For the first time in post crisis continuity Diana gets to meet up with her “sister”, Donna Troy. Donna was fated to have one of the most convoluted histories of all the DC heroines as various writers tried to grapple with how she fitted into post crisis continuity as “Wonder Girl”, “Troia” etc.
This issue sees Wonder Woman facing the indignity of fighting for her life in a stinking underground sewer!
The issue opens with Wonder Woman standing in a dark, fetid sewer beneath the city of New York – a place she has seen in her dreams. She holds in her hands a torn rag that seems somehow familiar.
Elsewhere, Donna Troy, known to the world as Troia, and her husband Terry Long stand among ruins on the Greek Island of Dianata, named after Wonder Woman whom the shattered statues littered around once honoured. Donna too has seen this place in her own dreams.
As Donna looks around a crowd of toga wearing people run towards them, angrily warning the pair that they are trespassing. Terry tells them that they are looking for Katina Leikos. One of the group suddenly recognises Donna’s costume as that of “Troia” and proclaims that he has heard how she is the “saviour’s sister”.
Just then Katina herself steps forward and asks why Donna and Terry are here. Donna replies that they are looking for answers. A skeptical Katina scowls that they are on private property and no “disbelievers” are allowed here. As two of the crowd step forward to try and forcibly remove Terry they find he is protected by Troia’s force field. He again tries to reason with them, explaining that he and his wife simply want to ask a few questions as Dr. Stavros Christadoulodou had said that they could help. On hearing Stavros’ name, Katina becomes agitated and orders them to leave at once or else they will feel what power true faith can arouse – just as the Witch Circe had!
Donna turns and leads her husband back to their waiting boat. Terry cannot believe she is giving up so easily as this might be the only way to discover what the terrible dreams she has been having are all about. She understands his frustration, especially as she had thought she had finally figured them out after that last night back home. She recalls how at first the dreams were just fragments, random images that seemed to have little connection with each other. Except for those burning eyes…the stuff nightmares are made of! Then came that last night when they had all come together.
She had dreamt of a time when she had been leading the Teen Titans through a dark and fetid sewer tunnel searching for their quarry, a Scourge Demon. She had caught sight of its red eyes and had felt a strange sense – something she could not identify at first but suddenly understood it to be recognition! She had seen those eyes before! She had frozen for a fraction as her colleagues shouted a warning of the impending danger, but it was a second too long as the creature attacked her, digging its lethal claws into her flesh before everything had finally gone black! The darkness had lasted for an eternity – or maybe only seconds – it was difficult to tell at the time. But the next thing she had seen was the night falling away like tumbling black clouds and in the clearing was Raven. Donna could feel her soul reaching into her, using her empathetic powers to absorb Donna’s pain. But something was going wrong. She could see it in Raven’s eyes. Darkening, like a black hole…a passage into another world.
And Donna had fallen into it! Right into a field filled with red eyed demon creatures. Something that looked like a Centaur was screaming at her in Greek and although she had not been able to understand the words, she knew it had been mad! Then it had become just like in the sewer in New York. The werebeasts had attacked her but this time she had fought back! She remembered hearing the voice of a Greek woman as well as a young girl crying in the distance. She could not make out her words…except for one – “Diana!”. And then it had gone black again…
Meanwhile thousands of miles away under the streets of New York, Wonder Woman muses to herself what strange images Lord Morpheus, the God of Sleep, has planted in her brain to bring her to a place like this. She holds up the rag wondering what its connection is with her own dream. She ponders how her sleep of late has been filled with memories of events she would rather forget about. In particular, that night on Cephalonia when Theophilos Ventouras lead Circe’s werebeasts against her. She had wailed inside with every blow she was forced to deliver against these innocent creatures but she had been given no choice – she could not let them get to Vanessa. She can still recall the young girl’s terrified cries during the fight, even through the cracking thunder and blinding light that had eventually plunged the Amazon Princess into darkness. As Circe had struck her down the last thing she had heard was Vanessa scream out “Diana!”.
But her dream had not ended there. From the darkness she had seen those piercing red eyes again until a light had illuminated the werebeasts surrounding her. They had attacked, jaws agape and claws ripping flesh while unknown voices called out “Donna!”. And then oblivion! She had thankfully woken up from her dream at that point and had been lead to this sewer by an unidentified voice, but she can still feel the pain of the attack she had endured in her dream, even though she has no wounds.
Just then she hears something and drops the rag. Alert, she grabs the lasso at her side and announces that she knows there is someone hiding in the shadows and for them to show themselves. She assures them that she she is not looking for any trouble. From the gloom a pair of red eyes stares back…
Elsewhere in Cephalonia, Donna, Terry and Stavros Christadoulodou are sitting at a street cafe in the town. Stavros apologises to them for their fruitless visit to Dianata. Donna assures him that it is not his fault and that he had warned them that Ms. Leikos might not be exactly cordial to them! He nods and explains that Katina has gotten worse over the last few months. Her obsession with Wonder Woman ever since the Amazon had allegedly destroyed the Witch Circe has made her quite erratic. And then Diana had disowned the cult by smashing the statues of her.
Donna ponders her predicament, wishing there was another way to get answers. If she could only talk to Diana herself. She explains that she had tried a few times since she had learned about her own true beginnings, but she had always missed the Amazon Princess, either because of her schedule or Donna’s own. After the dreams started her inability to contact Diana became even more frustrating. She had left messages with Professor Julia Kapatelis in the hope she would pass on word about Donna going to visit Greece. At the time she had not known about the suicide of Julia’s daughter’s school friend.
Terry then adds that they had since found out that Princess Diana had returned to Themyscira to prepare for the Amazon’s U.N. summit next month. As a result Donna and Terry had decided they could delay their trip no longer. The nightmares were starting to drive Donna crazy.
Stavros nods his understanding and wishes they had had more success with Katina. If only Gregori Davalos was still around. He might have been able to help in dealing with Katina but unfortunately the man has chosen seclusion and nobody knows where he is. Stavros stands up and asks whether Donna is sure she does not want to join her husband in visiting the dig site and taking a look at the Themysciran Goblet recently excavated. She politely declines, reassuring them that she will be fine on her own. Not far away a black cat, who has been watching her closely, darts off up the street..
At Adams School in Boston meanwhile, Julia Kapatelis meets with the school counsellor Helen Anderson. She tells Julia that Vanessa’s Psychologist has brought some disturbing observations to her attention. She then asks Julia how the tradgedy of Lucy’s death has affected Vanessa’s relationship with Wonder Woman. Julia asks what Diana has to do with Lucy’s suicide and Helen replies that it has more to do with her daughter’s ability to cope with it. To deal with everything in her life in fact. Julia still does not understand Helen’s point and so listens as she is told that as a fourteen year old, Vanessa has already had to deal with the death of her father, the hectic and unstable schedule of her professional, globe trotting mother, the death of a friend and peer…and most traumatically the insinuation into her life of a woman from another world who has infested her life with one danger after another!
On several occasions Vanessa had nearly lost her life because of her association with Wonder Woman. As a stunned Julia takes in these words, Helen continues that Vanessa is on an emotional, psychological roller coaster. If it does not slow down enough for her to regain her bearings, she may never be able to hold up under the pressures of the real world. Helen believes that it would be in the best interests of the child’s emotional growth for Julia to sever all relationships with the Amazon.
An indignant Julia asks whether the psychologist has spoken of this with Vanessa and is told no, as he feels Vanessa will have to be handled carefully. Julia snaps back that her daughter is not some piece of “luggage” and nobody “handles” her! She adds that Vanessa loves Diana and how exactly do they think she will react to losing yet one more loved one? Helen replies that Vanessa will feel the same way she probably does every time Diana leaves the house….the fear that she may never come back.
Julia stands up and heads for the door as Helen tries to call after her. Once outside the office, Julia sags against the wall and takes deep breaths, struggling to hold herself together. There has to be some other way surely…
Back in the sewer, Wonder Woman finds herself under attack from a werebeast. As it lunges at her from the shadows she uses her lasso to ensnare it. Ordering it not to struggle she begins to bind it tightly but as she does so she suddenly notices many more pairs of red eyes in the gloom! As they advance she notices that they wear trinkets around their necks – human bones!
She raises her bracelets in defense as they attack and a savage fight ensues among the rancid water and stinking human excrement. The haunting voice mockingly says how this all seems so familiar, just like the battle on Cephalonia. The beasts have the taste of her flesh but Wonder Woman cannot afford to be merciful can she, for what good is mercy against creatures who kill without thought? What good is compassion against monsters without souls? She must kill them or they will certainly kill her!
As Wonder Woman grapples with the creatures, knocking them down only to see them clawing their way back up at her, the voice urges her to match brutality with brutality. Diana has lied to herself so many times – made feeble attempts to suppress it. Remember the Cheetah? Remember how she had showed Diana the true nature of her own savagery? That despite her grand airs…the icon called Wonder Woman is no better than a beast herself!?
Suddenly the werebeasts including a cat that has been watching from the shadows disperse and a confused Amazon wonders why, knowing that they have barely made an effort to take her down. She clutches a bloody wound in her leg and ponders why, if they had managed to draw first blood, they would not press home their attack. What is frightening them? Just then she notices a flickering light coming from behind her and turns in horror to see the creature she had bound now in flames! She rushes to save it from Hestia’s ferocious fire but it is all over too swiftly. The poor wretched creature never even gets a chance to scream in agony.
Holding the golden lasso limply in her hands, she stares down at the smouldering bones as the voice remarks how confused the Princess must be feeling…still wondering why she has been brought here. As Diana asks Athena for guidance in order to make sense of this madness, she remembers how worried Hippolyta had looked when Diana had left Themyscira a few days ago. Maybe she could see just how disturbing these dreams had become for her daughter and how much Diana needed to talk to Donna Troy. It was a meeting she had put off for too long. All that Donna and Diana had in common could not be mere coincidence. If only Donna had been home when Diana had visited her house today. Were they fated to always miss each other?
Wonder Woman remembers how her self pity at the time had not lasted long. It fled upon the arrival of that voice. The voice of her dreams. Like a beckoning song of the Sirens …a voice she had to follow until it brought her here to the sewers. The voice appears in her head again now, saying that it is not the voice of Morpheus she hears but someone she knows well. Does she remember who it is? Remember the pain perhaps? Suddenly Diana flies up and out of the drain, realising finally that the voice she hears is that of her enemy…the Witch Circe!
Elsewhere as night falls the cat from the sewer races through the undergrowth and as it runs it changes into a naked woman. A man calls out to her and the woman known as Anna replies that she has urgent news from the sewers. She tells the man who is none other than Theophilos Ventouras that the Bestiamorphs still lurk down there and that they had attacked Wonder Woman. Surprised, Theo asks what the Amazon Princess was doing there in the first place. He does not like the situation at all as first they lose contact with Andros and now this. Anna tells him that they are running out of time and they have to act fast. He asks whether Diana is still down there and Anna says she is unsure, as she had fled before the other creatures saw her. She adds that perhaps this is some sort of sign and that maybe Wonder Woman can help them? He holds Anna in his arms and tells her that they cannot rely on Diana…especially when it comes to this. Anna nods in understanding but adds that she is afraid. What if he is wrong? Theo assures her he is not wrong and that he has spent too many painstaking and exacting years on this to be wrong. They will succeed. They will be free at last…
In Boston, Wonder Woman enters through the front door of the Kapatelis Residence and is greeted by an ecstatic Vanessa. Diana hugs her as the young girl tells her how pleased she is to see the Princess. Julia appears and gives Diana a welcoming hug before saying that there had been a message from Donna Troy. Julia realises she has mislaid the message though and Vanessa seems pleased, saying that she should just forget about it in that case. But Julia remembers the gist of the message and tells Diana that it was about Donna traveling to Cephalonia.
Annoyed, Vanessa snaps that her mother should just leave Diana alone as she has only just come back home and she does not want Diana to go away again. The Amazon Princess attempts to explain that she has been trying to get in touch with Donna for weeks now but the young girl storms upstairs to her room, yelling back ” Fine! Go away then! Get yourself killed! Get out of here! I never want to see you again! You can go to hell for all I care!” .
Julia calls after her daughter but Vanessa has already slammed her door shut. A stunned Diana apologises to Julia and says that she would not desert Vanessa now if it was not so important for her to reach Donna. Julia says she understands and that they all have their responsibilities. Right now, Vanessa is Julia’s and she will take care of her daughter. She wishes Diana a safe trip and adds that they will talk about this on her return.
A few hours later in Cephalonia, Donna Troy is walking through the town’s narrow streets with the local Governor named Foundas. He is telling her that they do not want another situation like the one when Wonder Woman was last here. Just then a crowd led by a man called Liguisos blocks their way and states that the Governor is trying to cover up yet another danger from the island’s population. Foundas assures them that this is not their concern but Liguisos replies that it is the concern of all of them. Wonder Woman had saved their island from being overrun by the “Magia”…a menace the Governor had chosen to ignore! Or perhaps he had been paid off by Ventouras?
The Governor denies there had been any danger on Cephalonia until the Amazon arrived. But Liguisos says he is hiding something and that is why he now wants Troia to leave the island! But they will not let him! As tempers flare Donna decides to act and throws up a protective force field around Foundas as the angry crowd advances on them! One of the young men in the crowd steps forward with a walking stick, intent on striking out but he suddenly finds himself wrapped in the coils of a glowing lasso!
Everyone turns in awe to see Wonder Woman standing there. She tells them not to let their fear and suspicions get the better of their wisdom. Surely they of all people should know that she would never deceive or endanger an island so much like Paradise, suggesting they return to their homes and assuring them that Donna is her friend. The crowd begs her forgiveness and peacefully disperses. A suitably impressed Donna tells Wonder Woman that she sure has a way with people.
Diana turns smiling to face Donna and says that she had told the crowd Donna was a friend and although they have never actually met until today, she is more sure of it than ever. Donna smiles back and nods. They have so much to say to each other and so later that night, in the comfort of the home of Julia Kapatelis’ parents, Agostos and Maria Deneiros, the two young women talk for hours. Strangers and intimates at once, finally meeting at the common juncture. In that wonderful exhilarating instant, a mighty bond is formed.
Donna jokingly says that when she heard the media had started calling Diana “Wonder Woman”, she had been ready to kill them. She had tried for so long for them to stop calling her “Wonder Girl“! She was a married women for goodness sake! Diana laughs and replies that she is afraid she has gotten used to the media’s nickname and there are some things in Man’s World that one must simply surrender to. As the two lovely females talk, Agostos sits in his chair secretly admiring them. Maria emerges from the kitchen and recognising the expression on his face, tells him he is a “dirty old goat” ordering him to join her in the kitchen and to leave the two girls in peace!
Once alone, Diana asks Donna whether in her dream she had heard an unfamiliar voice, speaking in Greek? Donna ponders and replies that she had heard a lot of strange things in her dream but she does recall a woman’s voice with an accent like Diana’s. She had thought it was Diana. The Amazon Princess responds that she believes the sorceress Circe is connected with the Scourge Demon that Donna and the Titans had encountered in New York recently. Donna asks that if Circe is the reason why they have both been experiencing connected dreams, then why would the Witch be after her? She and Diana had never even met until today. Diana tells her that she has no answers. In times past Circe has managed to confound the very Gods themselves. She had hoped the Witch was dead but somehow deep down she knew that was not the case.
Suddenly their discussion is interrupted by a scream from outside. They rush out into the dark night air and Donna uses her powers to create some illumination to guide their way. They run down the road and see a van overturned on the verge. Diana recognises the vehicle from her previous visit as one belonging to the rebels led by Gregori Davalos. They hear a cry for help from the van and Diana rips the door away to reveal an injured Gregori lying inside. He warns them to watch out for Andros and when they ask who this “Andros” is, they hear a growl from behind them and turn to see a werebeast confronting them!
