Witchfire's condition wasn't good.
Her maroon Sassoon-style hair had been pulled out in several strands, and her face and hands bore long, cat-like scratches, covered in streaks of blood.
But, as soone who had once been controlled by Hecate, she was actually in decent shape now.
She wasn't dead, nor insane. She was just out of strength, and after being attacked by a group of young girls like a high school sorority hazing, she was questioning her life.
"Witchfire, can you hear ?"
Bobo the Detective Chimp edged closer, holding the Nightblade in his hand.
"Yes, Bobo. I'm very sorry." Witchfire lay on the scorched floor, turning her head away, not daring to look into the chimp's eyes.
"That damn witch killed my friends... sob sob sob..."
Now that the grown-ups had arrived, the string holding Tracy's emotions together snapped, and she couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
She threw herself into Nightshade's arms, letting out a sob like a fawn.
Among the girls around her, there were Nightshade and Raven, both of whom Su Ming recognized. One was a mber of the Shadow Pact team, the other from the Teen Titans, both girls who had seen their fair share of storms.
At the mont, though, they were both tearful, wiping their eyes alongside Tracy.
Nightshade's magic only allowed for shadow-dinsion teleportation, but Raven, whose powers ca from her father—Trigon, the interdinsional demon king—still had full control of her magic.
It was also because of their combat experience that when Witchfire lost control, they were able to react instantly, pulling Tracy into the shadow dinsion, saving the three of them.
Donna was very close with them, so she imdiately went over to comfort them, quickly turning the scene into four people crying together.
Emotions were contagious, after all.
Albera went behind the bar to the restroom to wash her face, needing to calm herself after casting spells consecutively. After getting so amusent from watching an Amazon cry, Su Ming chose to join Bobo in checking on Witchfire.
It was apparent now that the sigil on her forehead had dissipated—not just Hecate's control, but even a fifth of the power she'd left behind had been extracted.
Su Ming removed his helt, stroking his chin. This didn't quite match what Circe had told him.
She'd said that those who had the sigil extracted would have their souls burned through, but Witchfire, while weakened, seed more or less fine.
Circe was never trustworthy. Countless ancient sailors had proven that. The diterranean witch had indeed deceived them, and now the question was, just how many lies had she told?
Bobo didn't care about Deathstroke's thoughts; he continued to question Witchfire.
"Do you still want to kill us now?"
"No, I've never wanted to kill anyone. Before, I just couldn't control myself." Witchfire's dust-and-blood-covered face was streaked with tears.
Albera had apparently co back at so point, her face wet and her hair still dripping as she stood behind the chimp.
"Wow, I just step out for a mont and co back to see you've made this many won cry, Bobo. If you were human, you'd definitely be the ultimate jerk."
The chimp put the Nightblade away. From what he observed, Witchfire was no longer a threat. He gave Albera an exasperated look.
"Don't say things that could easily be misunderstood. What do you an I made them cry? It's the world's fault."
Su Ming extended a hand and pulled Witchfire off the ground, setting her down on one of the booth couches to rest.
As for Bobo's comnt, it wasn't great to begin with, but after that explanation, it definitely sounded like sothing a jerk would say: It's not , it's the world.
That's the kind of thing that gets you decapitated.
"Alright, Miss Witchfire, though this is our first ti eting, the situation is urgent. Can you tell us what you saw while you were being controlled?"
"The moon. I was trapped on the moon."
Su Ming frowned. That couldn't be right. Although Superman had nearly patched up the moon, it was stable enough to stand on. If anyone were trapped there, he'd know instantly.
Witchfire lifted her hand to wipe her face. The tears stung as they entered her wounds, and she realized that Deathstroke had misunderstood her.
"Not the moon we normally speak of. It's the moon—the magical moon of Hecate, the source of her power. It's an abstract, conceptual magical dinsion that non-spellcasters can't see."
"Got it. Do you smoke?" Su Ming offered her a cigarette, trying to help her calm down. He also lit one for himself. "Hecate is known as the Triple Goddess—her emblem is the new moon, full moon, and waning moon rged into one. She's an aspect of magic, so naturally, she can create a moon within herself."
Witchfire looked up at him gratefully and nodded repeatedly. "You're right. When I was under her control, my soul was trapped within her, on a silver magical moon."
"And then? What happened? How did you get back to the bar?" Su Ming asked the critical question.
"Hecate extracted the power she put inside . Although that magic was never mine to begin with and wasn't under my control, she then expelled from her soul dinsion. I was no longer of use to her."
Witchfire took a drag from the cigarette, imdiately coughing at the taste of the otherworldly tobacco.
Su Ming's heart skipped a beat. If she was trapped in Hecate's mind, then...
"On the magical moon, who else was with you?"
"How did you know? Yes, there was Dawn and Black Orchid. We were all trapped there. Maybe my magical abilities were stronger—I remained conscious, sitting on the shore, while they were unconscious, floating in a silver pool."
The reason for their unconsciousness was probably not just that.
But it seed, for now, Hecate wouldn't be able to find them easily.
Hecate had taken their souls, while Deathstroke had retained their bodies and the magic within them.
For now, but there was no guarantee Hecate wouldn't think of a way to track them down.
He needed to find Diana quickly—contact Batman, and see if the Justice League's satellites had picked up anything.
With Diana's personality, if she'd regained her freedom, her first instinct would probably be to settle things with him, so she'd also be looking for him.
The trouble with this situation was that both sides were on the move, making it easy to miss each other.
"It seems you've made quite a few enemies while under control. My suggestion? Find a place to hide." Su Ming pulled out his phone while giving Witchfire so advice.
"But where could be safe? Now that I think of those eager to avenge their daughters, I feel like I probably won't survive long." Witchfire forced a bitter smile.
Su Ming shrugged. He wasn't familiar with the girls who had died, nor was he particularly familiar with Witchfire.
But given the intel she'd just provided, he decided to give her a piece of advice.
"The only ones who can protect you now are the Justice League. I won't say more on that." He walked over to a table that wasn't too badly burned, placing his phone on it. "What do you think?"
"It's strange. I can't find Diana."
Batman, for once, didn't know sothing. Su Ming wasn't sure whether to be happy or frustrated, but he needed to think of a plan.
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