We lost our world too,” Circe protested.

            “We cared about ours,” Tania said coldly and for the first time Wanda saw a reaction in the other two. Circe’s eyes flashed and Lex’s body stiffened.

            “You think you are the only ones?” Lex demanded. “We ruled our world. The people looked to us for guidance and protection and we failed them. We were not the villains.”

            “We know how you feel,” Circe said. “We lost our son and daughter, we know how hollow the heart can become.”

            “Yet you are here,” Tania said not at all moved. “They are not.”

            “So are you,” Lex said before Circe could speak. He looked at Tania. “What ever you think you know about us never doubt that we mourn our children and how they died. Do you think I haven’t spent nights holding Circe in my arms as she cried herself to sleep?”

            “We are all we have. Just as you are all that you have.” Circe said. “Sometimes a lover arms…”

            “We are not lovers!” Wanda snapped. It irritated her that everyone they encountered in Nowhere immediately assumed that she and Tania were lovers.

            “You sleep in one bed,” Circe said.

            “For companionship and comfort,” Tania said. “Not sex.”

            Lex stood up and started to pace as he talked.

            “Whatever your relationship is just sitting her and watching TV isn’t going to help you or anyone else.”

            “There is no one left to help,” Wanda said. She looked to Tania for confirmation but Tania was staring at Circe.

            “Help yourself if no one else.” Lex said pacing in front of her.

            “Help you, you mean.”

            “Of course,” Lex replied waving his arms dramatically. “But help yourselves as well. The last game the Grandmaster sent you into is the type of game only his elite pawns play. If being a hero means so much to you then there are worlds out there that you can help.”

            Wanda stood up and walked over to stand in front of him. He was so much like her Luthor, yet so different. That Luthor would never walk around or gesture so much. He was more in control.

            “Get this straight Luthor,” She said. “On our world you were a supervillain, you tried time and again to rule the world and Superman and others stopped you time and time again. You were a looser there and you’re a looser here. Get out of our room! Tania and I…”

            Wanda glanced over and Tania for confirmation and realized that Tania wasn’t moving. She and Circe were staring at each other. Wanda’s gaze moved past them and to the open bathroom door. She could see herself in the mirror above the sink.

            Herself! But not Lex Luthor!

            “Vampire!” Wanda shouted with a snap of her fingers. A flare of sunlight flooded the room.

            Lex and Circe recoiled and shrank back to the floor covering their eyes.

            Tania hadn’t even realized that she was being hypnotized. Circe gazed had fixed on hers as Lex was talking and Tania’s mind had begun to slow down. She had the vague impression that something was wrong but what it was Tania couldn’t say. Lex kept talking and the TV kept playing and Tania became less and less focused on the world and more on Circe’s deep blue eyes. Tania had been hypnotized before many times. But recognizing it and doing something about it was two different things. Tania knew that she had to look away. She had to blink. But she couldn’t. Her eyes wouldn’t obey her and her eyelids stayed open. Tania forgot how to talk so it was impossible to warn Wanda.

            “Vampire!” Wanda shouted and suddenly an explosion of light snapped Tania out of her nascent trance.

            “Bitch!” Lex cursed as the flare faded.

            “Just like ours,” Circe agreed. “But if we can not take them by stare…”

            “Then you can not take us at all!” Tania growled.

            With inhuman speed Circe launched herself across the room and tackled Tania through one of the bedpost and into the bed. Tania wasn’t that stunned and slammed her fist into Circe’s mouth. The vampires responded by slashing her nails across Tania’s eyes. Screaming Tania drew back and kicked out sending Circe flying back across the room and into the table. It splintered under the impact and Tania raced to press the attack.

            Wanda was ready for Lex’s attack but her blow missed as he dodged and his charge carried them back into the recliner. The chair fell back ward and Wanda felt herself pinned under the weight of the man. He planted a knee on her chest and raised his fist but Wanda reacted quickly and a wall of flame sprang to life infront of his face. Lex drew back and Wanda drove her fist into his crotch. Lex grunted but didn’t move and it took three more blows before Wanda was able to throw him off. She scrambled out from under the chair and was trying to get her feet back under her when Lex grabbed her ankles. Lifting her up Lex swung Wanda like a baseball bat and slammed her into the wall.

            Circe recovered more quickly than Tania thought she could and with a punch to her stomach threw Tania into the bureau. She followed up her attack with a charge but Tania ignored the pain and her punch knocked Circe through the wall and into the bathroom. Following her Tania found the vampire leaning against the sink dazed. There was no reflection in the mirror. Tania grabbed Circe’s hair and smashed her face into the glass.

            “Can’t see yourself bitch!” Tania growled as the mirror shattered. Keeping her hold Tania pulled Circe away from the wall and slammed it into the wall again. “Look again! Maybe you need to clean up first!” Tania plunged Crice’s head into the toilet bowl. “Maybe some holy water will clean you up!”

            Wanda’s side ached as Lex dropped her to the floor and bent toward her. But she wasn’t out yet and her legs leapt up and her toes poked him in the eyes. Gasping he fell back clutching his face and Wanda got to her knees. Power flowed into her hands as a hex-sphere formed and the material of Lex’s suit suddenly became flammable. A quick spark-spell and Lex’s clothing caught fire.

            “Time to burn Lex!” Wanda called out as he thrashed at the flames.

            Circe stopped struggling and Tania relaxed her grip only to be thrown back as Circe wrenched herself into a standing position. The impact threw Tania across the room and into the cloths hamper.

            “I don’t need to breath bitch!” Circe snarled as water dripped down her face. “And that wasn’t holy water!”

            “You probably bathe in it!” Tania taunted.

            Fangs bared Circe launched herself at Tania and only at the last moment did Tania put up a forearm to block the charge. They lay there for a moment with Circe trying to press the attack and Tania holding her back with a forearm across her throat. The vampires mouth was open and her fangs dripped with saliva.

            “I’ll drain you,” Circe hissed.

            “Drain this,” Tania said stuffing a dirty bra into Circe’s mouth.

            Lex had torn off his shirt and turned to mist. Wanda lost sight of him for a moment and suddenly he was behind her. With a savage tug on her hair Lex bent Wanda backward and then slammed his knee into the base of her spine and drove his fist into her chest. Wanda fell to the floor with pain in every part of her body and Lex dove on top of her. With both fists he punched her breasts again and again.

            Circe grabbed Tania’s hair and slammed her head into the side of the bathtub. The blow stunned Tania and Circe did it again and again until the gold was dented. Then she pulled the heroine up by her hair and dumped her half into the tub. Wanda hadn’t emptied the tub and Tania found her head and shoulders plunged into cold soapy water.

            “I don’t need to breath wench but you do,” Circe smiled as she held Tania under the water by her hair. With her free hand she grabbed Tania’s right arm and twisted it behind her back. Her strength rapidly failing Tania clawed at the vampire’s grip with her free hand.

            Wanda could barely breath and her head was reeling. Lex had stopped beating her breasts and was slapping her face again and again. He was too strong and fast for Wanda to stop him. Instinctively she reached out with her powers and they reacted to her one wish: to get Lex off of her.

            Gravity reversed and Wanda and Lex slammed into the ceiling.

            Tania’s strength was fading and her sight was graying out. She didn’t have enough strength to break Circe’s grip and her held arm felt like it was being slowly pulled out of its socket.

            Then she, Circe and the water in the tub suddenly flew up and slammed into the ceiling. The water splashed all around them and then gravity returned. Tania landed badly with her stomach hitting the edge of the tub. She lay there gasping for air that was finally there but that her lungs couldn’t quite reach. Circe had turned into mist and reformed behind her.

            “Breathing is such a bother,” Circe said taking hold of both of Tania’s wrists. She pulled Tania’s arms behind her back and twisted them, holding them straight and then pushing them up toward her neck. Tania moaned as her arms were nearly twisted out of their sockets. Circe used them as levers to haul Tania to her feet.

            “Your turn,” Circe said as she slammed Tania’s face into the wall.

            Wanda was ready when the gravity returned. She landed face first on the floor but rolled away before Lex could land on her. Then she cast a spell and a ribbon of flame twisted itself around his body.

            “Silver and fire Lex!” Wanda growled as the ribbon started to turn to a solid silver wire. He struggled against the metal and growled curses at her but Wanda didn’t relent. Being bound by silver he couldn’t change into mist. “One to bind and one to burn!”

            Tania’s arms felt ready to break and her head was cloudy from being constantly slammed into the wall. She dropped to the floor almost lifelessly when Circe released her. But Tania was only allowed a second to catch her breath before Circe took a hand full of hair and dragged the amazon to her feet. With a contemptuous shrug the vampire shoved Tania into the wall and held her there with a solid grip on Tania’s throat.

            “Now look at my eyes,” Circe ordered.

            Tania had been mind controlled too many times. She knew and dreaded the slow defeat, the humiliation that would come to her if she looked into the vampire’s eyes. Her body was weak but Tania’s soul was still strong and with a desperate call on her last reserves Tania brought her leg up and kicked Circe in the stomach. The blow sent Circe flying through the doorway and into the other room.

            Wanda wasn’t letting go. This vampire was going to die. Wanda thought about the villains that she had let live and she thought about the last world that she and Tania had been sent too. Men like Lex had turned that world into a misogynistic hell. No more. The Scarlet Witch was out of mercy. She intensified her spell and was rewarded with a cry of pain.

            “That’s right,” Wanda said. “No more…”

            Wanda never got a chance to finish as Circe flew out of the bathroom like a cannonball and slammed into her stomach. The impact sent both of them against the wall and what was left of Wanda’s breath was forced out of her lungs, as the other woman’s weight became a hammer against her. Wanda and Circe fell to the floor dazed.

            It took a few moments for Wanda to get enough air back into her lungs to move. Lex was a mist floating in the air. Wanda tried to think of the spell to use that would disperse him but she made the fatal mistake of forgetting about Circe. A cold hand on her shoulder cut through Wanda’s mind and fear tore through her soul as Circe whirled her around so that they were face to face. There was no time to throw up a spell or mentally prepare any defenses. Circe’s ice blue vampire eyes caught Wanda’s ocean blue human eyes. All Wanda’s spells faded from her mind. All her ability to move her body was suddenly gone. The only thing in Wanda’s world was the mental force behind those deadly blue eyes. Wanda’s muscles went limp and Circe smiled revealing her fangs.

            Tania staggered out of the bathroom and saw Circe about to bite her friend. She started to go forward only to have Lex form in front of her. Like Wanda only a few moments before Tania had no time to prepare herself or plan an escape. Lex’s grey eyes fixed on her blue eyes and Tania was frozen to the spot. Every muscle was locked, tense as steel and waiting for the command that would send her body into battle. But she couldn’t move. Couldn’t make that command happen. The only thing that she could do was stand and stare into the vampire’s eyes. Lex smiled.

            Circe had to break eye contact to bite her. But her control lasted those few seconds it took to bend her head down and close her mouth on Wanda’s neck. Wanda gasped as the fangs pierced her skin. She was lost. Her resistance mental and physical flowed from her with each drop of blood. From somewhere in her body Wanda managed a moan. Her moan was answered by Circe’s muffled chortle.

            Circe drew back and her eyes locked into Wanda’s once more. Her lips were blood red with Wanda’s own blood. Taking hold of Wanda’s T-shirt Circe tore it in two exposing her red bra.

            “The delights of this world fade and ere long all will change,” Circe said as she reached into Wanda’s bra and started to rub her nipples. “Everything has it’s own laws. Nothing is eternal.” She pinched Wanda’s nipples hard and used them to pull her breasts out of the bra. The soft fabric felt harsh against her skin and Wanda felt every millimeter as the fabric traveled across her breasts. Wanda managed to whimper. “Thus bright, life-giving day is darkened by night’s shadows;”

            Circe snapped the bra in half and placed it on Wanda’s head like a hat. Wanda stayed still as Circe bent her head once more toward Wanda’s neck.

            Tania’s muscles were fighting her. They wanted to move. Her hands wanted to form fists and they wanted to hit Lex Luthor. But before they could do that her mind had to give the order and Tania’s mind was paralyzed. All it could do was tell her eyes to keep looking and all it could see was the gray void that was Lex Luthor’s eyes. That void sucked away any power Tania’s mind had over her body. Any desire or need to do anything but stay exactly where she was and take no action. As he bent down and eased her head to one side Tania’s body started to shake. She was afraid. Tania was about to die and she was afraid. The knowledge didn’t shame her. Tania had always known that she was human.

She felt his cold lips on her neck and his hot fangs on her skin. On her skin, pushing through her skin, breaking the skin and then the artery beneath the skin. An explosion of pain and pleasure blossomed on Tania’s neck. Tania’s muscles at last relaxed as her lifeblood flowed from Tania to Lex. She didn’t know how long he drank her blood. But when Lex broke contact Tania felt as if she hadn’t eaten or slept for days.

            But still Tania found that she could move again. Her left hand made a fist and her left arm lifted that fist and hit Lex’s stomach with all her might. She might have had more effect if she hat hit him with a pillow. Lex smiled at her. Then he pulled open the front of her pajama top. Tania’s breasts were open before him. Tania hit him again.

            “Ever the warrioress,” Lex said as he placed both hands on Tania’s breasts and pushed. Tania fell limply to the floor and he leaned over her. “You’re heart will never surrender but your body…”

            Tania managed to strike him again as he started to pull down her pajama bottoms. She knew that her blows would have no effect but Tania wasn’t going to stop.

            Circe pulled back and by now she didn’t have to keep her gaze locked on Wanda.

            “the icy hand of winter fast comes to smite the fairest flower;” Circe said. She pushed Wanda back but cradled her head as Wanda fell back onto the floor. Circe pulled Wanda’s arms above her head and then lay down beside her. “the calm sea is tossed by the wind.”

            Circe moved her hand down from Wanda’s neck as she talked. She lingered briefly between the heroine’s breasts but then moved on until her hand rested on Wanda’s pussy.

            No, Wanda thought. Not again! I will not give in!

            As if she could hear Wanda’s thoughts Circe laughed. Her fingers started to drum against the slit between Wanda’s legs and ancient instincts rose in Wanda’s body.

            “The young men who once pursued deer over the fells now walk falteringly, leaning heavily on their staffs.”

            Circe’s fingers were now wet with Wanda’s own juices and Wanda hated her body. Her mind could resist, her soul was defiant but her body obeyed laws set down long, long before. A stimulus was applied; the body reacted. It knew nothing of Wanda’s wishes. It was a tool that could easily be turned against her.

            Circe kissed her breast and Wanda felt the vampires fangs press against the skin.

            Tania was completely nude now and her blows were still having no effect. Tania wasn’t even sure that she was doing it. Her arm moved but by the time her fist bounced against Lex’s rock hard body Tania wasn’t sure if she had wanted the arm to move.

            “On our world amazon you were Circe’s greatest foe,” Lex said as he pulled her legs apart. “And Scarlet was mine.” Lex pulled her legs father apart and then still father until they were nearly parallel with each other. “You thwarted us at every turn.”

            Lex leaned over her and ran his fingers up her leg and across her pussy and then down the other leg.

            “Years in prison because of the two of you. I spent a year as a stone statue,” Lex smiled and bent down to her neck again. As his fangs pierced her skin once more Tania felt his fingers press into her womb. She felt the very foundation of her being begin to crumble as her willpower was leached out of her. “Your counterparts were stubborn, lucky fools who could have ruled beside us. They bravely fought against the red skies until the very end. I’m glad you and your Wanda were smart enough to run.

            Again her hand formed a fist and hit him and again Lex showed no reaction. For the first time a tear escaped Tania’s eye and ran down her face. She wanted to scream her defiance. But she couldn’t even manage a whisper. Tania knew what was coming and that it would be worse than death. But she didn’t have the strength even to shout out her pain and anger.

            Wanda was fully aroused as Circe drew her fangs across the skin of Wanda’s breast. The pressure was hard enough for Wanda to feel it but not hard enough to break the skin. At the same time Circe’s fingers had pushed into Wanda’s pussy and found her clitoris. Wanda lay panting as Circe tamed her body. Each stroke brought with it a hated pleasure and as more and more of Wanda’s willpower withered into oblivion her arousal grew. She hated the ecstasy that was building in her body. Hated it and craved it.

            “Wretched creatures that we are, why do we cling to you so, O world, when you slip from our fingers?” Circe said leaving Wanda’s breast and hovering over her face. There was no resistance to her gaze now and Wanda found herself mouthing the words to the poem as Circe spoke. Circe kissed her and there was no need of an order for Wanda to return the kiss. Her tongue met Circe’s and then ran slowly across the vampire’s fangs. Wanda hated the fact that it was so thrilling and that she loved the feel of those fangs.

            “Ever changing, you flee swiftly and relentlessly before us,” Circe said after she broke the kiss.

            Wanda felt herself drowning in pleasure and pain, defiance and despair. She was close to a climax and that climax would be her doom. Her mind would be completely open to the vampire and there was no hope of mercy.

            “May…” Wanda whispered and she saw surprise at last in Circe’s eyes. “May you flee away, and let us always love Christ,” Wanda said with a defiance that would have been a shout if she had that sort of strength left in her. Circe wasn’t the only one who read Alcuin. “let love of God always possess our hearts.”

            “Bitch!” Circe swore and slapped Wanda hard across the face. “As if that creature still existed!”

            She stroked the clitoris with inhuman speed and Wanda climaxed. At the instant she climaxed Circe’s fangs tore into her throat and Wanda felt her soul being consumed in an orgy of torturous pleasure.

            “You’re great weakness,” Lex said as he moved in and out of Tania. He was huge and powerful and all that Tania could manage to do was weakly take hold of his wrists. Her body-as it always did-betrayed her. It wanted him. The ancient need to mate, to keep the species going was far stronger than any mental barrier she could have thrown up even if Tania weren’t mesmerized. Still she tried. She tried even as she felt him move in and out of her, felt her muscles clench to keep him inside of her womb. Tried to say no even when her body surrendered.

            And worse Lex knew that she was still fighting back. That was more pleasing than the sex to him. He had an enemy completely at his mercy. With each thrust Lex proved to himself that he was supreme. He was doing far more than having sex, he was planting his flag on conquered territory, erecting a statue to his own greatness. That it had come after so long a struggle only made the victory that much sweeter. He would relive this conquest for years. Every order that she would obey in the future would feed his ego.

            “A cheating win,” Tania whispered desperate to give one last act of defiance. “You can win here, beat me, but you never beat her. Your Ultra Woman always beat you and would beat you now if she were here.”

            A flicker of doubt surfaced on his face but it was obliterated as he thrust harder and harder into her.

            I may be beaten but never will I surrender, Tania thought as the climax took her and all of her strength faded.

            The words above the doors were carved into the dark marble walls in a heavy gothic script.

            “Abandon all hope,” Wanda read.

            “A little late,” Tania said.

            “You have a hope of serving us,” Lex said. “In victory or defeat.”

            Wanda wanted to snap at him but she couldn’t. The vampiric control left Wanda and Tania with their minds completely intact and their personalities un-damaged. They could even be as strong willed as they had been. But not where Lex and Circe were concerned. Any order echoed through every part of their beings and not obeying that order was impossible. They had spent the last few days learning that as Lex and Circe had paraded their slaves around for the other servants of Grandmaster 6. Paraded them, loaned them out… toyed with them. Wanda and Tania had been forced to serve villains that they were repulsed to even stand in the same room with. Their torment was an elixir of pure pleasure for the two vampires. There were a lot of unsettled grudges between Lex, Circe and their Scarlet Witch and Ultra Woman foes. Since the originals weren’t available they had settled for torturing copies.

            But now they were ready for the first game. Wanda was dressed in a red harem skirt that ran from her hips to her ankles and was slit on either side. It was great for movement but not for modesty. Red Go-go boots added an inch to Wanda’s height. In each boot was a dagger. A tight red halter/push-up bra gave Wanda enough cleavage to hide a truck in. Bracelets on her wrists, necklaces and coils of copper in her brown curly hair weighed Wanda down by at least half of a pound. The red cape that she wore was inscribed with mystical designs. In the hollow of her throat was a tattoo that read: ‘Property of Lex and Circe Luthor’.

            Beside her Tania was wearing a variation on her normal costume. A black one-piece swimsuit with gold “VW” letters on her chest and stomach, black boots with a dagger in each boot. Her tiara was solid black with a red star in the center. Only her bracelets and golden rope were still the same. In the hollow of her throat was the same tattoo that Wanda had. The fabric was different as well. It was sheer, not solid and where Wanda’s outfit left her some modesty Tania’s costume did not.

            “What do you mean?” Was all that Wanda managed to ask.

            “This world runs on wagers,” Lex said. “We have wagered on your victory and on your defeats.”

            “We prefer you to loose,” Circe said. “Even though we loose you if that happens. As bad as we are the Undertaker is worse.”

            “Through those doors is a maze,” Lex said pointing to the doorways that were set into a massive stone wall. “At the center of the maze is the Undertaker. You have to get through the maze separately and meet in the center. If one or the other of you get there and fight him you will loose and your souls become his property. If you manage to beat him then we gain two of the souls he has captured.”

            “And the servitude of the owner of that soul,” Circe added. “In the maze are a number of heroes and villains. They’ll seek to stop you. If they do then they get your soul. Since they serve him, you will serve him.”

            “How powerful is the Undertaker?” Tania asked.

            “Close to your physical strength and a powerful wizard,” Lex replied. “Each chamber in the maze is a pocket world tailored to the strengths of his pawns. Once you get into those chambers you either defeat your opponent or find the doorway into the next chamber or corridor. You can leave, they can not.”

            “How many are as strong as I?” Tania asked.

            “Not many,” Circe said smiling. “And I really must correct that. Tania…”

            “Hold.”

            Wanda turned at the deep voice but she was past hoping that the Watcher would be any help. He was the judge of the world: impartial.

            “Do this and you break the terms of the wager,” Uatu said.

            “No I don’t,” Circe said. “My wager was that I send her in, there was never any mention of what condition she would be in.”

            After a moment the Watcher nodded and vanished.

            “Tania dear,” Circe said smiling, “become aroused.”

            Tania suddenly gasped and Wanda wanted to go to her but stopped when Lex put his hand up. Wanda pushed and pushed with every bit of mental will power she could muster but failed. She watched as Tania started to breath heavily and squirm.

            “Bow to me,” Circe ordered. “Kneel and bow.”

            Tania’s body shuddered but she obeyed, kneeling on the ground and then bowing until her forehead rested on it.

            “Now stand and dance,” Circe ordered. “Become more aroused as you dance.”

Moisture was visible between Tania’s legs as she stood up and started to dance. She danced stiffly but with sensuous abandon and it tore at Wanda to see the pain in her friend’s eyes. It was a humiliating ordeal for the amazon and Circe drew out for what seemed to be a long time.

            “Now climax,” Circe ordered and Tania cried out her passion and sank to the ground. She stayed there for a few moments getting her breath back.

            “I hate you,” Tania whispered.

            “I know,” Circe responded smiling and showing her fangs, “and I love it.”

            “You can go in now,” Lex said.

            Wanda helped Tania up and over to the left doorway.

            “Good luck,” She whispered.

            “To both of us,” Tania replied.

            Wanda watched her go through the doorway and after a moment stepped into her own. She wondered if she would ever see her friend again. When an amazon reached a sexual climax she became a normal woman for seven hours. Tania was walking into the maze with none of her super strength.

            Darkness swallowed her and Wanda stopped for a moment and let her eyes adjust to the darkness. Tania was a born fighter and a smart one. She could do it.

            “Please let her get through it,” Wanda pleaded to whatever powers she hoped were still listening. “I can’t loose her.”

            Tania moved as quietly as she could down the passageway. The place was a classic maze with a low ceiling, torches in the walls for light and the walls themselves composed of small stones. The air was fresh but tinged with jasmine and seawater. She’d come straight since leaving Wanda and done her best to ignore the wetness between her legs. It would dry sooner or later she knew, but it was a distraction that she didn’t need. The memory of it still burned though. Sex was the ultimate in life, the pathway to immortality through offspring, the door to new realms of consciousness through ecstasy. Circe Luthor had turned that miracle of life into a hideously degrading spectacle. Even in her vampiric servitude Tania hungered for vengeance.

            The corridor ended in a wall and doorways stood to her right and to her left. Beyond each doorway was darkness and silence. The one to her left smelled of jasmine, the one to her right smelled of seawater.

            There is no choice, Tania thought. I’m faced with two unknowns and two dangers. Two tigers, not two ladies. Either fate will kill me or fate will save me. Good luck Wanda.

            Tania stepped into the right doorway and suddenly found herself standing on a roof top in a city. She recognized the night skyline.

            “Angel Falls.” Tania whispered. The smell of the sea was stronger now, a brisk sea breeze that chilled her. It was mixed with the smells of oil, gas fumes and a smattering of Chinese take out food. Tania was near the Boardwalk, one of the high crime areas. She was on a rooftop illuminated by the lighted sign of the Infinity nightclub. Only the light of the full moon managed to push weakly through the city lights.

            A movement caught her attention and Tania leapt out of the way as a white blur sped past her. The blur left it’s mark and Tania gasped in pain and clutched at the wound on her thigh. It was a thin cut but painful.

            “How come only the cockroaches survive the end of the world?” White Owl demanded standing on the ledge on the other side of the building.

            “White Owl?” Tania asked. Then she realized. The costume. Circe’s joke.

            “Vile Woman,” White Owl made the name a curse and flexed her hands. There were gleaming white claws attached to her gloves. Tania wondered if this was her White Owl; the heroine who had once spent a month with her in Dr. Psycho’s Asylum for the Heroically Insane. That time White Owl had been captured by the Cartel while trying to stop a museum robbery. Tania had tried to rescue her and ended up caught herself. Was this her? The costume was the same, a white one-piece French cut swimsuit with white gloves that went almost up to her shoulders. The rest of her costume was white fireman’s boots and a white domino mask. Around her waist was a utility belt. The woman stood a little shorter than Tania and had thick black hair cut short. She also wore a thick white collar. The collar was the only part of the costume that Tania didn’t recognize. But it was her hazel eyes that Tania paid attention to. They were full of anger.

            “Welcome to the Angel’s Rear End,” White Owl said. “The worst part of the worst part of the city. My prison. Your funeral.”

            “Is there any hope of talking to you?” Tania asked bracing herself. She thought for a moment about the daggers but then banished the thought. Tania would fight supervillains to the death if need be, but not a heroine.

            “Me believe a word you say?” White Owl took to the air. “After what you did to Ultra Woman?”

            Tania had no time to wonder what ‘she’ had done. White Owl became a blur again and Tania dropped to her stomach to avoid the attack.

            This will not be easy, Tania thought as she ran toward the fire escape. She had to get White Owl into the alley; on the rooftop there was too much room to face a flying opponent.

            She’ll still be stronger than I, Tania thought, but one step at a time.

            “Hiding in the gutter?” White Owl called out and Tania ducked just in time to avoid another slash. “Just like you!”

            Tania leapt over the edge of the building and down to the first level of the fire escape. She was three floors up in an alley that measured about ten feet wide. It was dimly lit by streetlights and pale yellow light from that escaped from the windows of the buildings around them. With a quick flip Tania dropped to the second level of the fire escape. Then she waited.

            White Owl dove toward her and the talons on her gloves seemed to glow in the darkness. Tania took hold of the fire escape and moved at the last moment. She dodged White Owl’s slice and swung around behind and above her. White Owl didn’t have any time to react as Tania settled onto her back and covered the heroine’s eyes. Tania only maintained the hold for a moment and then she planted her feet on the small of White Owl’s back and jumped up.

            The maneuver was tricky but it worked. Disoriented from flying blind for a few seconds and thrown off balance by Tania’s weight and the push White Owl crashed into the window of the building on the other side of the alley. Tania barely grabbed the next level of the fire escape and gasped in pain as her arm was nearly torn out of its socket. She could only hold the grip for a few moments before dropping the twenty feet to the hard pavement.

            Tania gasped in pain again as her body shook with the impact.

            “This is so much easier when I have super strength,” Tania whispered to herself.

            “Bitch!” White Owl called emerging from the window. “Come out and die!”

            Tania looked around quickly. The alley was a dead end and she was at the dead part of it. A wall with a huge metal receiving door was in front of her. Thirty feet away was the street. On either side of her were dumpsters and trash barrels along with pallets. But one thing caught her attention and Tania raced for it. A hose was coiled up against the wall near one of the dumpsters. Tania hoped that it worked.

            White Owl dove toward her and Tania turned the nozzle on just in time. A stream of water shot out of the hose and she aimed into the heroine’s face. The distraction worked only for a moment but that was what Tania needed. She grabbed one of the wooden pallets and lifted it up in time to have White Owl slam into it. But Tania didn’t have time to move out of the way and the impact slammed her into the wall.

            Tania fell to the ground and White Owl tore the pallet in two. It was a mistake and Tania thanked her luck that White Owl was fighting on pure rage. She didn’t allow herself to think of the hell that could have driven the other woman to this. Tania had to survive this fight and if White Owl had forgotten her fighting skills so much the better. Tania was on the ground as White Owl reached for her and with all her strength Tania drove her heel into White Owl’s throat. It felt like she was hitting iron but White Owl dropped back choking.

            Tania got to her feet ignoring the pain in her leg and grabbed one of the boards from the broken pallet. With a two-handed swing she slammed the board in an arc and brought it up between White Owl’s legs and into her crotch. White Owl grunted in pain and Tania drew back for another swing as the heroine fell to one knee.

            I never thought I’d owe a debt to street hoods, Tania thought, but I do. How many times in my early days did my arrogance cost me? I was so confident in my strength and so slow to realize that a trapped street punk can be as crafty and desperate as any supervillain. This is how they fight, this is now how I have to fight.

            White Owl started to rise and Tania brought the board across her back with enough force to break the board in two.

            Next I’ll be using chloroform, Tania thought sourly as White Owl went down to her hands and knees.

            Her mind went back to that first night when one street punk had managed to stun her just as she had stunned White Owl and then four of them had piled on. They had sticks and brass knuckles and chains. They should have been nothing but she was too new to it all. There were too many of them and they struck viciously. Tania had been a lioness dragged down by hyenas. They had left her raped and beaten in the alley they called home. It’d been a week before Tania had gone on patrol again.

            Do what they did, Tania thought as she grabbed another board. Get her down and keep hitting. I’m sorry Athena.

            The strategy was sound but unlike Tania White Owl didn’t rely on strength alone. She made a quick motion with her hand at her utility belt and the alley suddenly filled with fowl tasting acidic smoke. Tania coughed and fell back wiping at her suddenly tear filled eyes. Then she screamed in pain as her injured arm was used to yank her off of her feet and into the air.

            “Nice tricks,” White Owl said. “That what you used to kill Mega Girl?”

            “I didn’t kill her!” Tania protested. “I’m not Vile Woman!”

            “Liar!” White Owl snarled and threw Tania onto another roof.

            Tania landed hard on her arm and rolled across the rough tarpaper. Somehow she found the strength to get to her knees and look around. This roof was larger than the last one and held three air conditioning units, one large sign advertising cigarettes and numerous small antennas. The only way out was a door set into the far wall.

            Of course heading toward the door was suicide. She’d be too open to attack. Tania looked up and saw White Owl coming toward her again. Feigning helplessness Tania braced her legs and jumped up at the last moment. White Owl crashed into her and Tania used the force of her leap and their momentum to head them toward the door. It worked, sort of. White Owl slammed her into the door, which cracked and split under the impact but all of the air was driven out of Tania’s lungs. They lay on the broken door and Tania’s head rang as White Owl pounded her stomach with hate-clenched fists. Again and again the blows hit her until Tania was barely conscious.

            The blows stopped and Tania looked up to see White Owl close both of her hands into a fist. Tania knew that this blow would end it.

            A whip wrapped around White Owl’s wrist before she could deliver the blow and she was yanked backward off of Tania. After a few moments Tania managed to sit up and saw that White Owl was battling a man in a pirate outfit who carried a sword and a whip.

            “Corsair?” Tania whispered. She got to her hands and knees and watched as the fight continued. Was this her Corsair? The mercenary who would go after anyone or anything for the right price? Or was it another?

            “I’ll be with you in a minute lass,” Corsair called. “Me swords been waiting for ye.”

            “Miss her a lot longer scum!” White Owl snarled. “I lost my chance at her once, I won’t do it again!”

            “You’ll have to wait in line,” Corsair laughed. “Do you know how many heroes…”

            “I don’t care!” White Owl screamed.

            “Even if you get past me lass you’ll never bring her down. Circe has let the word out that Vile Woman is back and open for the taking.”

            Tania got to her knees and breathed deeply to get her body to recover more quickly. Circe’s joke was far more than a joke. If White Owl was the standard then there was no way she could get through the maze without her powers.

            Tania watched the battle as she got her breath back. The battle between White Owl and Corsair was different. White Owl wasn’t as angry with him. She moved like the martial artist that she was. Corsair matched those moves and the fight was almost a dance. His cutlass flashed in the mixed street/building light and was parried by her claws. Tania knew that one cut from that cutlass would end the fight. The blade had been soaked in a powerful drug.

            Who ever wins I’ll loose, Tania thought as they battled across the roof. They both have the strength I don’t. Unless…

            The move was crazy and almost suicidal. But Tania didn’t see any other option. If she ran they’d hunt her down. If she waited for one or the other to win she’d just be prey once more. Getting her feet under her Tania knelt down and waited for her chance. It came when the two of them paused at the edge of the building.

            But before she could attack lightning erupted in the air and tore across the roof separating White Owl and Corsair.

            “Where is she?” A black woman with long white hair landed on the roof. “Where is Vile Woman?”

            “She’s mine Storm!” White Owl screamed at her. She threw something at Storm and it exploded throwing the woman back.

            “The hell she is!”

            The roof shook as a walking pile of orange rocks in the shape of a man and a tall green woman landed on it.

            “I get to clobber her!” He shouted.

            “What did this woman do?” Tania whispered to herself amazed at the hatred in their voices.

            “She belongs to us!” The green woman said.

            Tania didn’t wait to see the fight. Turning she ran down the stairs as the building started to shake. Racing down flight after flight Tania made it to the ground floor just as the walls started to collapse. A cloud of dust enveloped Tania as she ran down the alley. Then a rain storm washed the dust away. Tania made it to the street and leaned against a building. She coughed a bit and looked back down at the alley. They were all there fighting.

            “What did this woman do?” Tania wondered again. At this rate Tania would never get out of the chamber let alone through the rest of the maze. Even if she managed to stay in one piece long enough for her powers to return.

            Tania looked around for a hiding place and froze. Even after everything she had been through there was one thing that could freeze her to the spot. A figure was in the doorway across the street. She had long coppery-red hair and was dressed in a deep blue cloak that faded into the shadows. Tania’s heart leapt into her chest. A tidal wave of emotion hammered at the shores of her self control. The figure beckoned and even though every part of Tania was screaming trap Tania hurried across the street and into the doorway.

            The doorway led to an empty room. There was nothing but a door set into the far wall. But the door was open and beyond it Tania saw the corridor. The corridors walls were stone.

            It was a way out and even though Tania knew it was almost certainly a trap she headed toward it. Hope had not died in her.

            “You ain’t getting out of here!” White Owl snarled as she grabbed Tania from behind in a chokehold. “Not while I’m breathing.”

            Tania broke the hold by jabbing her elbow into White Owl’s stomach. White Owl fell back and Tania whirled around. The heroine was in bad shape. Bruises and cuts were on her arms and legs and one eye was nearly swollen shut. But the other eye was full of anger. She struck out with a kick that Tania managed to block but the impact sent her into the far wall. Tania barely had time to stagger to her feet when White Owl was on her and slammed her fist into Tania’s side. Pain raced its way up her body and Tania gasped. White Owl took a hand full of Tania’s hair and pulled her back and threw her onto the floor.

            “No interruptions this time.” White Owl smiled leaning down to grab her throat.

            Tania moved quickly. Almost instinctively she lurched up and grabbed White Owl in a reverse headlock. Then she fell back, pulling the heroine off balance. White Owl’s head hit into the floor and Tania felt her opponent’s body slacken at the impact. But she wouldn’t be stunned for long. Keeping the headlock Tania rolled onto White Owl’s back and wrapped her other arm around White Owl’s neck. White Owl started to pulled her legs up to get to her feet but Tania grabbed one of her legs with both of her own and held on. At the same time she pressed harder on the head.

            Tania was amazed that the sleeper hold worked. Her arms felt like lead. But wrestling could be about technique and finesse, not just raw strength. It only took a few moments for White Owl to stop struggling and only a minute for her body to go limp.

            Tania released the hold and rolled off of her.

            “Vile Woman!”          

            The call came from outside and Tania crawled over to the doorway to take a look. There were at least fifteen heroes on the street. The orange pile of rocks seemed to be the leader.

            “Come on out, we’ll find you anyway!” He called. “And even if we don’t this maze is full’a people who want you. Give it up now and we’ll make it quick.”

            That’s a choice, Tania wondered? She started to crawl back toward the doorway and then stopped and looked at White Owl.

            “I’m sorry,” Tania said as she crawled back toward the unconscious woman. Taking hold of White Owl’s boots Tania pulled them off of her. Then she un-fastened the utility belt and put it aside. Finally she took hold of the shoulder straps on the one-piece suit and pulled them down. The suit came off easily and the full-bodied woman was left nude except for her mask and gloves.

            “I’m sorry,” Tania whispered again. Then she saw a glint of metal from the collar. It was a Spartan slave collar. The Spartan had used them on captured heroes and heroines before. They controlled the mind by controlling the emotions. If Tania tried to take it off the collar would blow up.

            Tania staggered to her feet and headed toward the doorway. She’d change in the corridor. There was nothing she could do for White Owl right now.

            I hope Wanda is having better luck, Tania thought.

            Wanda knew who the villain was the moment she stepped into the chamber. With one step she went from a moldy, dusty dungeon corridor lit by torches to a carnival with gaudy lights and the sounds of clickety-click rides and poorly amplified music. The sky was pink with dark violet clouds and the scent of stale candy hung in the air.

            “Well, well,” said the voice that Wanda knew and hated. “Here I was hoping for Vile Woman.”

            Wanda turned toward the sound. The Joker was standing in front of a circus tent. A tall thin man wearing a purple-stripped black suit, the Joker was a villain no matter what world you found yourself in. The wild green hair matched the mad green eyes and they were set into the pasty white face. The wide menacing smile was the same too.

            “But to have the Scarlet Whore grace my humble cell with her presence…” He laughed and Wanda couldn’t stop the chill from running down her back. The Joker had no superpowers but she knew many a hero who had wound up dead under-estimating him. Her Joker had beaten and tortured her once and it had taken months of healing spells for her to recover. The man was beyond sadistic.

            Wanda didn’t bother to say anything. Bantering was his favorite sport and Wanda was determined not to let him have any pleasure. She cast her spell and arms of rock grew out of the ground to grab his legs.        

            “Well this is rude,” The Joker said in mock surprise. Wanda ignored him and kept her spell going. More arms grew and reached higher.

“Hey,” the Joker protested, “let’s not get too grabby. The wife’ll get jealous.”

“No woman in her right mind would go near you,” Wanda said.

The moment she finished the sentence Wanda realized what was going to happen. She heard the slight whistling in the air just before the mallet slammed into the back of her skull.

It was a rubber mallet and that was all that saved her life. Wanda fell to the ground with her head exploding in pain and her concentration shattered. She lay there stunned and helpless as a woman turned her over.

“Stay away from my man,” The Woman said slapping Wanda across the breasts. She was a nightmare. The same wild green hair, the same insane green eyes and pasty white skin. Even the same suit. But worst of all was the wide, leering smile on a beautiful face. She was as broad and buxom as Wanda and at least as strong.

“Honey we have a guest!” The Joker called.

She walked over to him and they embraced. Wanda felt her stomach heave as she saw them kiss. That anyone could feel anything but hatred for him…

“What do you think Jokerina?” The Joker asked. “Tilt-a-whirl?”

“Now Jokey I know you like your fun,” Jokerina said. “But we gotta think of the kids.”

“Darn your right.” The Joker said snapping his fingers. “Oh Hansel! Oh Gretel!”

They had sex. Wanda could not get her mind working past that point. Someone had mated with the Joker and had born him children. It was…

The ground trembled and Wanda looked around. Her focus sharpened and shock forced her mind to clear. At the end of the street coming toward her were two robots. They walked on four legs and had multiple arms with guns and knives at the end of each. A cylinder rose from an oval shaped central body. Painted on each cylinder was the smiling face of a child.

“Play time kiddies!” Jokerina cried.

Wanda rolled away just as the bullets were fired. Still dizzy from the blow to her head she managed to roll a few more times. But her head was still too fuzzy to cast any spells. She rolled one more time and leapt into an open doorway of one of the attractions. The robots were too large to follow and Wanda knew that the Joker and his wife wouldn’t chase her right away. That wasn’t how they did things.

Wanda staggered down a semi-lighted corridor and tried to clear her head. She was about five feet in when the lights came on. Wanda recoiled as a woman appeared in front of her. The woman was dressed the same as Wanda was but her body was hideous. She was short, obscenely fat and had a wild fearful look in her eyes.

“Oh,” Wanda said a moment later. The woman was her. Wanda realized that she was in the hall of funhouse mirrors. Slowly Wanda got to her feet and the images around her did the same. Short and fat, tall and thin they went on for what seemed miles.

“Step lively, step lively!”

Wanda whirled around searching for the voice but it was everywhere.

“Enough!” Wanda shouted as anger replaced her fear. “I’m the Scarlet Witch! I’m not afraid of mirrors!”

Eldritch energy flared from her hands as Wanda summoned up a spell that would shatter the mirrors. But someone grabbed her from behind. Turning her head Wanda saw a distorted image of her self. The tall and thin Wanda was stepping out of the mirror and had wrapped her thin arms around Wanda’s wrists dragging them over her head. Short and fat Wanda stepped out of her mirror and slammed her fists into Wanda’s unprotected stomach.

Wanda kicked her fatter self and then head butted the one holding her. They fell back but before she could do anything else more Wanda’s stepped out of the mirrors. The tall and thin replicas snaked around her body and started to squeeze the air from her lungs while the short and fat replicas grabbed her legs and held her in place. As Wanda struggled more of the reflections appeared in the mirror and stepped out into the corridor. These moved slowly because they were distorted reflections of Wanda fighting her own distorted reflections. The sight was beyond surreal it was madness given substance. Wanda struggled to fight back but the reflections were strong and no blow she landed seemed to bother them. Wanda felt like she was being drowned in her own nightmares.

Then the solution hit her and Wanda tore both of her arms free and called out a spell of darkness. The instant the light vanished so did the reflections holding her and Wanda fell to the floor gasping for every breath.

This sort of magic was beyond the Joker she knew. Wanda got to her feet panting and waited for the lights to come up. When they didn’t she risked a fairy fire spell and a small floating flame was born in her hand to illuminated the room. The light was too dim to show any real reflections and Wanda was grateful for that. Slowly she started to move again.

Two steps later a trap door opened up and Wanda found herself coasting down a slide while the Joker’s laughter echoed in her ears.

“Well I guess you just don’t like to play with yourself!” The Joker called.

“She’s just not in the mood yet,” His wife’s voice answered. “She’ll be hot and panting in a few minutes.”

Wanda tried to stop herself but the slide was too smooth and it twisted too much to risk a spell. She went down in a spiral and did two loops before sailing through the air and landing in a pile of pillows.

“Pillows?” Wanda wondered as she got her bearings again. This room was well lit, a giant Barbie Doll bedroom set with pink walls, two faux wooden princess beds and a dresser with a vanity mirror. Pillows were all over the floor and the beds.

“Pillow fight!” Someone called and something heavy hit Wanda from behind. She was thrown forward into a pile of pillows and barely managed to roll away before the next one hit.

Standing by the beds were two teenage girls. One of the girls was blonde wearing a red and blue teddy and the other a red head wearing a dark blue and black teddy.

“Get her Babs!” The blonde cried as the one with the red hair went toward Wanda.

“Two points for me K!” Babs exclaimed and hit Wanda in the stomach with the pillow. Wanda bent over double as the air was driven out of her lungs. What ever was in that pillow it wasn’t feathers.

Wanda put up her hands to cast a spell but a laser beam shot out of the vanity mirror and nearly sliced her hands off.

“No cheating.” Jokerina’s voice ordered.

“Oh great.” Wanda said and rolled away from the next blow. Grabbing a pillow of her own she tried to lift it and failed. Wanda had expected it to be light but the pillow refused to budge and that left her open to K’s blow to the head.

Wanda fell back stunned from the blow and stumbled into Babs. Babs fell back and Wanda had enough strength to grab her arm.

She was fighting a robot! Under the plastic skin Wanda felt solid metal.

“Tickle fight!” Babs shouted and grabbed Wanda’s legs.

“No, pillow fight!” Wanda shouted as she kicked Babs away and squirmed out of K’s grip. Grabbing a pillow Wanda heaved it up and threw it at back at K. The impact shattered something in the pillow and it exploded sending feathers everywhere.

Wanda had no time to do anything else before Babs next pillow shot hit her in the legs and she went down again. She kicked K in the stomach as the robot came toward her and sent her falling back even though the impact hurt Wanda’s foot. She rolled away from Babs next thrown pillow and then got to her knees.

Wanda giggled. It was just so absurd. Getting to her feet Wanda grabbed another pillow and threw it at the two robots. She couldn’t stop giggling.

K and Babs dodged the pillows and tackled her onto the bed.

“Now tickle fight!” Babs shouted and tried to hold Wanda’s arms above her head while K ran her fingers up Wanda’s side.

“No tickle fight!” Wanda shouted and without even thinking cast a spell that exploded all of the pillows and sent the two robots flying.

Wanda sat up but found that she was laughing even harder. She was laughing so hard that it was hard to get enough breath in her body to do anything else. She lost her balance and fell back into a pile of feathers.

“Yea! Tickle fight!” The robots cried and were on top of her before Wanda could move again. Each of them grabbed her arm by the wrist and held it above her head. Wanda laughed and kicked but she couldn’t break free of their grip.

Wanda felt a sharp pain in her leg and looked down to see that a few feathers were sticking out of her skin. Turning her head she looked at the feathers closely, struggling to focus through the laughter. The edges of the feathers were sharp and metallic. There was a glint of moisture on the edges.

Joker venom!

Now Wanda realized just how desperate her situation was. If enough of the stuff got into her bloodstream Wanda would laugh herself into insanity. Desperately she started to wriggle out of their grip but the robots held her wrist securely and all that Wanda managed to do was get more of the feathers stuck into her legs. The robots pulled her boots off and tossed them across the room.

Wanda laughed so hard she felt her side start to hurt. Desperately she lurched up, bending nearly double and spread her legs out. Wanda’s ankles caught each robot on the neck but they didn’t stop tickling or slacken their grips on her wrists. Wanda strained her stomach and managed to lift herself off of the bed. Then she wrenched her body sideways and pushed the robots off balance. They all tumbled to the floor and Wanda found herself free. But she knew it wouldn’t last and she was still laughing. Struggling she managed to get to her feet.

“Wrestling match!” Babs shouted.

“The Door!”

Wanda wasn’t sure who said that or even if it was an actual voice but it was enough to get her to look. She looked around and saw a small door set into the far wall. Still laughing she dove and rolled into a summersault past the robots and slammed into it. The door opened and Wanda kept rolling until she slammed into a stone wall.

Wanda lay there on the floor laughing hysterically and breathing in the damp air. She saw the door that she had come though fade away. She was safe.

Safer anyway, Wanda thought. She couldn’t move or think or do anything except stay on the cold floor and laugh. Still Wanda wasn’t going to give up. She rolled over onto her stomach and then dragged her arms up and pushed herself away from the floor. Still laughing Wanda managed to get her legs under her and start to stand, only to have her strength give out and fall against the wall again.

“Gotta… ha, ha, ha, get… ha, ha…”

Still laughing Wanda felt the rest of her strength evaporate and the sound of her own exhausted laughter followed her into darkness.

Tania’s arms ached as she stripped off the Vile Woman costume. Who had that woman been? What kind of villainess could inspire that much hatred? The idea that Vile Woman might be an alternate version of Tania herself was frightening.

Keeping only the boots Tania thought for a moment of throwing the costume back into the chamber but when she looked the doorway had faded.

I’ve beaten a heroine unconscious and left her naked, Tania thought as she stepped into White Owl’s costume. Now what will happen to her? I can’t go on like this!

Tania tested the fit of the costume. It fit but it was a lot looser in chest than she liked. If she bent down one of her breasts was liable to slip out. Still it was better than being a human target. Tania buckled on the utility belt and looked around.

And her heart stopped.

She was standing a few feet away. The young woman had long bright coppery-red hair framing a face that held the best of all possible faces: cute nose, captivating blue eyes and a strong mouth. A few inches shorter than her mother, Julia was also a bit broader in hips and chest. That was hidden because of the deep blue robe that she was wearing but at the same time revealed by the sky-blue sheath dress that covered her from neck to ankles.

Tania swallowed. Her voice wouldn’t work. Her mind wouldn’t work.

“Mother,” Julia said taking a step toward her.

Tania took a step back.

“A trick,” She managed to whisper. “Or not my Julia. An alternate? A clone?” Tania started to cry. “Please who ever you are… Kill me, rape me… do what ever you want to me but please… Please don’t do this to me! Please!”

“Mother!” Julia said grabbing her wrist as Tania turned away. “Look at me.”

Trembling Tania looked at her.

“I’m nothing else but your daughter,” Julia said. She started to cry. “There was another girl; Raven. Her universe was destroyed and she was fighting alongside us when the end came. At the last moment she opened a portal and took us both into it.”

“No…” Tania said denying the hope that was tearing at her. “No… My daughter, my sisters… Dead…”

“Not me,” Julia said. “Mother hold me! Please!”

Tania hugged her daughter and realized and accepted that it truly was Julia. The pain that Tania had never let her self feel came rushing on her and so did the pleasure and relief and grief as for the first time Tania accepted that everything she had known and loved and fought for was gone. It wasn’t abstract anymore. It wasn’t a concept or a nightmare. It was real. Everything was gone.

Everything except her daughter. And even thought Tania felt anger and guilt at herself for being happy she could not deny the fact that if there was only one thing left from her universe she was glad that it was Julia.

The emotions were too much for both of them. Mother and daughter fell to their knees crying and holding each other as tightly as they could.

Wanda woke up with her sides and her legs aching. But the venom had passed through her system and she didn’t feel like laughing. Not one little bit.

Climbing to her feet Wanda looked around. The corridor was the same. Ahead of her lay a branch to the right and a branch to the left. Wanda walked down the corridor carefully. The stone was cold and damp beneath her bare feet. So far the corridors seemed to be neutral ground but rules in this place didn’t mean that much. She took the right corridor and stopped at a door. Light came from a crack in the door and there was a faint smell of fresh pine.

“A forest?” Wanda wondered. “Or just someone with a good air freshener?”

Wanda took a deep breath and opened the door. No matter what lay beyond the only way to get through a maze was go through it.

Once she stepped through the door Wanda found herself in a peaceful forest glade. Around her were towering pine trees and to her left stood a small pond fed by a waterfall. Birds sang in what appeared to be an early spring day. A woman with shoulder length black hair was standing under the waterfall. She was nude and luxuriating under the steady stream.

“No,” Wanda said and closed her eyes. Fear added to her word and her concentration. Wanda knew where she was. Bringing both hands up she cast her spell and the hex sphere exploded from her hands. In a spectacular display of electrical power ball lighting blossomed around her and the forest faded to reveal a cold, gray room lined with small dish antennas. Two people were in the room. One was White Owl, a heroine Wanda knew well enough. Or thought that she did. The costume was different with knee high boots and a cape. Around her waist was a gold utility belt. The other was a supervillain whom Wanda knew and despised. He was only four feet nine inches but Dr. Psycho was a powerful mentalist. He also hated women. Superheroines in particular. This was one of the ‘treatment’ rooms in Dr. Psycho’s Asylum for the Heroically Insane. Heroines were fed fantasies that addicted them to sensual pleasure. It was Dr. Psycho’s way of ‘curing’ a heroine of her desire to do good. “Later they would be fed fantasies of an ungrateful public and a cynical press.”

“White Owl!” Wanda called out.

White Owl looked at her but Wanda realized that her friend was still under the small villains control.

“Look who has joined us,” Dr. Psycho said. “Do you recognize her Athena?”

“Scarlet Whore!” White Owl screamed and flew at Wanda with a snarl on her face.

Wanda ducked most of the blow but even that was enough to crack a rib. Gasping in pain she still managed to roll away as White Owl slammed her fist into the ground where Wanda’s head had been.

Wanda cast a spell and a hex sphere enveloped the other heroine. It popped and White Owl fell to the ground gasping for air.

“Turn the air to vacuum,” Dr. Psycho said. “Very good.”

“You evil…” Wanda got to her feet and started to cast a spell but before she could White Owl had grabbed her from behind. The mind controlled heroine had Wanda in a bear hug that pinned her arms to her side. Growling White Owl started to squeeze and Wanda felt the air being forced out of her body.

“Slowly now my pet,” Dr. Psycho said smiling. “Remember the Scarlet Whore must suffer for what she did.”

Wanda leaned forward grateful that she was a little taller than White Owl. Then with her vision already starting to gray out she bent down and leapt. The leap turned into a roll as she and White Owl crashed into Dr. Psycho. White Owl lost her grip and Wanda lay on her back sucking in air.

“Wha…” White Owl stuttered as Dr. Psycho slowly sat up. “Wha…”

“You’re loosing,” Dr. Psycho said scrambling away from them. “Just like before.”

“No!” White Owl screamed.

Wanda rolled out of the way just as her fist slammed into the floor. That blow would have crushed her rib cage.

“We could do this all day,” Dr. Psycho laughed.

“Then let’s bring on the night!” Wanda called and cast her spell. All of the lights in the room suddenly exploded in a blinding flash. Wanda had clenched her eyes shut as she cast the spell but the other two hadn’t.

“Find her!” Dr. Psycho shouted.

Wanda started toward him only to have White Owl grab something from her utility belt and throw it. The bola wrapped itself around Wanda’s legs and she fell hard onto the floor.

“I don’t need to see you,” White Owl snarled as she came toward Wanda. Before Wanda could do anything the heroine was on her and both hands clasped Wanda’s throat.

“Time to die,” White Owl said. “You won’t turn me into your pet again! Not again!”

Wanda clawed at the other woman but it was no use. Then she reached for White Owl’s utility belt and felt one of the pockets. Her hand fell on something with a trigger and Wanda didn’t care what it was. She pulled the trigger.

The flair shot out of the gun and ricocheted off of the walls in a randomly wild pattern. White Owl lost her grip and Wanda kicked the heroine away from her.

“Bitch!” Dr. Psycho cursed charging toward Wanda. Anger gave her a spurt of energy and Wanda met his charge with her foot in his face. Blood spurted from his broken nose but Wanda’s fist in his stomach stopped him from shouting and her other fist hitting his jaw stopped the villain from doing anything else. He slumped to the ground un-conscious and Wanda stood holding her side and trying to get her breath. A glance told her that White Owl was un-concious.

“We have a few minutes now,” a voice said. “With him gone my own mental might shall keep her asleep.

Wanda looked around for the source of the voice but there was no one in sight.

“Where are you?”

“Here.”

Wanda felt something crawling on her chest and looked down. After a moment her eyes focused and there nestled into her cleavage was a small worm. The worm wore glasses and there was a small radio under his mouth.

“Ahh!” Wanda screeched and reached for him.

“Do not be alarmed,” The worm said. “This was the only way that I could safely travel with you. My awesome mental powers shielded me from your mind and kept your body from feeling me.”

“Who are you?” Wanda asked plucking him from between her breasts and holding him in front of her face.

“I am Mr. Mind,” The Worm announced. “I and my associates are the only chance for freedom that you and Ultra Woman have.”

…To be continued.

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