Post by DiscipleofBob on Nov 9, 2012 9:23:58 GMT -5
Issue 1: Wonders of the World
The circus was in town at Gateway City.
Not literally, but at the city limits you could see the multicolored lights reflecting off the trees on the horizon. Traveling a few miles, exiting off the highway, and a few winding dirt roads later would lead to the Zeppoli Brothers Family Circus, nestled in the pine forests lining the area. The circus was only in town for a few weeks before it would move on to the next major city, and this type of show did better in an open, vacant lot in the countryside then trying to set up in the middle of the city. Aside from the tent for the main show, several smaller tents dotted the area along with several rows of booths featuring overpriced junk food and carnival games that were only winnable about half the time, but that sort of thing was to be expected from a family friendly, traditional carnival. It didn't try to be as avant-garde as Cirque du Soliel, nor did it try to cash in on fear and disgust with sideshow freaks and cheap scares.
The front entrance was decorated with several large posters advertising the stars of the main show. One poster showed a family of acrobats performing on a trapeze, their uniforms specifically tailored and colored to resemble a more famous family of acrobats as much as possible. Another poster advertised a beautiful magician in a quite flattering, but not too risque tuxedo and leggings. In another picture, a red-haired strongwoman juggled elephants, and in another a woman with vaguely familiar red and blue tights prepared to be fired out of a cannon. At this circus, there was something for everyone.
For example, if the entertainment was not to one's liking, there was always the food. Etta Candy eagerly stood after a long wait at the front of the line for cotton candy, her friend Vanessa waiting nearby. The two teenagers were near polar opposites. Vanessa Kapatelis was a young, pale-skinned redhead with the frame of a twig, compared to Etta, whose dark hair and mocha skin were rounded out by her curves. Etta had a notorious sweet tooth but too much sugar gave Vanessa a headache, so the latter could only wait until the pinstriped vendor finished the batch of fresh pink fluff.
"Please tell me you didn't drag me out here on a school night just so you could get a candy fix."
"Oh come on, Vanessa, when's the last time you went to a real live circus?" Etta said as she picked a bite of cotton candy.
"Never?" The two continued the conversation as they walked towards the main circus tent.
"Exactly. This is one of many hallmarks of American culture that's being lost to modern times. Just like shopping malls, arcades..."
"Candy stores?" Vanessa offered.
"Don't get cute," Etta pointed a cautionary finger before continuing, "Where else are you going to find acrobats and magicians and lion tamers..."
"What about clowns? I don't see any clowns."
"Fuck clowns," Etta said with a sharper tone, "The only reason this circus is still around is because they ditched the whole clown thing ages ago."
"But I thought clowns were part of the whole nostalgia thing. You know shopping malls, arcades..."
Etta shook her head. "Nobody looks at a clown any more and thinks 'Hilarious.' They think 'Gotham City' and 'serial killers' and 'Oh god we're all going to die.' Seriously, fuck clowns."
"Okay, I get it. So we're here to, what, eat junk food and watch people try to kill themselves by playing around on monkey bars fifty feet in the air or sticking their heads in lions' mouths? Why couldn't we do that at home on YouTube?"
"Because YouTtube doesn't have the best damn cotton candy on the east coast."
"Knew it," Vanessa smiled and humored her friend.
As they neared the main tent, the still air formed a slight breeze, before accelerating into a fierce gale, nearly causing the tents to collapse and throwing litter and debris all over the circus grounds. For a moment the tents themselves seemed like they were going to fly away. Etta, Vanessa, and the rest of the patrons tried to shield themselves in vain as hair and clothes blew wildly across the carnival. Suddenly, the wind died down as suddenly as it had come, but not before wrecking a few of the smaller tents and booths, as well as claiming balloons and other fairgoers' possessions.
"What the hell was that about?" Etta said before immediately shifting her focus to the empty stick in her hand. "Aw, son of a...!" She begrudgingly tossed the stick into a nearby trash can. "Hey, Ness, do you mind if I go back and get my money's worth?"
Vanessa sighed and smiled. Sometimes Etta was too predictable. "Go on, I'll save you a seat." Etta nodded and ran off as Vanessa took the moment of solitude to collect her thoughts. What exactly caused that sudden windstorm? She had lived here all her life and this was the first time any weather like that had happened.
===WW===
"Come on, get the lead out new guy!" Andy Wedge, the veteran repairman rushed the newest member of the carnival maintenance staff, Jason Biggs "We need to make sure no supports came loose during that windstorm, preferably before the show starts. Last thing we want is to literally bring the house down." Keeping a brisk pace even as Jason was the one carrying an entire workbench full of tools, Andy scoured the ground until he found one of the tent stakes that was looser than the others, "Here's one. Now pay attention, rookie."
Andy began to explain how to fix the support, but Jason was briefly distracted. Several yards away in one of the empty lots the circus wasn't using, a stray poster seemed to have been caught on something that wasn't there. There were no trees nearby, no stray structures anywhere close and yet the paper was wrapped around something suspended ten feet off the ground. "Hey, you paying attention?" Andy yelled at him.
Jason was briefly startled, but was quick to try and point out the sight. "Something over there's floating like it's caught on something." In the brief time he turned around to respond, the poster was gone.
Andy shook his head disapprovingly. "Kid, you've only been a carnie less than a week. You're not allowed to go crazy for at least a month."
"But... I... nevermind." Jason assumed his eyes are playing tricks on him and turned his attention to the work at hand.
The circus poster danced in the night wind until a feminine hand reached up and grabbed it. The poster advertised one of the circus's main attractions: a woman surrounded by flying cards and roses. On one side of her was a cheerful man in a sparkling leotard and on the other a majestic roaring tiger. No name was given on the poster, but the woman reading the flyer studied it with determination. "Found you," she whispered to herself.
"Excuse me," the woman announced her presence, startling the two workers who until now had believed they were alone.
She stood taller than either man, with long black hair swaying in the wind, grabbing the mens' attention with the steady stare of her ice-blue eyes. That her piercing eyes were what garnered attention was impressive, since her clothes consisted of a red and gold breastplate exposing her arms, and a silver tiara with two matching bracelets. The two workers stared at the muscular woman, part from surprise and part from infatuation. If the woman was offended or irritated, she didn't show it, instead continuing her unflinching stare and held up the poster. "Where do I find this person?" she asked politely but with authority.
As Andy regained his composure, he took his hat off as a sign of old-fashioned respect. "The show starts in a few minutes, ma'am. I'm afraid if you're here for an audition you'll have to come back later, miss...?"
"Diana. I thank you." Before Andy could continue the woman marched off to the main tent.
It took until she was out of sight for Jason to be able to speak, "How'd you know she was here for an audition?"
Andy shrugged. "Never seen her here before, and with that getup she ain't here to collect the rent."
"Now I remember why I joined the circus," Jason said with a growing smile.
"Word of advice, freshman," Andy warned, "When it comes to circus dames, look but don't touch. Last guy who went out with Doris had his car crushed when she thought he was cheating."
"Woah. Overreact much?"
"You have no idea. Poor bastard was still in the car. They had to pry the whole thing open to get him out."
The two got back to work while Jason started to rethink his plan to ask out one of the acrobats.
===WW===
Etta finally caught up to Vanessa in the main circus tent where the latter was at one of the side attractions, petting a white horse in full circus garb. "I thought you were saving us seats."
Startled, Vanessa stands upright, looking as innocent as possible. "What? There's still plenty left." Eager to change the subject, Vanessa notes that Etta now has a cotton candy stick in each hand, one pink and one blue. "You got two?"
"Yup. Why, did you want one?"
Vanessa dropped the issue as the two moved to the bleachers to take their seats. Before being obstructed by an imposing woman in bright red and gold armor that is.
"Excuse us," Etta mumbled between bites of cotton candy. When the woman turned towards them, Vanessa couldn't help but get that nagging worry teenagers get sometimes, especially normally well-behaved teenagers out late on a school night. That irrational fear that someone, somewhere is about to call her mother and let them know exactly where she is when she ought to be studying for an exam or asleep at home.
"Pardon me." Fortunately, the woman stepped to the side, soothing the fear that Vanessa was about to be thrown out of the circus by the world's shiniest bouncer.
"Not bad. You can see everything from up here," Etta said excitedly, satisfied with their seats despite the nosebleed section. For some reason Vanessa can't understand she couldn't help but keep her attention on the stone-faced woman standing nearby.
Is she be part of the act? Vanessa wondered.
The woman stood still, unnoticing or uncaring of others' glances, like a guard at Buckingham palace. As Vanessa tried to solve the riddle that may or may not exist, the lights in the tent dimmed, the spotlights switched on, a percussion section started a drum roll, and the whimsical yet booming voice of the announcer echoed throughout the circus. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO A NIGHT FILLED WITH FUN, MYSTERY, ENTERTAINMENT, AND MOST OF ALL, WONDER!"
===WW===
The band broke into a full circus fanfare as the show started in full-swing. Acrobats and tumblers came out somersaulting and cartwheeling onto the stage as smiling showgirls rode bareback on horses and elephants, parading them around the ring. Jugglers joined the parade mid-juggle, tossing around everything from torches to machetes, sometimes to each other. Daredevils on small motorcycles rode circles around other performers.
Vanessa tried to pay attention and enjoy herself, but the woman from before kept drawing her attention. Surely she would leap into the fray soon as part of the act, but instead the woman stood still, staring intently at the various acts. She definitely wasn't here to enjoy herself.
The big introduction faded and one by one the the circus acts are performed. The were not complex in themselves, but the entertainment value was in the showmanship. Confetti, bright flashing pyrotechnics, Etta's occasional snarky comment, colorful costumes...
"Seriously she has to be part of someone's act," Vanessa whispered to herself as she kept one eye on the woman from before, still waiting even when the show was nearly half over.
The woman's muscles suddenly tensed, enough to catch Vanessa's notice again. The teenage girl looked up to see who was performing: the magician's act.
The magician was a middle-aged woman in a feminine tuxedo and stockings, her assistant a burly yet handsome young man in a sparkling leotard. Vanessa kept one eye on the act and the other on the nearby woman who trembled and clenched her fists, holding herself back. Vanessa started looking for some kind of security in case she needed to signal someone quickly.
The magician, meanwhile, had a few basic acts. Card tricks, making paper roses and handkerchiefs appear from nowhere, escaping from being tied up, a feat which illicited many more male cheers than the other acts. When it was time for her spectacular finish, the magician's assistant wheeled out a large cage, and, after assuring the audience there were no trap doors or secret exits, the assistant hung up curtains to obscure the barred cage from the audience before stepping inside, closing the cage and completely obscuring the assistant from view.
The magician walked up to to the curtained cage, spun it around a few times for the audience's benefit, waved her magic wand, and shouted, "Abra Kedabra!" Pyrotechnics flashed at her command around the ring. The curtains fell and the assistant was nowhere to be found. In his place, a tiger prowled the cage, rearing up as much as it could in the cage and roaring majestically on command.
"Now THAT'S a trick!" Etta cheered along with the rest of the audience as she nudged Vanessa.
"What? Oh. Yes, very cool," Vanessa turned to acknowledge Etta, but when she looked back, the woman was gone. Vanessa scanned the room nervously as the magician bowed and left the stage.
===WW===
There was no longer any doubt in Diana's mind. The innocent man had been transformed into a ferocious beast. But confronting her target here was not an option. Too many innocent bystanders, and the last thing Diana needed was an army of vicious predators at her target's command. When the magician took her leave of the stage, Diana followed from behind the stands to the backstage area of the circus. Her target never suspected she was being followed.
The magician sat down in front of an assortment of makeup mirrors. She was a thin, middle-aged woman, hair dyed purple, and her profession necessitated several heavy layers of makeup. She sat at the mirror, reapplying her makeup for the encore. In the mirror, she noticed someone approaching from behind. She was dressed as if she belonged at the circus, but the magician had never seen her around before. The magician turned around to greet the stranger, "You new here, hon?"
This was as much solitude as Diana was going to get. The magician gasped as Diana picked her up by her collar, suddenly slamming her against the opposite wall. "CIRCE!"
The magician wanted to scream in terror, but the muscular hands near her throat paralyzed her voice. She looked in fear at her attacker who stared back only with anger and hate. Some of the nearby carnival workers rushed to her aid, trying to pry the two apart, but with her free arm Diana flung them all away like rag dolls. They weren't important. "That chick's crazy strong! Someone get Doris!" A few of the carnival workers ran off.
Diana paid them no mind. "The gods have led me straight to you, Circe! Your crimes will not go unpunished!"
"Look," the magician gasped between breaths, "You got the wrong girl! My name's Ethel!" The magician slipped from her bravado stage voice to a thick urban accent.
Diana slammed her target against the wall again, "Your silver-tongued lies will not work on me, Circe! I saw you transform that innocent man into a beast. And for what? Entertainment? You will return that which you have stolen and lead me to your allies. But first, you will undo your curse on the poor man."
"You mean Ralph? He's right over there," Ethel the magician was quick to point to where the tiger cage was currently being rolled in from the stage. The big cat was laying down in its cage, docilely cleaning itself as a housecat, its ferocity from the stage gone now that it was no longer in the spotlight. The assistant pulling the cart stopped and looked with confusion at Diana and the magician. The same man who was apparently transformed into the tiger now resting in the cage.
"But how...?" Diana stared at the paradox, her grip never loosening.
"Look, I didn't transform nobody," the magician pleaded for her life, attempting to reason who must have been a clearly deranged lunatic. "There's a trap door. We do the switch. I say a few bullshit words, and pesto! It's just a magic trick."
"A trick, yes, but far from magic." Diana glared coldly back at the magician, "Your deception has wasted both of our time." She finally released her grip, the magician dropping to the floor. "I apologize for the mistaken identity, Ethel the Trickster." The magician stayed silent and slowly backed away, not wanting to argue and potentially provoke her attacker further.
Diana turned to leave and was suddenly jerked back by her hair. Something strong pulled her back and thew her to the ground. "Where do you think you're going?" Diana glanced up at her attacker, a six-foot tall red-haired woman in a leopard-spotted leotard. She was cracking her knuckles, simultaneously pissed off and grinning confidently.
"Thanks, Doris!" the magician yells from afar as she made her escape.
"I have no more quarrel with you or your band of tricksters," Diana said as she picked herself up off the ground, "But now you obstruct my path, and if you do not clear yourself immediately, I shall remove you myself."
"No way. You don't get to come around here and roughen up my people without me returning the favor!" Doris stepped forward and swung a left hook, only for Diana to catch the fist in one hand and return with her own, knocking her opponent to the ground with a solid punch to the jaw.
"I accept your challenge," Diana declared as she readied herself for combat.
===WW===
As the seven-foot tall Doris stood back up, she spat out blood. "You're going to pay for that!" Doris charged forward, both arms raised to pulverize Diana.
Diana quickly stepped back, intending to dodge and counter the blow, but she somehow misjudged her opponent's reach, the full blow slamming into her head. Diana doubled over right into Doris's leg, which the eight-foot tall woman swung in full force, punting Diana into the air and through the tent walls, ripping through the fabric and bringing the fight out to the main stage.
Diana's body skipped along the dirt into the main ring. Her ten-foot tall opponent entered to the sound of fanfare and applause. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HERE SHE IS, OUR STAR ATTRACTION! THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD! THE LARGEST, STRONGEST WOMAN ON EARTH: GIGANTA!" the announcer shouted over the microphone, not realizing the fight wasn't staged.
The audience, initially surprised at the sudden entrance, showed a lot more interest in the circus catfight about to take place. Vanessa has been scanning the area for the woman this whole time, and suddenly she was in the center ring, picking herself up off the ground and wiping blood off her lip. And the other woman she was apparently fighting was already taller than the bleachers the audience sat in.
"This is gonna be awesome!" Etta cheered along with the crowd.
"How can you possibly say that? That woman is going to be crushed!" Vanessa was horrified.
Etta tried calming Vanessa down. "Chill. Quit taking this so seriously. It's a show, remember? The fight's staged."
"I'M GONNA CRUSH YOU INTO TINY PIECES!" roared the giant from the main ring.
"I think," Etta was suddenly less certain.
Diana quickly glanced at her surroundings, analyzing her battlefield as her twelve-foot tall opponent approached. She vaguely resembled the smiling woman in some of the the posters where she's juggling elephants or cars. The ones that read '8th Wonder of the World,' 'Strongest Woman on Earth' and similar phrases. It was too much of a challenge for Diana not to emerge victorious. Giganta brought both of her enormous fists down on the now miniscule by comparison Diana. Graceful somersaults allow Diana to dive between Giganta's legs, narrowly dodging the boulder-sized fists which shook the arena, drawing gasps from the crowd. The smaller warrior allowed her momentum to carry her through the giant’s legs where she recovered and sent a sharp kick into the back of one oversized knee. The leg buckled and brought one knee down like a gavel.
Diana quickly pivoted off of Giganta's leg, clinging onto her back She threw her arms around the tree-trunk of a neck, barely able to squeeze and cut the giant's lungs from air. "I had heard that women in America often grow enraged with large tempers. I did not know how much of that statement was literal."
But Diana could feel the neck thickening, and rose higher as Giganta continued to grow until she was twenty feet tall, almost as large at the tent itself. Diana's arms were now too small to even reach the front of Giganta's neck. "Was that supposed to be a joke, princess?" Giganta picked Diana off the back of her neck like a flea and threw her down into the bleachers, the audience scattering just before the impact shattered the seats.
Despite being hurled into the ground, Diana leapt to her feet and grabbed the largest piece of timber she could find, "I am uncertain as to how you know my royal lineage, but now my honor demands I defeat you!"
Giganta paused, wondering if this was supposed to be witty banter or if the smaller woman was just crazy. "You're a real piece of work. What nuthouse did you jump from?"
"UM... LADIES AND GENTLEMEN IF YOU WOULD KINDLY EXIT THE CIRCUS IN AN ORDERLY FASHION WHILE WE... ER... ADDRESS TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES," the announcer tried to say calmly, prompting the entire crowd to panic and run out screaming. Several fairgoers stood a safe distance near the exit, prioritizing the capture of the dangerous spectacle on their cameras and phones. "NOT TO WORRY FOLKS THE AUTHORITIES HAVE BEEN CONTACTED AND..." At that moment, Diana grabbed the largest pile of debris she could get her hands on and hurled it at the giant woman's head. Giganta batted it away and it crashed into the announcer's box, narrowly missing the man at the microphone. "SCREW THIS, I'M OUT OF HERE!"
Etta Candy wasted no time trying to leave with the crowd, but her best friend was dragging her feet. "Come on, Ness, what are you waiting for? Let's get out of here!"
They were in a prime location to escape the circus tent now and run for safety, but Vanessa turned to see several crowds stampeding and inadvertently blocking each other from other exits. "What if someone gets seriously hurt?"
"What if WE get seriously hurt?!" Etta retorted.
Vanessa ignored her friend's outbursts and began helping the rest of the crowd to escape. The circus staff had long since fled. Etta sighed but reluctantly assisted her, not wanting to leave Vanessa behind.
Giganta batted the projectile away with one hand and swept away the entire debris pile Diana was standing in with the other. At the last second Diana leapt onto Giganta's arm, running up while she still had momentum. Giganta swung her arm up, hurling Diana into the air. Her hand reaching out for anything for support, Diana managed to grab onto a trapeze, jarring it loose. Giganta stepped back up and swiped at the air around her, as if she was swatting a fly, but Diana swung back on the trapeze and hurled the full force of both legs into Giganta's jaw.
Giganta staggered back from the blow, barely remaining on her feet. Clenching her fists, Giganta smashed the trapeze supports, breaking them apart like toothpicks, sending the whole rig tumbling to the floor in pieces. Diana grabbed and slid along the rope, the friction burning her hands but slowing her descent just enough to land safely. With the remains of the acrobat act scattered on the ground, Diana quickly scooped as much rope as was nearby and within seconds had fashioned herself a lasso.
"Now I am armed, giant woman!" Diana warned.
"Take your damn rope! What makes you think you can pin me down?" Giganta raised her leg up to stomp out the insect.
Diana widened the lasso and tossed it around Giganta's foot before narrowly leaping out of the way to avoid being flattened. Giganta stomped and punched at the ground, but Diana kept one step ahead from the crushing limbs each strike as she prepared another lasso at the other end of the rope. "Stand still, you little rat!" Finally Giganta cornered the pest down, but when she punched another crater into the tent grounds, the woman lassoed Giganta's fist as well. Diana quickly leapt onto Giganta's fist and ran up her arm, flipping over Giganta's shoulder and pulling on the rope she dragged with her with all of her strength as well as the leverage from Giganta's own body and gravity.
At the forceful tug, the network of rope Diana had set earlier between narrow misses clamped around Giganta's legs and forced her arm behind her back. With no balance left, Giganta wobbled and struggled to maintain her balance until she collapsed like a freshly cut tree. Diana held tightly onto the lasso as she rode Giganta's back all the way to the ground, where the force created an earthquake felt throughout the carnival.
"Why you little-!" Giganta reached back with her other arm to try and grab Diana, but the warrior woman had already made it a point to stand in the one spot on Giganta's back most difficult to reach. As Diana tied a few more knots to secure the rope, she widened a spare loop to secure Giganta's last free limb. The few remaining spectators erupted into applause and started snapping pictures. Diana didn't feel the need to smile and pose for the cameras, but she already was an imposing figure atop her defeated foe, and she smiled not because of the attention, but because she had just bested the self-proclaimed strongest woman in the world.
"You think this can hold me?!" Giganta tried to grow larger, but the ropes only tightened around her enlarged nerves, causing too much pain to continue.
"I wouldn't try it. This is a Themysciran Labyrinth Knot. It has enough slack to hold against your unique growth, but the more you struggle the more it will hurt." Her battle won, Diana hopped off the giant woman and started to exit the tent in the least populated direction. "I will not bother myself with your groups' deceptions again." Despite Diana's warnings, Giganta continued to struggle, inadvertantly knocking over even more of the remaining supports for the tent.
The whole circus tent began to collapse and the remaining patrons ran in terror. Some of the lighting still left up broke loose from its rigging and fell directly toward an unsuspecting Vanessa as she helped the last child out of the circus tent. With Vanessa's attention occupied, only Diana saw the danger. With only seconds to react, Diana dove and pushed the young girl out of the way. The heavy equipment collapsed on top of Diana instead. When the smoke and dust cleared, Vanessa was safe and picked herself up off the ground, only to find herself looking at the unconscious, bleeding body of the woman from before. In the distance, she could hear the police sirens drawing closer to the circus.
With less than a minute before the authorities would arrive, Vanessa had to decide.
"What am I supposed to do?"
