The Vampire of Steel (Fanfic)

Buffy: I gave him the old stake treatment. It... didn’t work.
Supergirl: Didn’t work?
Buffy: It splintered all to pieces on his back. Like he was made of steel. Then he turned and backhanded me. His arm felt like it was made of steel, too. I hit a tombstone and went brain-soggy till the others found me.
Supergirl: You said... he felt like steel?
Buffy: Right. But that’s not the worst part.
Supergirl: Fill in the last details, dear.
Buffy: Just before I went out, I could swear I saw something. I saw him jump into the air. He never came down.
Supergirl: I think we have a situation here. To say the least.

The Vampire of Steel is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Supergirl crossover written by DarkMark.

In Chicago Crossover, which serves as a prelude to the main story, Buffy goes to Chicago, guided by a Cordelia's vision. There, she has to deal with a mob of vampires looking to summon an Eldritch Abomination. Luckily for Buffy, Chicago is also the turf of a certain Kryptonian heroine.

One year later, Kara gets a call from Buffy: her friend has run into a super-strong and super-tough flying vampire. Supergirl flies to Sunnydale and confirms the Scooby Gang's worse fears: a Kryptonian criminal known as Zol-Am, former second-in-hand of General Zod, has escaped from the Phantom Zone and been turned into a vampire. And they have little time to stop him before he opens the Hellmouth.

Chicago Crossover and The Vampire of Steel can be read here and here respectively, and both can be found in Dark Mark’s Domain website.

Tropes:

Acceptable Breaks from Canon: Although Dark Mark fanfics are mostly canon-compliant, he tends to ignore Supergirl's death at Anti-Monitor's hands and her relationship with Brainiac 5 in favor of hooking her up with someone else.
Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: Battle scenes alternate with quiet moments where different characters have light-hearted or serious conversations and bond with or open up to each other a bit.
Action Girl: Supergirl, the Maid of Might, one of the most powerful heroes in the galaxy, and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, who faces up to the forces of darkness armed with her superior abilities and a pointy stick every single night.
Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Canonically, Supergirl was in love with Brainiac. Here, she can't bring herself to like him back.
Alliterative Title: The first story is titled "Chicago Crossover".
Alternate Universe: Set in a universe similar to Pre-Crisis DC where Buffy and her friends also exist.
Alternate Universe Fic: The setting is a Pre-Crisis-like universe that survived the Crisis on Infinite Earths and where Sunnydale exists.
Always Someone Better: Subverted. Supergirl is clearly more powerful than Buffy, but Buffy doesn't care. And Kara never tries to put her down. Besides, even if Supergirl is more powerful, Buffy is better at fighting magical creatures.
Giles: With all respect, Kara, please don’t flaunt your extra powers around that much. We know what you can do, in theory.
Buffy: Giles. I’m all right with this, okay? I know Kara can do more than I can. I’m not about to become Inferiority Complex Girl, okay?
Supergirl: Sorry, I wasn’t trying to put anyone down by comparison.
Antagonist Title: The title refers to the Kryptonian vampire Zol-Am.
Antimatter: Supergirl takes M'Nagaleh to an antimatter universe and hurls it into the nearest planet. Upon being touched by antimatter atoms, M'Nagaleh's body literally implodes.
Anti-True Sight: Zol-Am manages to avoid to be detected by Supergirl's X-Ray Vision thanks to a lead-lined coffin. He remarks how convenient it is.
But not tonight. That would be excessive. Besides, he had much more to learn. But that was all right. He was a fast learner.
Such as: how convenient it was that Terrans sold coffins with lead lining in them.
How convenient, indeed.
Apologetic Attacker: While fighting Vladislav's vampire gang, Buffy apologizes to a vampire before feeding him to an Eldritch Abomination.
With a cry of fury, Buffy ran back, slammed a great kick into the neck of one of the cantors, grabbed his book of spells, and sent it sailing over the edge of the roof. Then she grabbed the cantor, lifted him over her head, and ran with him protesting back inside the pentagram itself. She made sure of where she was going.
“No!”
“Sorry,” she said, and pitched him towards M’nagaleh.
Asshole Victim: Zol-Am's first two victims are... two demons who planned to eat him.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: M'Nagaleh's body spreads all over the Sears Tower (which is one of the tallest buildings in the world).
A Twinkle in the Sky: It happens to Zol-Am when a Supergirl's uppercut sends him flying off real high into the sky.
Bad Boss: John Vladislav runs a vampire mob. His management style is simple. Disagree and he'll stake you. Screw up and he'll feed you garlic. And THEN he'll stake you. Run away and he'll tear you to pieces.
Bad Guy Bar: "Willy's Place" is the place where Zol-Am goes to gather an army of undead (“Is there a gathering place where our kind can be found, in this city?”, he asks).
The moon was up and the night was, thankfully, almost cloudless. Willy’s Bar was a place which the living had no business visiting. It still had a bustling and varied clientele. It was run by a bumbling demon who trucked with the criminal supernatural element (which, in Sunnydale, was just about all of it), and you could find pretty much your phantasmagoria of ghoulies, ghosties, and long-leggity beasties there, with their beverages of choice.
Buffy and her friends were among the few breathing folk who came there in a capacity other than as victims.
This time, the Slayer went in with her redheaded friend, the latter of whom was wearing her Supergirl outfit under her jumpsuit.
Bar Brawl: A brawl breaks out when Buffy and Kara go to "Willy's Place" as looking for Zol-Am and find Zol-Am himself. Since the subsequent fight involved two Kryptonians and a Slayer, there was no much bar left when it was over.
The floorboards beneath their feet exploded upward, as a tall and muscular form in green, red, and gold raiment shot up like a human geyser from whatever lay below. It stopped just before it reached the ceiling, descended quickly to the floor, and looked at both women with an expression that baled together hatred, satisfaction, hunger, lust, and some emotions neither one of them were comfortable appraising. The denizens of Willy’s cleared away from his landing place, making for the door or hugging the walls.
Batman Can Breathe in Space: Kara flies out of the atmosphere to get rid of M'Nagaleh. Being Kryptonian, the space vacuum is not trouble at all.
Batman Gambit: Supergirl challenges Zol-Am to a personal duel according the laws of the Kryptonian army, knowing even if he's an evil bastard he'll not dare to turn it down because he still considers himself to be a soldier.
Batman Grabs a Gun: Supergirl has a very strict Thou Shalt Not Kill policy, but she gives the Gang a piece of Kryptonite as a last resort to deal with Zol-Am. They had no means to depower him and she wouldn't risk sending him back to the Phantom Zone, so she conceded, albeit reluctantly, that he mustn't be allowed to live.
Beware the Superman: Long before being turned, Zol-Am was already an evil asshole. Now he's an evil asshole of a vampire with powers greater than a regular Kryptonian. And he's hungry.
Big Bad: In the first story, vampire mob boss John Vladislav intends to open a Hellmouth in Chicago and summon an Eldritch Abomination. In the second story, vampire Kryptonian Zol-Am assembles an army of vampires and demons to wipe out the Scooby Gang and Supergirl and then opening the Hellmouth.
Big Bad Ensemble: This story has two big bads: M'Nagaleh and Zol-Am, although their goals and plans don't overlap.
Big Damn Heroes: Supergirl saves Buffy from two armed vampires in Sears Tower. Not that Buffy needed saving, but she was grateful anyways.
The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: Inverted when a stake lands pointing upwards.
With that, Buffy used her borrowed hand to pull Supergirl’s last Kryptonian stake from the back of her belt. But she was a little late. Zol-Am was upon her, slamming a powerful hand into her arm, knocking the weapon out of her hand. It fell, end over end, three hundred feet to the ground. It landed on the lawn of the Sunnydale High School. It was, incredibly, pointing up.
Blood from the Mouth: Kara vomits blood after being on the receiving end of Zol-Am's punches.
Body Horror: His first night out, Zol-Am runs into two vampires who "had misshapen heads and hands that simply weren’t right".
Body Snatcher: Buffy possesses Kara's body via a Willow's spell during the final battle.
Bond One-Liner: Zol-Am to two vampires who looked to have him for dinner:
Zol-Am: Never hunt on an empty stomach. You get careless that way.
Bring It: When a group of demons intends to kill Buffy and her friends and open the Hellmouth, the Slayer's answer is to quote Clint Eastwood:
Buffy: You want to open the Hellmouth? Make my day, punks!
But Now I Must Go: Supergirl must leave Sunnydale after the defeat of Zol-Am. Kara doesn't want to go but Buffy warns her the Powers That Be might hurt her if she stays, and asks her Kryptonian friend to trust her to deal with Sunnydale.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: When Vladislav's gang manage to take Buffy and Kara out, Vladislav decides against killing them because he needs two sacrifices for summoning M'Nagaleh.
Captain Obvious: Willow sees Buffy and Kara hugging and notes they must be friends.
Buffy Summers, in jeans, T-shirt, and bare feet, holding the wet cloth to her forehead by one hand, raised her upper body off the couch. “Kara?” she said, her eyes widening in recognition.
“It’s me, Buffy,” Kara said with a smile. In a second, the Slayer girl and the Girl of Steel were in each other’s arms, hugging.
“Well,” said Willow, noting that Giles had just entered the room, “I guess they do know each other, after all.”
“Remarkably observant, Willow,” noted Giles.
Catch a Falling Star: Supergirl catches Buffy when she gets thrown off a window.
Celebrity Paradox: At one point, Buffy tells Supergirl that her favorite comic book heroine when she was a kid was Power Girl. Justified because Power Girl is, usually, her very much alternate reality self. She never actually looks like Power Girl.
Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: Supergirl is watching over Buffy and goes from her "Linda Danvers" clothes to her Supergirl uniform over the span of seconds when she sees a couple of vampires accosting the Slayer.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: The reason that Supergirl gets involved in vampire-hunting is she just had to show an out-towner who she knew nothing about around Chicago.
*Click* Hello: As running from some guards Buffy bursts into a hall and runs into a vampire aiming a gun at her head.
Buffy sprinted down a total of three floors before she heard someone from above saying, “Hold it, ma’am. Hold it right there. We can help.”
She looked up and saw a brown-haired guy in a grey suit, light blue shirt, and red tie. He had his coat buttoned and she looked, despite herself, for a shoulder holster. “No, you can’t,” she said, and banged her way through another doorway.
There was a click of a hammer all too close to her head. “Yes, we can,” said a soft voice.
Buffy froze and cast her eyes to the left. A gun, sure enough. The old ears weren’t failing her, at least. .357 Magnum, from the looks of it. The guy holding it had black hair, thick and wavy, and was wearing a maroon Brooks Brothers suit. He looked twentyish and was smiling like a wise-ass. No, like a wiseguy.
There was nobody else in the hall she had come to and the windows were heavily curtained.
She could smell the vampire on him.
Clothes Make the Legend: Buffy quickly recognizes Supergirl because of her distinctive costume.
Combat by Champion: In the final fight it's Buffy, Supergirl and the Scooby Gang against an army of vampires and demons led by a Kryptonian vamp. In order to even the odds, Kara demands a duel. Zol-Am is forced to accept.
Zol-Am: With your death, the new era begins. Soldiers, destroy the guerillas. We’ll see which of us gets finished first.
Supergirl: Hold! Zol-Am... Personal Combat Challenge.
Random Demon: Say what?
Buffy: What’re you talking about?
[...]
Zol-Am: No combat till we have this sorted out. It is our law.
Bill Goodwin: Sir, beggin’ your pardon, but is this really a decision you wanna go through with? I mean, that’s just not the way things are done down here.
Supergirl: Let me explain, for those of you who weren’t born where we were. The Personal Combat Challenge is a form of military conduct that was implemented on Krypton. It allows a soldier to make a challenge to another soldier, regarding personal battle. If the challenge is accepted, nobody else can interfere in the fight. I’m challenging Zol-Am right here, right now. The rest of you, back off. Nobody on my side or your side will fight till we’re done. If your commander is too scared to face me one-on-one, I’ll understand.
Combat Pragmatist: Supergirl is willing to break her "Do not killing rule" and use hidden weapons or transdimensional-banishing devices to deal with Zol-Am.
Combat Tentacles: M'Nagaleh is armed with slimy tentacles which are utilized to strike and seize its intended victims.
Complexity Addiction: The vampire mob has managed to capture both Buffy and Supergirl and disable the Girl of Steel's powers. Yet Vladislav doesn't still want to kill them because he needs a sacrifice to open a portal and summon some Lovecraftian horror. When one of his underlyings is about to just shoot them, Vladislav goes mad.
“All I want to know is what this setup is all about,” said Supergirl. “If we’re going to be the main course for this vampire or whatever you’re going to be hosting, just call me curious.”
“Call you dead,” said the guy with the bucket, and drew a .38.
Vladislav slapped his hand, then slapped his face. “How many times do I got to tell you? How many times? How many?”
“No more, boss, no more,” pleaded the vamp. “I understand. I understand. I swear on my father’s coffin.”
The fangfather buried his hands in his underling’s turtleneck. “I don’t really have time for this aggravation, Lester. You got me?”
“Gotcha, boss.”
“I said we don’t shoot the women, and we don’t shoot the women. We need them for later. Got that?”
“Got it, boss.”
“Now get out of my sight.”
Combo Platter Powers: In addition to the classic Kryptonian package, Zol-Am is a vampire with all associated powers.
Conditioned to Accept Horror: Buffy and Supergirl find two dead demons as looking for the Kryptonian vampire. Kara is sickened but Buffy goes about investigating the bodies in a calm, professional manner, and is even able to make jokes. The Slayer explains this is how she stays sane.
Buffy took a deep breath as the Maid of Might flew them in for a swift landing. They touched ground by the doughnuted demons. The sight didn’t agree with Kara. She noticed that Buffy took it in a more businesslike manner.
“Sorry,” said Buffy. “In my line of work, you see this stuff more often.”
“I’m glad I don’t have your line of work,” said Supergirl. “Most of the time, that is.”
Continuity Porn: Supergirl mentions that time she ran into Ambush Bug, and that other time when Batman was bitten by a werewolf in the World's Finest book.
Cooldown Hug: When Kara is grieving her homeworld's loss, Buffy tells her to come down and then hugs her.
Without a word, Supergirl flew down and lit on both feet before Buffy. The Slayer reached out, embraced her, and hugged her firmly. “Kara, I may not come from outer space, and I may not have powers like yours. But I know what it’s like to lose people. Not like you, but... you know.”
Supergirl hugged her back, gently. “Thanks, hon. Sorry to get so sloppy-sentimental there for a moment.”
Crater Power: Supergirl makes a crater when she body-slams Zol-Am into the ground.
Crossover: Blends the Superman and Buffy universes.
Damsel out of Distress: A crowd of vampires capture and tie Buffy and Kara up. Both girls manage to cut to their shackles and fight the vampires off.
Deadpan Snarker:
- Buffy is a big one:
  Yeah. One vamp with powers to change the course of mighty graveyards is all we need for now.
- And so is Supergirl, per canon:
  To Linda, this whole scenario was making less and less sense in one way and more and more in another. Either Buffy was lying about being connected with drugs, or, worse, she could be a courier carrying something for the Outfit. Further out, she might be connected with some new wacky super-villain who decided to turn up in town for this month’s battle. Well, at least she could probably rule out Ambush Bug.
- And Giles:
  Supergirl: Something wrong, Mr. Giles?
  Giles: I was just reflecting on some truly horrible movies that I used to watch as a child. Mostly, we saw them on TV... we had "Creature Features" in Britain, too. They must’ve been made in the Fifties and early Sixties. Monsters or aliens would land in a small town, a bunch of teenagers would be the only ones who knew about it, and they’d be forced to defeat the monster. Then they’d go back and hit the malt shop afterwards. When I got out of my youth, I thought those were the stupidest movies I’d ever seen. And now, God help me, it seems they’re a preparatory text for my life.
Death World: Kara takes M'Nagaleh to the anti-matter Earth of the universe of Qward. M'Nagaleh bursts into flames right away and Supergirl has to leave as soon as possible because not even she can survive there for longer than a few seconds.
Defends Against Their Own Kind: Buffy and the Gang call Supergirl to help them out with a Kryptonian vampire.
Depleted Phlebotinum Shells: Subverted when Willow's magically-enhanced stakes created to kill a Kryptonian vampire prove to be useless upon testing. Played straight when Kara fetches stakes made from Kryptonian trees as well as Kryptonite.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Kara obliterates an Eldritch Abomination. Later Buffy beats down and stakes a Kryptonian vampire.
Dimensional Traveler: Supergirl travels to the antimatter universe to get rid of M'nagaleh. She achieves this by vibrating fast enough until she is in tune with that dimension's vibrational frequency, a trick the Flash had taught her.
It took Supergirl all of five seconds to decide what to do.
She knew the correct vibrational harmony to attain to reach a score of parallel Earths and sidereal dimensions. It would take some doing, especially to shake the towers and what was on them along with her. But it was possible.
With all her power, Kara began to vibrate. In seconds, the TV towers and M'nagaleh were vibrating sympathetically with her. In a move the Flash had taught her and Superman long ago, they began to lose the vibrational pitch that attuned them to Earth-One, and to slip into another plane of existence. The deadliest one she knew of.[...]
Within seconds, she saw a similar but different Earth below her, and a different solar system and set of stars about her.
The Dog Bites Back: Vladislav abuses every one of his subordinates. When Supergirl and the Slayer bust his operation, his mook Robert Platt takes advantage of the chaos to stake him.
Duel to the Death: In order to stop Zol-Am, Supergirl challenges him to a duel. Nonetheless, Buffy interferes when she gets Willow to mind-link her and Kara. Using her fighting techniques and Kara's Kryptonian powers, Buffy manages to slay Zol-Am.
Dye or Die: Kara Zor-El dyes her hair red while in Sunnydale to protect her secret identity.
Dynamic Entry: Two vampires are trying to gun Buffy down when Supergirl barges in and pummels them.
All that went through her mind the instant between the click and the sound of breaking glass.
Sunlight streamed in through a broken window and torn draperies. The two gunmen leaped back, avoiding the rays. A speeding figure was already inside the hall. Buffy saw a blur of blue reaching out to the guy who had been behind her, tearing the gun from his hand, compacting it impossibly into a small sculpture of twisted metal, and backhanding him so hard he somersaulted down the hall.
Eating Optional: Played straight with Supergirl, and weirdly inverted with Zol-Am, who didn't need to eat -thanks to his Kryptonian metabolism- before being turned into a vampire.
Eldritch Abomination: M'Nagaleh, a cosmic horror summoned by a mob of vampires checks most of Lovecraftian traits: Completely alien thought processes? Check. Humongous? Check. Gelatinous? Check. Tentacles? Double check. It's even called "a glob of whatever-it-was".
An aperture was opening in the very air above them, and something was tumbling out. Something glistening, gelatinous, tentacled, eyed, and alive. It settled around the towers, but there was more of it coming out.
Evil Plan: Vladislav intends to summon M'Nagaleh and wipe humanity out.
Family-Unfriendly Death: Supergirl throws M'Nagaleh into an anti-matter planet. Upon contact with the anti-matter atoms, the Eldritch Abomination's whole body falls apart and explodes.
Faster-Than-Light Travel: Supergirl uses her ability to fly faster than light to leap into another dimension in order to dispose of M'Nagaleh.
Fight Off the Kryptonite: Kara lends a piece of Kryptonite to her friends to kill Zol-Am with; but she warns he'll try to fight it off.
Buffy: Kryptonite? You’re serious?
Kara: What do you think? If even the Zone projector fails, you have to use this against Zol-Am. It must be in close proximity to him for several minutes to kill him. If it gets knocked too far away, or he manages to fly off, or lead gets between it and him... he can recover. Also, don’t expect him to be too pleased.
Final Boss Preview: Buffy and Kara are ambushed by Zol-Am and easily defeated early in the story.
Flight: Kara Zor-El has this power. Buffy also could fly for a bit when her mind was in Kara's body.
They fell over 55 stories before Supergirl felt her power resurge enough for her to kick in her flight ability. Taking care of the stress it would place on Buffy’s body, she pulled them into a dive, holding onto her charge, and then arced upward, taking care to remain only around the level of the 40th floor.
Flying Brick: Supergirl as well as Zol-Am, a Kryptonian vampire who is considerably stronger and tougher than an average Kryptonian.
Flying Firepower: Supergirl and Zol-Am, a Kryptonian vampire with all associated powers.
Friendship Moment: During the course of the story, Supergirl takes Buffy Summers to the Fortress of Solitude. When the vampire hunter asks why Kara's showing her around Superman's secret base, the Kryptonian hero replies she wanted to do something nice for a friend.
Then she asked, "Why did you bring me here, Kara? I mean, it doesn’t seem as though you need me for anything. Not that I don’t appreciate it, but, well..."
Supergirl sighed. "Haven’t you figured it out yet, Buffy? First,[...] Third, you're a sister in arms and, yes, a friend. So I wanted to do this as sort of a gift. One way or the other, this may be the only time you get to see the Fortress of Solitude. Is that all right by you?"
"Is that all right?" Buffy grasped Kara’s hand. "Oh, Kara."
Gallows Humor: As looking for a Kryptonian vampire, Buffy and Kara find two demons killed by heat-vision:
Buffy: Burn marks on the edges of the holes. That would be that thing you do with your eyes, all right.
Supergirl: What are these things?
Buffy: Ghoul demons, most likely. Flesh eaters. They probably went out for dinner, but weren’t expecting such a hot meal.
Supergirl: How can you joke about things like this?
Buffy: Because if I didn’t, I’d have gone raving bonkers when I started Slaying.
Godzilla Threshold: Since Zol-Am is mightier than herself, Supergirl gets tools capable to kill or banish a Kryptonian and tells the Gang to use them if things go South, no matter what. Note that she's usually against killing but she's willing to make an exception for Zol-Am.
Buffy: And this is...what?
Giles: I do believe I know. I’m not quite sure I’m comfortable with it. At all.
Supergirl: (nodding) These are our two last lines of defense. This is a Phantom Zone ray. Just worry about the white button. If you touch that, whatever you point this at will be instantly banished to the Zone. This one I’ve set to burn out its power element just two minutes after activation. That should prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. If all else fails, use this on Zol-Am. I don’t want him back in the Zone. I don’t know if he can infect other inmates there with vampirism, and I don’t want to find out. If I don’t have to.
Buffy: Yeah. One vamp with powers to change the course of mighty graveyards is all we need for now. And what’s in this little box?
Supergirl: (grasping her wrist) Don’t.
Giles: I know what is in there. Kryptonite.
Buffy: Kryptonite? You’re serious?
Supergirl: What do you think? If even the Zone projector fails, you have to use this against Zol-Am. It must be in close proximity to him for several minutes to kill him. If it gets knocked too far away, or he manages to fly off, or lead gets between it and him... he can recover. Also, don’t expect him to be too pleased.
Buffy: We can’t use that against him while you’re around.
Supergirl: Buffy. You’ll only use this as a last resort. But if that happens, you will use it whatever the circumstances.
Buffy: But...
Supergirl: Whatever the circumstances. Am I clear?
Gondor Calls for Aid: The second part begins when Buffy bumps into a vampire with Kryptonian-like powers, and feeling her gang need extra firepower, calls Supergirl.
Grand Theft Me: Buffy takes over Kara's body in order to fight Zol-Am.
Green and Mean: Zol-Am wears green.
Groin Attack: Buffy-In-Supergirl-Body knees Zol-Am right on the crotch.
An elbow strike under the chin. A knee to the groin. Another spinning kick that did damage to his ribs. This thing was getting serious.
Ground-Shattering Landing: When Buffy/supergirl hits the ground at the climax of her battle with Zol-Am it's told they "slammed into the ground with the impact of a moderate California earthquake".
The Group: At a point, Linda Danvers mentions one of her enemies is a criminal society known as The Council.
Guns Are Worthless: Played with. A couple of vampires nearly gun Buffy down, but their guns are useless when Supergirl barges in their lair.
Has a Type: Buffy asks Kara about her love life. After hearing at least two of her suitors were green-skinned, Buffy remarks she's kind of detecting a pattern there:
Buffy: What does he look like?
Supergirl: He’s blonde.
Buffy: That’s nice.
Supergirl: Green skin, too.
Buffy: Am I beginning to see a trend here?
Hellgate: At the beginning, Buffy travels to Chicago to stop a vampire mob from opening a Hellmouth right above the city. Later on, Kara and Buffy team up to prevent Zol-Am from cracking Sunnydale's Hellmouth open.
Vladislav: There’s never been anything like this before. Some of the friggin’ California vamps tell me about something called a Hellmouth. This’ll make their Hellmouth look like a dentist’s nightmare.
Hilarious in Hindsight: This crossover was written thirteen years before Buffy actress Emma Caulfield starred in Supergirl (2015).
Holy Burns Evil: Crosses are ineffectual against Zol-Am because he isn't Christian; but given he's Raotian, Kara borrows several disc-shaped charms from a Kandorian temple. They work, but he only suffers minor burns upon contact with them.
Honor Before Reason: Zol-Am's army is about overrun Supergirl, Buffy and the Gang until Kara demands a personal duel with Zol-Am. Zol-Am accepts because it's Kryptonian law, and he actually incinerates one of his soldiers when he tries to interfere.
I Just Want to Be Normal: Both Kara and Buffy remember what to be a normal, powerless teenager was like; and often they'd like to be normal again.
Supergirl: Sorry, I wasn’t trying to put anyone down by comparison. I know what it’s like, believe me. I didn’t always have powers.
Buffy: Neither did I. Sometimes I think I’d like to be back there.
Supergirl: That makes two of us.
Immune to Bullets: Kara is Kryptonian and bulletproof. Willow notes she shouldn't be hurt by a mere gun.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Zol-Am. Buffy-In-Supergirl's-body slams him into a stake with the impact of a moderate earthquake.
A two-person meteor fell from the sky and slammed into the ground with the impact of a moderate California earthquake. It would have taken a sharp eye indeed to see the effect of a wooden stake coming up through the back of the Zoner who contacted the ground first, penetrating his heart, causing his eyes to widen to an incredible degree and his mouth to open for a curse and a shout of pain, neither of which he could manage to render.
Improvised Cross: Zol-Am isn't Christian but Raotian, so crosses don't work. Kara has to borrow several sun discs from a Kandorian church.
Inner Monologue: While running from several security guards, Buffy berates herself:
Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid stupid.
Shut up, mind. Do your job. Find me a way out of this.
Interspecies Friendship: Buffy Summers and Kara Zor-El meet each other as the former is investigating vampire activity in Chicago, and develop a close friendship; to the point that Kara lets Buffy visit the Fortress of Solitude.
Irony: Zol-Am, a Kryptonian whose power stems from the Sun, is turned into a vampire, a creature who is harmed by sunlight.
I Shall Taunt You: Supergirl baits Zol-Am into a personal duel by stating he's frightened to fight her.
It's Personal: Zol-Am hates Supergirl and her cousin because her uncle discovered the Phantom Zone and designed the Phantom Zone Projector; and he looks forward to suck her dry.
The blonde girl was there again, investigating. With Supergirl. He never suspected she had such connections. But that only made it more gratifying.
Like all those who came from where he did, he had a grudge against the cursed El family. The only one they hated more than Supergirl was Superman. She’d be a fine appetizer, and the blonde would be a chaser.
I Want Them Alive!: Vladislav orders his henchmen to capture Buffy and Supergirl alive so he can feed them to M'Nagaleh.
Just in Time: Buffy is about to be gunned down by a vampire when Supergirl bursts into the place and crushes the gun.
Killed Off for Real: Kara Zor-El dumps M'Nagaleh into an anti-matter universe where the eldritch abomination implodes. Later Buffy and Kara manage to stake Zol-Am and the Kryptonian vampire turns to ashes.
Kryptonite Factor: Being magical creatures, vampires can actually hurt Kryptonians. Kara learns this first-hand when a vampire bites her and it hurts.
Willow: Well, Supergirl ought to be safe from everything. Except maybe Kryptonite.
Supergirl: No, Willow. Kryptonians are vulnerable to magic. If you performed the right spell, even you could hurt me.
Willow: Then you mean, like... well... vampires...
Supergirl: Yes, dear. Vampires can hurt me. The last time I met Buffy, they did, several times. But I go where the job takes me.
Kryptonite Ring: Supergirl lends her friends a chunk of Kryptonite in the event that things go South.
Kung Fu-Proof Mook: Zol-Am is a vampire who happens to not be Christian but Raotian, so unfortunately Buffy's crosses have no effect on him.
The Law of Diminishing Defensive Effort: Kara confidently dives into a fight to save her new friend, confident that her invulnerable body can't be harmed by whoever has ambushed Buffy. Swiftly Kara finds out Buffy's enemies are vampires who can and do hurt her.
Lightning Bruiser: The group of heroes teaming up includes several baseline humans, a witch, a supernaturally physically powerful vampire-hunter... and a Kryptonian. Kara is naturally stronger and faster than her friends, as well as nigh invulnerable.
Lovely Angels: Buffy and Kara are a surprisingly good fighting team.
Masquerade: Buffy talks Kara out of calling the Justice League because the Gang needs to keep the existence of vampires a secret.
Buffy: Okay. All right. Let’s admit defeat. Let’s just go ahead, call in the troops, and let them raze Sunnydale. I have enough of a time keeping my own activities a secret, Kara. Do you honestly think we can keep the lid on things when the Justice League come to town?
Supergirl: Start making sense.
Buffy: I am! Do you know how strong most people’s sense of denial is? In some cases, it’s the only thing that keeps them going. Look. What do you think would be the effect when people all over the country learn that vampires really exist?
Supergirl: They already know a lot of evil things exist, Buffy. Super-villains, criminals, alien enemies from dozens of planets.
Buffy: True enough. But supposing they learn that there are really things out there in the night that want to kill them, suck their blood, and make them like a recruiting poster with Dracula pointing at ‘em and saying, ‘I Vant You’?
Megaton Punch: In the beginning of the final battle, Kara punches Zol-Am far, far away.
“Could try this,” said Kara, and hit him with an uppercut that knocked him into the air.
Meteor Move: Buffy (in Supergirl's body) performs a Flying Takedown to finish off Zol-Am.
She exerted all her borrowed power to put herself on top, in mid-air, with Zol-Am positioned between her and the ground. Then, with all the strength and speed left to her—and it was considerable—the Slayer in Supergirl’s body shoved both of them towards the Earth.
Zol-Am barely had time to figure out what was happening, and not nearly enough to resist.
Seeing it, Angel shouted, “Take cover!” to both allies and demons alike. The two camps didn’t have to be told twice. The soldiers of Zol-Am’s ragtag army scattered, hitting the ground. Cordy and Xander flattened out. Giles, Buffy, and Willow still remained in their trance, immobile but understanding.
A two-person meteor fell from the sky and slammed into the ground with the impact of a moderate California earthquake.
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Robert Platt gets fed up with his boss' Vladislav's abuse and kills him.
Mook Depletion: When Buffy and Kara move in on Vladislav, he finds he has run out of mooks. Buffy slew those ones he didn't kill personally.
Mugging the Monster:
- Subverted. Two vampires ambush a seemingly ordinary bystander at night. Said bystander is Zol-Am, a Kryptonian who can kill them in the twinkling of an eye. But he gets cocky and although he rams his arm straight through the chest of one of them, the second bit his neck and left him dry.
- Played straight shortly after when two vampires assault him. Two heat beams rather they were two bodies littering the ground.
  Noises nearby. He didn’t even have to turn up his hearing to perceive them.
  A couple of other interlopers. This town had some interesting nightlife, to be sure. Both of them were humanoid, but not human. They had misshapen heads and hands that simply weren’t right, but both of them fit into Terran clothing. It seemed that both of them were smiling, but that was hard to tell.
  “Hate to ask, pops, but you know how it is when you’re down on your luck,” said one. “Can I bum a quarter?”
  “Actually,” said the other, “we don’t even need that. We’ll work for food. Of course, you’re the food.”
  They lunged.
  He turned his head two separate ways within the space of an instant.
  Both of the demons had time to gape as they felt the bolts of heat searing through their middles. They also had time to look at the gaping red holes in their chests those bolts had made.
  Then they crumpled to the ground and moved no more.
  He surveyed them both for a second, then said, “Never hunt on an empty stomach. You get careless that way.”
Mundane Utility: Kara Zor-El uses her super-speed and eye-beams to make breakfast.
When all three of them got up, one by one, the next morning, Kara insisted on doing breakfast for the lot of them. Thankfully, pancakes, bacon, and eggs cooked at super-speed with heat vision tasted pretty much like the results of the normal process, and Kara was a competent cook.
Murder by Inaction: Buffy takes over Kara's body in order to slay Zol-Am. Kara doesn't like but she doesn't attempt to take control back as Buffy kills the Kryptonian vampire off.
Must Be Invited: When Kara goes to Sunnydale, the Gang puts her through several tests to ensure that she can get in and out of their houses without permission. Kara gets pretty appalled.
“X-ray vision,” said the Englishman. “Just had to make certain. There are, you see, certain things that cannot get inside one’s house unless one invites them.”
Supergirl considered that. She’d read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, like a lot of kids her age did, when she was in Midvale Orphanage. But to think that ‘enter freely, and of your own will’ had some bearing in the real world... She shuddered. Well, if vampires existed, at least they weren’t rude enough just to barge in your front door without an invite.
Mythology Gag:
- Kara mentions she used to live in California, a few hundred miles from Sunnydale.
- She also tells Buffy about her boyfriend problems with her high-school sweetheart Dick Malverne, Jerro the Mer-Boy and Brainiac 5.
- She also brings up her time playing “Margo Hatton” in Secret Hearts.
Nice Guy: Kara is sweet, kind and goes out of her way to help everyone. She even feels extremely downcast when she's told she can't do anything to help the situation in Sunnydale.
Nigh-Invulnerability: Subverted. Kara's friends believe her to be completely invulnerable, but Supergirl warns them that, being magical creatures, vampires can in fact damage her.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Zol-Am is a Kryptonian vampire.
Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Kara baits Zol-Am into accepting her challenge by adding "If your commander is too scared to face me one-on-one, I’ll understand."
No-Nonsense Nemesis: An example of the "no-nonsense because he is stupid" variety. One of Vladislav's goons tries to be this by trying to shoot Buffy the second they have captured her. Unfortunately for him, his boss had warned him (repeatedly) that the Slayer and Supergirl were to be caught alive and seeing him disobey orders ticks Vladislav off something fierce, even threatening to kill the goon if he tries to disobey ever again.
Noodle Incident: When Buffy brings Jenny Calendar up, Kara doesn't know what they're talking about. She guesses she's better off not knowing.
Rupert Giles said, “Buffy, I believe that’s enough. I would really rather you didn’t get into further details, if you please.”
Buffy shot him a look. “Should I tell her about Jenny Calendar?”
“No, absolutely not.”
Supergirl looked from Buffy to Rupert and back again. She had a feeling that, even though she’d seen more than either of these two would in a lifetime, there was something she’d missed. Like lifting up a board in an empty lot and seeing the beetles, grubs, and worms burrowing about. Something from which she’d possibly been shielded before. She had better sense than to ask about Jenny Calendar.
"Not So Different" Remark: At one point, Buffy remarks she and Supergirl aren't very different despite of her different abilities and areas of influence.
Willow: Well, Supergirl ought to be safe from everything. Except maybe Kryptonite.
Supergirl: No, Willow. Kryptonians are vulnerable to magic. If you performed the right spell, even you could hurt me.
Willow: Then you mean, like... well... vampires...
Supergirl: Yes, dear. Vampires can hurt me. The last time I met Buffy, they did, several times. But I go where the job takes me.
Buffy: Sounds kind of like a Slayer.
Outside-Context Problem: Buffy and the Gang aren't equipped to deal with a Kryptonian vampire, so she calls Kara.
Giles: As powerful as the likes of the Master are, or were, a being from another planet is outside of our experience. But not outside hers. However, we have shown ourselves adaptable to many sorts of dangers, not a few of which, though you know it not, have threatened our very world.
Pardon My Klingon: Kara tells Zol-Am something during their duel. Given his reaction, the Gang deduces it was insulting.
Planet Destroyer: M'Nagaleh from The Vampire of Steel is powerful enough of an Eldritch Abomination to burn Earth to cinders in seconds.
Pop-Cultured Badass: Kara has read Dracula and enjoys V. C. Andrews' works.
Post-Victory Collapse: Supergirl falls to the ground once she and Buffy have managed to kill off Zol-Am.
A two-person meteor fell from the sky and slammed into the ground with the impact of a moderate California earthquake. It would have taken a sharp eye indeed to see the effect of a wooden stake coming up through the back of the Zoner who contacted the ground first, penetrating his heart, causing his eyes to widen to an incredible degree and his mouth to open for a curse and a shout of pain, neither of which he could manage to render.
Within an instant, Zol-Am turned to dust.
Supergirl lay there on her hands and knees, panting, the stake below her just abutting her blue-clad stomach. She put out a hand and knocked it flat. Then she collapsed, getting her face in the dirt that had been Zol-Am a few seconds ago.
The Power of the Sun: In addition to -obviously- Supergirl, Zol-Am derives his power from the Sun, which is highly unusual for a vampire. Even so, he heat-blasted two vampires to dust right after being turned.
Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: To Cordelia's disbelief, Buffy quotes Clint Eastwood before engaging an army of vampires:
Buffy: You want to open the Hellmouth? Make my day, punks!
Primary-Color Champion: Buffy recognizes Supergirl for her blue-and-red costume.
By that time, the figure was no longer in motion. Buffy looked at her, taking her in as quickly as possible. A very pretty blonde woman in her late twenties or early thirties, in a blue and red outfit with a red cape. But she didn’t have to rack her memory files very hard for an I.D. Everybody knew who this woman was. Even if you were an out-of-towner.
Properly Paranoid: Before opening the suitcase containing anti-Kryptonian weapons, Supergirl looks around using both X-Ray and telescopic vision. As she says, "I can’t afford to open this without making a check first."
Psychic Powers: M'Nagaleh is able to minds-peak. It tries to dominate Kara's mind telepathically.
Punched Across the Room; The Maid of Might starts the Final Battle by punching Zol-Am up, up and far away.
Zol-Am was already landing in front of her. With a motion borne of super-speed, he grabbed the medallion by its chain, not touching the disk itself, ripped it from her neck, and threw it away. “What now, girl? Any other weapons in your armory?”
“Could try this,” said Kara, and hit him with an uppercut that knocked him into the air.
“Good lord,” exclaimed Cordelia, watching the Zol-Am-shaped missile soar higher and higher.
Reduced to Dust: Every vampire gets turned to dust when staked, whether it's by the heroes or their own leader.
And something bit her on the hand. Despite herself, she cried out in pain.
A female vampire was biting her on the hand.
In an instant, Buffy Summers was on the back of the vamp, yanking her head back with one hand and staking her with the other. The vampire collapsed into dust.
Resignations Not Accepted: A vampire decides to quit and run off when he sees what kind of Eldritch Abomination his boss is summoning. Vladislav kills him off immediately.
“Mr. Vladislav,” shouted one of the vampires, “I’m gone!” He shifted into bat-form, tried to get away. Vladislav snapped his fingers. Two others, gifted with form-shifting, turned into bats, went after him, grabbed him, dragged him back to the gangboss.
With terrible efficiency, Vladislav tore the offending bat to pieces with his bare hands.
Revenge: Zol-Am wants to take revenge on Kara Zor-El because her House developed the Phantom Zone Projector which was used to banish Kryptonian criminals like himself.
Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Robert Platt slays his boss Vladislav and tries to cut a deal with the Slayer and Supergirl, claiming he did "their work for them". Buffy stakes him.
Right in Front of Me: Kara in her Linda Danvers identity used to play a shrew-like character in the soap opera "Secret Hearts". At one point, Kara tells Supergirl she hated the actress who played Margo Hatton.
Buffy: Yeah. Sorry. Um, I was watching soaps.
Kara: That’s cool. Did you ever get into ‘Secret Hearts’?
Buffy: Kind of before my time. And anyway, I could never stand that woman who played Margo Hatton, you know? She was such an irritating bitch.
Kara: Uh.
Saving the World: Both lead heroines manage to stop an eldritch abomination from being drawn into the mortal plane and later they destroy a Kryptonian turned vampire who intends to open the Hellmouth.
Science-Fiction Fanfic: One of the main characters is an alien.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When a vampire sees what they're summoning, exactly, he decides to hightail it. Vladislav executes him immediately.
“Mr. Vladislav,” shouted one of the vampires, “I’m gone!” He shifted into bat-form, tried to get away. Vladislav snapped his fingers. Two others, gifted with form-shifting, turned into bats, went after him, grabbed him, dragged him back to the gangboss.
With terrible efficiency, Vladislav tore the offending bat to pieces with his bare hands.
Sharing a Body: At one point, Buffy magically possesses Kara's body to fight Zol-Am.
<Kara?>
<Yes, Buffy?>
<We’re finished.>
<Good. I want my body back.>
<With pleasure. But I gotta tell you, you’ve got a really great setup here. Do you think, maybe, sometime...>
<BUFFY.>
<All right, all right.>
Shoryuken: Kara punches Zol-Am into the clouds with a rising hook.
Speed Blitz: Two gun-toting vampires are cornering Buffy when all of sudden Supergirl bursts into the place and pounds both vamps into the ground before they can even react.
Strong and Skilled: Buffy hijacks Kara's body for a short while, meaning a fierce and experienced warrior gained temporarily the power to push planets and move faster than light.
Stupid Crooks: One of Vladislav's underling vampires knows perfectly well that his boss wants Supergirl and Buffy alive for his plans that involves sacrificing them to a demon. His own boss mentions that he has told him this repeatedly. And still, when he thinks he has the chance, he pulls a gun to try to shoot Buffy dead right in front of Vladislav. Vladislav grabs the goon, slaps him silly while yelling at him that he has told him about this already, and threatens to put a stake through his heart next time he screws up.
Super Fic: This story takes place in an alternate universe where Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters exist alongside the heroes and villains of The DCU. For a short while, Buffy gains the powers of the strongest version of Supergirl
Superheroes Wear Capes: Buffy swiftly recognizes Kara for, among other clues, her red cape.
Buffy looked at her, taking her in as quickly as possible. A very pretty blonde woman in her late twenties or early thirties, in a blue and red outfit with a red cape.
Super Hero Origin: One entire chapter is devoted to Supergirl and Buffy exchanging origin tales after having a run-in with some vampires.
Superhero Speciation: Buffy -an accomplished fighter with enhanced physical prowess and expertise at demon-fighting- teams up with Supergirl -a Flying Brick with basic fighting skills and vulnerability to magical creatures-.
Superman Stays Out of Gotham:
- When Kara figures out what is going on Sunnydale she wants to call the Justice League and stomp the place flat. Buffy pleads with her to not do it because people are better off not knowing vampires are real.
- In the aftermath of the battle, Buffy asks Supergirl to leave and trust the Gang to handle Sunnydale.
  Kara: Then, what am I supposed to do? Just go, and pretend that none of this exists?
  Buffy: No. You’re supposed to go, and leave it to us. We’re the trained professionals in this thing. We know what to do, Kara. Just like... and, well, you know I hate to bring this up... just like when I was in your body. I don’t know that much about super-heroing, but I’ll bet that Batman doesn’t call you up every time the Joker and he have a throwdown. You all have your spheres of influence. So do we. That’s why we’re here, Kara... and that’s why you’re there.
Superpower Lottery: The main characters are a squad of baseline humans, a witch, a supernaturally enhanced vampire-hunter... and a Kryptonian.
Super-Senses: Several examples:
- In the first story, Supergirl uses her super-vision to keep watch over Buffy.
  Super-vision could help her keep track of Buffy Summers, even 108 stories up, even through stone and steel.
- Later on, Buffy witnesses Supergirl using her super-vision. Being Buffy, she can't help but make puns.
  Buffy looked at her flightmate. Kara’s eyes were focused in a strange manner, and she was looking in the direction of Sunnydale Park. Super-vision, she guessed. To use that, do you need a Supervisor to teach you?
  She decided not to make that joke aloud.
  Kara’s face turned grim. “I’m seeing something I wish I hadn’t,” she said.
  “What?”
  “Two murder victims,” she said. “Big holes burned right through their chests. Their faces, what I can see of them, look alien.”
  “Demons,” muttered Buffy.
  “What?” Kara turned to her, inquisitively.
  “Vampires aren’t all we have to worry about in this town,” she said.
  “Glad to know,” Supergirl said. “Don’t think they’ve been dead for too long. Hang on. I’m going to check the park out with infra-red, and then we’re heading down. Stay tuned.”
  “Infra-red?” asked Buffy.
  “We have a lot of vision powers,” muttered Supergirl. The thing was, their enemy probably did, too. If he was in the park, she could probably see him.
Super-Speed: Supergirl, as is par for the course:
In the space of a second, Linda stripped out of her pajamas, found the place where a costume compressed to the size of a pea was located, expanded it, put it on, ran a special comb through her hair to change the shade from brunette to blonde and style it a different way, located the place where she’d stashed a pair of flat items that rapidly unfolded to boots, put them on, checked herself in the mirror, loaded her cape pouch with such things as she might need if she needed them (such as her i.d. card, some American money, and her own choice of lipstick in a friction-proof tube), opened the window, tripped the inside lock, exited, and shut the window before the lock had time to catch on nothingness instead of a metal catch, and, moving too fast for the unaided eye to see her, flew into the sky.
Super-Strength: One of the powers of Kara. At one point she lifts two towers and an Eldritch Abomination clinging to them and flies them out of the planet... even though she is weakened.
Kara went with her original plan and, flying to the top of the towers, put her hands on one of them, exerted her reduced strength, and, with a great wrenching of metal from ferroconcrete, tore it out of the roof.
Then she did the same to the other tower. All over Chicago, TV screens would be going blank. Perhaps that would be a blessing.
She glanced for an instant at Buffy. The Slayer girl was in the midst of the foe, slamming home stakes, brandishing her crucifix, kicking out, dodging bullets. What Kara was doing had to be done quickly, if she was to survive.
Supergirl grasped the top of the left-hand tower and, flying upward, began to haul both towers and M’nagaleh into space.
Super-Toughness: Supergirl and Zol-Am. The latter is impervious to traditional vampire-killing methods due to his Kryptonian heritage, so the team have to seek alternate means to deal with him.
Symbol Swearing: Kara forces Zol-Am into a duel. He doesn't take it well:
Zol-Am: R** damn you!
Take That!: To the loudest parts of the anime fandom:
"Is that all right?" Buffy grasped Kara’s hand. "Oh, Kara. Punch me if I start acting like one of those anime fangirls I see at the vid stores."
Talking to Themself: In the Sears Tower, Buffy is running from several guards after blowing her cover. She chides herself... and then chides herself for wasting time on chiding herself.
Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid stupid.
Shut up, mind. Do your job. Find me a way out of this.
Technical Pacifist: Initially Kara doesn't want to kill Zol-Am, but at the end she is forced to agree he's too dangerous to live and lends anti-Kryptonian tools to her friends. Prior to that adventure, she stepped aside when Buffy slew several vampires.
There Was a Door: When two vampires attempt to kill Buffy, Kara bursts into the place through a window.
These Hands Have Killed: Buffy possesses Kara's body to kill Zol-Am. Supergirl understands the necessity of it, but she still feels guilty.
Supergirl: Neither I, nor Superman, take human life. I know Zol-Am wasn’t technically alive. I know he was post-human. But still... These hands destroyed a thinking being. I realize why it had to be done. I destroyed M’nagaleh, when we last met. But it’s not something I’m proud of.
Thou Shall Not Kill: Subverted. Supergirl refuses to kill but she won't stop Buffy from slaying vampires. She also killed an eldritch abomination, although she didn’t like it.
Kara: You know, I didn't like what you had to do in my body.
Buffy: You mean, possessing it? Oh. Oh, now I know, sorry. Miss Obtuseness, here. You mean killing Zol-Am.
Kara: Neither I, nor Superman, take human life. I know Zol-Am wasn't technically alive. I know he was post-human. But still... These hands destroyed a thinking being. I realize why it had to be done. I destroyed M'nagaleh, when we last met. But it’s not something I'm proud of.
Throwing Down the Gauntlet: When the Scoobies are facing Zol-Am's army of vampires and demons, Supergirl stops fighting to demand a "Personal Combat Challenge" with Zol-Am, throwing in a "If you're too scared to fight me, I'll understand" line for good measure. When Zol points out that kind of duel can only be made by one soldier to another, Supergirl reveals she just enlisted.
Underestimating Badassery: Supergirl tries to dissuade the Gang from engaging the Kryptonian vampire on grounds of being powerless to fight someone who can disintegrate them in a split-second. Nonetheless, the Gang proves to be crucial to defeat Zol-Am.
Unskilled, but Strong: Supergirl is -obviously- massively more powerful than the Slayer, but Buffy knows how to fight vampires. And it shows.
Use Your Head: Buffy head-butts Zol-Am during their fight.
Up, Up and Away!: Kara Zor-El deliberately puts both arms forward when she streaks towards Sunnydale.
Supergirl surveyed the town with her infra-red and X-ray vision, found a few anomalies (such as a graveyard that looked like it’d been disturbed repeatedly), but nothing more out of the order than cops stopping speeders and the occasional drunk. So she checked out the street signs with telescopic vision until she found the right one, and pointed herself downward, arms pointed before her in a V.
At a speed still too quick to be seen, the Argo City Amazon flew barely over the trees and housetops until she found the address Willow had given her.
Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Vladislav decides to hightail it out when his scheme is ruined by both heroines, but he gets killed by his own henchman while making his escape.
Waking Up at the Morgue: Zol-Am wakes up in the morgue after getting killed off by a random vampire.
If he’d been more used to what his body could now do, even that might have had a different ending. But he’d rarely set foot on this world before, and only for a couple of short visits. So the blasted leech on his neck was able to take from him what it wanted, though he managed to ram an arm straight through the body of the one in front of him, and it left him dry.
And he died.
Not permanently, though.
He’d opened his eyes in what passed for a preparatory place for the dead on Terra. It was ghoulish, seeing all the cadavers about him in various stages of dissection. But it was certainly better than what he’d been expecting.
Weaksauce Weakness: Zol-Am is a Kryptonian vampire, so normal vampire weaknesses don't apply, forcing Supergirl and Buffy to pick a piece of Kryptonite. Zol-Am is still vulnerable to be stakes, though, provided that the stake is carved from a Kryptonian species of tree.
What If?: What if Supergirl didn't get killed by the Anti-Monitor and met Buffy?
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Supergirl is serious about not killing. Vampires, though? She'll not slay them but she won't stop Buffy from doing so.
Wooden Stake: Regular wooden stakes can't pierce Kryptonian's skin, not even magically-enhanced. Kara gets stakes carved of Kandorian trees since anything from Krypton becomes indestructible on Earth.
World's Strongest Man: Kara is and has been the world's strongest woman for more than one decade.
Wrestler in All of Us: Buffy German Suplexes Zol-Am into the ground, right where a stake had been previously and strategically placed earlier.
X-Ray Vision: Linda gets her first hint that Buffy Summers isn't a normal girl when she scans her handbag and sees her full anti-vampire weaponry.
But she felt it was time to breach etiquette and turn her X-ray vision on Buffy’s valise. Linda gave it a casual glance.
She couldn’t stop her eyes from widening when she did.
Buffy caught it. "Something wrong, Linda?"
Linda Danvers struggled to maintain her composure. "Oh, nothing. Nothing, Buffy. Just must’ve been some indigestion from dinner. You sure that you want me to leave you?"
[...]
"You, too." Linda went to the elevator and got in. She’d have to make a show of things, but there was no way she was leaving the area. Super-vision could help her keep track of Buffy Summers, even 108 stories up, even through stone and steel.
Anybody who carried wooden stakes, silver crucifixes, garlic, and a fifth of unusual water in her valise wasn’t an Outfit bagwoman. But she’d still bear watching.

“Yeah,” Buffy said to herself. “Me. Slayergirl. Dauntless defender of non-vamps.” Then she thought. “Nah. I really don’t go for capes.”

Fanfic / The Vampire of Steel

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Fanfic / The Vampire of Steel

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