A/N: Hey readers, so a lot of you have been asking for Sorceress to teach Superman a little humility.
Be patient.
Also Shadowwalker. He is a character of my own mind, not a DC character, which sucks, because he would be an awesome addition to the comics. But sadly the big shots who write the comics don't read fan fiction.
I was also corrected on the definition of the term lemon and I amend my earlier statement. There will be some sweet romantic moments and maybe some not so sweet moments but still romantic all the same in store for Karen.
Now that all that has been cleared up on to the story.
Sorceress watched as Batman ran his analysis programs and tried to sit still as Zatanna examined her.
"Hmm" Zatanna muttered "interesting"
"What" Sorceress snapped, she didn't like this one bit, being examined like a microbe under a scope. But she had no choice, Batman had told her that he would not help her unless she was examined thoroughly.
"In a minute" the raven haired violet eyed woman said
Sorceress sat hunched over, grumpily staring at her hands. First Fate and now Zatanna, who was next? It was like she was some kind of anomaly to these people and she hadn't even done anything.
"What did you find?" Batman asked, still typing.
"A lot" Zatanna said and looked at Sorceress "quite a lot"
"Hmm this conversation sounds familiar" Sorceress said glaring at Batman "but this time you aren't talking over my head, Dark Knight"
Batman narrowed his eyes at her then grunted and nodded to Zatanna
"Are you familiar with the Arthurian legends, Sorceress?" Zatanna asked
"Yes, it's the saga of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" Sorceress said "what's that got to do with me?"
"Then you know the Lady of the Lake"
"Yeah, but her story is never really clear" Sorceress was straining to remember her college English courses, which had touched in on them. "In one she is a benevolent party, helping Arthur and his kingdom to prosper, and eventually falling in love with one of the knights . . . I forget his name. In another she's a very vindictive spirit and falls in love with the same knight who was in love with some noble woman. I can't remember if the Lady of the lake killed her or if the knight killed her out of jealousy."
"Close" Zatanna smiled "the real story from all that I have read and learned, is the Lady of the Lake was a daughter of what the English called the Elder Folk, one of the many lived in our world and she was taught in the ways of human sorcery by Merlin, and then gave him Excalibur to place in the Sword Stone. She is also the sister of Madame Xanadu and Morgan Le Fey."
"Madame Who now?" Sorceress asked
"Madame Xanadu" Zatanna said "she's a fortune teller in New Orleans. But she used to be an immortal sorceress but after Merlin cursed her, she's had some trouble maintaining her immortality, did a lot of stupid things, but the past oh . . . twenty years she's been atoning for her sins and acting as a supernatural advisor for anyone who asks but that doesn't really matter. The Lady unlike her sisters gave up her immortality to be with one of Arthur's knights, Sir Pelleas she had a son with him and after Arthur died she and three others bore him to Avalon where Oberon returned her immortality."
"Nice history lesson" Sorceress muttered "now again what's this got to do with me"
"You are Vivian Inwudu's direct descendent" Zatanna said "the several great granddaughter of Sir Pelleas. You would have stayed mortal if you hadn't had your own power turned back on you and had not been under a lot of stress. You see you have all of her power and all of a mortal's weaknesses. You can manipulate the magic directly whereas I need spells and rituals."
"All of a mortals weaknesses" Sorceress repeated.
"Yes, you can be cut, stabbed, shot and all of that" Zatanna said "you can't be poisoned, your power would neutralize it, but you can be drugged, knocked out and such. Wounds that have nothing to do with the organs can be healed but a gunshot wound to the heart or stomach, not so much"
"So I can die" Sorceress asked quietly, relieved, Nelson had hinted that she would live a very long time.
"Only if you are hurt badly enough" Zatanna said drawing a symbol on the floor in front of Sorceress "but if you avoid all that . . . I'm actually not sure you can"
Sorceress felt her blood freeze. As a cop, especially in Gotham, you are so aware of your mortality it's like a neon sign flashing at you that you could die at any moment; you have a nagging self preservation that whispers at every shadow, every new face, and every new sound. But in the end you know that you'll all end up in the same place it's only what time you get there.
But for her there wasn't a time, no appointment with the Grim Reaper, no waiting outside pearly gates or burning pits, no unless she was too hurt beyond repair she would not die.
It wasn't natural, it wasn't right and she felt dizzy as she tried to wrap her mind around her confirmed fear.
"I suppose you should also know that this sort of magic that you have can be transmuted" Zatanna went on drawing symbols oblivious to the mental and emotional havoc she was waging on Sorceress.
"What is that supposed to mean" Sorceress kept her voice even. She didn't trust her powers to not flare up. She was in space where the magic patterns were so chaotic that she was having a hard time controlling the magic flowing through her before Zatanna had started examining her.
"Look at your dog" Zatanna said and Luna growled, breaking her otherwise bored façade.
"Wolf" Sorceress said
"Sorry wolf" Zatanna was conjuring five black and white candles and one blue one from thin air "She's so different because you spending so much time with her transmuted a bit of your power into her, and I suspect you now find that you can focus your power better when she's around and that you can if the occasion warrants it, channel your spells through her."
"Yes" Sorceress said watching as she placed a candle on a symbol.
"If you spent that much time with another human I'm pretty sure that the same would happen . . . well not exactly but you would certainly leave an impression on them, resulting anything from a longer lifespan to seeing the magical eddies that you do"
"Hm" Sorceress said noncommittally but inside she was shaking, trying hard not to lose it, not to completely break down and rage at the unfairness. If Zatanna was right, she could never have a normal life, a husband a family, never spend more time than a few days or a few weeks with someone, isolated and alone.
Well not alone, alone, Luna would be there but there were the empty beds the lonely nights, the longing ache she felt when she saw families, couples.
Every time she felt it she had shaken it off, telling herself sternly that it could only happen once Torment was locked away for good. And that had made her feel a little better that dream of maybe having a family, of children, of a loving husband burned in her heart, her secret wish, underneath the hard shell she wrapped herself in.
But with these words, that flame was snuffed and Sorceress felt hollow, empty.
"Now hold still" Zatanna said and she raised her hand, like she was a traffic director, her fingers splayed and, as the symbols blazed a blue color and the candle flames shot up two feet, Zatanna spat out several lines of gibberish that Sorceress had to work through to realize they were a backwards version of "Show thyself, mark of the King of the Land of Avalon, Do you lay claim to this daughter of the Elder Folk."
Sorceress felt her magic swirl in response to the spell but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary happened.
The light faded from the chalked symbols and the candles sputtered out.
"Um" Sorceress said "nothing happened"
"And that's a good thing" Zatanna said though she winced and pulled back her glove. "Avalon magic, always dramatic" on her hand was a burn shaped in the symbol of a Celtic knot. Zatanna reached into her bag but Sorceress quickly grabbed her wrist and healed the burn, before Zatanna could blink.
"What do mean that's a good thing" Sorceress asked
"It means Oberon hasn't marked you" Zatanna said "if he had you eventually have to go to Avalon and stay there for all eternity to do his bidding. But since he hasn't you're a free woman. Although I would refrain from going to Avalon unless you decide you have had enough of this world"
Sorceress said nothing
Batman had been a silent observer but she could almost hear the wheels spinning behind his pointy eared cowl and she turned to him.
"What" she snapped
Batman looked at her a moment and infuriatingly turned back to the computer console and continued whatever he was doing.
Knowing that Batman could probably withstand her infamous glare of death, Sorceress growled and hopped down from the table and stalked out of the room.
Now all I need is to be stuck up here for the night and this day will officially be a complete disaster, she thought grinding her teeth.
No sooner had she finished that thought than she was falling, face first with the floor rushing up at her. On instinct she relaxed her muscles and rolled and was on her feet in a single motion and she turned to face whatever tripped her.
"Nice reflexes" Shadowalker stood there grinning like the school boy he seemed to constantly act like.
"Go away" Sorceress growled, she was definitely not in the mood to deal with this
"Come on now, Sorceress" he said appearing right in front of her melting from the shadows. "I know I'm the last person you want to see right now, but I can tell whatever Zatanna said upset you"
"I'm warning you" Sorceress said "if you ever want to have kids in the future you will back off"
"Cut the bitch BS" Shadowalker said "You are a very angry, very upset woman and after all my experience in the Justice League there is one thing I have learned, the only way to get that out of your system so that you can think objectively when it's time to get in the game is a sparring match."
"I don't . . ." Sorceress began but she trailed off. She had been about to say "I don't want to fight" but the truth was she was itching for one, a hand to hand, bone crunching, brutal and merciless fight. She knew that Batman was busy and Superman would just laugh, Wonder Woman might go easy because she and Sorceress had different training.
And right now punching Shadowalker in the face sounded like a really, really good idea. Luna shook her mane her tongue lolling in amusement sending her a distorted image of Shadowalker on his ass and her mind was made up.
She knew she would pay for it later, pushing her feelings of depression off to the side, she knew that tonight when she was alone that they would hit her like a ton of bricks. And Sorceress knew that it wasn't healthy to let yourself waste away in the dark but she didn't care at that moment. Letting out some pent up anger on a smug immature bastard was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
"Fine" Sorceress said "you are on. Let's just hope you can handle it"
The training room was empty, and surprisingly small for a satellite station full of superheroes, but Sorceress hardly cared as she unclipped her cloak and draped it on a bench, it would suit her needs just fine. Shadowwalker did the same with his trench coat and gun harness she hadn't noticed before. He saw her looking at them and he shrugged.
"Rubber bullets" he said "don't kill but they hurt like hell."
Sorceress felt her opinion of the man rise and she tried to push it back into the area of idiot. But . . .
Oh just stop right there, remember what Zatanna said she thought to herself and the anger came flooding back and she clenched her fists until they were white knuckled.
"Alright, simple rules" Shadowalker said "no breaking bones, no chokeholds and my personal favorite no nut shots"
"And you just ruined the fun" Sorceress said as they stepped on the mat
"Cruel, just plain cruel is what you are" he said in mock sadness.
"Get over it" Sorceress said
"Moving right along" he said taking off his combat boots. He glanced at her feet and shrugged "I take one side of the mat and you take the other. Loser buys the winner dinner" he chuckled at his own rhyme and Sorceress glared at him but said nothing.
"Ready" he asked
"Are you?" she retorted and she swung her braid over her shoulder.
Now that Shadowwalker had shed his coat and pushed back his sleeves Sorceress found that more scars like the ones on his face covered his arms and she wondered if his body was riddled with them.
Then she wondered if his body was just as toned as his arms.
Stop right there she thought to herself
But it was hard to not watch as his tight costume conformed to his movements, and she was glad that her cheeks were covered because she knew they were red.
He, to his credit barely batted an eyelash as they circled one another, his warm eyes gaining a sharp intensity that she hadn't been there before.
And she realized that he was testing her, not just her ability to fight but her ability to handle herself when she was emotionally comprised.
Shadowalker struck so fast that she barely saw it coming
Except that she did and instinct that had been trained into her reacted and laid down a counter move.
His sudden high kick missed her face by inches, but by design she realized as she moved. He had wanted to scare her, teach her that she wasn't the hot stuff she thought she was.
Wanna bet? She growled in her mind and executed the counter.
Before the leg and even fully extended she knocked it sideways spinning as he followed with a punch and with her palm, fingers curled in, slammed him in the chest throwing her weight into the move then freezing in an instant of control, watching as Shadowalker flew across the mat. He twisted in midair and landed on one knee. Looking up he grinned and rushed her.
Bad move she thought and stood and just like earlier in Gotham she waited.
She moved neither fast nor slow, but as he approached she jumped up twisted and drove her knee in between his shoulder blades and pinned him to the mat.
She was almost disappointed that it had been so short a match but in an impossible double jointed move he twisted his arm around and knocked her other knee out from under her, rolling as she lost her balance.
Both of them sprang to their feet. Sorceress's anger had burnt out; it hadn't taken much, now it was about seeing who was better.
Shadowalker was grinning, he was enjoying this, he thought it was fun and as he circled her it was apparent that he had never really had a challenge before and he liked it.
She stayed where she was, she needed to go on the defensive, he knew defensive technique that was incredibly different from her own, but she was sure she could take him down if she wore him out on the offensive, given that from his expression of expectancy he was waiting for her to lash out at him to make the first move because that is what he had assumed in his impression of her.
She stood still, following him with her eyes. Finally he got bored and struck.
His punch never made it however fro she blocked it easily, neither did his roundhouse kick nor his elbow to the throat, no move made a hit.
Then he finally tried breaking her ground, and she took the opportunity. As he circled around she jumped into a spin kick and felt it connect with the side of his head.
Landing at the ready she looked down at him
"Getting sloppy" she smirked but it didn't stay there for long as he brought his legs around and entangled her and making her lose her balance and before she could get back up he was on top of her, pinning her to the mat.
They were drenched in sweat, the smell of it was thick in Sorceress's nose but surprisingly unlike most it wasn't a puke inducing smell, at least not yet.
"I see you like being on top" Shadowalker said, his breathing heavier than hers and his black hair was curling against his forehead. "Want to see what it's like on the bottom"
"Find some better one liners, bud" Sorceress growled struggling against him.
"Why would I do that, they seem to work on you" he said
"And what make you say that" Sorceress stopped struggling and tilted her chin up defiantly
"Because you haven't blasted me out to space yet" he said
"You're an idiot" Sorceress growled
"Part of my charm" he murmured.
She realized just how close he was, how awkward a position they were in . . .
And how much she really didn't care.
Zatanna's words were the furthest things from her mind as he leaned closer, so was the fact that she was sure this was all a stupidly elaborate plan to seduce her. She honestly didn't care. She knew she should but she didn't, she just wanted to relax, to let this happen.
But whether for better or worse, J'onn Jones, the resident Martian sounded out over the speaker.
"Sorceress, batman would like to speak with you in the Control Room" his rich voice said and there was a click.
And the moment was over and with a snap of her fingers to get Luna's attention; Luna came over and shouldered Shadowalker off of her.
"You owe me dinner" he said brushing himself off as they stood
"Sorry" Sorceress said turning away from him "but I don't do dinner with imbeciles, try some other chick with half a brain"
And with that Sorceress left Luna at her side as always.
And tried to hide the pain behind her mask