Disclaimer: Oz and the universe occupied by these characters are not mine, and belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Dee, Anne and Anders are mine, however. So lemme know what you think of 'em.
Chapter 14
This is not going to be much fun. Dee could only barely stand on her right leg, and even then, it took a colossal effort not to scream in agony. Her right wrist, broken, would be useless for punching, but her right forearm was still in one piece, she could probably put up a decent defense with it. She had hit her head pretty hard against something, and was still a little rocky on her feet. She felt dizzy. Probably at least a mild concussion.
A substantial crowd had formed around her. They didn't really know what had happened, just that they'd seen what looked like (and probably was) a really bad accident, and that both people involved, by some impressive miracle, were exiting their cars under their own power.
Now, it looked to Dee as if they were about to watch one of those two people die. Dee would have been willing to bet that it wasn't going to be Anne.
Anders, she knew, couldn't be far away, and he was probably armed with something pointy and wooden. At the very least, she could hold Anne here long enough for Anders to staple her to something.
Yeah, right.
The only up side she could find here was that Anne looked like she'd fared a little worse in the accident than she had. Her right arm looked like it was broken at the humerus, and it hung uselessly from her shoulder. In essence, she had one side from which she could launch no attack, and mount no defense. Luckily enough, it happened to be the same side from which Dee could mount an attack.
She quietly tucked the cross and the stake she held in her hand into the back of her waistband. She needed to hang on to them, but she would have to beat Anne up a little bit before she could actually use them.
Anders stood, riveted to the black asphalt of the six-lane highway. Traffic was completely stopped, giving the two women a large, open arena. He watched the two horribly injured women inch towards each other. Each watching the other's arms, waiting for the first strike. Neither had anywhere to run to, even if they could run (and looking at their injuries, Anders seriously doubted that they could).
No, they were going to fight until one of them stopped fighting back.
He watched the weary warriors circle each other, his mind screaming to help Dee, but knowing deep down that there wasn't a damn thing that he could do.
It was up to her now.
Okay, Dee. Lead with your head. And that doesn't mean letting Anne use it as a punching bag. Anne had her left fist balled up, and she moved with remarkable smoothness, considering her injuries. Dee's ankle was still screaming a protest every time she stood on it. She pushed the pain aside. Concentrate on what you need to do. There'll be lots of time to hurt later.
She dropped as smoothly as she could manage into a left stance. Her hands raised in a traditional Bak Fu Pai guard, keeping her eyes centered upon Anne's midsection as she matched her move.
Watch her waist. With any attack, that needs to move first. With practice, you'll be able to predict any strike by the way the dantien moves. Anders voice rang out from the back of her mind. She was sure he had to be in the gathering crowd somewhere, but she didn't dare look to find out where, lest she give Anne an opening.
Why the hell are the cops not here yet? She looked at the grievously injured vampire in front of her, then again, what would they do to her? Shoot her?
Slowly, the two circled each other, their unblinking eyes riveted upon each other. Each one waiting for the other to make the first move.
Dee grew impatient and launched a vicious sidekick aimed at the vampire's forehead.
Anne sidestepped it effortlessly, bringing her left forearm up in a perfect inside block, connecting viciously with Dee's leg, further aggravating the previous injury to her ankle. Dee gritted her teeth against the pain, as it burned like fire up her leg. The vampire, now standing behind the slayer, where Dee could not reach her, followed it up with a snap kick aimed between her shoulder blades. Before Dee could react, the vampire threw second kick at the side of Dee's left knee, which buckled under the impact. Finally, bringing her left leg to the ground she spun around in a vicious roundhouse kick which caught the prone slayer on the side of her head
Dee's back smacked painfully into the warm asphalt. Ouch.
"You really have to learn the value of patience." Anne's voice punched its way through Dee's pain-clouded senses.
Cocky bitch, Dee thought to herself. Everything hurt. She hefted herself up on her elbows, looking up at the monster above her. Anne hadn't even bothered to put on her game face. As if Dee wasn't worth the trouble.
"Drop something?" Anne held the stake and the cross Dee had tucked into her waistband only moments ago. She paid no notice to the steam curling up between her fingers. "You were going to use these on li'l ol' me? I'm afraid I'm going to have to do something about that." Anne flicked her wrist, sending both articles flying. Dee didn't see where they landed, but she figured it was safe to say that they no longer were a factor in this fight.
Dee realized she was outclassed, and horribly so. Anne had her strength and her training, plus five years of experience.
Okay, I guess this is it. At least I can say I went out fighting.
"You're the slayer?" Anne was still talking. The bitch really needed to learn how to shut up. "Somehow I expected more."
"I think you'll find I'm full of surprises." Dee kicked out with her right foot, catching Anne off-guard in the lower abdomen. It wasn't as effective against someone who didn't actually breathe, but the force of the blow made the vampire band over. Ignoring the inevitable bolt of pain from her ankle, she followed it up with a left kick under Anne's chin, sending her tumbling backwards.
Dee took the fraction of a second she had to perform an elegant handspring to her feet.
Anders watched helplessly as Dee was brutally pummeled by the larger, stronger vampire. In fairness to her, she was doing quite well, but Anne was simply beating her.
And he could see in her eyes that Dee had given up.
She knew that she was going to lose, but was determined to go down fighting.
Oz had once told him that every slayer had a death wish. They spent so much time knowing that they had death hunting them down, sooner or later, they wanted it. Dee had come into the game wanting death. She climbed sheer rock walls with no ropes, she drove high-performance cars at 100 miles per hour. And that was before she assumed the mantle of slayer. Now she was taking on a vampire she knew she couldn't beat.
Anders had never felt so helpless in his life. He had no weapons, and even if he did, there wasn't much he could do about Anne. She was holding her ground against a slayer. There was no way he could do anything to stop her.
Dee couldn't hold her ground anymore. Anne was both larger and stronger. She had five years of experience as a slayer.
And Dee had no weapons. As Anne landed a sidekick in the center of her chest, as she was propelled backwards to land hard on the road, she knew she wouldn't be getting up again. She knew it was over at that moment. She had no fight left, and nothing to fight for.
She lay on the asphalt, feeling as though her ribcage had been crushed (which, with some degree of probability, it had), watching the redhead walk methodically towards her.
Anders saw the vampire kneel on Dee's chest, pulling her one good arm back in a punch which would crush the slayer's head against the unyielding road in a manner not unlike that of an eggshell. Apparently Anne had decided that Dee wasn't worth keeping alive. He had watched her fight for five years, and now he could see in her eyes that she had made the decision to go for the kill.
Dee looked up at the vampire kneeling over her, and found herself wondering, idly, what the next slayer would be like. She made no effort to defend herself, or to push the vampire off of her. She knew that death was coming as soon as that fist dropped, but strangely enough the thought didn't inspire the fear she thought it would. She just wanted it to be over.
"Say 'hi' to your dad for me." Anne's voice was hard in her ears, and it echoed nastily back and forth inside her head.
Hard darkness pressed in on her before she saw the vampire's fist drop.
Anders screamed in angry denial as he watched Anne drive her fist mercilessly down at the slayer's calm, welcoming face.
