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Equinox

Fighting, Willow had to realize to her dismay as she ducked yet another blow and felt so horribly clumsy and awkward, definitely had been easier when her pregnancy hadn't been so advanced yet; still, despite the fact that she was showing quite the rounded belly by now, she managed to avoid the hit, the horned demon's fist slamming into the shelf behind her instead of straight into her face, a cry coming from Anya as several glasses of merchandise fell to the ground and shattered there.

"Don't destroy the merchandise!", the ex-demon cried, of all things, none of the three demons which had attacked the shop, and in broad daylight no less, caring too much though, focusing their attacks on the witch, even though that was made considerably harder by said witch's partner, the taller woman's good eye glowing brightly red as she let out a roar and shot forward, tackling the demon who just had tried to hit her lover and forcing him down to the ground, her teeth tightly grit as she grabbed his head with both hands, then gave a powerful jerk, her muscles bulging, the sound of the demon's neck breaking mixing with the growls she was letting out now.

Even though she had gotten rid of one of them now, there still were two of them left, and despite the fact that clearly, she was the one most capable at hand to hand combat, with Buffy not being there, they didn't go after her, but after Willow yet again, the redhead by now having whipped up a shield though, flinching each time a blow hit it, but not letting them get close enough to do any actual damage.

Annoyed by how they ignored her and worried for her wife, Pat let both hands flame up, ignoring the cry of protest Anya let out; with another angered roar, she moved in to attack, at least gaining the attention of one of the two, just in time so he could take her flaming fist right into the mouth, teeth and jaw breaking beneath her knuckles and making him let out a blubbering cry of pain while she grunted, his sharp teeth having torn her hand open, an injury she didn't let herself be stopped by though.

"Don't you know it's bad manners to hit a pregnant woman?" she demanded to know as she punched him again, the additional pain of her fire burning him making him yell yet again; then, she heard Anya call out to her and turned her head just a fraction to look, smirking when the brunette raised a dagger, her smirk widening as Anya tossed it at her and she caught it with ease, ramming it into the demon's throat all the way to the hilt, then jerking it back out, already turning towards the other one while her kill still was going down.

By now, the only demon who had remained standing had figured out that he couldn't get through the shield Willow had conjured up and that there was a very real danger just a few feet away from him, and thus had turned to face her; his gaze flickered to his dead companions, then focused on her again, his brightly green eyes narrowing as he moved a few steps back, clearly trying to figure out some sort of strategy.

"Come on", Pat growled at him while Willow allowed herself to relax slightly, once more glad that she was married to a demon with above average strength and stamina, the flames only adding to the package, "or are you scared of taking on someone your size?"

In response, the demon snarled at her, baring his sharp teeth, as if that would impress her; she raised the dagger slightly, as if to remind him that she still had it – before they both exploded into motion, clashing into each other just inches away from the redhead's shield, causing her to take back an involuntary step at the sheer violence with which they started to fight.

Growling quite loudly by now, Pat grappled with the other demon, the horned monstrosity too close to her to let her use her dagger properly; she did manage to inflect some shallow cuts, but nothing life-threatening, not managing to get the weapon into proper position for that, her opponent making sure to keep that from happening as he punched and clawed and bit at her, putting everything he had into the fight, clearly not willing to share the fate of his two companions.

Still safe behind her shield, the witch's mind raced as she tried to figure out how to help her partner with this; the black haired woman was a skilled fighter, and had proven just that in countless fights before, but it was painfully obvious that the demon she was battling wasn't half bad, either, by now having managed to land quite a few hits, his claws tearing deep gashes into her wife's forearms as she blocked yet another one, bloody scratches showing through the tears in her clothes where he had managed to get past her blocks.

Grunting as another hit landed, Pat took a step back, the demon to her dismay following suit; growling throatily, he lunged at her, and she quickly sidestepped, a malicious smirk forming on her face as he now had made his first and last mistake, a quick, low kick swiping his feet out from underneath him and sending him to the floor with a tremendous crash.

Quickly, before he had the chance to get back to his feet, she dropped down to one knee next to him, bringing up the dagger, her teeth grit tightly as she slammed it down, ramming the blade into the back of the demon's neck all the way to the hilt, a strange gurgling sound coming from the creature as his eyes rolled back into his head and he died, a heavy breath leaving Pat as his body went limp and she pulled the dagger back out.

"Alright", she grumbled, coming back to her feet while Willow finally stopped fuelling her shield and it vanished into nothingness, "what the Hell was that all about? Demons attacking us here in bright daylight? They suicidal or something?"

"Maybe you should have left one of them alive for questioning", the witch gave back, with a concerned look at her as she now grimaced, finally feeling the injuries she had taken during the fight, now that the adrenaline was wearing off, both of them glancing at Anya though when the ex-demon shook her head, a hint of discomfort in her voice when she spoke up the moment both women were focusing on her.

"Wouldn't have done any good", she let them know, eying the dead demons with her discomfort growing visibly, "I know them, well not those three personally, but their kind… Kachak-demons, they are barely above animals, I doubt you even would have been able to talk to them."

"They attack stores often then?" Pat wanted to know, frowning down on the corpses, "or what are you trying to tell us? You don't look all too happy."

"I'm not", Anya confirmed, "because they don't venture out on their own, usually. Or fight the way the one you battled did. I think someone was… controlling them, perhaps, or had forced their will on them, somehow."

"To attack the store?" the demon frowned, "you mean, someone's after you then?"

Momentarily, Anya was startled by how dense both the witch and her wife seemed, not able to see what she was aiming for; then, she shrugged it off and shook her head, a small sigh escaping her before she replied.

"No", she let the couple know, prompting them to exchange a worried look, by now at least sensing that there was more to this than just an attack on the store, a suspicion the ex-demon confirmed with her next words. "Didn't you realize whom they were after? They didn't care a bit about me, or the store. All they focused on until you started fighting them, Pat, was Willow."