u/Aegis_et_Vanir

I've been thinking about this off and on for so long it's started driving me crazy. I needed an outlet, so I decided to dump it here, even though it's incomplete.

So, I really like superheroes, but I'm not a big comics person. I don't dislike them by any means; I still have quite the collection. But my primary media for stories with such characters is movies and shows.

I say all this because this idea runs on relatively minimal source material (though I tried to do some online research), and now you'll know why any discrepancies occur.

So my primary introduction to DC's Circe was Creature Commandos, and... I'm far from the first to be less than pleased this Wonder Woman villainess was incapacitated by Weasel, with a finishing blow by Dr Phosphorus.

My main goal here was to address Circe's relatively easy defeat, give her a power boost, and as a little treat set up some of Wonder Woman's corner in the DCU. Oh, and make Circe a pretty irredeemable villainess.

Here we go:

Circe is being transferred to a different prison from Belle Reve. She's escorted by two guards, one of whom is a prime d**k to her (we'll call him Tate). Tate scoffs at the idea that she was even at Bell Reve; after all, that's where they keep the real dangerous people. Circe may've whipped up a incel militia, but on her own she was pretty much taken out by "a chimp on crack and a human blowtorch".

While Tate is disparaging her, the other guard (we'll call him Mitch) keeps quiet, only giving procedural clearances. This carries on even into the transfer vehicle.

But partway through the trip, Mitch secures himself before knocking out Tate and the driver with a dart gun, causing the truck to crash. He then escorts Circe from the truck, and we see a gas release from his neckline, dissolving his face away to reveal someone entirely different underneath.

Turns out Mitch is Thomas Tresser, aka Nemesis. A master of disguise and former spy for A.R.G.U.S., he left the agency after seeing its underhanded dealings like working with Lex Luthor and his cronies, and using a dimension as a prison (I also thought of making him an agent of Checkmate, but ultimately decided against it). He's now a sort of freelance agent, whom people hire to get vengeance on villains protected by the government (so long as it also abides by his moral code). And Circe is his latest target.

But who hired him to get Circe? We find that out when they reach a spot in the woods. Waiting for them is Exoristos, an Amazon temporarily exiled from Themyscira several centuries ago. Alongside her is a small group of various animals and human-animal hybrids.

They're beastiamorphs Circe created throughout history. And for these particular few, she added some salt in the wound, and made them immortal so not even death could grant them release from their forms (along with watching the loved ones they couldn't reunite with pass on).

However, when news spread of Circe's relatively easy defeat in Pokolistan, they realized she must've lost her power (or at least had it greatly reduced). So now they've gathered to take vengeance; either Circe would grant the Beastiamorphs mortality (and possibly their human forms), or they'd kill her in her weakened state. Exoristos is there because of what Circe did to Themyscira (more on that later).

Unable to defend herself, Circe desperately reveals she no longer has the power to make such curses, and similarly can no longer undo them, BUT she could teach another sorceress the spell to free them.

Exoristos and the beastiamorphs hesitantly agree to her offer.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to hit this level of detail going forward. I wanted to hold back until I put it all together, but again it started driving me crazy. It'll be hit or miss going forward.

Circe leads Exoristos and the beastmen to the Oblivion Bar to find a witch she thinks is powerful enough to undo the spell. They either pick up Witchfire or Enchantress. However, Circe reveals they aren't powerful or skilled enough to undo it (perhaps we see a little trial and error to this) unless in a specific location at a specific time, and they journey to reach it. Meanwhile, A.R.G.U.S. tracks down and arrests Tom, then puts together a squad to hunt down Circe (Tate is among the agents assigned).

All throughout this, we're given glimpses into the backstories of Circe, Exoristos, and the beastmen.

- Circe was once way more powerful. In fact, she once held the sole of Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft herself. She was also a vile tyrant, hence the beast-men.

- Some of the beastmen were pretty bad; others were more morally grey; and others were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when Circe cursed them. This is mainly to show Circe has no real morals outside of her own self-interest. But it also seems like hearing their stories could be reaching through to her.

- Circe believed she was the rightful leader of the Amazons; between her mystical mastery and the greatest army on Earth, she could rule the whole world.

- She was outraged when Hippolyta assumed leadership, and even tried to force the queen to either abdicate to serve her will. When Hippolyta refused, Circe punished them by altering Themyscira's boundary; now not only was the island hidden from even the gods, no Amazon could enter or leave (it was also surrounded by an unending tempest, though the inside was still a paradise. And with Circe's level of power at the time, it stuck.

- Circe initially meant to revisit the Amazons after a hundred years or so, but it ended up being longer because Hecate reclaimed her soul afterwards.

This happened after Exoristos was exiled (which was completed 10-15 years before the current day). She also encountered a sinking ship upon her return, only able to rescue a baby girl (this would be Donna Troy). While Donna was human, Exoristos was still an Amazon, and couldn't bring her in. But she could see inside, and threw her sword through to a passing patrol ship. A rope was bound around the handle, the other end of which was bound to a basket with Donna so she could be pulled in. Then Exoristos tearfully returned to the outside world. She's hoping she can force Circe to restore the boundary so she can go home.

The gang finally reaches their location and begin the ceremony. It starts out smoothly, but seems to become unstable and start killing Witchfire/Enchantress. Circe desperately pleads for Exoristos to unlock her shackles so she can help, which she reluctantly agrees to.

At first Circe seems to stabilize and complete the spell, returning the beast-men to mortal human forms. But then Circe kills them and pushes back Exoristos, before turning her attention on Witchfire/Enchantress. It turns out the reason Circe chose her was because she bore a mark of Hecate's power, and Circe wants to take it. The process takes her focus and energy off of Exoristos, who takes her hammer and smashes Circe's hands before it's complete. She prepares to kill Circe, but the A.R.G.U.S. squad bursts in and knocks out the women beforehand.

Unfortunately, when Circe awakens reshackled (alongside Exoristos) in a transport, the transfer was complete. With mere gestures she whips off the shackles, heals her burns from Dr Phosphorus, tears the vehicles apart, and turns the A.R.G.U.S. agents into a new menagerie of beastmen (except for Tate, whom she just vaporizes).

But Circe can feel this isn't Hecate's full power; it's fractured, split up across various sorceresses across the globe. She reaches out, sensing them one by one... but it's still not complete. There's a little more somewhere, hidden. But where could it be hidden?

Then it hits her; she drags Exoristos to her, grabs her head, and begins searching. Since Exoristos was always intended to return to Themyscira, she had an enchantment to keep her from forgetting where it was. Circe traces the enchantment, then turns Exoristos into a dog and flies away.

We cut to a day or two later. Nemesis, imprisoned at Belle Reve, is shown body cam footage of Circe attacking the squad. Racked with guilt, he agrees to work for A.R.G.U.S. again.

Then we cut to an aircraft carrier out on the ocean on the edge of a fierce and violent storm. A sort of Bermuda Triangle region for the DCU, several jets fly in to investigate, including one piloted by Steve Trevor.

Circe also arrives at the storm, and begins to restore the barrier to its original state. The process ends up damaging Steve's jet. Here we get our first official look of Diana in her iconic rescue.

Circe, sensing the last vessel, flies through to see that Themyscira's forces have only grown and advanced in their imprisonment. Even with her power boost, it wouldn't be a close enough fight.

So she returns to her beast-men, determined to build an army and hunt down the other witches before she returns to attack Themyscira.

THE END... for now

So, yeah, this would set up a Wonder Woman movie which borrows heavily yet unfaithfully from the Witching Hour (at least what I've read and could fit in).

I know there's some incomplete portions and inconsistencies

- pretty much no exploring the A.R.G.U.S. squad and their mission in the middle of the story

- Circe could hide Themyscira from the GODS, yet Exoristos' little GPS spell still worked?

- What place? What time for the ceremony?

I was hoping to research more and iron these details and more out. But like I said, this started driving me nuts. So I decided to just dump it here as is.

I apologize that this rant turned into a half-baked fanfic. But hopefully I made some interesting points. If you have any suggestions for how this could function better and be more faithful to the comics, I'd love some feedback.

Regardless, thank you for reading, and have a good one.