Fates of Love
Author: BigHead / Everyone here belongs to someone else, except me. I belong to a boatload of taxes, hence no money being made
Summary: Fate has a wicked way of playing with the ones in their clutches.
Rating: Teen, might go up later.
Author's Notes: Thanks this time go to Tenhawk for a few ideas. And many thanks for all the reviews.
A/N 2: Chapter 6 formatting has been corrected.
WARNING: Not beta read. You've been warned!
Feedback: YESSSS! PLEEEEAAAASEEE!
They walked the entire property, talking about a lot of subjects, the Batman matter forgotten in light of two people in love. Xander pointed several spots in the property and told the stories about them. They agreed to come back during the summer to enjoy a few of them, including some very secluded ones.
They eventually reached the stables, and Diana was introduced to Marissa, the Texan Slayer who enjoyed riding more than slaying.
"You see, Marissa here was one of the first baby Slayers that came to train, and by that time the horse breeding program was virtually non-existent. We had a few horses from the old owner, being maintained by the staff. Lone Star here, when she wasn't sleeping or training could be found here tending the horses or riding around the property."
"Ah do like them more than sum people," the shy Slayer said, while brushing a mare.
"Yup. When she graduated, we offered her the same choice we offer the other Slayers, go back to normal life or join the fight. Then she goes to Giles and says…"
Marissa halted him. "Your accent is awful, Xander, even when you're joking. Ah said to Mr. Giles 'Ah am a Slayer, but ah don't wanna hunt no demons, Mr. Giles. But if you'll let me, ah'll treat your horses damned fine. Might even bring one or two to competition level, or maybe turn them into a breedin' program, and bring some nickels to this place.'"
"True, and in that we found the perfect excuse to have so many young girls around the property at any given time, we're considered one of the most selective Horseback Riding schools in all England," he concluded.
"Even when sum' girls haven't ever sat in no damned saddle."
Xander and Diana laughed with her, and Marissa asked if the Amazon wanted to ride a little.
"Only if Xander joins me," she completed, looking to her boyfriend. Both he and the Texan laughed at the same time.
"Sorry, hon, Marissa and I, we had a bad experience with me riding a horse."
"What happened?" she asked, worried.
"Let's say that having only one eye brings a whole new meaning to motion sickness. And helping someone unsaddle when this someone is looking particularly green is not a good idea."
Diana laughed, but chose to ride later, she wanted to know the rest of the place.
They eventually reached the training area, and at first look, Diana could see it was the most renovated place in the entire property. The outside still kept the old classical look, but the inside was barely recognizable as such. They entered trough a set of double doors, and they met a man that looked the real life version of one of Flash's favorite cartoons.
"Ah, the man I wished to see. Sergeant," Xander saluted crisply.
"Sir, good to see you again, sir," the man returned the salute with even more crispness and a big smile on his face. Diana noticed that the sergeant treated Xander with the same respect as he would a superior officer. Then they engaged in a strong back-slapping hug, like old comrades.
"How are you, you old fart?" Xander asked, the same big smile reflected on his own face.
"I'm good, sir. Life's being kind to me. And who is this lovely lady?" the big man asked politely.
"Princess Diana of Themyscira, allow me to introduce you to USMC Gunnery Sergeant (ret.) James Theodore Arlington, our Drill Instructor, or as the girls nicknamed him, Sergeant Slaughter. Jim, this is my girlfriend, Diana."
"Ma'am," the -apparently- retired US Marine replied politely, with a nod.
"Sergeant," she acknowledged him with a smile.
"I'm giving her the nickel tour, Jim, and she denoted some interest last night in sparring with the girls. They up for it?"
"They better be, or I'll make them run ten times around the property," he said to them, a wolfish grin in place.
"Wanna give it a go, Di?"
"Sure," she said.
"Lockers are that way, ma'am. You'll find some training gear to your size in there."
"I have something even better," she said. Xander shrugged to the sergeant's inquisitive look.
"Okay. If you'll follow me, sir, ma'am," he said, opening another set of doors. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he bellowed. "TEN-SHUN!"
The Slayers, all fifteen of them, were in various stages of their PT. They stopped immediately, forming a line right in front of the drill sergeant.
"Okay, ladies, with this gods be damned weather outside, we've been restricted to working indoors for most of the time you've been here. You don't like it, I don't like it, but that's what God ordered, so how can I compete with the Man? However, Santa was kind to us this year, and he decided to drop an earlier Christmas gift to us. I give you ladies Mr. Xander Harris," he said, stepping to a side.
Xander stood up straighter, eye riveted in the young, sometimes annoyed, faces. "Hello, girls. As Sgt. Slaughter here said, I brought you girls a small gift, if she will allow me to introduce her as such," turning to Diana, who nodded with a smile. "Well, she's my girlfriend and she knows how to fight a little bit, so she wanted to try her mettle against, what? One?" he looked to her, and she shook her head, still smiling. "Two?" another shake. "How many?"
"Let's start with five and go from there?" Diana asked, seeing the incredible look of awe reflected in the young girls' faces.
"Okay, five Slayers. Sergeant, can you pick the first five victims?"
Slaughter pointed five girls, and the others pouted and groaned, but walked a few meters back.
"Ah," Xander interrupted, while Diana walked to another spot in the ground. "I forgot the introductions. Ladies, I give you Diana of Themyscira, Amazon Princess, and known to the general public as Wonder Woman!" he said, clapping his hands heartily, the Slayers following the action.
Diana spun around her own axis, and after a brief flare of magic, her normal clothes changed to the well-known body armor.
"Okay, the only rules are no killing, and no permanent damage. Begin," Xander said, and as soon as he ended the word, two Slayers were already trading blows with her. Soon, all five of them were fighting like mad, trying to score a good one to end the fight. However, Xander noticed, they were being stupid, each one was fighting for herself, so each punch went one different way, allowing Diana to either dodge or use the punch to her benefit. So far, one girl had punched the other in the leg, and one jaw would be getting quite a bruise in the next couple hours.
"Who's been training the girls?" Xander asked, really worried with what he was seeing.
"Ms. Mayer's been lacking on her training since her relationship with Ms. Rosenberg ended. Ms. Summers has warned her already, and things started to improve, but not very much," the big man said, disgust clear in his voice. Xander knew the man didn't give a damn to homosexual relationships, but he would call an aerial strike against anyone who botched his training, willingly or not. The old sarge was very much aware that bad training equaled dead troops. "COME ON, THIS ISN'T A PILLOW FIGHT! HIT HER!" he screamed.
One of the Slayers was thrown ten feet in the air, landing painfully sprawled near the other girls waiting for a chance.
"WONDER WOMAN HEARD ME! NOW COME ON, HIT HER!" Slaughter bellowed again.
One of the girls finally managed to hit a solid kick to Diana's side, but the Amazon simply grabbed the leg still extended, and twisted her body, using the girl almost as a staff. It had the desired effect of shoving two girls aside and the almost unfortunate effect of stretching a few of the girl's leg muscles way beyond of what they were able to. The girl screamed and rolled away as soon as Diana let the leg go.
Xander screamed "FLESH WOUND, KEEP GOING!" when she noticed Diana almost stopping the fight. It didn't make that much of a difference, seven seconds later it was all over, Diana standing in a relaxed pose, not even flushed, and the five Slayers out of the fight for a reason or other. Her boyfriend approached her and whispered in her ear.
"I know it wasn't the intention, it was just for fun, but I noticed one thing here that I need to address, and I need your help in proving it. You mind?"
Diana nodded an affirmative. "I know what you're going to say and I agree. Go ahead."
"Okay, people, gather round. You need medical assistance?" he asked to the limping Slayer. The girl shook her head, while flexing her injured leg several times. Xander knew that in a couple of hours the girl could run a marathon without breaking a sweat, so he decided to let the matter go. Besides, he needed everyone to hear what he had to say.
"Why did you girls lose?" he asked to the five of them who had been on the sparring match.
"She's stronger and faster than we are?" one of the Slayers spoke out loud.
"Did you see 'stronger' or 'faster' being used by Diana here?" he asked to the group in general. It was true, Diana hasn't used any of her fabled powers, just dexterity and some simple judo moves to disable all the Slayers. Sure, it was her superhuman senses which allowed her to follow the moves being thrown her way, but any older vampire would have seen such moves, plus she had used one of the first rules of combat, never show your enemy what you're truly capable of. "If she was truly an enemy, we'd have to purchase five caskets or worse. Now, I'm asking again, why did you girls lose?"
The silence was oppressive, and Xander noticed with the corner of his eye that Slaughter, standing by his side, was fuming.
"Teamwork," one girl finally answered shyly, from the back.
"Yes, teamwork. What's your name?" Xander asked, glad with the answer.
"Tamara, sir," she answered in a slightly accented English.
"Okay, Tamara. Care to explain how you reached such a conclusion?"
The girl, olive-skinned and around sixteen years old, looked to her sister Slayers who were watching her with a mix of curiosity and hatred. She gulped her fears and looked to Xander.
"They weren't fighting as a team. It seemed as every one of them was fighting Wonder Woman one on one, not caring with the sister fighting at her side. I've seen they bump and hit each other several times, and Wonder Woman used this as an advantage."
"Perfect. Now, what's the First Rule of Slaying?" the one eyed man asked.
"DON'T DIE!" they all screamed as one.
"Now, suppose this is a real fight, with an enemy exactly like Wonder Woman, strength and speed. How do you win?"
"Running away?" one of the girls asked, earning a laugh from Xander and the rest of her sisters.
"If you are alone, that's exactly what you do. No stupid hero sacrifices, if it can be avoided. And if you aren't alone? Suppose there are fourteen sisters just like yourself to back you up. How do you win?"
They stood silent for a few moments, until one of them spoke. "We have to use the numbers in our favor. Let's make thirteen of us fight or try to block her while one or two try the killing stroke."
"You have one minute to implement such a plan and make it work. Begin."
The fifteen girls were surprised for a moment, but as soon as they noticed the serious faces in Xander, Diana and the sarge, they scurried to a corner and started planning like mad.
After the minute had passed, Diana was standing in the middle of the training room, which was fairly large, waiting for them, in a relaxed pose. The girls were all armed with training weapons: wooden swords, quarterstaffs and rubber stakes. However, only thirteen of them were visible, the other two were nowhere in sight.
No order to begin was given, the thirteen girls suddenly started to move, three of them coming to a frontal attack, while the other ten split themselves to try flanking her. Diana, as soon as she saw movement, started moving herself.
Two strikes came at the same time, one quarterstaff aiming at her head and another sword stroke at her left knee. The Amazon simply twisted her body, pushing the left leg to her back while her right arm climbed to a guard position. It was a simple karate move, but it worked perfectly. The sword strike missed, and the quarterstaff hit with enough force to break an arm and still damage the head being guarded. However, this particular movement wasn't designed with Wonder Woman in mind or the power of a Slayer behind it, so the weakest part had to give. In this case, the bamboo staff broke in two neat pieces against Diana's enchanted bracelet.
She didn't even stop to appreciate this minor victory, instead she dropped down immediately, which saved her neck from a 'decap' strike, while she leg-swoop another Slayer. Continuing the movement, she planted both legs firmly on the ground and powered up, jumping above the Slayers' heads. Twisting her body mid-jump allowed her to land facing the back of the center group.
The Slayer with the broken staff was the first to react to the new dynamic, and without turning around, she used the remainder of the staff to strike backwards, surprising both women when it hit with amazing force, enough to splinter it into uselessness and to unbalance Wonder Woman for less than a second.
For the three Slayers, it was enough time to prepare another offensive. They turned around and moved to finish it off. Central girl, being without a weapon, took a simple step back, enough to clear the way for her two sisters, who were both armed with wooden swords.
The duo struck at the same time, but it only served to prove their lack of training. Diana took one step back, clearing the range of both swords, which crossed harmlessly in front of her.
Faster than the human eye could follow, Wonder Woman simply grabbed both tips before they uncrossed and pulled them both in the direction they where pointing. The Slayers had to let the bokken go or be pulled along with them. However, they were both badly unbalanced, and a now armed Diana moved again.
Taking two steps forward, she kicked the one who had back stepped a mere moment ago and the girl flew backwards, out of commission. In the same movement, she hit both other girls with the stolen swords, mid back, with almost enough strength to break their spines. She didn't, but the two were out of the fight as well.
The ten remaining Slayers formed a semi-circle right in front of her, and while they were something to be concerned with, they weren't the biggest threat.
From the looks of it, the two hidden ones would try a long range attack. She had to be ready for it, but first...
Diana let one of the guardless bokken slide through her hand until she was holding it in a reverse grip. She changed her stance and beckoned the Slayers forward, with a predatorial grin.
"This is going to hurt," someone murmured.
How right she was.
Buffy entered the gymnasium at a dead run, using every ounce of her Slayer speed. She stopped right to the side of Xander and the Sarge.
"What did I miss?" she asked, not even breathless.
"The first pages of me finding new reasons to ream Kennedy a new one," he said, clearly pissed. "Where's the rest of the gang?"
"Willow Express." As soon as she said that, a flare of magic deposited the redhead, plus Faith, Giles and Dawn right at their sides. "Come on, it can't be that bad."
"Check it out for yourself, Buff."
Buffy looked to the fight and cringed. It was obvious since the idea of Diana sparring that she would have to tone down her considerable powers as not to hurt anyone severely. Apparently, she was doing so, and from Buffy's point of view and experience, she was going at them almost as a Master Vampire would, speed and strength wise. The Slayers, however, were a severe disappointment.
They were using hit-and-run tactics, effective against an enemy of Wonder Woman's caliber, but they were missing several obvious hits, while apparently trying to corner Diana. From the thirteen girls who started the fight, eight were already down.
One girl, a brunette, did the almost impossible for a Slayer and overbalanced after a clumsy sword strike. Diana didn't miss the opportunity and struck with the bokken held in the reverse grip, turning her body sideways to the remaining Slayers.
And then, in this particular moment, the tide of the mock-up battle changed.
Diana was having a lot of fun, sparring with those Slayers was a lot like sparring against her Amazon sisters, however those girls were severely lacking in training.
Sure, they were good enough to face almost any mortal on the planet, but against their natural enemies, they would have serious problems.
She had dealt with another one when the girl directly at her left side struck clumsy and overbalanced. Diana reacted instinctively and twisted her body, sword hitting the Slayer perfectly under the ribcage.
That's when her rational brain caught up with the movement.
The Slayers had bad training, true, but they were not clumsy or prone to overbalancing after so simple a hit. So, when the girl right in front of her sidestepped, she knew she had been had.
Her eyes caught one of the missing Slayers from the beginning of the fight, lying prone on the ground in a secluded spot to a distance, right behind some weight lifting machines. And she was holding a sniper rifle.
Using every ounce of her fabled reflexes, she aligned both bracelets to deflect the shot. She felt something splat softly against them not a moment later, but at the same time something else hit the back of her neck.
The remaining Slayers promptly backed away cheering, while she probed her neck with her hand.
Something warm and sticky was spread there. Was she bleeding? Did she fall in a trap? And why she wasn't feeling any pain?
Diana brought her hand forward, and it took a moment for her brain to register what she was seeing.
Yellow paint?
Amidst the cheering, the fifteen Slayers heard Xander clapping slowly, sided by Buffy and Sgt. Slaughter, the trio looking sour.
"Congratulations, you won," he said, and the girls cheered again, but stopped as soon as they noticed the faces hadn't changed. "But did you?" he continued.
The Slayers got silent.
"Wonder Woman is dead, your plan worked, the double sniper spot was a good idea, but at the cost of nine of your sisters' lives. And she wasn't even fighting that hard."
At several yells of 'What?' and 'No way', Xander turned to Buffy.
"Buffy? In your opinion, what they were facing?"
"A Master Vampire, like Angelus or Spike."
"That can't be. I don't believe you," one of the girls challenged.
Instead of arguing, Buffy turned to Diana, who was fumbling with the paintball stains in her hair and neck and her bracelets.
"Do you mind proving them wrong, Princess?"
"Only if you don't call me Diana, Buffy," she said with a half-smile, trying to get rid of the yellow and orange stains. Willow approached her and smiled.
"Allow me," the redhead said, and with a small wave of her hand, the stains disappeared.
"Thank you, Willow," Diana said, grateful.
"You're welcome," the witch replied.
"Shall we?" Buffy asked, pointing to the center of the large gym.
Diana walked to a spot and Buffy stood ten feet away from her.
They both entered combat stances and the witnesses held their collective breaths.
