Past Lives
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to DC or Marvel. I own Farrah/Persiana and Lance/Diablos.
One Shot
Artemis, the winner of the Contest of Champions, and, therefore, the new Wonder Woman, was pacing up and down the halls of the Watchtower. She grumbled,
"It is a travesty for those…men…to order me around. I should execute that animal for trying to kill us. I do not see why they are letting her live."
"It wasn't her."
The Amazon warrior spun around, and she found herself staring at Diablos, the red-eyed hero who was in love with Farrah. He and Artemis had a meeting in their past thousands of years ago, one neither had forgotten. The red-head scowled,
"You. I should have known it was a spell you cast or something. You always seem to defend that…thing!"
Lance took his glasses off and said,
"For the record, Persiana was infected with what Tigra called a symbiote. She and the other Avengers are explaining it to the rest of the Justice League."
Artemis folded her arms, looking away,
"I have no intention of listening to anything you have to say."
She started to walk away when Diablos said,
"You're still scared."
Artemis stopped in her tracks. She turned, her face turning red with rage,
"WHAT?"
Lance was calm as he said,
"You haven't come to terms with what happened that day. You still see it, in your dreams, your nightmares, every time you fight. You see yourself as afraid, powerless, and hopeless."
The red-headed Wonder Woman got right up to him and she snarled in his face,
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you where you stand."
Lance glared back,
"You know I'm telling the truth. Who else was it that reunited you with your other sisters?"
Artemis clenched her fist; she wanted to hit Diablos, and badly. However, she let go, grumbling,
"You are…correct. You did help me reunite with some of my other sisters."
Her voice cleared, but was still angry,
"Do not think that I am in any way indebted to you, demon. As far as I am concerned, I still think you are responsible for what happened that day, and I will do everything in my power to slay you and avenge my sisters' deaths."
Lance looked back at Artemis, saying,
"Is that the reason you became Wonder Woman? Is that the reason you started all of this? You may not know, but you and Persiana definitely have a lot in common with each other."
He then realized,
"Granted, neither one of you would admit to it, but I definitely can see it."
The red head scoffed,
"What makes you think I have anything in common with that…animal?"
The red-eyed immortal looked into the room window where Persiana was sleeping,
"When Civil War happened in her world, Persiana had decided to follow who she knew was the right side. After Captain America's assassination, she was alone, frightened. The world was hostile to her and to those that still opposed Registration. She was pushed to the brink of suicide because she could no longer protect her fellow pride members."
He turned, continuing,
"In a way, you're like her. That's why you fought for the title of Wonder Woman. You want to protect your fellow Amazons because you feel responsible for their deaths all those years ago, and, to this day, you feel the guilt and agony of not being able to do anything about it."
Artemis turned around, bringing her hand to her eyes. Lance said,
"You're a proud Amazon warrior who should know no fear. But even the bravest of fighters has something they're afraid of. For you, it's not being reliable to others. For Farrah, it's the fear of being alone."
He walked by Artemis, and started to walk away. Lance then stopped and turned,
"Think about this little conversation, and ask yourself if what you did was right. You know Diana is a capable warrior, like you. The difference is, you still haven't learned to trust yet."
Wonder Woman growled,
"And what you know about trust? You were the one hiding all of this from them in the first place!"
Lance put his glasses on and said,
"I have my reasons."
He turned and began walking away again, but this time, Artemis flew in front of him,
"If you did not kill them, who did?"
Diablos shook his head,
"You don't want to know who. It's better that way."
He teleported away.
End of One Shot