Zatanna vs Wonder Woman II

“I’ll let you know, there are no civilians or innocents around us for several miles.” The first move Zatanna made in this fight was not to attack, but to teleport her and Diana to street level and arrange for them a perfect battleground. “We can fight to our heart’s content without risk of collateral damage.”

“I appreciate the gesture.” Diana returned in a cold, emotionless tone. Her circular shield was held high and close, covering the entirety of torso and the breadth of her shoulders. Her right arm was tucked at her side, forming an L, with her sword jutting straight forward. “I can clearly see that whatever has happened to you, sister, you are not some turned into some mindless drone or heartless monster. No, the spell placed over you is more insidious than that. You clearly think and feel and act as if you were of your own will. As if you were the real Zatanna.”

“I am the real me. I’m more real than I have ever been before.” In contrast, Zatanna stood in a neutral stance, hands to her side, no attempt to take either offence or defence. “As for not having free will, you are right, but… hmm, you would be surprised how wonderful submitting to another can feel.” Zatanna made a flirtatious expression to Diana, a very easy thing to do, pouting her lips and lidding her eyes, letting a soft moan creep into her voice. “Please let me teach you the wonders of control and submission, Diana…”

Diana roared in challenge and offence at the remark, charging towards Zatanna with such indomitable might she left a crater in the asphalt where her starting point was. True to her warrior nature, she kept her shield right over her body the full length of the charge, brandishing her blade as it gleamed wickedly in the moonlight. For her money, not only was Diana the most beautiful member of the Justice League, she was also the most dangerous and the most proficient in hand-to-hand combat. Maybe not necessarily the strongest, certainly not the fastest, most likely not the smartest and the cleverest, absolutely the most durable, but even in categories she did not dominate, Diana ranked high in everything. No weaknesses, only strengths, backed up by an unbreakable will.

In any normal scenario, Zatanna would be sliced to pieces by a marauding Wonder Woman. Even with her only going half-speed (which she certainly was) Zatanna wouldn’t stand a chance. Good thing that this wasn’t a normal scenario, then. With omnipotence fused with every fibre of her being, Zatanna could be anything and everything she wanted. And right now, she wanted to be Wonder Woman’s better in combat.

The sword sang it’s steely song as it ripped through the air in a smooth downward arc. Zatanna sidestepped it in stilettos. From high to low to high again, Diana turned the blade back upward at a diagonal angle, a shorter stroke cutting from her left thigh to her right shoulder. Zatanna dodged again. Diana continued to press with more conservative cuts, keeping her swing short and following up with a quick backhand, but clearly ready to pivot to defence need be

Zatanna continued to dodge, yawning and effecting a playful smile after the fourth or fifth time. Lengthening and narrowing her spiked heels after the seventh. Zatanna made it so that Diana was only missing her by the barest distance, but she was missing her all the same, her combat skills and acumen failing to bring down the stage magician in heels and fishnets. Zatanna openly laughed in her friend’s face when she saw the potent mixture of anger and surprise mar Diana’s divine features.

On her next move, Diana hunkered low and bull charged, thrusting her blade directly at Zatanna’s midsection. She sidestepped the attack and seized Diana’s right wrist, affecting an iron grip to lock the hand and make Diana gasp in surprise. Then Zatanna took hold of Diana’s left hip, stepping close to her friend to get within both her guard and her attacking range, and the two began to dance. Zatanna applied full control of Diana’s body as she led the pair into jaunty two-step followed by a sensuous tango, once more enjoying the warmth and aroma of Diana’s body, alongside her indignity at the situation.

“You make for a marvelous dance partner, Diana.” Zatanna cooed as she span Diana about before releasing her. Diana grunted and refocused, going back on the attack.

This time, Zatanna did not dodge, but instead caught the blade on two fingers. Diana’s sword was forged by Hephasteus, literally a godly weapon that could slay all but the most potent of foes. The razor-sharp edge harmlessly bounced off of Zatanna’s middle finger once, twice, thrice, and more. Diana’s temper got the better of her as she unleashed a flurry of slashes, all of which were deftly blocked by Zatanna and her one hand, before she parried the blade away and swept her hand inward, chopping at Diana’s wrist.

The blow was perfectly aimed and perfectly powerful, causing Diana to relinquish the grip of her blade. Another batting blow and Zatanna sent it tumbling into the air before she caught it herself. Zatanna’s strikes proved to be that much swifter than Diana’s, as with two strokes, she slipped inside Diana’s impregnable guard and slashed the leather straps holding her shield to her forearm. Zatanna swiped that, too, darting back away now armed with Wonder Woman’s armaments.

“And now, for my next trick…”

Zatanna tossed the sword skyward before holding the rounded shield in both hands. With a modicum of effort, grunting and furrowing her brow in a showy manner, Zatanna crumbled the great brass shield into a ball that she could hold in the palm of her hands, the divinely forged shield folding like it was tinfoil. She held a finger to her lips for silence before covering the ball in both hands. After a moment of building anticipation, she opened a small gap in her hands on the side facing her, blew into the gap, and then released her hands, a pair of doves flying from her palms in the night sky.

By that time, the sword fell back to Earth, Zatanna catching it once more, as she stiffened her back and thrust her chest out. She held the sword by the hilt, dangling above her head, while also craning her neck back as far it would go and opening her mouth wide. Now used to putting big, meaty things in her mouth, Zatanna had no issue swallowing the sword, the entire length of the thing sliding down her throat until she held it all, from tip to pommel. She held her position, standing straight as a board, showing her palms to the audience so they knew she had nothing up her sleeves, and when she went to retrieve the sword from it’s flesh hilt, she instead withdrew a bouquet of roses.

Zatanna took her bows and threw the bouquet at Diana’s feet.

Diana responded by charging again, decking Zatanna in the face.

“Geez, tough crowd. That trick would have killed in Vegas…” Zatanna took the slugging blow right on the cheek, Diana’s might not even enough to move her head one inch to the right. A bellowing roar came from the Amazonian hero as she unleashed another flurry of blows on Zatanna, each punch having less effect than the last.

“You mock me with flirtations and trickery and yet I can’t even land a blow on you.” Diana cried out, frustrated by everything that had just happened. “And when I can, you stand there as if being wafted by a gentle breeze. What monstrous power has been foisted on you, Zatanna?”

“You say that like I didn’t have a choice in the matter…”

“You confirmed my fears, your will has been subsumed by that of another! You are a puppet doing his bidding!”

“Honestly, sometimes it is hard to tell where my will ends and his begins.” Zatanna said, before throwing Diana back across the street with a wave of her hand. “But you also act as if he is a villain. His love for us is genuine, I know it. Not to mention… if I have all this power yet was being controlled, then why would I not simply break free?”

“I do not make it my business to question the motives of men who would shackle the hearts and minds of women.” Diana said, squaring up for another attack. Even in the face of seemingly impossible odds, her fighting spirit burned as strongly as ever. “Nor do I know the nature of this new power you wield, but I do know this: I will stand and fight here, as long as it takes. To ensure you and whatever fiend you serve does no harm to another woman, but more importantly, to save you Zatanna! I will not stop, I will not yield! Do your worst!”

Zatanna tilted her head, her jovial nature fading into a disappointed frown. “I was really hoping you wouldn’t say that.” If Diana had any flaws, it was that she was quicker to **** than most people would expect of such a paragon. So if **** was the language Diana wanted to use right now, Zatanna would respond in kind.

Zatanna charged forth, faster than the blink of an eye, and ripped Diana’s throat out.

Zatanna charged forth, faster than a heartbeat, and tore Diana’s arms off.

Zatanna charged forth, faster than a hummingbird crossed with a cheetah and caved Diana’s skull in.

Zatanna charged forth, faster than any of the Flashes and left Diana paralyzed from the neck down.

Zatanna charged forth, faster than anything imaginable and ripped out Diana’s eyes.

Decapitation, amputation of limbs, disembowelment, electrocution, immolation… across dozens of possible futures, Zatanna unleashed a series of gruesome, gory tortures upon her friend, mercilessly mutilating and brutalizing her with power enough to slay a god. All of these futures happened all at once, in the span of a second, living out and then dying, collapsing back together and occurring simultaneously once more.

Diana experienced all of these horrible ends all at once. Zatanna had clearly underestimated her friend, though, as Diana did not falter, even in the face of such unmitigated ****. She gasped in shock, she went pale, she stumbled backwards, but Zatanna expected her to scream in terror and collapse from the torturous pain of those simultaneous assaults.

“Wha… how… that…” She was certainly still traumatized, if for nothing else that an immortal was not used to suffering such a gruesome fate, so Diana spent the next several moments babbling in shock.

“That was no illusion.” Zatanna confirmed with a heavy heart and grim demeanour. “What you just experienced were futures I created and erased but you experienced. No matter how hard you try, Diana, you cannot beat me in a fight. Not now. I’m having fun playing with you, but that… that was not something I wanted to do. Please surrender before I have to do something more drastic.”

“No!” Diana roared before gnashing her teeth, affecting a low, wide stance. “I will never give in, no matter what horrors you inflict upon me! I may not be able to beat you, but you will never conquer me. My spirit is unbreakable, Zatanna, and you know I will fight until my very last breath!”

Okay, so **** **** didn’t work. That was honestly fine for Zatanna. She didn’t want to win like that. It just meant that if she was going to break Diana, she had to get a little more creative. She needed to stop thinking like a superhero and think like a sex ****. Think like Wanda or MJ or Rob.

That meant playtime was back in session.