2018-05-14 Former Angel in Amazon Paradise

The standard modes of travel are by ship, by aircraft, or--if you are coming in from the Watchtower--the teleportation chamber. Of course, the island has its own magical Denial-of-Service system...any man attempting to use this destination is sling-shotted back to the Watchtower with a massive migraine.

Of course, it is no issue for the first one to appear on the golden dais set aside for such arrivals. An honor guard of Amazons stands at the ready, snapping to attention as the Princess returns home.

She steps forward, bowing to all and sundry before turning to await the second arrival planned for today...

Linda has not been teleported by others very often. She used to be able to do it herself, when she was an Angel. She is not altogether certain she trusts an artificial teleportation system, but it seems the best choice. She steps into the beam and arrives moments later on a golden dais surrounded by armed women. She is not in her costume, not having gotten it replaced yet, but rather is in a greek type toga and sandals.

Diana smiles as her sister-in-arms arrives, just ahead of the royal procession that brings her mother, the smile almost girlish. She steps forward and embraces her mother, protocol be damned to the Nine Hells.

"Hello, mother!" she says joyously, and her mother smiles in response.

"It is good to see you. We have enjoyed the packages you have sent home, and those emissaries from New York are very informative." She looks over Diana's shoulder, and smiles to the young girl. "And you must be Linda. Welcome to Themiscyra, or, if you prefer, Paradise Island."

Linda bows, "Queen Hippolyta, I am Linda Danvers. I fear the gift of tongues is no longer mine, Paradise Island would probably be easier for me to pronounce correctly." There are a lot of things she used to be able to do as the Angel of Fire, but those do not matter. Really, it was not HER who was doing them. Linda was pretty suppressed behind Matrix, who was the dominant persona back then.

The Queen smiles wryly. "We do not live in What Was, but in What Is and prepare for What Must Come. To be an Amazon, you must discard what is no longer true and embrace what is true. You will find the training exhausting, mentally taxing, and you will be pushed to your limits. But you are here to learn how to overcome them."

Linda nods, "That is what I was thinking when I started training. I am not what I once was, but the day may come when I need more than just my powers. Skill can allow someone like Batman to fight against those more powerful than him. I am here in the hopes that I can learn skill to face those who are my physical superior as well.

Hippolyta nods. "We will feast and dance tonight, give you a taste of joy..." She chuckles. "It will be some time before you will enjoy life so easily. The first rule of your training...No One Wants to Know What You Cannot Do. We only want to know what you can do. What you can accomplish. You may consider it undue attention to such a simple choice of words, but the Amazons are a focused and driven people. You will learn much if you take this rule to heart."

"There are things one CAN do that one should not or will not do," Linda points out. "I have had a thought, one thing I CAN do is reduce my strength and swiftness of foot. It is an inversion of that which I can do to increase my abilities. Is it something I should do? That I was not certain of."

"Field this one, mother." She turns to Linda and says politely, "You face Amazons, Linda. We are much stronger and faster than any mortal men, and many of the 'superheroes' out there. You will not be expected to damp down your power. In fact..." Diana grins. "I look forward to the opportunity."

"As do I." The new voice comes from Linda's left, a statuesque redhead with a hard, chiseled body. "I am Artemis...and I look forward to seeing what you are made of."

Linda's research suggests she is stronger and faster than nearly all Amazons, with the exception of Diana, but many of the Amazons have centuries, even Millennia, of training. They are bound to be more skilled than she is. That is why she is here.

Linda says to Artemis, "Ah, I remember you. You were Wonder Woman for a time. I am flesh and bone, mind and spirit, the same as anyone else. I will willingly show you what I can do, and learn what you can teach."

Diana smiles wryly. Linda didn't know it yet, but she had touched on a sore point--Artemis had been Diana's major contender for the mantle of Ambassador. And by the brief tightening of her lips, Diana knew Linda had just guaranteed a spar with her.

"Eat hearty," She said to no one at all.

It was a quiet, crystal-clear morning. Or at least it will be, in four hours.

Three am, the clock reads as it goes off. There hadn't been a clock in the room set aside for Linda, but there was one now, and it was almost loud enough to block the sounds of booted feet. They sounded like the drums of the bacchanalia that had gone on last night--suckling pig, garden vegetables cooked on a modern-looking stainless steel grill the size of Texas...and the flowing of wine like it was going out of style. Much jokes, raucous laughter, and the telltale signs of some couples pairing off and slipping away together...

Linda is fortunate, she does not get drunk, her metabolism deals with all organic poisons, including alcohol, without impairment. She also needs far less food, water, or sleep than normal. The amount she ate and drank during the feast were enough to last her a week. If others are up and about, it seems fitting Linda join them. She dresses...in what she brought if nothing was set aside for her to wear, and goes out to join the others. Linda is not prudish, nor prejudiced. According to legend, Amazons disdain or even hate men, seeing them as only fit for breeding new generations of their kind before discarding them (often killing them). It is no sueprise tan many of them prefer women. It is not Linda's way, but she has nothing against it.

The other Amazons she falls in are laughing, smiling, joking, but they are also pushing and shoving. They are friendly gestures, but they are forceful and physical.

The group heads towards the large arena near the temple, not far from the palace. Almost every one Linda see fits the Amazon phenotype--tall, powerful, confident.

But there are a few women who don't seem to fit the mold. They are fit, yes, but they don't convey the feeling of power as the Amazons do.

Linda does not look the type, she is short compared to most of the others, but powerful and confident she is. She thinks it likely that the women who do not seem to fit are from Man's World, as the Amazons call it, those who have come here to learn as she herself has.

These others are not entering the arena, but moving to sit in the stands. They are wearing Greek togas and tunics, but two of them are carrying notebook computers, and another has a tablet.

The rest file into the arena, and wouldn't you know, Artemis, a smirk on her perfect face, is waiting for them.

"AMAZONS. We welcome a new sister-in-all-but-blood. You will know her as Linda. She is here to learn. You are here to teach her. You will show her the Amazon way--Respect, Honor, and Valor. She is not like the Emissaries--she is not so fragile. You are hereby forewarned." She smiles directly at Linda. "You have power. We will show you how to use it. You go by instinct. We will give you direction, because Training defeats Instinct, that is its nature."

Linda responds, "Such is why I am here. Power I have, experience I have some of, training I seek." She willingly admits that she has lacks, but follows the Queen's advice and does not say what she can not do.

Artemis nods approvingly. "Diana is with her mother, sharing everything she has seen and heard, so it will be awhile before she arrives. So, Linda...tell us what you can do." She beckons to Linda to step forward as the other Amazons part before her.

Linda says, "I possess great strength, equal to a thousand strong men. I have speed, perhaps a bit hard to measure precisely as I rarely push it as a sprinter, but I am fast enough to catch a bullet with my bare hands. I rarely need to, as said bullet would barely raise a welt on my skin unless it hits some place sensitive. Aside from that, I heal fast, do not get sick or drugged, rarely tire, and possess the ability to move things with my mind." The flight and force field and so on are just variations of moving things with her mind, they do not require individual enumeration.

Artemis nods. "Impressive abilities. We will assume you know how to manage your powers, but your training will make them more effective. I and four others will oversee your training. I will be in charge of physical combat. Alythea and Ilena will teach you meditative techniques and Amazon philosophy. Uriel and Wilhemina will be in charge of active improvisational thinking--how to experiment with your abilities in harmony with your training."

It seems possible the philosophical and meditative training will be useful to give focus, she knows many martial arts include such training. It may be something she needs for other reasons as well, she has been wallowing in self pity for far too long. Her last experiment with her powers did not turn out all that well, but thinking fast she can do. Linda inquires, "Where shall we begin?"

Artemis steps forward. "Well, will someone present their weapon for a Sister?"

The response is immediate--a tall, silver-haired Amazon stepped up, first presenting her shield, then her sword. "For your honor," she says respectfully to Linda.

Linda has little practice with weapons...well not as herself anyway. The angel could use a sword of fire, she remembers some of that though she was sort of asleep. She bows to the Amazon who presents them, "I shall not disgrace them."

Artemis smiles approvingly. She is starting to like this one.

She waits as Felina steps back and for Linda to wield sword and shield. "All Amazons fight this way. It has always been thus. We eschew the weapons of Man because we do not need them." She raises her own sword and shield, her left foot slightly ahead of the other, knees slightly bent, watching Linda acutely.

To Linda, the sword might as well be weightless and the shield likewise, she finds a comfortable grip on the sword, but finds the shield a bit awkward. She settles in a stance with the shield facing Artimis and the sword held high behind her. Her knees are slightly bent with her left leg forward.

Artemis chuckles, then strikes her own shield with her own sword, the metal ringing with each contact. "Right here, Linda...show me what you have." Her stance adjusts just slightly, moving to make her a harder target.

Linda jumps...just a little leap over the head of the Amazon moving at high speed, flipping over in mid leap and striking down from above before twisting to land facing Artemis directly opposite from where she originally stood. If, as expected, Artemis strikes when she is moving, she will angle her shield to deflect the blow as she would use her own force field to do the same.

Artemis turns to watch her move, but that is all she does--watch. She does not attack, but pivots cleanly, raising the shield to deflect the strike, continuing to turn to face Linda where she lands. "If we had wanted ACROBATICS, we would have given special dispensation for Kara's Clown!" she barks at Linda. "Stop TRYING to attack and simply ATTACK..."

Linda considers, deciding against using Telekinesis...this in about physical training, not actually about beating her opponent. She think she knows what will happen if she tries a direct attack...but wishes to test the strength and reflexes of her opponent. Artemis DID ask for it, so Linda goes high with the sword and follows low with the shield, so quickly there is a literal thunderclap as the weapons pass the speed of sound.

Artemis grins as she sees the weapons coming at her, almost too fast to track.

Almost.

The CLANG of metal against metal, the swords locked together, the strength involved almost obscene, but Artemis is smiling broadly, even as her shield hand bats away Linda's shield.

"Can you feel yourself come alive, Sister?" she says almost gleefully, sparks cascading from the grinding blades. "Show me! Do not shame yourself by doing any less than your BEST!"

Amazons are said to be able to block bullets, so Linda expected the attack to be blocked, she would not have attacked as hard as she did against a foe who could not take it. Linda confirmed what she needed to, the weapons are enchanted, a normal blade used with such force would have shattered or bent. She says conversationally, as she starts speeding up her blows, "Were I seriously trying, there are several ways I could have bested you already...as there are several you could have bested me. I am limiting myself to the physical, for that is what I seek training in." She suddenly slams her shield into the ground, creating a shockwave.

The ground shakes, but Artemis is smiling, as she used both sword and shield to block the attacks. The movements are quick and hard, but fluid, almost graceful--the benefit of millennia of training. Artemis seems rooted to the ground even as she is buffeted by the shockwave, still deflecting the continued attacks, her speed enhanced by seeming able to predict where the next blow will land...

Probably only the Amazons present can even see the battle, to the normal human eys swords and shields are a blur. Linda is observing even as she battles, it is fairly certain she can not land a telling blow, the Amazon is close enough to her speed that her experience makes up the difference. So far, Linda has been relying mostly on speed. She thinks she knows what will happen, but she tightens her grip on the next backswing and then throws her physical might into the next blow...enough power to flip over a train engine end to end...

Artemis moves, and then Linda sees what happens. Artemis has been studying her moves, waiting for her to try something in an effort to end it.

She sidesteps, moving out of the way as the sword swings wide, and then Linda is wide open.

In the next moment, she feels the blade at her throat as the shield hits the sword arm at cross-purposes, knocking it away.

The activity ceases as Linda is a wrist-twist away from having her throat flayed open. Then the sword draws back. "Patience...that is what we will also teach you. Betting all on a single attack leaves you exposed. Never fight your opponent's fight, Linda. Now...get your sword and shield, and we will begin again."

Linda smiles, "There are times when one has no choice, but I was not expecting the blow to work. If it had, then little could I learn from you." She picks up the weapons again and bows to Artemis, "Shall we begin?"