Plagiarist 5
"How many?" the waitress asked nervously, her eyes glancing around the room at the scattered thugs and villains that made up the clientele.
"Four. A corner booth if you have one," Julie said.
"Right this way," she said waving for them to follow her. Once they all sat down she passed out menus. "Anything to drink?"
"Four cokes," Xander said, "Thank you."
"I'll be right back with your drinks. Let me know when you're ready to order," she said quickly before fleeing.
"She seems a mite nervous," Xander noted.
"Probably because we have two Hatters in residence," Julie pointed out. "I think we have maybe five minutes until they spot one another and this place explodes into violence."
"We're the match, aren't we?" Xander asked with a sigh.
"No doubt," Julie agreed with a smirk. "We have a Wonderland theme so we'll attract their attention and when they look around and notice one another... Boom."
"We're on," Pat warned them as three costumed figures approached.
"Very interesting costumes," the King of Spades noted. "We aren't going to have any trademark disputes, are we," despite his words it was obviously not a question.
Xander stood up and offered his hand, but was slightly distracted by the feeling of Julie reaching for his mind as he was spawning a clone under the table. "Not at all, your highness," Xander assured him, offering his hand to the queen and ten and getting rebuffed as Julie had predicted. "We're soldiers of the Red Queen, ala Wonderland, not a winning hand."
"Glad to hear it," the King said, relaxing slightly, just before the Hatters noticed each other and shouted out, "Imposter!"
"Drinks and cover," the King ordered.
"I thought it was duck and cover," Ten said as an exploding fedora took out a window.
"Not at these prices," the King said making a dash for the bar, followed by Queen and Ten.
Pat slid her handbag under the table so the new clone could dress as the eight of hearts, which she quickly did popping out a moment later.
"I thought you were going to make an exact clone?" Julie questioned.
"He got distracted by your mental groping," Eight replied, wincing as a nearby table went up, courtesy of a firebomb bowler hat.
"I was just seeing if I could feel what he does," Julie said, "I had no idea it would complicate matters."
"Not a big deal," Xander said. "Let's go get our drinks to go."
"Good idea, Boss," Pat said, ducking a thrown chair.
The four quickly made their way out through the kitchen grabbing their drinks on the way, but as they stepped out of the back a dark blur nailed Xander, sending him rolling down the alley. A similar blur hit Julie and it quickly resolved into Nightwing and Batgirl fighting the pair. Julie was the epitome of grace as she dodged and countered Batgirl's attacks while Xander... wasn't. Julie was obviously enjoying herself and Xander was amazed and surprised, shrugging off hits that should have taken him out of the fight altogether while clumsily throwing punches that missed by a mile.
"Jo," Eight introduced herself to Pat, as they watched Xander get slammed back into the alley wall by a double kick.
"Pat," Seven replied, taking a sip of her coke as Julie tilted her head and let Batgirl's punch slide past her, before tapping her nose with a finger.
"Not going to jump in?" Jo asked.
"Six is enjoying herself and Nine gains skill by doing things. You can actually see him improve," Pat said cheerfully.
The two sat down on a couple of milk cartons and sipped their drinks, a brightly colored figure swinging down from a rooftop to land in front of them a minute later. He stood there poised for battle, but after a few seconds with nothing happening he finally asked, "Aren't you going to attack me?"
"Why would we do that?" Pat asked, sounding confused.
"Criminals attack me, I fight them, it's a thing," Robin said sarcastically.
"We aren't criminals," Eight said.
"Then why are they fighting Batgirl and Nightwing?" Robin asked.
"Self defense," Pat replied. "They didn't attack them at all."
"Seriously?" Robin asked.
"Seriously," the two chorused.
"A good fight can be fun though," Eight admitted. "Six is clearly having fun and Nine needs to learn to fight, so it's not that big a deal."
"Switch!" Pat called out, causing Julie to grab Xander's arm and swing him at Batgirl, taking his place facing Nightwing.
"He looks like he's doing fine to me," Robin said as Xander blocked a spin kick with his forearm and swept her leg out from under her.
"Hold up!" Robin yelled, causing Batgirl and Nightwing to back off for a moment. "Why did you attack them?" Robin demanded.
"They were escaping," Nightwing said. "Spoiler and Huntress went in the front and we were covering the rear."
"The Mad Hatter and the Royal Flush Gang are inside and they could belong to either group," Batgirl added.
"We don't work for either of them," Xander said, "and there are currently two Mad Hatters inside. We just didn't want to get in a fight."
"Who do you work for?!" Nightwing demanded.
"We don't," Julie said. "What we do is dress in interesting costumes and have sex in unusual places."
"You're kidding," Nightwing said, forcing himself not to react.
"He's a better lover than a fighter," Pat agreed.
"Seriously?" Batgirl asked curiously, looking him over.
Xander shrugged. "Don't look at me, I only lost my virginity yesterday."
"And he learns quickly," Pat assured her.
Jo and Pat exchanged grins.
"And the reason you have Catwoman with you?" Nightwing asked with a smirk. "Your fighting style is distinctive."
"Please," Julie sneered, "she's at least a decade older than me." Everyone took a good look at her as she posed, inviting attention.
"You look almost exactly like you did when I was Robin," Nightwing said, refusing to be fooled.
"Very good," Julie complimented him. "I must have made quite an impression on you as a boy."
"You ain't whistling Dixie," Robin said with a grin, recalling some of the mementos Nightwing kept from his time as Robin.
"I was rescued from certain death in a parallel dimension," Julie lied, "But the time differential is a bit off, and since I have a living self running around here doing everything I would have done, I decided to relax and concentrate on enjoying life instead."
"And we're all about having fun!" Pat enthused. "A good fight, a better fuck, and then a nice steak and some beer!"
"Amen to that sister," Jo said bumping fists with her in obvious approval.
"So now what?" Robin asked cheerfully, amused to see the two older crime fighters at a loss for words.
"Now you guys pay us twenty for the two cokes," Xander said. "Yeah, I know it's expensive, but this place charges through the nose. You can just run in and get us a couple if you like, maybe they have a discount for capes."
"We can move this to a motel room, if you'd care to join us," Julie offered reaching out to stroke Nightwing's jaw.
"You can keep the cowl on," Xander agreed, taking Batgirl's hand and kissing the back of it, making her blush heavily.
"On your six," Robin called out as Julie turned to face the end of the alley, hand going towards her whip.
"Say goodnight, Gracie!" a voice called out from the head of the alley, as it stepped out of the shadows and cut loose with a tommy gun.
Being the closest, Julie and Nightwing saw the danger and dove aside while yelling for the others to take cover.
Xander had just enough time to push Batgirl behind him before several heavy slugs tore through him and splashed against her armor, throwing them both to the ground. Pat shoved Robin into the wall, saving his life as she and Jo were both cut down.
Sunnydale: the next day
Buffy frowned at the pattern cut into the bricks and examined the walls surrounding the area the two Builders were working on with Jane and Janet making suggestions.
"Angel won't be able to get within twenty feet of this place," Willow said, knowing what was upsetting Buffy.
"And neither will any other demon," Cordelia said as they gathered food for the group from her car.
"Angel's not a demon," Buffy defended him.
"He's sharing a body with one," Cordelia said dryly, still not happy about having tried to date a vampire because no one had told her he was one.
"We'll have to ask them to provide a safe way for him to visit," Willow said.
"He can visit Buffy elsewhere," Cordelia said, balancing a six pack and a Pizza on one hand while shutting her car door, "or telecommute for meetings. We don't need to put everyone at risk by making an entrance demons can use."
The three paused as they stepped through the gate and saw how much work had been done. The two Builders had completed the first floor and the grounds around it. Grass and flowers decorated the place with stone walkways and benches conveniently placed for those who wanted to relax outside and half a dozen small trees that were perfectly placed to provide shade once they'd finished growing.
The wide brick driveway went down a ramp under the gleaming white stone building, dotted with large tinted windows, decorated with interesting designs etched into the glass. However it was the large pool the clones were relaxing in that drew everyone's attention.
"Club Med eat your heart out," Cordelia said.
Willow swallowed and nodded before grabbing another breadstick. "Makes me wish I brought a swimsuit."
"Doesn't look like they have any either," Buffy said as the four looked to have simply dropped all their clothes and climbed in.
"Live a little," Cordelia suggested, though it came off sounding like an order as she placed the food on a table and started stripping herself.
"I'd burn like you wouldn't believe," Willow said finding her eyes drawn to the girls playing in the water.
"I'll keep an eye on you," Buffy promised, stripping herself. "At the slightest hint of red, out you go."
"Ok," Willow caved in and quickly joined the others. "Aren't you afraid of getting sunburned?" she asked Amy.
"One Builder perk is an immunity to radiation, so no sun burn possible," the blue haired Builder said cheerfully.
"Cannon ball!" a naked blonde haired girl called out before hitting the water sending a splash high in the air.
Buffy wiped water off her face. "Looks like Harmony is here."
"This place is great!" Harmony enthused once she'd surfaced. "I parked in the underground parking garage and took a look at the gym. This is way better than that training camp we attended and it cost three grand!"
"One grand apiece buy in," Susan told her cheerfully. "Cordelia had us reserve rooms for the entire squad."
Harmony looked around the pool. "Do we get twin sisters for joining?!"
"Could we get you to believe identical cousins?" Buffy asked hopefully.
"Wearing clothes maybe," Harmony replied, "but naked? I can tell they are completely identical. Now, can I get a twin?"
"Remember Halloween?" Cordelia asked.
"Kinda," Harmony said frowning. "I dressed as an angel from that one show and I guess someone slipped me a roofie because I woke up in the hospital."
"Are you ok?" Cordelia asked searching Harmony for injuries.
"I'm fine, I was in the nurses lounge. I guess I hallucinated I was a nurse or something, because they all thanked me for my help and paid for me to catch a cab home," the blonde explained.
"Huh," Willow said thoughtfully.
"Do I have to give the speech?" Buffy asked Willow.
"Unless you want to wait for Xander," Willow replied.
"You guys aren't making any sense," Harmony said.
Buffy sighed. "The world is older than you know..."
TN: Abyssal Angel