SIX SHARP CLAWS AND A MISTER POINTY
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Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to their respective copyright owners and are being used without their permission. I am not in any way affiliated with any of the groups or organizations that hold rights over the characters that appear in this particular story and neither have I been authorized to write the following story. This is a non-profit fan based effort and no copyright infringement is intended. So, umm… please don't sue. The plot and particular storyline however belong to me. And so does the original characters unless otherwise specified. Any and all feedback will be much appreciated. Redistribution of this tale for profit is strictly prohibited. Please obtain my permission before archiving this story anywhere else on the net. Thank you very much. Happy Reading!
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Timeline:
BTVS: Season 4… after Episode 65 "Something Blue". Spoilers from Season 4.
Marvel/DC: An alternate world based on both the universes coexisting together from the beginning.
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Warning: This particular chapter includes spoilers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's season four episode of Hush.
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CHAPTER 11: Rumble in the Clock Tower
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As the demon went down face first, she retracted her claws, used the demon to push herself into a handstand and launch herself off it and into the middle of the dimly lit room.
Landing on her feet, she came up into an attack stance, ready for anything… and came face to face with someone short, blonde, and who just happened to be pointing a medieval crossbow at her face.
X-23's jaw dropped open.
"Buffy?" She whispered - not that anyone could have heard her as the equally confused blonde stared back at her, the crossbow still pointed at the living weapon's face.
Feeling another familiar presence to the side, she turned her head to find Agent Riley Finn of The Demon Research Initiative standing there with just as confused a face as Buffy's.
Only difference?
He was pointing a blaster gun at her.
More precisely, he was pointing the blaster gun right at her face.
And he seemed as though he was ready to fire.
Then, abruptly both his and Buffy's aim changed as Riley let loose a blast of electricity and Buffy let loose a bolt of arrow into something behind her. She already knew without turning that it had been an Arkham demon. She had sensed it hobbling towards her from the back.
And all of a sudden it didn't matter to them who she was anymore as more of the Arkham Demons rushed them.
Buffy went down in a tangle of limbs as she was tackled by two from behind. Riley raised his blaster gun to fend off the one that had come after him.
Knowing that Riley had been specifically trained to defend himself against the threat facing him, X-23 charged to help the petite blond - the only unknown factor in this equation - who was being double teamed by the two demons who had tackled her to the floor.
But Buffy - she found out the next instant - was anything but helpless as the diminutive blonde pushed off one of the demons with her legs and the demon literally went flying through the air to collide with the ceiling above and immediately fall the twelve feet or so to the floor knocked out.
X-23 had only a moment to stare slack-jawed at the amount of strength her new friend had just displayed before one of the Arkham Demons rushed her from the side. She turned to face the demon as it leaped through the air and used its own momentum to simply grab it from the air and bring it down into an arc and onto the floor with considerable force. Knowing that action had only dazed the demon, she quickly grabbed at the demon's head with both hands and twisted with all her strength, snapping its neck in the process and killing it instantly.
Sensing another one rushing at her, she quickly turned to face this new threat - only to have a blast of electricity from Riley's weapon make quick work of the demon. Turning in the direction of the soldier, she nodded once in thanks. Riley for his part looked surprised at the gesture - but only for a second before he himself nodded back at the girl garbed in black. But then his eyes widened as another demon rushed her from behind. He didn't have the angle - neither did he get the chance to assist X-23 any further than shooting her a warning glance as he found himself having to contend with two demons.
His worries were of course unwarranted as X-23 quickly dispatched the demon she had herself sensed approaching with a quick but tremendous uppercut - a move that send the demon smashing into the wall some twenty feet away.
Done with this one, she turned to see the second demon that had Buffy pinned to the floor suddenly go slack as the unmistakable sound of the demon's neck snapping reached her sensitive ears. However, just as Buffy pushed the demon off of her, another rushed at her.
X-23 rushed forward to intercept the demon, leaping over Buffy to tackle the demon out of midair just as it was about to pounce on the blonde - giving Buffy some breathing room and a chance to get back on her feet.
As the demon went down, she turned to see Buffy - on her feet, rushing off to help Riley who had taken care of one of the two demons that had attacked him and was struggling with the second one. Not realizing another one getting ready to pounce on him from behind. He didn't need to worry about this unsuspecting threat as Buffy quickly dealt with the demon by sending it smashing through the other side of the clock tower with a devastating dropkick.
Buffy flipped back to her feet and looked around at all the dead and some near unconscious demons lying around as X-23 rushed to help Riley with the demon he had been struggling with. Grabbing the creature from behind, she picked it up over her head and slammed it down hard, the back of the creature impacting with her adamantium plated knee, snapping its spine immediately. The demon twitched around for a second or two as she jumped off of it before Riley finally silenced it with a blast from his weapon.
Hearing the sounds of someone clapping frantically, they both turned to Buffy who had been trying to grab their attention. She pointed up, letting them know that they needed to go upstairs fast. Then she turned and did just that, rushing up the stairs with X-23 following close behind.
One of the Arkham demons who had been unconscious came to and made a grab for Riley's leg, just as he was about to go up the stairs himself. X-23, picking up on the scuffle, turned back in time to see Riley kicking off the demon that had grabbed him. Riley looked back up the stairs to see X-23 standing there waiting for him. He gestured her to go ahead. He would come up himself in a bit.
After a quick nod, X-23 headed upstairs but not before hearing the sound of Riley's blaster gun going off a few times as he pumped electricity into some of the demons who she guessed had been regaining their senses.
Reaching the top floor, X-23 found three more Arkham demons (how many off them were there? she wondered offhandedly) holding a struggling Buffy upright and in place as a Joker demon floated towards the petite blonde with a scalpel drawn.
X-23 ploughed into the Arkham demons that had been holding Buffy - freeing the blonde. The two girls made quick work of the three before turning in unison to face the Joker demon which had been floating towards Buffy - only to have the Joker demon be blasted backwards by Riley who had a moment ago arrived upstairs to assist them.
However, while the blaster gun had been useful in temporarily incapacitating the Arkham demons, it was not as useful against these Joker demons - which X-23 noticed, along with Buffy and Riley - as the Joker demon Riley had just shot simply shook off the effects and started towards them again. Only this time, all five of its compatriots joined in on the advance.
One of the demons floating forward turned its head to the one on its right and pointed to X-23. The other merely nodded in return.
X-23 stared at the demons and recognized them immediately. They were the ones who had been after the blonde girl on the university campus.
As the two once again headed towards her, one of them reaching inside its coat to bring out a scalpel, X-23 finally unsheathed her claws - the audible sound of the claws bursting out of their housings within her forearms making Buffy jump slightly. She caught sight of Buffy in her peripheral vision gaping at her claws. She could feel Riley's eyes boring into them from the back as well.
Their reactions didn't really surprise her. After all, this was the first time she had unsheathed her claws in front of them.
She hadn't really needed to use her claws when fighting off the Arkham demons downstairs. Her strength, speed and skill had been more than enough. However, she realized that in order to fend off these particular demons - demons that had regenerative capabilities rivaling that off her own, perhaps even surpassing hers - she would need to go all out - if only to keep them at bay until she herself, or Buffy or Riley figured out a way to put them down for good.
With that in mind, and not waiting for Buffy or Riley, she charged into the two demons that had been advancing in her direction. Her claws immediately slicing into them as they reached striking distance.
Both Buffy and Riley hesitated - if only for a second before joining in themselves. Buffy, punching and kicking away and Riley blasting away with his gun.
However, only about fifteen seconds into the mêlée, X-23 came to the conclusion that if they didn't find a way to kill these demons permanently, she - because of her healing capabilities may make it out alive, but the others, Buffy and Riley… no, their chances of surviving this encounter looked almost non-existent.
Especially Riley's - as she saw him try and blast away the one Joker demon that had been floating towards his direction - only to look down at his blaster gun and realize to his shock that it no longer had any power left.
Damn, damn, damn - she cursed as she tried to make a dash in the direction of the soldier to lend him a hand only to have a third joker demon block off her way. Next thing she knew, she was being triple teamed.
The one good thing about the fight in her view was that: since they were in a confined space, the Joker demons didn't have sufficient room to maneuver out of the way of her claws. Making it easier for her to dig her claws into some parts of their body with each and every strike.
Not that they were helping anyways.
A quick glance at Riley's direction however showed that the soldier was not exactly helpless without his blaster gun as he had now started using the device to hammer away at the demon.
Buffy seemed to be holding her own as well. Throwing lefts and rights, and kicking away the two demons she had been fighting, not letting any one of them get close enough to crowd her.
She… also seemed to be searching for something - X-23 noticed. Suddenly Buffy's eyes settled on a table near the front of the clock tower. She rushed in the direction only to have one of the demons she had been fighting block her way.
X-23 shot a quick peek in the direction to see what it was that had caught Buffy's attention. She noticed seven jars resting on top of a small table. Two of them were empty while the other five were containing - wait a minute… were those human hearts?
Her mind flashed back to the demon she had encountered inside her dormitory. It had been carrying a human heart in its hand. Right before X-23 had relieved it off it. Was that the source of their power? She wondered. Seven hearts to become all powerful?
Only one way to find out.
A flying roundhouse kick sent two of the demons she had been fighting careening away a few feet. Landing on her feet, she launched a devastating sidekick into the third floating demon. This one went smashing into the wall about ten feet away.
Coast cleared, she made a dash in the direction of the table even as the demons recovered and started to close in on her. But she was too fast for them this time. Reaching the table, she raised one arm, clenched her hand into a fist and brought it down on one of the jars.
The jar broke immediately upon contact, spilling its content onto the floor of the clock-tower.
She was about to break another one, when all three demons swamped her. Literally. Their arms grabbing at her own arms and pulling her back and away from the table. But not before X-23 had a chance to raise her right leg and bring it down on another container, smashing it into bits and once again spilling its contents.
Through the corner of her eye, as she was being dragged away, she caught sight of Buffy trying to make another dash at the table. Probably trying to finish the job X-23 had started.
But then, X-23 watched as another Joker demon - the one that had been dealing with Riley came up behind Buffy, clearly to lend his grinning friends another pair of hands in containing the petite blonde.
Looking back, X-23 noticed the reason why the Joker demon had left Riley. One of the Arkham demons had just gained consciousness and was now wrestling with Riley. Leaving all the Joker demons free to detain the ones with superhuman powers. Namely: her and Buffy.
However, this turned out to be a mistake on part of the Joker demons. A big mistake in fact as Riley dealt with the Arkham demon in a matter of seconds and rushed off in the direction of the table with the containers. The soldier had obviously kept an eye on both X-23 and Buffy and had seen X-23 smashing at the jars and Buffy trying to reach the table.
Reaching it, and finding no opposition, he proceeded to bring the butt end of his blaster gun down on one of the jars, smashing it. He then looked up at X-23 and grinned.
Was he looking for her approval? She wondered. Smash the others already - she would've screamed if she could've.
If it wasn't for the things she had dealt with while growing up at the X-Mansion, not to mention while traveling with the Titans, X-23 would've found what happened next (all the Joker demons turning their heads simultaneously to glare at Riley) weird. Safe to say, Riley's grin faltered as two of the Joker demons started floating towards his position. Leaving Buffy and X-23 to deal with two each.
Clap! Clap!
Both Riley's and X-23's head snapped in the direction of Buffy who had once again clapped to gain their attention. X-23 watched as Buffy - after once again kicking away one of the demons - turn to Riley and imitated with her hands opening. And then mouth the word box just as the two demons she had been fighting swamped her again.
Box? She wondered. There had been a box on the table. Not knowing what it was she had left it alone.
Was THAT what Buffy had been trying to get to?
Guess she was going to find out as Riley looked down at the box, frowned, raised his gun again, and - mere moments before the two Joker demon that had been approaching him had a chance to make a grab at the soldier, he brought it down and smashed it.
The result was instantaneous.
The demons that had been holding on to X-23 and Buffy let them go. As though pushed away from them by some unseen force. The two that had been about to make a grab at Riley floated away from him.
Then X-23 felt it… something entering her. Something that felt like it had always been a part of her. And she knew that her voice had returned -
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…."
The hell? X-23 winced and turned in the direction the scream had come from to find Buffy standing there screaming at the top of her lungs.
Only, it actually seemed to be having some affect on not only the Joker demons, but even their lackeys (the unconscious ones as well), as all of them grabbed at their heads - twitching and flaying their arms about, as though in enormous pain.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA…"
And of course, Riley just had to join in.
Shrugging, she took in a deep breath herself, thought - what the hell - and started screaming at the top of her lungs.
Only a few seconds into this, all the Joker demons suddenly went stiff, and then to X-23's surprise, the heads of the Joker demons exploded. Splattering gooey green blood all over the clock tower as well as the trio.
Then one by one, as the three of them looked on, the bodies of the Joker demons fell to the floor. Finally dead.
For a next few seconds, no one spoke.
The three of them merely stood where they were… staring at the corpses of the now permanently dead demons. Demons that had been the cause of all their headaches over the past forty-eight hours or so.
It was Buffy who finally broke the silence.
Turning to Riley, she asked, not trying to hide the confusion lacing her voice. "Riley… what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Countered the soldier after a second or two. Sounding just as perplexed as Buffy.
Buffy looked as though she was about to say something in response when her attention suddenly shifted from Riley to the one and only unknown someone in the room.
That unknown someone being the person garbed from head to toe in black.
Looking more confused (if it was even possible), she cocked her head to one side and inquired, "Wait… who're you again?"
Damn! Cursed X-23 as she froze in her spot. She had been slowly backing away towards the stairs. Thinking she could slip away before one of them had a chance to ask her just that.
So much for that.
To Be Continued…
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Author's Notes
The last few lines of the last chapter (Chapter 10) was changed slightly.
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