Chapter 19 : Circe

[Author note : New Iron Lad squib chapter. Later than usual and that's on purpose. On Webnovel, whether people like your story or not, you can tell thanks to power stones but the time I used to post was... too late. People probably spent all their stones on another story. So, yeah, that's the reason why it's later than usual.

On another note, I've posted pretty much every original stories I've written without tables and charts on P A T R E O N. I also have a number of fan fictions I've written but I'm not sure whether I'll post them or not. If I do, it'll probably be available for everyone to read so...

If you're interested in my stories or want to encourage me, please check out my Patréon : https://www.patréon.com/user?u=66371596 (replace the é by a normal e) or look for Cathbel on their website

KoSP : 2 advanced chapters

The Squib who became Iron Lad... In DC : 3 advanced chapters

AoH : Prologue + 6 chapters (exclusive)

MoH : 8 chapters (exclusive)

VOG : 6 chapters (exclusive)

Enjoy and please tell me what you think of it !]

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Face covered by goblin silver, his lifeless expression was thankfully hidden from view. Though, that itself brought a wonder to his mind : Could Supergirl see through Goblin Silver ? It wasn't lead, so it shouldn't be impervious to her bullshit super-powered gaze…

Note to self, he thought, add a thin lead lining in the face plate.

But well, since lead was kind of poisonous, even for a wizards' slightly better constitution (something he wasn't), Ned would have to weigh whether or not he should take the risk… It was possible to have the lining between two others, or better yet, on the outside of the mask… Yes, that's what he'd do !

Back to the situation at hand, Circe was… much like Brainiac, pretty far from Ned's usual playground. Then again, in this reality, it was probably true of a lot of things. Besides, she wasn't as overpowered as Brainiac. However, she was one of Wonder Woman's most tenacious enemy, a nemesis of sorts. Like Joker was to Batman and Luthor to Superman…

Are they already around ? Ned thought to himself.

Once again, he noticed his thoughts wandering for some reason, like branches of a tree growing in unpredictable directions, following the sun little by little. At this point, he noticed there was something odd with him, but he had no idea what that was. Nor did it worry him overly much : it might be just fatigue. After all, he worked day and night and didn't really sleep enough. It would be understandable in this instance for his mind to wander from time to time.

Back to Circe : like Diana Prince AKA Wonder Woman, she was an old immortal woman in the guise of a beautiful young woman. Also, she was a witch whose powers came from Hecate, Goddess of Magic and, despite what mythology was teaching the masses, the half of the first two gods of the DC reality. A brief explanation about Hecate : during the time the multiverse was still forming and magic had just come to existence, two beings were birthed from its essence Hecate, the maiden, and the Upside-Down Man, the dark aspect of magic from the Dark Multiverse. At the time, there were two facets of the same coin, with Hecate being innocent, optimist, while the Upside-Down Man was a representation of all dark and twisted possibilities of magic. At the time… As her long life of a Goddess passed, she grew from a maiden, to a mother and even engaged to Hades from the Greek pantheon… Anyways, the story's long and complicated, but to make it short : she was betrayed, tapped into the magic from the Dark Multiverse and by extension, the other side of the coin and became the Crone. From then on, she became sort of a villain… A big shot villain.

As for why Ned was thinking of this, it wasn't because his mind was wandering once more… But rather because of the two women who faced each other : Wonder Woman and Circe. They considered themselves enemies and yet… Ned wondered whether this version of Earth was the one he thought of, where Hecate gave parts of herself, or Witch Marks, to women to give them magical powers. In one reality, she gave those marks to Wonder Woman and Circe, so, they could be considered sisters. Though, if he recalled correctly, Circe hunted down those sisters in order to collect the marks and increase her powers…

As for the reason they were fighting now… Whether because Circe or her patron goddess wanted her to enslave men by turning them into Ani-men, or some other reason, Ned didn't want to know. The truth was, in the black and white world of superheroes, things were usually more shades of gray that he was comfortable with… For example, Poison Ivy wanted to save the Green and by extension, humanity. Her actions were just too… extremist. Her sometimes lover and often friend, Harley Quinn was a psychiatrist whose mind was scrambled by the love she held for one of her patient… The fact that the patient was perhaps the worst lunatic the comic world had to offer, notwithstanding, when she wasn't with the Joker, she wasn't exactly a bad person. Circe ? They were so many version and stories about her that Ned feared he wouldn't be able to do what needed to be done if he paid too much attention to the circumstances. Ned found it hilarious how the Batman, Superman and all those 'heroes' could tell and decide what was right or wrong when life was so much more complicated than that. He supposed having clear-cut ideals and a moral code helped them a lot… Unfortunately, he feared the day when those ideals and codes became a complete and utter hindrance. Because when the heroes crossed the 'line' they traced in the sand for themselves, that's often when they turned 'bad'. The Batman-Who-Laughs and all the Batman who ended the Joker's or another villain's life, Superman from the Injustice games… Those were only examples at the top of his head but it illustrated a scary point : the 'heroes' people looked up to to protect their lives, their comfort… Sometimes, it didn't take much for them to succumb to a darker side than those of their enemies.

« Stop this madness, Circe ! » The Demi-goddess yelled as she brandished her weapon.

Circe scoffed disdainfully. She looked haughtily at her opponent as she raised one of her arms elegantly and cupped one hand. As she gathered energy for a spell, Ned decided it was time to crash this party. However, despite the pride he had for his achievements, it hadn't turned into arrogance. If he couldn't contend with the likes of Dumbledore and Voldemort in a duel, he shouldn't even entertain the thought that his 'magic' would do anything to someone like Circe, who was hailed as a goddess of magic, by other magic users.

He'd only managed to distract the Dark Lord with his speeches and an unknown magic… Frankly, Ned was pretty sure that Voldemort hadn't killed him because he wanted to get his hands on his portals. If it was now… Maybe he could fight him. Not on par, mind you. He'd need to use every trick in the book and start writing new ones if he wanted to barely secure some kind of victory. Dumbledore had been more than a century old at the time of his death and Tom… Well, Tom wasn't much younger ; he was 70-71 years old. If Ned had youth and his healthy body, Voldemort had wisdom and a wealth of power and knowledge the young squib couldn't hope to rival with only half a decade working on his technomancy.

So, the idea of even reaching the tip of Circe's toe was preposterous. If he used magic on her, a bombarda or even a killing curse, it would probably feel like he was tickling her. Not that he could even use the second one since he hasn't incorporated it into his system anyway.

The sorceress retorted :

« Why do you bother, amazon ? Those pathetic and weak-minded humans are beneath you. Why do you protect them when they will never even lift a finger to help those around them when the need arise ? » She paused as the spell in her hand started to take the form of a condensed fireball. No, not a fireball : a miniature sun ! « Their lives and souls will serve someone greater than them ! They will help me get my soul back ! They should feel grateful and they are ! My Ani-men are most pleased when I am ! »

Ned was frightened… Or more like, terrified ! He didn't have to contend with Brainiac the last time and only with Metallo. The latter might be powerful and could rival Superman… But only because of their opposing affinities. The cyborg was powered by Kryptonite which weakened Kryptonians. And if Brainiac gave him some troubles, he could still fight him on equal standing. However, what would a mortal with no power of his own could do against someone able to conjure a freaking sun ?

At the moment, not much. As these thoughts came to a conclusion, Ned's pride took over. So, what if he couldn't fight against her, now ? He just had to keep planning, keep building… In time, his armors, enchantments and equipments would be able to rival even someone like Circe ! In fact, in time, he hoped… No ! He knew he would even be able to give Darkseid a run for his money.

« I guess I'll do what I can. And what I can do is… distract her ! »

Ned dashed to the side, using the pillars to stay in the witch's blindspot. It might not work, since as a magic user, she'd have planned for such a flaw with wards and things like that. However, she was preoccupied with a Demi-goddess ; she probably wouldn't bother with something trifling like a powerless mortal !

The staircase the witch stood on was one of those old, ostentatious ones that started in the center of the room and had enough place for five people to walk it side by side. It reached a small flat area where Circe was to then branch out to the sides and continue up to the second floor. So Ned used the anti-gravity enchantment to swiftly and silently climb the left side and arrive above the witch. Once he did, he paused for a moment, considering his options.

He also thought he was stupid to stop… Stopping right now, so close and exposed to the witch was tantamount to suicide. The problem was that he didn't know how her magic to transform people into beastmen or Ani-men worked. It couldn't be as simple as her aiming at and turning people one by one. It just wouldn't be efficient !

In order to try and test things out, Ned conjured a lump of rock over his left hand, and then, using a banishing charm, he sent the rock toward the red-head… only to hit some kind of shield that lit up in white as it was impacted. The only thing that achieved, was draw her attention to himself…

« Shit… » He muttered. « Did I suddenly become stupid ? Why the hell would I do that ? »

As the witch's eyes zeroed in on Ned, she smirked knowingly and taunted :

« Ah, Silver Lad ! » Her voice was laced with disdain and sarcasm. « Champions of people you have no connections with… Tell me, how does it feel to defend powerless people ? Does it make you feel superior to them ? Or do you do it because… You're as powerless as they are ? Edgar Stark ! »

« Oh, shit ! » Ned repeated, under his breath.